Connect with Katie WEEKLY NEWS AND INFORMATION FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT
NOVEMBER 18, 2022
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The Lovejoy ISD Community Partner Program offers local businesses the opportunity to connect directly with the Lovejoy Community through advertisements in Lovejoy's weekly district newsletter, Connect with Katie. Community Partner Advertising Advantage Connect with Katie Digital Newsletter is emailed to 7000+ local Lovejoy parents, community members, employees, and alumni every week 2022-2023 Prorated Advertising Rates Full, half, and quarter page color advertisements Your business logo displayed on the Lovejoy ISD Community Partner website Community Partner Digital Badge for your business website and social media For Community Partner program details, examples, and pricing information email: Kim Steiner, Coordinator of Communications, at kimberly_steiner@lovejoyisd.net.
Table of Contents 04
Superintendent's Message
05
District Highlights
13
District Calendar
14
Student Activities & Recognitions
26
Staff Recognitions
28
Staff Spotlight
29
Board of Trustees
30
Leopard Life: Lovejoy Links
32
Leopard Life: Community News
33
Featured Job Openings
34
Health and Safety
SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE Lovejoy Community, This Thanksgiving, I am deeply grateful for the people who make Lovejoy ISD a uniquely special place. Our students, teachers, staff, and parents make relationships a priority and create an unparalleled sense of community and connection. A very special Lovejoy ISD tradition is the Lovejoy Letter Campaign. Appreciation notes are written by students, parents, and the community to each teacher and staff member across the district. Our PTO invests a remarkable amount of time into facilitating this effort. It is difficult to adequately express what it means to receive an envelope filled with these special notes of gratitude. Ms. McClintick, Sloan Creek Intermediate School Teacher, does a beautiful job of capturing the impact of this tradition and what it means to be part of our Lovejoy culture.
Wishing each of you and your family a Thanksgiving filled with much love and joy. There is only ONE LOVEJOY and we are ALL LEOPARDS! Katie Kordel Superintendent
DISTRICT HIGHLIGHTS Capital Planning Committee Applications Lovejoy ISD’s Capital Planning Committee is an advisory stakeholder committee formed by the Board of Trustees and District leadership. The purpose of the Capital Planning Committee is to assess and make recommendations related to short and long-range capital needs. This could include items such as facilities, fleet, technology, furniture, fixtures, and equipment, etc. The Capital Planning Committee will kick off this year, with meetings on the following dates, from 4-6pm:
The applications link is provided below. Please reach out to Ceci Poe at cecilia_poe@lovejoyisd.net with any questions.
CAPITAL PLANNING COMMITTEE APPLICATION LINK
Community Coffee Talks Lovejoy ISD invites parents to attend an upcoming Community Coffee Talk to connect with Superintendent Katie Kordel and members of the Lovejoy ISD Board of Trustees. Parents and Community Members are encouraged to attend a meeting at any location. A variety of dates and times, including a lunch time and evening meeting, have been scheduled to provide choice and accommodate busy schedules. Coffee Talk Goals 1. Listen: We want to hear from you 2. Share: Discuss how we will go about budgetary decisions for the 2023-2024 school year 3. Open Dialogue: Give our community the opportunity to have open discussion with Lovejoy ISD Leadership Coffee Talk Dates, Times, and Locations Tuesday, November 29 8:30 am-9:30 am Hart Elementary School, Leopard Lair Tuesday, November 29 7:00 pm-8:00 pm Puster Elementary School, Cafeteria Wednesday, November 30 8:30 am-9:30 am Willow Springs Middle Spring, Band Hall Wednesday, November 30 12:30 pm-1:30 pm Sloan Creek Intermediate School, Library
Community Coffee Talk - November 15
Giving Thanks Across Lovejoy
P P A Y H
This week our Lovejoy students learned about Thanksgiving both through instruction, observation, and action. Students, parents, staff, TO OUR LOVEJOY COMMUNITY and our community came together FOR YOU WE ARE GRATEFUL to show one another how genuinely grateful and appreciative we are to be part of such a special educational community. Thank you students, staff, and parents for making this a truly special week!
