The Pirate Treasure

The Pine Tree Math Science Team had eight students make at least one score high enough to qualify for the state meet in San Antonio. The best of the best 6th-8th graders from Texas compete each year. These students are: Jeyland Dies, Ryker Nowlin-Kramer, Landon Ednie, Hayden Crout, Elliot Wickes, Baylee Gray, Ethan Luna and Levi Jacobs. Congratulations to our Pirates!

6th Grade

Number Sense

3rd Place - Jeyland Dies

4th Place - Ryker Nowlin-Kramer

6th Place - Landon Ednie

Calculator

1st Place - Ryker Nowlin-Kramer

2nd Place - Hayden Crout

Math

3rd Place - Elliot Wickes

6th Place - Baylee Gray

7th Place - Lane Davis

9th Place - Ryker Nowlin-Kramer

Science

2nd Place - Baylee Gray (In the team score)

4th Place - Jeyland Dies

5th Place - Elliot Wickes

6th Place - Ethan Luna

7th Place - Hayden Crout

8th Place - Landon Ednie

9th Place - Levi Jacobs

5th Grade

Number Sense

1st Place - Ava Vaught

2nd Place - Gavin Archundia

3rd Place - Abel Martinez

4th Place - Aria Arnett

5th Place - Samantha Orona

6th Place - Josh Fierros

7th Place - Kaylee Arriaza

Calculator

1st Place - Maranda Crabtree

2nd Place - Clara Walker

3rd Place - Ava Vaught

4th Place - Aria Arnett

5th Place - Samantha Orona

6th Grade - Gavin Archundia

7th Place - Kaylee Arriaza

Math

1st Place - Ava Vaught

2nd Place - Samantha Orona

3rd Place - Angel Martinez

4th Place - Aria Arnett

5th Place - Kaylee Arriaza

6th Place - Josh Fierros

7th Place - Maranda Crabtree

Science

1st Place - Clara Walker

2nd Place - Maranda Crabtree

3rd Place - Abel Martinez

4th Place - Angel Martinez

5th Place - Josh Fierros

Life at Pine Tree is very busy with three weeks left until spring break. Academics, extracurriculars and sports are all in prime time; meaning there are tons of students traveling all around Texas to represent PTHS in different events. And, thus far; the Pirates have shined on many fronts, including speech and debate, welding, construction and on the athletic field.

In addition to these programs, classroom activities are dominating the PTHS landscape as well. Testing is on the horizon for SAT and STAAR testing. Each teacher has projects, tests and studies underway for the third nine weeks which ends on March 8.

On the sports front, soccer has finished round one of district play with both teams in the playoff hunt and is now in the second round. Baseball, softball, tennis and golf are also just starting play, while PTHS will host the Graham Knowles Track Meet Friday, February 23rd at Pirate Stadium.

Students are very active and doing very well, but most everyone is looking forward to Spring Break in three short weeks.

The Birch First Winter Book Fair was a fair like none other. Parents, grandparents and other loved ones packed the school during our THREE family events. These events included a Grand Lunch event, an Afterschool Shopping Event, and a We Love our Teachers Lunch event. All classes had two opportunities for a class shopping time, along with daily times as needed. Record sales occurred and the Birch library truly appreciates the support of the BFF.

Birch First held an amazing event where students had the opportunity to participate in creative, fun, athletic activities that helped build confidence among some of our most amazing students. The Young Athletes Program Carnival had awesome students from our PACE campus, as well as our Birch Student Council members, to assist these grand athletes in their activities. All participants received recognition by receiving ribbons and a warm round of applause.

Our Birch young ladies had the pleasure of dancing the evening away with the special guy in their life during the annual My Guy and Me Dance. Students enjoyed dancing, snacks, photo sessions, and beautiful decorations. A huge thank you to a Shot in the Dark photo booth, balloon arch artist Sarah Gillette, and our Birch PTA for giving our girls the gift of a lifetime.

Our Early Education class recently enjoyed carnival games as part of the Young Athletes Program. Each participant was awarded a ribbon for participation. Many smiles filled the room. Students also participated in the 100th day of school celebration. They explored 100 cubes, made headbands, and placed stickers on paper to represent the quantity.

