The Laredo Independent School District Tax Office will be accepting applications for a place on the 2010 LISD Board of Trustees general election ballot. The first day to file for a place on the ballot is Monday, July 26. The deadline to file for a place on the ballot is Tuesday, August 24, at 5:00 pm.

 Residents of the district may file in person at the LISD Tax Office during regular business hours from 8:00 a.m., to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Residents can also mail their applications to the Tax Office at 904 Juarez Laredo, TX. 78040.

 The district will be holding elections for Trustees in Districts Three, Five, and Six. The election date is Tuesday, November 2.

Additional information is available on the LISD website www.laredoisd.org

For more information please contact Rodolfo Sanchez, LISD Director of Tax Collections/Elections Officer at 795-3300.

Courtesy Roberto Treviño,

 Governor Rick Perry earlier this month appointed Diana Juarez, LISD Director of Staff Development, to the Communities in School State Advisory Committee (CISSAC). The nine-member State Advisory Committee, appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House, works closely with the Texas Education Agency and the CIS State Office to help provide guidance and support the implementation and growth of the program statewide.

The Governor and the Lt. Governor made several appointments and reappointments to the CIS State Advisory Committee this month that will bring a great deal of knowledge and skills to the CISSAC.

“I want to congratulate Mrs. Diana Juarez on her appointment to the Communities in School State Advisory Committee,” said Dr. Marcus Nelson LISD superintendent. “She is truly deserving of this honor. Her commitment to LISD and public education is unquestionable.”

Juarez recently completed serving six years on the OneStar National Service Commission Board. She has been with LISD for 34 years. Juarez was previously Director of Elementary Education, Supervisor of Language Arts, principal at J.C. Martin Elementary, assistant principal at Macdonell Elementary, and a teacher at Zachry Elementary School. She received a BS in Elementary Education and a master’s degree in Administration.

Courtesy Maribel Valdez,

 Two LISD educators are the only Laredoans selected for the Raise Your Hand Texas Leadership Program at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts.  Myrtala Ramirez, who was just named LISD Director of Elementary Education, and Cynthia Conchas, principal of Macdonell Elementary School, will be attending the week-long program scheduled for July 15-22.

The 2010 Raise Your Hand Texas Leadership Program invites over 100 top public and charter school campus leaders to The Principals’ Center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education to participate in one of five Summer Institutes. Conchas and Ramirez will be attending sessions led by national and international experts in the fields of education and leadership.

In addition, the Harvard Leadership program requires principals to examine best practices, determine effective leadership qualities, and develop leadership capacity that they can use at their campuses.

 Ramirez, who was nominated by Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Linda Theret exclaimed, “I am particularly honored that I was selected to attend a high caliber training and that I will be receiving instruction by renowned professionals.  This is going to be an amazing opportunity to network and of course serve as professional development for me.” Ramirez received an all-expense scholarship that will cover tuition, lodging, air fare, and books.

 Conchas, who was also nominated by Theret, said she plans “on incorporating what I learn with my teachers and staff during staff developments this school year to ensure that our campus remains an exemplary one.

 After being nominated, the pair submitted a series of essays to the Raise your Hand Advisory Board.  Based on their response both Ramirez and Conchas were notified of their selection with a letter of acceptance.  In preparation for their trip to Harvard, they have begun working on their assignments and have also begun reading and researching required materials for their courses.

 Raise Your HAND Texas is a non-profit bipartisan advocacy group.  Its 25,000 members consist of business and community leaders, parents, and citizens with the focus of supporting the students and staff of the Texas public school system.

 The Harvard Graduate School of Education offers programs through its summer institute series in its Principal’s Center, which provides school leaders all over the world with professional training.

Breaking News! This just in to the newsroom! The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) has just added three outstanding Laredoans to the statewide Media Honor Roll.  Richard “Heatwave” Berler from KGNS-TV, Alma Ferrara from KLDO-TV, and Nick Georgiou from the Laredo Morning Times were named to the 2010 Media Honor Roll by the Laredo Independent School District.  The honorees were thanked for their commitment to the district and presented with a plaque during Monday’s LISD board meeting.

