The Ricebird Beat

Spring 2014 ECMS Volume 1 Edition 3

You may have seen her bright smile beaming around the

school as she walks giddily down the hallways. You may have had

her as a teacher in the past or be fortunate enough to currently

have her. Mrs. Willis is a spunky and spirited sixth grade reading

teacher, but there is far more to her than just her joyful persona.

Mrs. Willis grew up about ten miles southwest of El

Campo in the big city of Louise. She was an only child for a few

years until she took on the role of big sister to two younger

brothers. As a child she was always drawn to the glamour of the

news reporters (keep in mind, this was before there were nine

million channels on the television). They wore fancy clothes, had

amazing hair, and their make-up was flawless. As many little girls

do, she dreamed that one day, she too might be in front of that

camera just as those news anchors were.

Academically, she was outstanding student.

Extracurricularly, she was interested in everything! She was a

cheerleader, and a member of the Lady Hornet basketball and

track team. Her flair for the spotlight grew as she participated in

UIL events including One Act Play and Poetry Interpretation.

After high school, Mrs. Willis started her college career at

Wharton County Junior College. From there, she transferred to

Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos. She enjoyed her

time at SWT, but something was still missing. The opportunity to

attend the University of Texas at Austin presented itself, and she

gladly accepted!

Once she graduated from UT with a Bachelor of

Journalism, she moved to Dallas to try and land her first big job in

public communications. That didn’t happen quite as quickly as she

had hoped, but the door did open soon enough. One of the

part-time jobs she had was answering phones at Richardson News.

They knew her goals, and when the opportunities became

available, she was able to write feature stories! She didn’t let these

opportunities slip away; she made the most of them. One of her

articles earned her a Katie Award nomination given out by the

Dallas Press Club. That was what really started to get her noticed

as a genuine journalist!

With her newfound success, Mrs. Willis started sending

audition tapes all over Texas. She was grateful for the breaks she

had gotten in Richardson, but it was time to move on to something

bigger! KAVU-TV in Victoria came calling. Not only was she within

forty-five minutes from her hometown, she was also getting the

chance to be a reporter and an anchor. Her little girl dream had

come true! To this day she regularly gets remembered for her role

on the news to which she jokes that she is “formerly famous”!

From Victoria, she moved on to Amarillo and then

Memphis (Tennessee). And along the way, she had some truly once

-in-a-life experiences. On the top of that list was when she had the

great fortune of interviewing one of the true trailblazers of the

Civil Rights Movement, Mrs. Rosa Parks. Mrs. Willis very vividly

recalls that even in her 80’s, Mrs. Parks was very strong, dignified,

graceful, and kind. Her only regret is that at the time she was doing

the interview, she didn’t realize the magnitude of the opportunity

she had been given. Now she can reflect back and appreciate the

fact that she was in the presence of true greatness and feel a deep

sense of pride and honor that she was chose to take part in such an

extraordinary interview

She loved her role is delivering the news, but starting her

own family became more important. Shortly after her oldest

daughter was born, she and her husband made the choice to move

back to Texas. She chose to be a stay-at-home mom for a few years

and spent much of her spare time volunteering to local

organizations. She even decided to write for the El Campo Leader-

News part-time covering the school board. When her youngest

child was in kindergarten, she decided to take on a new adventure

– middle school teacher! Fortunately for us, she hasn’t turned

back! Though she has loved both careers, she can really appreciate

the relationships that form in teaching, whereas in reporting, she

would meet someone for an instant, and then they were gone.

Mrs. Willis is a charismatic person with an amazing

background. Her career path has sent her on many trails, and

ECMS is lucky that her trail led here! She has devoted her life to

making a difference in the world whether that’s in front of the

camera or in front of the classroom.

Lights... Camera...Teach!!! By:

Interesting Facts:

Mrs. Willis (and her two brothers) were adopted

Was a cheerleader at WCJC

Made the Dean’s List in college (that means she made all A’s!)

While in Memphis, she worked at one of the oldest television

stations in the United States.

What’s going on around ECMS Student Council

Student council is always looking for new

ways for students to get involved. Recently, we sold

candy grams. This was a huge success as over 500 can-

dy grams were distributed. And what did you think

about the girls asking the guys for the Sadie Hawkins

dance? Pretty cutting edge, huh!?! In late spring, Stu-

dent Council is planning on hosting a talent show for all

interested! So tune up those vocal chords and dust off

those dancing shoes! If you think you would be inter-

ested in running for student council next year, be lis-

tening for announcements. The application process will

be changing a little, and your teachers will have a little

more input... so make sure you’re being a perfect little

angel during class!

