LISD Expect Excellence Newsletter

Hello Levelland Lobos!

It is the last week of the semester at Levelland ISD. You have done amazing things for your students and I hope you know how much you are appreciated and how special you are. I wish each of you a Merry Christmas and Blessings for the New Year.

Have a great week!

Go Lobos!

Expect Excellence

Becky McCutchen, Superintendent

Congratulations to LMS on their Academic UIL winnings! LMS 6th, 7th & 8th Graders won the Middle School Academic Meet. 5th Graders came in at 4th place in their competition. These students all worked outside the classroom to prepare and make themselves better students. We are proud of each of them. https://files.gabbart.com/459/lmsuilmeet24.mp4

LHS Band Director Michael Cason & Assistant Director Matthew Tolentino share that Lobo Band Members had great success on Saturday. Congratulations to these Lobo Band Members for making the ATSSB Region 16 Honor Band. They also advance to the area round of competition! We are so proud of your hard work! https://files.gabbart.com/456/honor_band__area_qualifiers_facebook_video.mp4

LHS Journalism Teacher Kelly Buckner #expectsexcellence and shares that the State UIL Journalism Department sponsored a practice UIL meet for Journalism. There were 100 entries in our 4A category from all over Texas. Mrs. Buckner is proud to announce that Ada Niederhauser placed in News Writing, Editorial Writing & Copy Editing, and Amor Gabaldon placed in Headline Writing. Congratulations to these girls on their success! We can't wait to see how you progress in the UIL competitions! We will be watching!

The ABC PK students in Mrs. Desiree Nock's class experienced a classroom transformation last Friday! They walked into a Candyland Game! Mrs. Nock thought out of the box and set her classroom up for review of all the alphabet letters and sounds, as well as numbers 1-10! Thank you Mrs. Nock for being so amazing every day!

This geometry and protractor lesson in Mrs. Linda Johnson's math class looks like it is advanced math! Mrs. Johnson #expectsexcellence and her 4th-grade students are learning geometry through movement, using their bodies as tools to visualize and understand the geometric principles already taught. Her students were also learning to measure angles with a protractor. Did you learn this in 4th-Grade? Thank you Mrs. Johnson, for always making the learning memorable so that students retain what they learn!

South Elementary third graders performed their Christmas Program last week. Under the Direction of Jennifer Turner, children sang classic Christmas Songs and one in Spanish. Students also took part in reading Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C Moore and playing jingle bells. They did a great job of bringing in the Christmas Season!

LHS NHS and YELL students both helped out Hockley County Public Assistance and LOVE Levelland through a Community Service Toy Drive this month. The Young Emerging Leaders of Levelland and the National Honor Society members really came through this season to brighten other children's Christmas. We are always proud of our students for making a difference, and we love our partnerships with local businesses! Thank you to the NHS Officers and the YELL Officers for delivering the toys last week!

ABC Littles performed all day long in Christmas Programs. Under the direction of Keaton Robin, students performed several songs, played jingle bells, and even sang a Spanish song! Also, notice the artwork all around the gym. ABC students made the artwork in Art Class with Mrs. Lyndi Nicholson to make their performance even more festive! Great job kiddos!

Juan and Raul Martinez from 55Buckets spoke to LHS Entrepreneurs in Mr. Russell HiIl's class. They started the 55Buckets Program in 2017 and built a gym in 2022. They have worked with many professional trainers, young kids, college athletes, and overseas pros to make their basketball skills better! But the lesson in Mr. Hill's class was how to build a company. There was discussions of trustworthiness, dedication, and passion that students learned always helps a business get off the ground. We appreciate Juan and Raul for coming to speak to and teach our LHS entrepreneurs.

LHS students in Mrs. Sandy Billington's Science Classes experienced a "sweet" science lab yesterday. Mrs. Billlington challenged students to prove what they had learned about each stage of the cell cycle. To prove their knowledge, students used Oreo cookies and candy sprinkles to resemble chromosomes in each phase of mitosis. This engaging activity certainly helped student learning to stick, and then they enjoyed eating their lab results when completed. Thanks, Mrs. Billington, for thinking outside the box!