This year the Media Honor Roll recognizes media representatives from more than 450 Texas newspapers, radio and television stations, and online publications for being honored by their local school districts.

Berler is the chief meteorologist at KGNS-TV. He has been providing the local weather forecast with KGNS for 30 years.  “Heatwave” is the 18th person to be awarded the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist designation by the American Meteorological Society in 2005.  Berler is a frequent visitor to LISD campuses where he is invited to be a guest reader and presenter at Career Day events.

Ferrara is a news anchor, reporter, and assignments editor with KLDO-TV.  She has been part of the KLDO family since 1997.  Coming from a family involved with radio and television, Ferrara brings extensive experience to KLDO.  She was instrumental with this year’s first ever LISD “Coat them with Love” campaign.  She assisted the school district by organizing a day long coat drive at the KLDO studios.

Georgiou is a reporter for the Laredo Moring Times.  He has been assigned the educational beat covering not only LISD, but also other educational institutions in town.  Over the last two years, Georgiou has become a regular fixture at LISD board meetings.  His exceptional writing skills have kept the LISD community informed on important issues including the district’s accountability, curriculum, and student achievement.

Among the criteria for the district selection included the media representative’s efforts to get to know the superintendent, board president, and the districts mission and goals; report school news in a fair, accurate, and balanced manner; give a high profile to positive news about schools; visit the schools; and maintain a policy of no surprise by sharing information with school officials.

“These three outstanding individuals have been supporting our school districts mission and goals and reporting school news in a manner that is fair, accurate, and balanced,” said Dr. Marcus Nelson LISD superintendent.  “The Laredo Independent School District congratulates them for their accomplishments and thanks them for their commitment to making our school district a better one.”

 TASB is a nonprofit organization established in 1949 to serve local Texas school districts.  School board members are the largest group of publicity elected officials in the state.  The districts they represent serve more than 4.7 million public school students.

Courtesy Roberto Treviño,

            LISD Assistant Athletic Director Tommy Ramirez has been named head football coach/campus coordinator for athletics at J.W. Nixon High School.  LISD Superintendent Dr. Marcus Nelson made the announcement Thursday afternoon.

 Ramirez, a native of Zapata, had been serving as LISD’s Assistant Athletic Director since 2005.  He was named Nixon’s interim head football coach in mid-April.  He was previously a coach at United South High School and defensive coordinator at Nixon.   Ramirez was a member of the Zapata High School football, baseball, and track teams.  He graduated from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos in 1988 with a Bachelors degree in Agricultural Business, and a Masters degree in Educational Administration from Texas A&M International University in 2008. 

 “I would like to thank Laredo ISD for entrusting me with this great responsibility,” Ramirez said.  “I would also like to thank my family for providing me with the support and encouragement to proceed with this endeavor.”

“And I would like to assure Laredo ISD and the Nixon community that our teams, our staff, and myself will work tirelessly to continually improve the level of competition played at NHS,” he added. “Our goal is to compete for district championships on a yearly basis.” 

A search will begin immediately for the assistant athletic director position left vacant by Ramirez.  Dr. Nelson plans to make his recommendation during the July board meeting.

For more information, please call the LISD Office of Communications at 795-3295.

Courtesy Maribel Valdez,

What started out as a social studies lesson on municipal government ended up as a letter writing assignment to Mayor Raul Salinas. 

Fourth grade students in Tony Resendez class at J.C. Martin recently learned about communities and their local governing bodies.  The students were particularly interested in communicating the safety and security of a park located near their campus. The park is a popular site with neighborhood children who spend most of their summer days meeting and playing with friends. The students expressed their concerns in a letter to the City of Laredo Mayor Raul Salinas.

The students collectively discussed their concerns while one student acted as secretary writing down the student’s responses.  Students were alarmed with the amount of graffiti on the playground equipment and were distressed over finding syringes and other paraphernalia around the park. Some students even discussed being harassed and bullied by older kids hanging out at the park.

