Varsity Basketball Home Openers

The varsity Badgers and Lady Badgers hosted Granger in Buckholts' first home basketball games of the season last Monday, November 21st.

First up were the Lady Badgers!

Then the Badgers took the court!

Girls' photos here > >  Lady Badgers Home Opener

Boys' photos here > >  Badgers Open At Home

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, now blah, back to the grind.

Continuing . . .

iPads have been dispersed to the Buckholts Elementary School computer lab,

and the Middle School and High School computer labs are fully functional with Dell workstations.

Plus, it's basketball season!

Buckholts Lady Badgers Varsity

Buckholts Badgers Varsity

Plus crickets?  Meh, no cricket photos. Hopefully cricket season is over.

HS team photos - - > >  HS Team Photos

iPads + Basketball + Crickets

Huh? Say what? Is that a Cajun recipe?

Bear with me. I'll explain later when I have time.

Meantime, here is a clue.

And, another clue about my day(s) at my designated parking spot.

SOS Meeting

Wednesday, November 9th, Buckholts ISD held a SOS (Save Our School) meeting. Originally scheduled to be held in the school library meeting room, the event was moved to the cafetorium to accommodate the large gathering of attendees. (That's a good thing!) Parents, students, community leaders, BISD administrators and staff, our TEA conservator and representatives from ESC Region 6 were present.

Dr. Steve Johnson, ESC Region 6 Instructional Services Director and TEA Conservator Marsha Ridlehuber await the start of the SOS meeting.

ESC Region 6's Dr John Conley II greeted meeting attendees.

Buckholts ISD is rated Improvement Required (IR is a nice way of saying "failing"). School year 2016-17 is BISD's fourth year in a row with an IR rating. Buckholts' schools are slated for closing if the student test scores are again insufficient this coming Spring. New Superintendent Nancy Sandlin, Ms. Ridlehuber and ESC Region 6 personnel are running full throttle to avoid the schools' closure. Monday, 11/07/16, in a special meeting, the school board authorized additional short term spending for Ms. Sandlin to hire additional part-time teachers and purchase needed instructional items. Ms. Sandlin has already hired one additional part-time retired teacher and interviewing others.

BISD Superintendent Nancy Sandlin opened the SOS meeting, explaining the schools status and plans to get student test scores to meet State standards. 

Dr. Steve Johnson explained ESC Region 6's involvement in the Buckholts school turnaround plan, at zero cost to the district, to a packed house in the BISD cafetorium.

Though BISD's past administration was not fully transparent to the community on the school system's accountability rating, Ms. Sandlin is keeping the community informed and what is being done to correct the problem. ESC Region 6 will have personnel at BISD weekly for the rest of this school year's instructional period. With an estimated cost of $60,000, ESC Region 6 is providing their instructional assistance for FREE, because, as ESC Region 6 Executive Director Michael Holland told the school board last Monday night, of Ms. Sandlin's passion and commitment to serving the students and staff of BISD.

The Buckholts community turned out for the SOS meeting, leaving standing room only at the back of the facility.

So what is being done? Ms. Sandlin, Ms. Ridlehuber and Region 6 instruction specialists have been evaluating staff and students to remediate State test grades. Before school and lunch time tutorials are in place. Short term specialized teachers are being hired. Teachers are receiving additional training. And, thanks to Region 6's commitment, 30 Dell work stations were deployed in the High School and Middle School computer labs at NO cost to BISD. (That's $40-50K of computer equipment!) Ipads will be re-assigned to the Elementary School computer lab. More instructional and technology improvements are rapidly being prepared and distributed.

What more needs to be done? Parents insisting on their students studying, being polite and non-disruptive in class. Students asking for help with problem study areas. Parents instilling positive behavior and discipline. Volunteering to help at school. Form a PTO. Churches can help reinforce parent/students involvement. Community leaders can be role models for polite intervention. We can ALL support or students and teachers by listening more and talking less. Ask the teachers and students how things are going and encourage the students to want to learn and praise their accomplishments. PUT THE PAST BEHIND.

Yes, it IS late in the game for Buckholts schools. BUT, it is not impossible to turn things around and save our school system. Need proof? Well, against all conventional odds, Donald Trump won the U.S. Presidential election. Who would have thought . . . . . . .

Stay positive. We can do this!

Photos from the meeting here  > >  BISD SOS Meeting

Last Football Game of 2016

The Buckholts Badgers faced off against Oglesby in the last game, at home, of the 2016 football season. The chain gang was in rare form.

And, it was Senior Night for Buckholts' atheletes.

Closing out football 2016 images > >  Last Football Game of 2016

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· · · – – – · · · (SOS) is the international Morse code distress signal adopted world wide in the early 1900's.

Nowadays, in Buckholts, it stands for

Save Our School ! 

Buckholts ISD is rated IR (improvement required) and in danger of being closed down by the TEA (Texas Education Agency). The school board, this school year, brought on board a new superintendent skilled in rejuvenating schools. New teachers were hired. An improved technology plan is in place. Tutorials are required for students with low grades. Staff and teachers have been working overtime preparing students for EOC and state testing. BUT, that is NOT enough.

Students, parents, and the community MUST commit to the local learning process. Teachers staying late and kids in tutorials are NOT enough if parents don't encourage their children to be on time, be polite, help each other AND do homework. All the technology in the world is NOT enough if the community does not invest time to encourage our teachers and students to succeed.

This is NOT a case of "bad" kids or low achievers. FAR from it. From what I've seen, BISD students are very capable learners and want to flourish. Our students need to know each other and YOU care about their education. 

Aside from all the test taking and ratings, a High School diploma is very important because it makes you EMPLOYABLE. Ever see all those job postings declaring "high school diploma required"? That requirement is a legal means for employers to disregard you as a job candidate, up front, before you even get a foot in the door. 

Having your local school system shut down by TEA is not a good thing. You wind up with abandoned buildings, loss of jobs, increased costs to parents AND ALL the school's money and assests are transferred to another school district. And you don't get to say jack about it because your local school board will be dissolved!

Back to the IR thing. It didn't happen overnight. BISD (I think) is in it's fourth year of IR status. Not good, but repairable, IF YOU care. Here's a chance for you to have a positive impact on your school system.

SOS - Save Our School Planning meeting on Wednesday, November 9th, 5:30 - 7:30 PM in the Elementary Library.

No excuses, YOU need to attend the meeting.