HART
This week our Kindergarteners have been learning all about Thanksgiving! We kicked off our week with our turkeys hiding in plain sight and reading the Thanksgiving Story. Kinders participated in making the Thanksgiving Story Mix, as well as creating bead bracelets with each bead representing a different part of the story. Students can now summarize the story by referencing the different beads on their bracelets!
PUSTER
Puster Elementary students have a lot to be grateful for... including, "Sushi!" An intentional focus on gratitude is something we can all be thankful for!
WILLOW SPRINGS
Willow Springs Middle School students lined up to write notes of gratitude to teachers! The Gratitude Pages were delivered to teachers today!
LOVEJOY LETTER CAMPAIGN
Fine Arts Festival The 2022 Lovejoy Fine Arts Festival will open its doors over the weekend of December 2nd and 3rd, 2022. We are looking forward to seeing familiar faces, and many new ones, as you spend time touring our art galleries or catching an amazing performance. The Lovejoy Fine Arts Festival features over 3000 pieces of visual art from grades kindergarten through high school, and roughly 32 performances from our bands, choirs, cheerleaders, color guard, dancers and theatre students. It is an outstanding celebration of our arts from every campus for the community in Lovejoy. Please check out the Lovejoy Fine Arts website, www.lovejoyfinearts.org, to keep up with the schedules and any changes. A final fine arts schedule of events and activities will be posted on Monday, November 28, 2022. Our parent community is needed to help support the festival, we have a list of goods that can be donated for our bake sale and luncheon, as well as plenty of areas in which to volunteer your time. LHS students will receive a link to volunteer the week of the Festival, but parents can start choosing where they would like to help now. Please check out the links for donated goods and adult volunteers. Donations Volunteers We look forward to seeing everyone in December for the 2022 Lovejoy Fine Arts Festival!
DISTRICT CALENDAR November 2022 November 18
Substitute Professional Day
November 21-25
November 28
Board of Trustees Meeting - LCDC Library Closed Session @ 6:00PM in D100 Open Session is expected to begin at approximately 7:00PM
November 29
Community Coffee Talks 8:30AM Hart Elementary Leopard Lair 7:00PM Puster Elementary Cafeteria
November 30
Community Coffee Talks 8:30AM Willow Springs Band Hall 12:30PM Sloan Creek Library
Student Calendar Link
Athletics Calendar Link
District & Campus Calendars Link Campus, District, and Athletics Calendars are linked above for the convenience of our community. *Please note event dates, times and locations are subject to change and should be verified by participants.
STUDENT ACTIVITIES & RECOGNITIONS LHS Aerospace Field Trip LHS Aerospace Engineering students attended a field trip to Southwest Airlines Training Facility in Dallas. Students got to learn about the training pilots and flight attendants go through for Southwest and how to join the Destination 225 program which eventually allows students to join the Southwest family. Strategic Target 5.1 of the LOVEJOY 2030 Strategic Plan is providing a world-class college and career preparation program to allow all students to learn, grow, and prepare for the career, vocation and/or education of their choosing. The aerospace field trip in direct alignment with this priority. Thank you Ms. Gaddie and Southwest Airlines for facilitating this incredible experience for our students!
LHS Cyber Team & Field Trip On Tuesday the LHS Cyber Team visited Critical Start, a Cyber Security Company specializing in protecting clients and client resources from Cyber attacks. Students toured their facility including the "war room" where threats are detected and managed by company Cyber experts. After the tour, students were given an ethical hacking lesson on a pretend server where a backdoor had been left open for exploitation. Students had to use their resources to find and change a port number using various commands such as ping, ssh, and nmap among other commands. Thank you Ms. Ford for arranging this opportunity for students to engage with a local business and gain real-world career path exposure! Lovejoy learning takes place both inside and outside the classroom.