In addition, the class offered solutions to their concerns.  Ms. Resendez noted that every effort and concern should involve some level of problem solving.  Therefore, the students agreed that it would be necessary and only fair to provide solutions to the concerns for the mayor.

Some of the few solutions the children offered were simple.  “The park needs constant supervision from local law enforcement such as the police,” said Daniel Sanchez. Other students mentioned installing surveillance cameras to help catch criminals and the persons responsible for the graffiti and drugs.

Resendez, who has been an educator for five years, was amazed that these students were the first of her many classes to come up with a creative way to voice their concerns through writing. “Becoming problem solvers is what I instill in my students, I am extremely proud of their strong initiative to empower themselves to help find ways of keeping their community safe,” said Resendez.

With the help of their teacher, the students edited the letter and mailed to Mayor Salinas on June 10.  The Mayor is scheduled to visit with the students on Thursday, June 24, to continue discussing their concerns.

With school out for the summer, staying off the streets and keeping out of trouble is a challenging task for any student. Over at Martin High School, the coaching staff is assisting in that challenge by helping develop positive role models through the “Tiger Pride” Strength and Conditioning Workout Camp.

The Tiger Pride Camp is geared for the entire student body of Martin High, Christen Middle, and Memorial Middle Schools. The goal of the camp is to produce positive attitudes in young men and women while promoting a healthy lifestyle and specifically targeting the strength and conditioning of the student-athletes.

During the camp, a majority of the workouts are fitness or athletic oriented. The students are being put through a variety of physical activities including warm-ups, agility and speed, upper body, and fitness testing. The strength and conditioning sessions offer bench press, barbell curls, squats, and lunge workouts for the student-athlete.

“The voluntary workouts have been great. I’m getting stronger and in better shape for next season,” said Bo Thorpe, Martin High School Junior. “The workouts have helped me become disciplined on and off the field. I now have a competitive attitude to positively contribute to my team, my community, and to become a positive role model for other students.”

“Our students are developing a mental toughness through their participation in the Strength and Conditioning Workouts,” said Jesus Tobias, Martin High School freshman coach. “They can take that mental toughness back to the classroom and focus on their academic studies all while becoming productive members of the community.”

According to Tobias, Coach Don Davis and the entire staff are instilling a sense of “Tiger Pride” and “Restoring the Roar” at Martin High. “We want our students to face their obstacles and challenges head-on while always striving to be positive role models,” added Tobias.

Workouts are held at the East Martin practice field from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and will continue through July 29. The weight room is open for use Mondays – Thursdays mornings from 8:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. for those students unable to attend the evening sessions. The strength and conditioning workouts are offered free of charge.

 For more information please contact the Office of Communication at 795-3295.

 As summertime hits Laredo, most schoolchildren are sleeping- in, but not Alexis Carrillo, a third grade student at Farias Elementary School. She starts her mornings with 30 minutes of intense power walking and jogging exercises followed by 30 minutes of vigorous non-elimination games. Just about every morning, you can see Alexis and her 25 classmates pumping their arms and kicking their legs to a healthier lifestyle.

 As part of the new health and wellness initiatives, the Laredo Independent School District has started the Health and Wellness Summer Camp incorporating the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) Kids Club nutrition manual and activity box.

 The CATCH Kid’s Club is a curriculum specifically designed for summer enrichment programs that teach children the nutrition knowledge, skills, and self-reliance that empowers them to make healthy dietary and physical activity choices. The Kids Club is composed of nutrition education materials (including snack activities) and a physical activity component.

 “The purpose of this camp is to provide students with an opportunity outside of the “regular school year” to participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity and nutrition education,” stated Cordy Rodriguez, LISD Coordinate School Health Specialist for Curriculum and Instruction. “With the overweight/obese rate at L.I.S.D being approximately 41.9 %, we feel it is vital to encourage families and communities in promoting the well-being of young people.”