Mrs. Crockett's students were so excited to get to go to the Longview Animal Care Adoption Center to read to all the doggies and kitties. We also celebrated the 100 days of school. School is so much fun!

Celebrating Mrs. Ellison!

Dr. Seuss Week

February 26 - Mismatched socks

February 27 - Wear a shirt with a number on it

February 28 - Wear a shirt you can read

February 29 - Wear a shirt with an animal print or an animal on it

March 1 - Dress up like your favorite Dr. Seuss Character

February 26

Tom's Fun Band Music Program Auditorium 9:00-9:45 and 10:30-11:15

February 28

Pirate of the Month announced - 2:15 pm in the front office

March 1

Kona Ice

March 4

Animal Shelter Day

Pruitt, Young, Horne - 9:30-11:30

Hall, Thompson, Hill - 11:30-2:30

March 7

Kinder One Book Celebration - Students may wear dinosaur clothing.

March 8

Walk-a-Thon - Meet us at the auxiliary stadium from 9:00 am -10:30 am

Counselor Appreciation Week - Celebrating Mrs. Shelton

Here at The Pack we celebrated our amazing counselor, Mrs. Shelton, during Counselor Appreciation Week. Everyone here showed her how much we appreciate everything she does for us.

Not only does she make sure all of our testing is on point, she is also behind the scenes helping out with fun and little things for everyone on campus to enjoy. She is definitely all in when

it comes to the students and staff here at Parkway. We love you, Mrs. Shelton!

Ms. Teter, Mrs. Maricle, Mrs. Petersen and Mrs. Richardson’s classes have had special guests come visit every Thursday in February during their PE time. Representatives from the East Texas Food Bank have shared with our students information about nutrition and eating healthy. They have also brought fun games to play and teach our students about the five different food groups.

During week 1, our students had to guess what fruit or vegetable they were feeling behind the “microwave”. At the end of the four weeks, students will have a trivia day on everything they have learned. It is such a joy seeing our pack learn about making healthy choices and creating a healthy lifestyle.

Our PTJH UIL Math/Science team competed on Saturday, February 17th at Pine Tree Junior High. We are so proud of their hard work and effort!

Our Pirates finished the competition with the highest team score all year and were about 150 points from the state score last year. PT scored 4,156 points to beat rival Hallsville who scored 3,965 points.

Thirty students qualified by Texas Math and Science Coaches Association (TMSCA) standards and are eligible for state with two qualifying meets to go! Way to go, sponsor Mrs. Avery Morrill, and her students!

On Thursday, February 9th, PTISD’s very own Melanie Ferguson, Director of Human Resources, spoke to Mrs. White’s Project Success classes. Students learned about employee benefits and tax forms that they will need to complete once they apply for employment.

Students had the opportunity to ask interesting questions about getting hired for jobs and the employment process. Our students learned a great deal and enjoyed having her in class! Thank you, Mrs. Ferguson!

Annaleigh H. and Joey W.'s voices were part of a recent Muse Magazine article which highlighted Mrs. Brantley teaches students how to use AI (artificial intelligence) through the Learnwithmundo program. Mrs. Brantley’s classes have been working with AI tools this school year with students learning to integrate useful and safe AI into their daily lives.

In this newsletter we would like to introduce and congratulate our Pirate of the Month for January, Ocie Samuels. Ocie came to ExCEL during the 2022-2023 school year because he had fallen behind on his credits. Through his friends he heard he could catch up on credits if he transferred to ExCEL. He admits that he didn't like the program at first because it involved looking at a computer screen the majority of the day. However, knowing the ExCEL program was going to get him where he needed to be, he stuck it out. In time, he learned to appreciate being able to see his progress in Edgenuity in "real time" and it motivated him knowing he was being successful.

Ocie is determined to graduate and puts forth the work. Ocie is encourages his classmates to work hard and complete their classes. In his spare time, Ocie enjoys four wheel riding and working on cars. He also enjoys spending time with his grandmother. How sweet is that!

His dad inspires him to be his best self. He is impressed by the fact that his dad has been at the same company for over 20 years. He admires his dad's dedication. He also values loyalty in people and doesn't believe anything should be done under false pretenses. When he graduates, he would like to obtain his CDL license and work in the oil field for ProFrac. With his values and hard work, we expect great things from Ocie in the future.