A Cappella at the State Board of Education This morning, the LHS A Cappella Choir sang at the opening of the State Board of Education (SBOE) meeting in Austin, TX. They performed absolutely beautifully. A special thank you to Pam Little, SBOE Member, for generously sponsoring this opportunity. Ms. Little stated that this was the most impressive performance they have had at a SBOE meeting. We are also grateful to State Representative Candy Noble for providing a VIP tour at the Texas State Capitol building. Mayor Lessner and Larry Little, Fairview Town Council, attended the SBOE meeting to support Lovejoy.
Boys Basketball
After a record setting year in the 21-22 campaign the boys basketball team is ranked #18 in the preseason state polls and #9 in the Dallas Morning News rankings. The Leopards have started the year off 2-0 after a 67-40 win over Lebanon Trail and a 46-23 win over Mesquite Poteet. In the win over Lebanon Trail, senior forwards Karson Templin and Will McLaughlin led the way with 30 points and 12 points respectively while Templin paced the win over Poteet with 13 while Jackson Wood and Parker Patel chipped in with 8 points. Great start hoopers! The JV and Freshman also took home wins over Lebanon Trail and Poteet to push their record to 2-0.
300 This week's victory marked Coach Herrema's 300th career WIN! Please join us in congratulating him on his impact and achievement!
Varsity Area Championship Game Saturday! This past Friday, the Lovejoy Leopards competed in the Bi-District Championship round of the playoffs against Whitehouse High School. The Leopards came out on top after a close battle, winning 38-34. Lovejoy will next face South Oak Cliff High School in the Area Championship on Saturday, November 19th. South Oak Cliff is the defending 5A-Div. II State Champions, having defeated Lovejoy in last year’s Regional Championship. With both teams being ranked in the top 10 in the state and the chance for a rematch of last year’s playoffs, This will be one of the most exciting matchups in the state of Texas this week. The Area Championship game will be held at Globe Life Field at 3:15pm. Lovejoy will be the home team and tickets can be purchased HERE. Please come out and support your Leopards!
LHS All Region Band & All State Jazz Please help us congratulate the following members for making the 9th grade All Region Band!! These students competed with all 5A and 6A programs in the entire region to earn a spot. They will perform with this "All-Star" band when we return from holiday break in January. If you see a student listed as an alternate, there is a strong chance they will be moved into the band after the high school region audition!! Audrey Oesterling, Flute Prateeksha Paulraj, Flute Lily Bednar, Flute, Alternate Marisela Alexander, Clarinet, Alternate Zayan Alam, Clarinet, Alternate Joshua Liu, Clarinet, Alternate Sarah Gable, Bass, Clarinet
Congratulations Davis Miller for earning a spot in the All State Jazz Ensemble! In the entire state of Texas, two Baritone Saxophone students are picked for All State and Davis is one of those two!! Davis will travel with other all state students from around the state to San Antonio in February to the Texas Music Educators Association and perform in concert with some of the best performers and clinicians from around the world.
Adam Kent, Trumpet Andrew Lamping, Trumpet Megan Lyons, Horn, First Chair! Cade George, Horn Nolan Hummel, Trombone Landon Matacale, Euphonium, Alternate Steven Chang ,Tuba, Alternate Max Rattleff, Percussion, First Chair!
Leopard Fishing Leopard Fishing had a great day on the water last weekend despite it being a cold one! Our Leopards placed 1st Overall Team weighing in over 30 lbs at Lake Ray Roberts. Congratulations to all our anglers that weighed in especially Izak Lenart and Grant Pursifull who placed 3rd and Grayson Cox and Carsten Dunn who placed 12th.