Interact Club Interact was very successful in 2013 and hopes to

continue that success into 2014. There are still two more

projects scheduled before the end of school, so hopefully

ECMS can get involved. The first event will be a fundraiser

for “Who Cares”. Students and faculty are encouraged to

donate their loose change that will go towards research for

teens with cancer. Interact is also planning a trip to Garden

Villa where they will spend some quality time with the

elderly in our community playing Bingo!

Theatre Arts Mrs. Farrar and her crew have just wrapped up the One Act Play production of A Thousand Cranes. If you were

unable to take part in that, have no fear, another play is scheduled this Spring. After spring break, auditions will take place for Bugsy Malone! There are approximately 40 spots in the cast, so maybe you can fill one! The only requirement is that you must be in one of Mrs. Farrar’s classes. Come get a taste of the spotlight!

FCA FCA has continued to hold meetings on the

first Wednesday of every month. Since returning

from Christmas, we have been very fortunate to have

Brother Rick DuBroc from First Baptist Church come speak

to us. When we don’t have guest speakers, students lead-

ers take charge. Our FCA leaders are Abbie Farrar, Regan

David, Jillian Owens, Alyssa Alameda, and Kierana Manis.

Even if you haven’t participate yet, we encourage all who

are interested to come and spread the word of God.

NJHS This month, NJHS has no service projects

planned, due to Mrs. Pope being out on maternity leave.

Recently we finished our “Nighty Night” project, where

members went to Myatt Elementary and read to younger

children. The project was a great success. If any members

have any service ideas, please let Mrs. Willis know (she’s

the temporary sponsor)!

Million Word Club Spring Break is coming, perfect time to gain a million words. If you’re not quite there, you still have time! The top five students are

Krista Trevino, Kamryn Munos, Kristina Dippel, Albert Escamilla, and Riley Drabek. The top five teachers are Coach Brown, Mrs. Sanchez, Mrs.

Willis, Mrs. Wilson, and Mrs. Vesely. Twenty participants have reached at least one million words so far (they earned a pizza party!). Forty-five

have reached 500,000 or above. Currently 8 teachers are participating in the Million Word Club. All together, almost 300 members of ECMS

have started this adventure. It’s never too late to join!

UIL

At the end of January, students from ECMS traveled to Bay City to finally have the opportunity to compete in the events they have worked so hard for since November! El Campo Middle School did not disappoint! And after much anticipation, the results are in!

Sixth grade earned a 2nd place overall out of all the eleven schools! The following students won first place in their events: Jose Brito (Maps, Graphs, and Charts) and Clay Jung (Social Studies). The following teams won first place: Dictionary Skills (Noah Maher, Carlos Ramos, & Meri Rek); Listening (Megan Rek, Philip Hundl, & Edmund Weinheimer); and Maps, Charts, & Graphs (Jose Brito, Jace Voldan, & Mark Martinez)

Seventh grade finished 3rd overall. The following students won first in their events: Riley Todd (Spelling), Cara Korenek (Calculator Applications), James Anderson (Ready Writing), Aubree Matthews (Modern Oratory). First place teams were: Spelling (Riley Todd, Dierra George, & Kinley Bubela); and Listening (James Anderson, Wesley Schultz, & Megan Cremeens)

Unfortunately, eighth grade came up a little short in the overall category, but had strong individuals and teams. First place finishers were: Crystal Raun (Editorial Writing) and Christine Hunt (Modern Oratory). The Number Sense team came home with a first place finish as well (Kody Martin, Mark Ortiz, & Taylor Vaclavik). Another rare achievement that took place was the 8th grade Modern Oratory team coming home with a clean sweep (in addition to Hunt’s first place finish, Darian Dutcher placed second, and Elyssa Smith placed third!

Sometimes it’s easy to take for granted the little

things we never think about like the roof over head, the

shoes on our feet, and even our health. We get so caught up

in our wants and needs that we forget to be happy for the

things we never think twice of. Every day across the world,

kids are born with special needs. They range anywhere from

Down’s syndrome, to autism, to eyesight disorders. It’s not

something the kids can control, but if we spread the word

and help kids realize that these unique people aren’t any

different than you and me, we can make the world a happier

place for everyone!

Visual impairments are one common obstacle that

some students face on a regular basis. There is a wide range

of symptoms kids with visual impairments may face. Some-

times when they’re reading, words may appear blurry; they

may appear jumbled; they may appear backwards; or crazily

enough, they may even move around on the page. Some

students don’t have the sense of sight at all. How would you

feel if you had the challenges like this in your way every day?