Capitol Elementary hosted their annual GT Presentations today with Mrs. Pam Alexander and Mrs. Barbara Utley. Second graders studied and rewrote the book "The Greedy Triangle" by Marilyn Burns into their own screenplay production. Second graders learned geometric shapes, sides, angles in their environment while also applying their math knowledge and fine arts skills to come up with their costumes. They presented their play for the parent audience. Third-graders became entrepreneurs this semester and were challenged to create their own food truck, menus, and pricing. They each had a new understanding of marketing, consumer awareness & business models. They presented the different parts of their project to the third-grade class and parents attending. And they made us all hungry! They are ready to start their own business once they get that truck! Fourth-graders followed with their study of "I Am Texas." Fourth-graders discovered their ancestors' origins and then researched that country and its culture. Each child had a different country of origin from where their grandparents, or even great-great-grandparents, came from and presented that country in museum style to parents and adults. They ended their presentations by tasting food from their country. We thank Mrs. Alexander and Utley for all the work put into helping students learn above and beyond the classroom!
https://files.gabbart.com/462/giftedcapitol24.mp4

We must share this amazing story about our LISD Speech Pathologist, Brittany Richards. She went to Washington, DC with her husband Zack during the Thanksgiving Break to decorate the White House. What a great opportunity and story to tell. Mrs. Richards says, "In September, I took a leap of faith and applied for an extraordinary opportunity: the chance to decorate the White House for the holidays. In October, I received the thrilling news that my husband and I had been accepted as one of 200 volunteer decorators nationwide. The week of Thanksgiving, we traveled to Washington, D.C., to help transform the White House into a stunning celebration of 'A Season of Peace and Light.'" As part of the team tasked with decorating the front entry and foyer, Zack & I had the honor of creating a welcoming first impression for visitors. This included constructing and hanging over 2,000 white and gold doves, symbols of peace, that soared beautifully throughout the space. She worked hand-in-hand with the White House carpenter and curator to ensure every detail respected the integrity of this historic, accredited museum. Her contributions included decorating the iconic front entry trees, designing red floral arrangements, adorning garlands, and decorating the staircase leading to the president’s residence, while her husband did the heavy lifting and working on garlands. "It was surreal to collaborate with the White House staff, and we worked closely with the Secret Service as we brought this vision to life," she says. "This once-in-a-lifetime experience was humbling and inspiring. I’m incredibly grateful to have been part of this magical tradition and look forward to applying again next year to help continue this cherished holiday legacy." Oh Brittany, we hope you get to do it again! This is so fun! https://files.gabbart.com/455/washdcvideo.mp4

We are always excited to partner with The Chamber and Keep Levelland Beautiful! For several months each campus has been collecting Soda Tabs to give to the Ronald McDonald House so they can raise money to improve and build on to their housing for needy families in our area. Levelland ABC won the competition, bringing 85.79 pounds of soda tabs! ABC students are rewarded with an ice cream from Gandy's and United Supermarkets. LISD brought in a total of 209.64 pounds of tabs. Thank you to everyone who collected the tabs and brought them to your campus tubs. Thank you also to KLB, United & Gandys. We love the partnerships built with you.

Levelland ISD announces an early dismissal on Friday, December 20th. We hope you have a Merry Christmas! Be safe and we will see students again on January 7th, 2025!

LHS Volleyball Coach Whitney Gibson shares more great news about her Loboettes! Gibson says, "Volleyball season may be over, but our girls are still doing great things! Congratulations to Gabby Pesqueda and Addisen Campbell for earning Academic All-State in Volleyball this season! These girls have beauty and brains!" Coach Gibson, LHS, & LISD are so proud of these two girls for working hard on the court and in the classroom! Way to go girls! Add this to your success resume!

Email: rmccutchen@levellandisd.net
Website: www.levellandisd.net
Location: 704 11th Street, Levelland, TX
Phone: 806-894-9628
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LevellandISD/
Instagram: levellandindschooldistrict