 During the 15 day camp, over 400 students at all LISD elementary campuses will utilize the CATCH Kids Club nutrition manual and activity box. The children participate in nutrition sessions that include children stories, rhymes, games, songs, and healthy snack recipes. Nutritional facts and food label information are also part of the nutritional sessions. The kids also learn about nutrition and healthy lifestyles through fun vigorous non-elimination games.

 “I chose to come to camp and I love it,” said Carrillo. “We get to exercise and learn about foods that are healthy and those that are not healthy for you. I have more energy and have even lost a little bit of weight.”

 According to Rodriguez the program is geared toward second grade students who will be entering the third grade, typically about eight years of age. The district decided on this group of students because an increase in weight gain was identified between the first and third grade years of schooling. Because weight gain is evident in these very important young years, targeting this age group with additional physical and nutrition education would be beneficial in assisting them to make healthier lifestyle choices.

 At the majority of the campuses, the program is run by the district’s physical education staff. Since they are already familiar with the CATCH curriculum and because physical education is their expertise, physical educators were selected for this specific camp since it is a first time initiative.

“I think the camp is great,” said Adriana Dovalina, Farias Elementary Physical Education Instructor. “We may not see it in the numbers, but I know the kids have worked out like they have never worked out before. We want our students to learn the importance of healthy living, enable them to make healthy choices, and motivate them so that they may help themselves and others establish healthy behaviors designed to last their lifetime.”

Once again this summer, the Laredo Independent School District will sponsor the free Summer Food Service Program.  Laredo ISD Summer Food Service Program in conjunction with city and community agencies will provide free meal service to all children 18 and younger starting June 2, through August 13.

The LISD Child Nutrition Program will be serving free meals including breakfast, lunch, snacks, and supper at 61 meal sites including 28 LISD campuses, city recreation centers, libraries, housing centers, churches, and other community sites throughout the city.

All LISD campuses are open feeding sites for youngsters from the surrounding neighborhood.  Meals at the campuses will be provided Monday through Thursday.  Kitchens will be open on Fridays at Martin, Nixon, and Cigarroa High Schools in order to provide meals to the community sites.  Meals at the community sites will be provided Monday through Friday.  To participate, just show up. You don’t need to register or get a meal ticket and no identification is required.

The Summer Nutrition Program is offered statewide by local sponsors who operate sites where children up to 18 years-old can get meals at no charge.  The service is open to all children, regardless of income.  People who are over age 18 and enrolled in school programs for people with disabilities also can receive meals at no charge.  The sites are located in areas where more than 50 percent of the children are eligible for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program.

More than 2,000 summer food meal sites across Texas are expected to be in operation.  Many of the sites will offer recreational activities for children as well as meals at no charge.

According to Margaret Lopez, LISD Child Nutrition Director, last summer the Child Nutrition Department served 72,622 breakfasts, 166,190 lunches, 39,455 afternoon snacks, and 949 suppers for a grand total of 279,164 meals.

 Meal site are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information on Summer Food Program meal sites and hours of operation call 2-1-1 or visit the LISD website at www.lisd.org. For more details on the Summer Food Program visit www.summerfood.org.

Courtesy Roberto Treviño,

 Hundreds of miniature U.S. flags are waving in the breeze at both local cemeteries.  The flags were placed on veteran’s gravesites for Memorial Day by LISD Army JROTC cadets.  The students assisted local veterans from the American Legion Post 59 place U.S. flags on the gravesites of veterans at the City Cemetery in preparation for Memorial Day ceremonies.  Early Sunday morning, the cadets from Martin, Nixon, and Cigarroa High School placed more than 1,000 U.S. flags on the gravesites of local veterans.

The cadets also placed another 1,000 U.S. flags today.  The American Legion Post 59 along with other veteran organizations place U.S. flags annual on all veterans’ gravesites at both cemeteries.

“LISD Army JROTC cadets who are out of school for the summer volunteered to go help place American flags in memory of our heroes on this Memorial Day 2010,” said MSG. Adolfo Gonzalez, Martin High JROTC Instructor.  “The cadets not only got a history lesson, they got a sense of pride assisting our veterans.”