Another barrier some students are forced to

overcome is having a hearing impairment. Some hearing

impairments may not be permanent, while others go to full

blown deafness. Between 30-40% of people over the age of

65 have some type of hearing loss and have to deal with this

frustrating task, but we tend to forget that this can also affect

school aged students as well. Sometime students complain

about their brothers or sisters whining all of the time or their

teacher who keeps rambling on about a topic that may not be

overly interesting, but keep in mind that there are plenty of

kids who would love the opportunity to hear those words, or

any words, spoken.

One disorder that tends to remain somewhat

unexplored for those that don’t face it is autism. Autism is a

brain disorder that can make it extremely difficult for

students to focus on a task at hand. It is estimated that one in

eighty-eight children suffer from some sort of autism, and it

is five times more common in boys than girls. Autism is not

an easy disorder to live with because many of the people

living with autism don’t see, hear, feel, or think the way

others do. A person who is on the autism spectrum may

have very sensitive senses, so lights may be exceptionally

bright, the clicking of a pen may be exceptionally loud, the

hum of an air conditioner may seem like the roar of a train.

Just imagine what it would be like to hear every little

insignificant noise and action happening

around you every second of everyday of your life. That is

just one of the hurdles of living with autism.

In many schools, there are quite a few students who

have been diagnosed “OHI” (other health impairments).

What this means is that there are a variety of conditions that

can affect a child’s educational performance that must be

overcome for these students to be successful. These can

range anywhere from speech difficulties to physical health

concerns.

Next time you find yourself in class not wanting to

do the work that is assigned (we all tend to find ourselves in

that position from time to time), just remember that there are

many kids out there who have struggles that must be

conquered, and they give their all in order to be the best

student they possibly can be. Realize that if you’re fortunate

enough to be able to sit in a desk and take in the information

that is being presented to you, then you are capable of being

successful. Take full advantage of those gifts and abilities

you have because there are many others who are not as

fortunate.

Preparing for Success!

By:

Study more than usual; be confident in what you are tested

over.

Bring supplies; you don’t want to use chewed up pencils

from the teacher.

Go to bed early the night before testing; your brain needs

to be fully prepared the next day.

Eat a good breakfast the morning of the test; breakfast is

the most important meal of the day!

Concentrate during the test; don’t let little

things get you distracted.

Relax; you and your teachers have prepared

for this all year – prove your brilliance!

ECMS Students: The Same, Yet Different By: .,

Teacher Trivia

Back by popular demand! See how well you know the men and

women who stand before you in class and shape your future.

1. Has ridden from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean through the Panama Canal on a Japanese ship

2. Has been inside of a burning building on purpose 3. On the varsity swim team and made it to regionals every year. 4. She wanted to be a nun 5. Started her dryer with her cat in it on accident 6. Climbed a mountain over 5,000 feet tall at a Girl Scout

camp 7. Umpires high school and college baseball games 8. Ran a half marathon 9. Is a “germ-a-phobic” 10. Was Mrs. Farrar’s roommate during college 11. Was a competitive dancer in high school 12. Roped steers in rodeos while growing up 13. Has been on the television show Hunting Safari with Keith Paris 14. Is a huge Elvis Presley fan 15. Once spent a summer picking cotton 16. Was in the Honors Fraternity in college 17. She was a tomboy growing up and liked to play with BB

guns, footballs and chemistry sets 18. Has played the guitar since he was a teenager 19. Has always had an interest in motorcycles 20. Has been to Cabo San Lucas twice to try and catch a

Big Blue Marlin (which she did) 21. Had two broken noses in one year in high school 22. Is the youngest of eight children 23. Her room was struck by lightning in the first grade 24. Runs FIVE miles a day 25. Was married in Hawaii 26. Has been on the highest mountain on Southern Norge

(Norway)

