SPS Staff and Families

 

It’s April, and there’s a dizzying amount of activities going on in our community, both in and out of our schools!

 

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I Love Stillwater - Festivals

 

There are a lot of unique festivals and activities that enhance the Stillwater experience – Boomer Blast, the Mid South, the Remember the 10 Run, and OSU Homecoming. Some of our best events are festivals like this week's Festival of the Arts and Red Dirt Film Festival. Then coming up in June is Dancing Turtle , celebrating a slew of arts through interactive activities. And in October, Lexicon, a collaborative comic convention between the city, library, Prairie Arts Center, Community Center and other organizations returns to Stillwater.

These events and others are great activities for families to attend. Exposure to the arts is great for children's brain development and mental health. Fun activities and the chance to buy out-of-the-ordinary things can liven up a weekend. Importantly,  these events bring guests through vendors, participants, and outside patrons to our town. The more successful they are, the more successful our local businesses, economy, and community will be. So invite some friends to town, take them out to dinner, and do some shopping at the festivals and our local businesses, or sign up to participate in the festivals yourself!

 

 

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Prom

I’ll save a few people the trouble of asking in the community Facebook group… Young people are dressed up on Saturday because it’s Prom. To our community, please keep an eye out for additional young drivers late in the evening and into the night. To our families, please remind your children that they can always call you to pick them up for any reason from any situation. To our students attending, please use your best judgment, have fun, and stay safe.

 

 

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Felicidades

On Thursday attended the 20th Anniversary celebration of the NOC/OSU Gateway program! Our very own Maritza Jireh Leon Cartagena was featured as the student success testimonial! When she first came to Stillwater, Maritza did not know how to speak English.  SPS ELL Coordinator Stephanie Coca worked every day with her on the language. Maritza graduated from SHS in 2015, entered NOC, and now works with ELL students at SHS and is a PhD student at OSU. Talk about Pioneer Proud!

 

 

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Difference Makers

March Difference Maker - Darin Williams. Nominated by a parent for making Guard a welcoming program for anyone who wants to participate, treating members with respect, and emphasizing  the importance of their responsibilities in the classroom. Under Darin's leadership the guard program has grown rapidly in both the color guard, which accompanies the  marching band, and winter guard which performs and competes on its own. SHS Winter Guard has grown so large it now has three teams and includes students from 8th to 12th grade. 

 

April Difference Maker - Tammye Rogers. Tammy  is an ASL interpreter for one of our hearing impaired teachers. Tammye is basically a co-teacher in the classroom and serves at the teacher's side all day long. She provides a needed service and does so with a positive attitude at all times.! Tammye is truly an asset to our staff and students. 

 

Thank you both for your dedication and exceptional work, Darin and Tammy, and congratulations!

 

 

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Expertise Recognized

It’s great to see the good thing our educators do going recognized throughout the state. Recently, SPS Substance Abuse Counselor Rachel Roberts, LPC-S, was selected to present at the Oklahoma Drug and Alcohol Professional Counselor Association or (ODAPCA) 5th Annual Spring Conference; Beyond All Limits. The conference was April 11-12 in Norman. Her breakout session was called "Substance Abuse and Our Youth: From a School Substance Abuse Counselors Insight".  The session included information on youth drug trends, state data, resources for schools, and warning signs. Rachel has done great things here, and we’re happy she can help other schools battle substance abuse as well.

 

 

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Career Day

Shoutout to Skyline Cub and Miss Oklahoma Ambassador Kansas Houle. She visited the Capital today to increase child abuse awareness. This Cub has a heart for philanthropy and advocacy! In addition to speaking at state level, she'll go to nationals in July to further educate about child abuse awareness.

 

 

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Child Advocacy from a Child

Shoutout to Skyline Cub and Miss Oklahoma Ambassador Kansas Houle. She visited the Capital today to increase child abuse awareness. This Cub has a heart for philanthropy and advocacy! In addition to speaking at state level, she'll go to nationals in July to further educate about child abuse awareness.

 

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Board Update

At the April Board meeting, Gay Washington was sworn in as a Board Member. As is standard procedure following the annual election, the board selected a president, now Marshall Baker, and a vice president, now Tim Riley. Additionally,  my new assistant Tawni Hooten, who will replace Annette Jones when she retires this summer, began shadowing Annette to prepare for her role as clerk for the Board.

