1

March, 2018 Volume 40, Issue 4

Spring Break is a time to relax and refresh. I hope our students, parents, and staff enjoyed the vacation time with family. As we resume our work making a difference in the lives of our students, we concentrate on our

academic progress as well as our CISD Competitive Edge Week. We will be providing updates on these activities to occur in mid-April. Partnering with WTAMU Education Department

We are pleased to announce a partnership between Canyon ISD and the WTAMU Department of Education. WT has revised their course requirements and costs to make the Educational Leadership program less expensive than online programs from other universities. CISD teachers who are interested in obtaining a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from WTAMU will be able to participate in CISD's Aspiring Administrators program and receive one 3-hour course credit. Not only does this reduce the course list from 10 to 9 classes, but this could also save a teacher about $1,000 in tuition as a result of this partnership. Teachers can apply for additional support through the Mike Wartes scholarship intended for CISD teachers who pursue their Master’s degree in Ed Leadership at WTAMU. Contact Cameron Rosser at the District Support Center for details on applying. This partnership is a tremendous benefit for CISD teachers who are seeking their administration certification! Planning for Enrollment Growth

We continue our steps to address our enrollment growth trends for the coming years. Pinnacle Intermediate is in the final 3 months of construction. We are presenting boundary details to the elementary faculty in the north side of the district. Then, we will schedule the Pinnacle and Greenways attendance zone presentations for our parents.

Midway Alternative High School renovations are nearing completion for an August opening. Also, RHS planning discussions are in the works. On March 22nd, our architect spent the day meeting with RHS teacher groups to discuss the needs as RHS expands. We will continue to seek staff input as we address our enrollment growth.

Superintendent’s Comments

Dr. Darryl Flusche

Raising Our Level of Safety

(See Safety—continued on page 3)

By Dr. Darryl Flusche

In today’s society, social media is unfortunately being used for harsh and insensitive messaging. Our schools are in the mix of the social media atmosphere because students are sometimes the source. The safety of staff and students is a high priority. We realize we must adapt our processes due to the likely recurrence of social media posts that compromise staff and student safety. The Canyon ISD administration has reviewed our current efforts surrounding safety and communication. We are designing plans for increasing training for our staff.

We set our next training for CISD staff on March 30th. The training is called Civilian Response to Active Shooter Event (CRASE). Safety training about social media posts and our processes will need to be ongoing to raise the level of confidence and assurances with our staff and our parents.

Our plans in the realm of student and staff safety will include communication improvements along with a greater effort to educate our students on responsible use of technology. With the possibility of messages communicating harm or an actual incident, our

2

Tim Gilliland has been named the Texas Association of Journalism Edu-cators (TAJE) Administrator of the Year. The TAJE executive director said the selection committee was im-pressed with the way he actively sup-ports student journalists by not only showing interest in their work but also

getting involved in news gathering. Laura Smith, CHS Journalism Teacher, nominat-

ed Mr. Gilliland for the honor, and she writes “Mr. Gilliland allows the students the freedom they need

Canyon ISD is pleased to announce Kandi Kempf as the Gene Howe Elementary Principal. Mrs. Kempf began her teaching career at Crestview Elementary as a 3rd-grade teacher soon after gradu-ating from West Texas A&M University in Decem-ber 2005. She moved to Arden Road Elementary to teach kindergarten and then joined Hillside Elemen-tary where she taught 1st and 3rd grade.

In 2016, Mrs. Kempf was named the assistant principal at Lakeview Elementary. She has spent her

Toby Tucker has joined Canyon ISD as the Ath-letic Director. Mr. Tucker has served as an athletic director, principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent along with coaching experience from confer-ences 1A to 6A. He came to Canyon ISD from Region 16 Education Support Center where he was the Director of Field Services.

Mr. Tucker is also the Owner/Director of Foot-ball Operations of the Amarillo Venom. Along with his involvement with athletics, he has been involved with many Texas Association of School Administra-tors Committees, Chairman of a Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Committee and he served as a presenter at many state education confer-ences. Mr. Tucker is a member of the Amarillo Area Foun-dation and a director for the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Tucker is married to Stephanie, and they have three children: Kaitlyn, Caden, and Colten.

Kempf Assigned as Principal for Gene Howe Elementary

Toby Tucker

Tim Gilliland Named TAJE Administrator of the Year

Tim Gilliland

CISD Administrators Receive Honors Texas Association of Secondary School Princi-

pals (TASSP) recognizes exemplary performance among campus level administrators in Texas. Of the Region 16 schools, Canyon ISD had two assistant principals who were nominated by their colleagues to receive honors.

Alexa Watson, Canyon Junior High Assistant Principal, received the Region 16 Middle School Assistant Prin-cipal of the Year and Paul Jolley, Ran-dall High School Assistant Principal, received the Region 16 High School As-sistant Principal of the Year.

Both Watson and Jolley will com-plete a TASSP Assistant Principal of the Year application to move on through the TASSP program. The program annual-ly recognizes outstanding school lead-ers who have succeeded in providing high-quality learning opportunities for students. State recognition will happen at the 2019 Summer Workshop.