27. Almost died from snake bite when he was nine years old

Mrs. Stary

Mrs. Vesely

Mr. Babcock

Ms. Simmons

Mrs. Sanchez

Mrs. Fernandez

Mrs. DuBroc

Coach Galvan

Mrs. Staff

Mr. Freeman

Mrs. Mikulenka

Mrs. Faas

Mrs. Gwosdz

Mr. Elliston

Mrs. Savino

Coach Peterson

Mrs. Joines

Mr. Mathews

Mrs. Hubenak

Mrs. Bullard

Mr. Treybig

Mrs. Nohavitza

Mrs. Garrett

Ms. McMillian

Mrs. Guthrie

Mrs. Priesmeyer

Mrs. Rodriguez

Answers to Teacher

Trivia from previous

edition: 1.Pope- has an identical twin

2.Gaines- graduated as

valedictorian

3.Hyer- has had stitches from

roof of mouth to the bottom of

her feet

4. Mrs. Coach Schoener-

mother of 19 year old twin boys

5. Mr. Coach Schoener-

married his girlfriend of 6th grade

6. Humphreys- always wanted

to play point guard in basketball

for UT

7. Debo- owns a moonwalk

business

8. Wadsworth- has 5 chickens

for pets: Cutie, Owl, Goldie,

Brownie, Blackie

9. Stockton- born on an army

base

10. Witcher- went to graduate

school with Mrs. Stockton

11. Korenek (nurse)- 25th year to

work here

12. Jung- raised chickens from 3rd

grade until senior year

13. Meek- has a daughter that

lives in Spain

14. Cortez- graduated from high

school in Naples, Italy

15. Popp- went scuba diving in

the Caribbean

16. Hiltpold- played in a Bach

(piano) festival while at Baylor

17. Wilson- chosen as most

athletic in high school

18. Horak- had schoolphobia

when young, but is now a teacher

19. Brown- first member of his

family to graduate from college

20. Barbee- is partly Danish

21. Farrar- on the pistol team at

A&M

22.Lamberth- always wanted to

ride on a Zamboni

23. Dorotik- played golf in high

school

24. Vallet- worked at a pizza

place in high school

25. Wied- used to live on the San

Andreas fault line

26. Mauch- marched in the

inauguration parade for George

Bush

27. Cerny- loves to sing karaoke

28. White- brother was fighter

pilot in the U.S. Air Force

29. Willis- used to be a news

reporter

30. Smith- is Mrs. Hyer’s sister

Answer Choices

By

“Live well. Laugh often. Love much.” These six simple words perfectly describe the inspirational teacher that many students look up to. Most of you know Mrs. Farrar as the charismatic teacher who runs the speech and theatre arts department; however, there is far more to her than merely what meets the eye.

Growing up, Mrs. Farrar was a complete tomboy. She had a charming childhood, where she lived on her on her family’s crawfish farm in Danevang. From an early age, Mrs. Farrar’s parents taught her the importance of family, and it’s a value she has carried on to this day.

Although Mrs. Farrar’s life seems picture-perfect, one traumatic experience had a dramatic impact in shaping her into the person she is today. When Heather, her youngest child, was fifteen months old, she caught a potentially deadly virus on Easter week-end. Mrs. Farrar was taking her baby out of the car seat after a quick run to the store, and she realized Heather’s lips had turned purple and she was in a blank stare. Her breathing was not natural, her face had lost color, and she wouldn’t respond! After Mrs. Farrar’s neighbor heard her call out for help, he came to her driveway, flipped Heather over, and color started returning to her face, but she wasn’t responsive in her eyes or in her movement.

The next day, when Mrs. Farrar and her family were at her mother’s house for Easter, Heather had another seizure-like episode while walking down the sidewalk. She just stopped walking and started to sink down into sort of a ball. Knowing this was not ordinary, Mrs. Farrar’s family called 9-1-1. She knew it was very serious when the ambulance drivers completely bypassed Wharton and went straight to Hermann Children’s Hospital. Unfortunately, the doctors told Mrs. Farrar and her husband that they had no idea what was wrong with their precious daughter and they watched her through the night.

Later that night as Heather lay in a hospital bed, Mr. Farrar and his mother went out to the waiting area for a few minutes and Mrs. Farrar crawled into the bed beside Heather. As she lay there, on Easter Sunday, she said “Lord, I know you’re really busy with it being Easter and everything, but I just need a sign, please show me a sign that she’ll be ok….and if not, please take me in her place. I’ve lived a good life and I don’t want her to lose her life. Please help me, please show me the way.” She placed her hands on Heather’s head and started praying harder than she had ever done before. During the silent prayers, in the dark room, she heard a familiar voice whisper, “Do you know me?” Instantly, she said, “Yes, Jesus, I know you!” The voice replied with, “Do you trust me?” Mrs. Farrar answered with, “Yes, I trust you!” Once again, the voice said, “Do you believe I can heal her?” She responded, “Yes Jesus, I believe you can heal her!” For the last time, she heard the voice proclaim, “Then it shall be done.” Immediately she got up, found her husband and told him what she had heard. He immediately went with her to see where they could find a Bible. Oddly, the meditation room and the Chapel were both closed for Easter night….Mr. Farrar looked at her and said, “Relax, we have our answer, she’s going to be alright.”