 

 

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Pioneer Proud

• Congrats to Girls Tennis on claiming the COAC Championship!

• Congrats to FFA on 3 first place finishes at the regional speech contest and Quiz Bowl being named Area Champions!

• SHS Band had great performances at the Heritage Music Festival in Chicago! They received Gold ratings (the highest rating available), Outstanding Band (best band of the contest), and the Adjudicators Award (outstanding ensemble of the contest).
  

• SHS Lady Pioneer Track won the Claremore Zebra Invitational Friday April 12, with 108 points. The following athletes were medalists and placers at the meet.

  • 100M Sarah Wulfert 2nd  & Mwende Abai 4th 

  • 200M Carsyn Farley 6th

  • 400M Scout Weichbrodt 2nd & Emaja Anderson 3rd

  • 800M Zoey Phillips 4th & Bella Martin 5th

  • 1600M Bella Martin 8th

  • 100M  Hurdles Amara Rogers 3rd & Kalie Allison 8th

  • 300M Hurdles Amara Rogers 3rd

  • 4x100M Relay 1st Scout Weichbrodt, Mwende Abai, Emaja Anderson & Sarah Wulfert

  • 4x200m Relay 1st Carsyn Farley, Mwende Abai, Emaja Anderson and Sarah Wulfert

  • Shot Put Calle Cox 2nd and Alyssa Thomas 7th

  • Discus Caeli Schafer 4th and Madalyn Borderging 5th

  • High Jump Raegan Bell 2nd

  • Pole Vault Olive Price 7th

• All 6th grade SHS Band ensembles received Superior Ratings at the April 6th competition!

• SJHS students competed in the annual Interscholastic Academic Contest recently against many schools from around our region. Every student that placed in the top 5 are now qualified to attend the State High School Tournament of Champions in early May.

  • Algebra I 

    • 1st Ashley Knight 

  • Algebra II 

    • 1st Jason Goa

    • 4th Audrey Zhang

  • Art

    • 5th April Qiao

  • English I 

    • 1st Moustafa Soliman

    • 3rd Emmy Xiang

  • Math Analysis (pre-calc)

    • 1st Joshua Li

    • 2nd Jiaze Gao Stillwater

  • Oklahoma History 

    • 1st Noah Taylor

    • 3rd Barbara Laxton

  • Physical Science

    • 1st Barbara Laxton

    • 5th Elina Ji

  • Plane Geometry

    • 2nd Elina Ji  

    • 3rd Olivia Lao-Alvarada  

  • PowerPoint

    • 2nd Corinne Savage 

  • Spanish I

    • 2nd Amalia Alderman

    • 4th Emma Pittman

  • Spanish II

    • 2nd Noah Taylor

    • 3rd Emmy Xiang

  • Trigonometry 

    • 1st Joshua Li Stillwater

  • Word 

    • 1st Laura Bennett

    • 5th Xoey Crichton

 

• SHS Spanish 4 students paired up with the Spanish Department at OSU to collaborate on some literary materials this semester. They each recently received awards for Spanish writing they submitted to a university-level competition. 

 

 

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Don’t Miss - www.stillwaterschools.com/calendar 

• Loads of Soccer, Golf, Baseball, Track, Tennis activities the rest of the month.

• 4.25-28 - Matilda (Band’s BBQ, Bids, & Broadway fundraiser on opening night)- Tickets

• 5.2-10 - SHS Art Show at Modella. Opening Reception 5.2 @ 4-6pm

• 5.2 - Multicultural Night - 5-7pm, SHS Student Center

• 5.2 - Band Concert - 7pm, SHS PAC

 

 

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Of Note…

 

• Stillwater Library Used Book Sale going through the 21st.

• Payne County Sexual Health Parent Education Night from TSET - What is sexual health? STI Facts & Misconceptions, Sexual Violence and Mandatory Reporting, Local Resources,  Separate sessions for parents and youth (ages 13+) - 4.30, 5:30-6:40pm, Stillwater Public Library.

• Graduation 5.17 @ 7pm in Gallagher Iba Arena
  
  

 

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I love Stillwater,

 

Uwe Gordon
Superintendent
Stillwater Public Schools