Alexa Watson

Paul Jolley

her entire education career at Canyon ISD, and as a student, she attended Lakeview Elementary, Valleyview Junior High and graduated from Ran-dall High.

Mrs. Kempf is a member of the Panhandle School Leaders Associa-tion, Texas Elementary Principals Association and Junior League of Amarillo. Mrs. Kempf is married to Bryan, and they have two children, Bracelyn and Beckett.

Kandi Kempf

Tucker Hired as Athletic Director

to do their jobs and is frequently the first person they want to show when they are particularly proud of their work.”

Mr. Gilliland will be honored in Austin in May at the state convention of the UIL Interscholastic Press Conference/TAJE Awards ceremony. The prestigious award is another representation of the high level of journalism support at Canyon High.

Laura Smith received the UIL Sponsor Excel-lence Award in 2016, and the CHS Journalism Team won state in 2016 and 2017.

3

The Randall County Sheriff’s Department pro-vides a Career Education Academy for students who are interested in pursuing law enforcement after high school. This select group of students are intro-duced to law enforcement methods, procedures, and career opportunities.

Two Randall High Schools students received $500 scholarships for their efforts and knowledge in the 13 week program. The program is directed by Crime Prevention Division Sgt. Cody Jones. Pictured to the right: Randall County Sheriff's Office Student Academy Graduation, Gracie Morris received the Top Student Award and Harrison Granger received the Gary E. Robinson Award.

Randall High and wrestling go hand in hand. For the past 22 years, Coach Quirino has taken wrestlers to the state tournament to compete against the toughest competitors. The Randall Wrestling Team shows their strength and their ability to outperform wrestlers within each weight class. Again, this year both boys and girls teams made their way to the state tournament in Houston, TX in February.

The girls’ team had four wrestlers medal placing them 2nd in state duels and 2nd in indi-vidual state. Junior Adriana Ornelas, two-time state medalists, finished 4th both years. Junior Skye Bravo placed 3rd in her weight class making it her first year to medal. Junior Lily Mills, a two-time state medalist, finished 2nd

both years in two different weight classes. Lily is also nationally ranked. Senior Jade Larsen placed 3rd in her weight class. Jade plans to compete in col-lege. The Randall Girls Wrestling program is only five years old.

The Randall boys’ team finished 3rd in state du-els and 4th in individual state. Sophomore Jayd’n Heaton, two-time state medalist, finished 4th both years in the 138-pound weight class. Junior Johna-thon Ortegon (Speedy), three-time State Champion, twice in the 120-pound weight class and this year in the 126-pound weight class. Senior Xavier Torres finished his third State Title. As a sophomore, he fin-ished 3rd, however as a freshman, junior and senior Xavier won a State Ti-tle. Xavier plans to compete in college.

The University Interscholastic League (UIL) Aca-demics offers many programs for students to excel through high school contests. These contests build upon the academic skills developed in the classroom and offer students an opportunity to stretch their tal-ents above and beyond those requirements.

RHS Wrestling Team Shows Their Stuff at State Competition

RHS Students Participate in Law Enforcement Academy

communication to staff, parents, and our community will be more systematic. A quality and efficient manner of informing our patrons will help calm fears during times of heightened concerns.

We are reviewing the best resource to educate our students on responsible use of technology. Our purposeful efforts will create awareness with our students in understanding appropriate and responsible use of their apps and devices. We cannot assume that students inherently know their levels of risk with their internet and social media presence. We also must be sure they understand the consequences that follow inappropriate actions. Furthermore, we have to engage our parents to be continually aware of their child’s social media interactions and their child’s internet presence. Parents need to be coached on the unsafe exposure their child could wander into without their parents’ supervision. The joint efforts between CISD, parents and our community will increase the safety of our student identities and students’ use of devices in this digital age.

Safety ————————-continued from page 1

4

Taryn Dia, RHS Senior, competed in the UIL Congress Contest on January 9th - 11th finishing 11th out of 60 students. Taryn’s sponsor is Brooke James. This individual contest models the legislative process of democracy, specifically, the United States Con-gress. Within this mock legislative competition, con-testants draft proposed laws that are previously sub-mitted to the tournament, and they research the dock-et of bills and resolutions dealing with real-world so-cial and political policies before the contest to pre-pare their speeches. Students collaborate in commit-

Randall High Senior Taryn Dia Headed to National Tournament

tees, deliver the merits and disadvantages of each piece of legislation, then vote to pass or defeat the measures they have examined.

Also, at a recent Speech and De-bate tournament, Taryn Dia quali-fied for Nationals. She competed in three different events, Domestic Ex-temporaneous Speaking, Congress, and Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and she placed first in all three qualify-ing her for the national competi-tion. Due to timing constraints, Taryn will only get the opportunity to compete in one event, and she chose Lincoln-Douglas Debate. The Lincoln-Douglas debate is roughly 45 minutes long on a given topic, and it consists of constructive speeches, rebuttals, and cross-examination.

The National Speech and Debate Association will have the national tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Florida June 17-22.

