District in Pictures

Congratulations to the March Teacher Spotlight Award winner, Cheryl Nix. This monthly award is sponsored by First Bank and News Channel 6 KAUZ and recognizes a teacher who goes above and beyond in the classroom. Mrs. Nix teaches science at McNiel Middle School. Thank you to our PIE partners River Bend Nature Center, Star Brite Cleaners, Frank & Joe's Coffee House and Market Street United for providing gifts to our monthly winners!

Today, students and staff at Scotland Park Elementary adorned themselves in vibrant tourist attire, eagerly anticipating the arrival of Spring Break with a cheerful "Aloha!"

On Monday, March 4 Rider High School showed their appreciation on Maintenance Worker Appreciation Day! Enoc Rodriguez, Rider's on-campus maintenance worker, received some sweet treats for consistently demonstrating exceptional helpfulness and reliability whenever assistance is needed at Rider!

The Big Brothers Big Sisters Program continues to be a success at Sheppard Elementary. The adults spend time with students every other Friday and students look forward to this. They bring the students lunch and hangout and do activities with them. "They are truly a blessing to the students," said Sheppard principal, Cindy Waddell.

Scotland Park Elementary art teacher, Christina Scruggs, is putting her own fun spin on the March Madness Tournament. She chose 16 different Art pieces by different artists for her classes to vote on each day. The winner each day will move on to the next bracket. By the end of the tournament she will have a school wide winning ART piece!

Last Saturday, the talented artists from Rider High School showcased their exceptional skills at the Regional VASE (Visual Art Scholastic) Event hosted at MSU. For the first time, all of Rider's Art 2, 3, and 4 students clinched gold medals. Five pieces have been chosen to advance to the State Event. Congratulations to Abbie Preston, Tobey Mayfield, Jolie Felix (both pieces advanced), and Alexis Bartberger for this achievement.

Fowler Elementary had the say goodbye to Ms. Aubrey Salazar today as her first clinical teaching rotation comes to an end. Ms. Salazar brought a dress for all of her kindergarten students to sign. She plans to wear that dress on graduation day when she walks the stage at Midwestern State University. Fowler Elementary will miss you, Ms. Salazar!

Fifth graders were treated to a "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" time at the Wichita Theatre this week. Thanks to sponsor Mr. Steve Burleson, the students attended the school performance of "Mary Poppins" and got to experience musical live theatre!

Who says work can't be fun?! This week, Records Management Specialist Kathy Harmon brought an inflatable dinosaur costume to work as a joke for her boss, Logistics Coordinator Shannon Troester.

"I wore it a few minutes before he was ready for a turn," said Ms. Harmon. "He's the best boss EVER!! I love that he goes along with our shenanigans!"

Congratulations to West Foundation student, Jax Edmiston! Jax won first place in the 2024 Youth Recycled Art Contest. Thank you, Texoma Community Credit Union and West Foundation art teacher Mrs. Norton, for providing this opportunity for Jax!!!

Recently, 3rd grade TAG students began a new unit studying Oceans. They learned amazing facts about this special ecosystem, and took a closer look at coral reefs. Students then created a 3D coral reef using recycled materials. “There are multiple types of intelligence, and we love giving our students the opportunity to stretch their thinking in new ways,” said Alison Colemere, Gifted & Talented teacher. “This activity allows students to practice creativity and spatial reasoning, while simultaneously learning more deeply about a topic.”

Students in Jessica Hughes' ECSE 3s class at Cunningham Elementary learned all about plants this week in preparation for spring. They explored seeds, soil, roots, and planted their own ivy clippings to take home. The ivy clippings came from a 28-year-old plant belonging to Ms. Hughes' grandmother.

The five first grade teachers at Scotland Park Elementary - Krista Ferguson, Kacey Pringle, Eve Haynes, Taysha Matos, and Stacie Watson - created a March Madness Tournament of Books to help encourage a fun way of reading new books. The tournament is modeled after the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament. Everyday the teachers will read two books and have their class vote on their favorite to move on. By the end of the tournament on April 8, each class will have crowned a winner!

This week, Burgess first graders celebrated a big achievement! Students answered 100,000 questions on IXL. For every 20,000 questions students earned a MaPS party that included marshmallows, M&M's and a popcorn snack!

Kirby 8th grade social studies students played the Anomia review game this week as they prepare to take their STAAR exam in April. According to social studies curriculum specialist Larry Ludtke, students became very competitive during the game and laughed a lot as the students tried to find words to say!

Fourth grade TAG students recently began a new unit on Aviation. Students are learning about thrust, drag, lift, and propulsion. They investigated the movement of planes, helicopters, parachutes, and even animals that fly! They applied their learning to create rubber-band helicopters, parachutes, and origami birds. Even one of our TAG bus drivers, Bob Newlun, joined in on the fun!

This week, students at Burgess Elementary celebrated Wack Wednesday by dressing wacky. Of course, Burgess principal Tristan Browne dressed in his wackiest outfit. One second grade student drew a portrait of Mr. Browne in his wacky clothes and gifted him with the picture!

This week, the Scotland Park student council, along with Wichita Falls Rotary Club North, participated in a mobile food pantry sponsored by the Wichita Falls Area Food Bank. The event was held at Blue Sky Storage on Jacksboro Highway. In all, the students distributed food to 230 families!

On Monday evening, Memorial High School held their second "Meet the Coaches" event at the Career Education Center. Future Mavericks and their parents had the opportunity to learn more about each head coach and then attend more detailed sessions that were specific to their sport.

District in Pictures is a weekly publication developed by the WFISD Community Relations department. If you have events, recognitions or classroom activities taking place on your campus that you would like us to feature, please let us know by completing the form at the following link: www.wfisd.net/dip. We would love to include you in our weekly district news.