WSMS All Region Band The results of the Middle School All Region Band auditions are in and we would like to congratulate the following WSMS Band students on winning positions in the 2022-2023 All Region Band! Belinda Sloan, Flute, Concert Band Josh Atkinson, Clarinet, Symphonic Band Ian Marshall, Bass Clarinet, Wind Symphony, First Chair! Adnan Dohadwala, Bassoon, 3rd Alternate Anson Phan, Alto Sax, Wind Symphony Kavya Palani, Tenor Sax, 1st Alternate Shounak Guduguntla, Trumpet, Symphonic Band William Russell, Trumpet, 1st Alternate Michael Ball, Horn, Wind Symphony Rohana Rao, Horn, Concert Band Rachel Akinfolarin, Trombone, Symphonic Band Aaron Reynolds, 1st Alternate Chase Reagan, Euphonium, Symphonic Band Alex Ferinden, Euphonium, Concert Band Preston Quan, Tuba, Wind Symphony, First Chair! Liam Tran, Tuba, Concert Band Devin Goins, Percussion, Wind Symphony, First Chair! Merryn Berner, Percussion, Wind Symphony Gui Aguiar, Percussion, Wind Symphony Donovan Eyle, Percussion, Symphonic Band Emily James, Percussion, 1st Alternate
We are so proud of ALL of our students who auditioned. It requires a great amount of dedication, initiative and grit to persevere through the audition preparation and process. Thank you to all the students, parents and teachers who helped us to host this event. We truly appreciate you.
WSMS One Act Play The WSMS Production class competed at the Prosper ISD One Act Play (OAP) Middle School Festival hosted by Rock Hill High School on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. The OAP troupe performed the one act play, "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, adapted by Dwayne Hartford, from the book by Kate DiCamillo. WSMS earned several accolades including Natalia Martinez (Honorable Mention), Brooklynne Steeb (All-Star Cast) and Chayse Huhnke (Outstanding Technician).The play follows a story where Edward Tulane is an expensive toy rabbit made of china. He is loved by a little girl named Abilene, but Edward doesn’t care. He is vain and self-centered. He has no interest in anyone other than himself. On an ocean voyage, Edward is accidentally thrown overboard and sinks to the bottom of the sea. So begins his journey—a journey over which he has no control, for he is a toy rabbit. The WSMS OAP troupe would like to invite you to see this performance during the Fine Arts Festival in December. A performance schedule for this play will be available on November 28th, 2022. Congratulations to our WSMS theatre OAP troupe on their performance and contest!
WSMS Basketball & Cheer Middle school basketball and cheer season is under way!
WSMS Cross Country The WSMS teams won all 4 divisions in their meet on Tuesday. These kids have been working hard since September! The last meet will be on December 6th at Willow Springs at 4:15 PM. Come out and support these amazing Leopards!
WSMS Garden Blossoms with Surprise Volunteers #OneHeartOneLovejoy is a culture of shared community and service. Our Lovejoy High School students beautifully demonstrated this Core Value at the Willow Springs Garden work day last Saturday. Four surprise LHS student volunteers included Chris, the co-president of the Lovejoy Permaculture Club and Alex, who is also in the Permaculture Club. Serving because it’s needed, without even being asked, is the epitome of the Lovejoy Way!
Puster Kinders Service Project Last Saturday five Lovejoy families and their kinder students walked through the cold and muddy woods to help pick up trash. Our kindergarteners worked with servant hearts, followed by a little fun! After cleaning up, the kiddos were given buckets of huge acorns and asked to throw them into the woods as far as they could. The acorns might grow into beautiful trees or be eaten by squirrels and other animals. Throwing acorns was definitely a kinder favorite!
STAFF RECOGNITIONS National Substitute Educators Day! The past week Superintendent Katie Kordel and the Human Resources (HR) team visited each campus to show our appreciation for our LISD Guest Educators. We want to thank them for the important work that they do to support our teachers and students. It is with sincere gratitude and appreciation that we say THANK YOU!
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Katie Duncan: Finalist Presidential Award This morning, Kate Duncan, Puster Elementary 4th Grade Math Teacher, was honored at the State Board of Education meeting in Austin as a State Finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST). Presidential Awardees are expected to be announced in early 2023. We are remarkably proud of Ms. Duncan and the significant positive impact she has on her students. The PAEMST awards are the nation's highest honors for teachers of mathematics, science, computer science, engineering, technology applications, and math- or science-related career and technical education courses. Awardees serve as models for their colleagues, inspiration to their communities, and leaders in the improvement of mathematics and science education. Since 1983, more than 4,200 teachers have been recognized for their contributions in the classroom and to their ! profession.