The next morning, the doctors took little Heather in for an MRI. Pleasantly surprised, the doctors walked out of the room later

that afternoon with grins on their faces. There was absolutely nothing wrong with their little girl! No grey areas on the MRI even detecting the seizure-like activities witnessed in the days before. Mrs. Farrar told the team of doctors what she had heard, and the Neurologist replied, “That’s not the first time we’ve heard of the Lord intervening in these situations, we’ve heard stories like that all over this hospital. The good news is…she’s going home.” At that Heather, at 15 months reached her arm with the IV out and said “I go home?” and she sat still and watched the nurse remove the IV with no assistance from any other nurses to hold her as they removed it. When the family arrived home, Mrs. Farrar immediately located a Bible. The first verse she opened to was Matthew 10:27, “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight, what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.” Mrs. Farrar took this as her testimony, and she has been trying to live her life doing just that….sharing her story because she believes that’s the reason this experience happened.

Though this terrible ordeal, it only strengthened the bond of the Farrar family. Mrs. Farrar and her husband (who was also her high school sweetheart) have been married for 19 years, but have dated for 28 years, and are blessed with three healthy children. In addition to seeing all of her children graduate, another milestone she is looking forward to celebrating is her 102nd birthday (although that is WELL over half a century away!)

We are very lucky to have such an amazing lady teach at our school. She has undergone unbelievable hardships, yet she still has such a positive outlook on life. One last word of advice from Mrs. Farrar to all she encounters, “You’ll never grace this planet again, so give this life everything you’ve got!”

Teacher Spotlight

Mrs. Farrar—

Enter tainment

Writers:

Jerrid Berglund

Kinley Bubela

Reagan David

Kristina Dippel

Darian Dutcher

Savanna Eggemeyer

Daniel Flores

Julian Fonseca

Bethani Gold

Jackie Granados

Luis Hernandez

Christine Hunt

Tony Janke

Kalyn Jones

Dustie Koudela

Ariana Lopez

Kierana Manis

Sarah Martinez

Jessica Nordeen

Jillian Owens

Kayla Rachunek

Crystal Raun

Wesley Schulz

Sydney Slattery

Elyssa Smith

Riley Todd

Sponsor: Mrs. Gadeke

Ricebird Beat Staff

Book Reviews First Shot by: Walter Sorrells

This story follows the life of David Crandall, which is not a normal one. His father is headmaster of the Arsenal, a boarding school, where David goes to school. Sounds fun right? Wrong! Rigor et Disciplina, the motto for the Arsenal. In English, that’s translated to pushups. As the headmaster’s son, you’d think that you would have to do the least amount of excruciating pushups, but in David’s case, it’s the exact opposite. Two years ago, David’s mother was mysteriously murdered with no motive, suspects, and barely any evidence. When David is awakened in the middle of the night, he sees his father carrying out a shovel and something that looks strangely like a rifle. Now, he is questioning if his own father would actually do something as terrible as killing his mother. This book is relevant to middle school students if they have problems with their parents, their social life, or school. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy fast paced mystery books with tons of action that will leave you not wanting to stop reading.

Stuck in Neutral by: Terry Trueman

Shawn McDaniels’ life is anything but ordinary. He suffers from Cerebral Palsy and is glued to his wheelchair unable to move a muscle.

Shawn is fighting many battles with his condition, but the biggest is the battle with his father who is trying to kill him!

This book is relevant for middle school students because Shawn feels no one understands him. He is growing up, but he is growing up alone. Being a teenager is a difficult part of growing up and when you have to experience it alone it makes things ten times worse.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves suspense and who loves a book that will open your eyes to new experiences.

Fractured by: Megan Miranda

Eleven minutes might as well be an eternity underwater. Death is possible at five minutes, probable at seven, definite at ten. I was pulled out at eleven. Delaney Maxwell drowned, and should have died. But when her longtime best friend, Decker, pulled her out of the water and refused to stop CPR, it was just enough to keep her alive. After being in a coma for six days, she discovers that she is able to sense new things like never before. When she finds a person who shares her troubles, things get even more complicated in her life. This book is relevant for middle-schoolers because it will help teach them not to get wrapped up with the wrong people in the wrong situations. They could connect with the book because the main character is around our age and she goes through troubling times, but she is able to find ways to fix them. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes romance, brain mysteries, and suspense. I would also not recommend this book to anyone who is younger than middle school aged.