For the second consecutive school year, Wheat Yellow Jackets are destined to be Houston Space Cadets.
With the approval Monday night of Superintendent Dr. Ronny Beard, seconded by a round of applause from the Cleburne ISD trustees, some 220 Wheat Middle School eighth graders will enjoy the opportunity of their young lifetimes next spring: a two-night trip to Johnson Space Center in Houston May 20-22 for fun and learning in the realms of science, math and English.
They’ll be joined by 22 chaperones. The students will rely on donations and fundraisers in the community to raise about $48,000 required for the school-sanctioned field trip.
Wheat Principal David Diaz and math teacher Leslie Spillman presented the idea to Beard and the school board, stressing the positive imprint it had on last year’s eighth graders.
“The tradition began last year,” Diaz said. “We wanted to do something special for the eighth graders, and the teachers came up with this idea.”
“We were trying to come up with a field trip we could take our kids on for a couple of days,” said Spillman, trip organizer. “This seemed to be a perfect opportunity since it’s here in Texas.”
Every eighth grader is invited. The students will make the round trip on four charter buses.
“It’s $250 per student to go,” Spillman said. “We take donations. We’re doing fundraising. We’ll do as much as we can to make sure the kids have to pay only a minimal amount. There will be some cost to the children.”
If 2009’s trip is like 2008’s, the parents will be as excited as the students.
“We had very good parent support,” Diaz said. “As a matter of fact, half of our chaperones last year were parents who took the time to make the trip. We’re hoping for the same kind of response this year.
“It was a great success last year. We were able to raise the funds plus a little bit more.”
The first day, students will visit the Holocaust Museum in Houston. The second day, they’ll spend the entire day at NASA headquarters. Hands-on activities involving math and science are planned.
“Last year, we got to build robotic arms and see how they worked,” Spillman said, “and we got to make our own space capsule. It was very student-centered and student-led. They had to use their own creativity.”
“This is the culmination of the eighth graders’ middle school experience before we send them off to the high school,” Diaz said.
In other business, the board:
zx Learned Monday’s CISD enrollment was 6,880, which is 221 more than Sept. 5, 2007. Cleburne High School showed the greatest difference, growing from 1,571 to 1,688, which sparked a brief exchange among trustees about possible expansion or reconfiguration of the high school campus. The two elementary schools closest to capacity are Adams, 569 students enrolled, and Santa Fe, with 594 enrolled.
zx Approved an interlocal agreement for the truancy program, using Johnson County constables at a cost of $111,000.
zx Approved an order authorizing the district’s unlimited tax school building bonds, series 2001.
zx Adopted a Hill College tax rate of 3.0717 cents per $100 valuation. Last year’s rate was 3.9930 cents.
zx Approved a bid from Red Sky Land L.L.C. for lease of minerals on 1.319 acres at $2,500 per acre and 25 percent royalty over a three-year term.
zx Approved a credit-by-exam class acceleration procedure for elementaries and grades six through 12.
zx Heard year-to-date tax collection figures of $29,357,252.74, with $401,000 delinquent and $318,000 in interest and penalties for total collection of $30,076,695.38.
zx Approved the hiring of Wheat Title I teacher Aimee Rodriguez and Smith science teacher Ashley Williams.
Cleburne
Wheat students to return to NASA
District enrollment reported to be up
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First team offense, defense features host of area standouts
The 2011 Lone Star Chrysler Dodge Jeep Autoplex All-Johnson-County football team has been announced. The team was chosen by the Times-Review sports department based on all-district selections and coaches’ nominations.
The first-team offense included Alvarado quarterback Kenny West and Burleson quarterback Barrett Cain. -
Cleburne, Grandview, Burleson lead second team offense, defense
The 2011 Lone Star Chrysler Dodge Jeep Autoplex All-Johnson-County football team has been announced. The team was chosen by the Times-Review sports department based on all-district selections and coaches’ nominations.
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Up-and-down Yellow Jackets split Friday’s matches at Little Elm Tourney
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Lady Jackets setting the bar high in powerlifting
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Number of sex offenders increases
Now might be a good time to talk with your children about stranger danger. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an updated list of the country’s sex offenders this week. The survey showed 747,408 registered sex offenders.
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Council approves trash truck purchases
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