STAFF SPOTLIGHT Kelly Cowan PK-12 Mathematics Curriculum Coordinator Professional Background 24th year in education. 7th year as Mathematics Coordinator 17 years in the classroom teaching Pre-Algebra and Algebra I Masters's degree from Lamar University Educational Leadership Bachelor's degree from the University of North Texas- Interdisciplinary Studies Personal Highlights: My husband Shane and I have been married for 21 years. Mom of two amazing kids. Grace graduated from Lovejoy High School and is attending Texas Tech University to become an Environmental Engineer. Ford is a 7th grader at Willow Springs. He runs cross country and plays the tuba but is most known for his impressive taxidermy collection. Roles and Responsibilities PK-12 Mathematics Coordinator Support teachers and campuses with curriculum and instructional strategies and resources. Develop and facilitate professional learning for staff that supports district initiatives. Work with teachers and administrators to disaggregate data to help determine the next steps in instruction. Collaboration, Connection, Community My personal mission is to inspire teachers and students to become accurate, efficient, and creative problem solvers through the study of mathematics while developing collaborative, positive relationships. I am truly honored to be a part of the Lovejoy community. Contact Information Email: kelly_cowan@lovejoyisd.net
Work Phone: 469.742.8046
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Dear Lovejoy Community, As a Board, we are committed to strong and proactive communication with our community. Part of this commitment is sending an email invitation to our community prior to Board Meetings with a sincere desire for you to be involved and fully aware, so we can come together as a community for our children. November 28, 2022 Board Meeting Public Notice You may find the full agenda with supporting documentation on our district's BoardBook Premier website HERE. Sincerely, The Lovejoy ISD Board of Trustees Barrett Owens, President Julie McLaughlin, Trustee Marvin Bobo, Trustee Amy Smith, Vice-President Jeff Wood, Trustee Jason Jaynes, Trustee Anne Smith, Secretary
Leopard Life
LOVEJOY LINKS
NEW! KINDER GIFTED & TALENTED
NEW! LHS GIRLS SOCCER TRYOUTS
NEW! READY, SET, TEACH FOOD DRIVE
NEW! LOVEJOY FINE ARTS FESTIVAL
Leopard Life
LOVEJOY LINKS
HOME RUN HEROS
GREEN TEEM CLOTHING DRIVE
LOVEJOY CHILDREN'S CHOIR NEW! CARD AND BOARD GAME CLUB
Leopard Life
COMMUNITY NEWS
The Lovejoy ISD Community News website is intended to facilitate connections and raise awareness of local events, activities, fundraisers and organizations that might interest Lovejoy families. The information featured on the Community News website is submitted by community members. Lovejoy ISD is not affiliated with the organizations and does not claim to endorse them. Check out the new Community News format!
PRESCHOOL TEACHER
FEATURED JOB OPENING
LOVEJOY ISD - LOVEJOY ISD - LOVEJOY ISD - LOVEJOY ISD - LOVEJ
APPLY HERE
HEALTH AND SAFETY
The Texas Department of State Health Services released new guidance for the 2022-2023 school year regarding Covid-19 and schools. Key Take Aways Students and/or staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 may return in 5 days if they have been fever and symptom free for 24 hours. (Change from 10 days for students) Students with a COVID-19 household member who has tested positive are no longer required to quarantine. The district will not maintain a local “dashboard”, reporting positive cases. The district is required to report positive cases to the state. A link will be provided on the website that reflects this information for the district. The health screener QR code will remain in place at each campus for volunteers and visitors to complete. Current Covid-19 Illness/Exclusion Protocols
Connect with Katie . November 18, 2022 . Issue 16