Taryn Dia

Canyon Junior High student, Alyssa Ballard par-ticipates in a rarely publicized sport in the Texas Panhandle. Alyssa started the sport of power-weightlifting after her father saw it on Facebook and thought she should try it. A year and a half later, Alyssa is ranked #1 in Texas and ranked #1 national-ly. Currently, her world ranking is 69th, but Alyssa plans on increasing that standing at her next competi-tion in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the Youth Nation-als in June. Not only does Alyssa participate with powerlifting, but she is involved with track throwing the shot put and discus.

Randall County Jr. Spelling Bee Winners

Canyon Intermediate 5th-grader Lathan Lew-ter (left) placed 2nd in the Randall County Jr. Spelling Bee. Greenways Intermediate stu-dent, 5th-grader Daxon Betzen (right) took 1st place at the Bee which was held on February 6. Both students moved onto the Sr. Spelling on February 13 where Betzen finished 3rd out of 35 spellers. Betzen and Lewter were among the youngest students competing, ages ranged from 5th - 8th grade.

Canyon Junior High Student Ranked #1 In Powerlifting

Alyssa Ballard with her coach Martin Brock

5

Members of the Canyon and Randall High Bands and Canyon High School Choir performed in the Texas All-State Music Ensemble. Over 70,000 stu-dents initially entered the All-State competitive pro-cess, and only 2.5% of the musicians were selected to perform in the 15 All-State ensembles, which in-cludes bands, orchestras, and choirs. The All-State performances were held as part of the annual Texas Music Educators Association Convention, February 17th in San Antonio. Randall Band All-State Students

Senior Emily Boschen, Junior Ravyn Denning, and Junior Caleb Mason were selected from Randall High School to perform in the Texas All-State Music Ensembles. Emily Bochen has been playing the flute in the Randall band for the past four years. Some of Emily’s other musical accomplishments are a 2017 TMEA All-State band member and 1st chair in Re-gion 1 Symphonic band and orchestra.

Emily plans to attend either Baylor University or West Texas A&M University and major in music ed-ucation. Her goal is to become a junior high band director and share her love of music.

Junior Ravyn Denning has performed in the Ran-dall band for three years playing the French horn. This ranking is Ravyn’s second year to be a TMEA All-State Band member. She is the principal horn player for the Amarillo Youth Symphony, and she placed at the state level in the TAME competition in 2017.

Junior Caleb Mason is a percussionist in the Ran-dall band and the Drum Captain of the Raider Rhythm Band. Caleb is on the Randall Band Leader-ship Team, Randall Jazz Band and he has been the first chair in the All-Region band for the last five years.

Band Director Ginger Denney and Jesse Switzer lead the Randall High School Band. Canyon Band

Senior Braden Lefevre and Junior Meghan Brooks were also selected from Canyon High School to perform in the Texas All-State Music Ensem-bles. Senior Braden Lefevre plays the saxophone in the Canyon High School band, and this is his second

year of becoming an All-State band member. Junior Meghan Brooks plays the bassoon, and some of Me-ghan’s musical accomplishments are being a member of the Amarillo Youth Symphony, Jazz band, and varsity choir.

Mike Sheffield leads the Canyon High School Band. Canyon Choir

Five students from the Canyon High School Choir were chosen to participate in the Texas All-State Music Ensembles. Senior Mitch Hernandez, and Juniors Audrey Hughes, Tori Ross, Erin Sheffield and Katelyn Spivey received the honor of All-State Choir.

Mitchell Hernandez performed in the mixed choir ensemble, and this is his second year to perform at state. Mitchell is also the Canyon High School Choir President.

Audrey Hughes, Tori Ross, Erin Sheffield, and Katelyn Spivey performed in the Women’s Choir at the Texas All-State Music Ensembles. Audrey, Tori, and Katelyn participated this year in the Canyon High School musical. Tori also participates in Cham-ber Choir and Show Choir. Katelyn is in Show Choir and the One-Act Play. Erin was also a TMEA Music Scholar as a freshman.

Brandon Farren leads the CHS Choir.

High School Bands and Choir Preform in All-State Music Ensembles

Randall High Band students from left to right: Caleb Mason, Emily Boschen and Ravyn Denning

6

2017-2018

Campus Teachers of the Year

Christi Chase Gene Howe Elementary

Logan Fabela Canyon

High

Jennifer Flatt Sundown Lane

Elementary

Alex Junell Arden Road Elementary

Kaylie Massie Greenways

Intermediate

Christine Otterness

Canyon Jr. High

Kendra Parker City View

Elementary

Mollie Peterson Lakeview

Elementary

Jeff Schenck Randall

High

Lisa Trask Canyon

Intermediate

Tori Trela Midway

Alternative High

Jennifer Valenzuela Crestview

Elementary

Monica Weatherly Hillside

Elementary

Rebecca Wesbrooks Reeves-Hinger

Elementary

Sara Zimmer Westover Park

Jr. High

7

Tidmore

Acquisition

HR’s Flowers and Gists

The Education Foundation of Canyon ISD

Thank You to Our Partners

Employees of Canyon ISD

Consolidated Beef Products

Canyon Rotary Club 

HUTSON

INSURANCE

Shear Lawn Care

McDonald's

Law Firm