Published: October 25, 2009 03:28 pm      

Monte Pritchett: Year flying by; parents can help with school issues

Greetings to you all and welcome back to Cleburne High School for another year of reading, writing and arithmetic and what is happening at CHS.

This year has started off with a pace that has been second to none. The time has flown by as we are looking at Thanksgiving approaching very quickly, the end of the second six week grading period and the start of another fall season.

As most of you know we lost one of our students at the start of the school year.

The tragic loss of life hit our campus hard, and we were all saddened by the loss.

To honor the life of Hunter Layland we have taken steps at CHS to improve the campus climate and culture so that our students are more aware of others and the impact we have on one another.

We have started a campaign with the cornerstone “Who I am makes a difference.”

Our FCCLA program led by Anne Lowrie and her students put this program together and presented it to the student body last week.

We will have a second part to the program later this semester that will be a follow up and stress how we handle bullying, teen violence and teen suicide.

The final part will be trying to get Rachel’s Challenge on campus to address the many issues that face teens today. I will keep you posted on how we progress.

What do you say we talk about some issues we deal with at the high school that parents can help with?

Let’s talk cell phones. Students are allowed to have cell phones on campus.

But they are to be turned off while at school and only to be used in an emergency. The emergency has to be more than calling someone to bring them a homework assignment they forgot. The emergency has to be catastrophic.

Anyway many of our students have cell phones. They are not to be used inside of the building. That is a pretty easy concept to grasp.

So parents, if you are texting your children to check on them you may be getting them in trouble if their phone goes off in class.

The second issue I want to address is that of piercings.

Piercings are not allowed except in the ear.

Boys cannot wear earrings, so that pretty much eliminates boys having piercings.

But we do have some who try to wear a piercing in their eyebrow or in their lip. Not allowed and is a violation of our student code of conduct.

As for our female students, some of them have their eyebrow pierced, their lip and one in their nose. These are not allowed either.

They can wear them to their heart’s desire before coming to school and when they leave the building but while in school, not so much. If you could help us with this it would be greatly appreciated.

Our handbook is online, and you may request a hard copy if that suits you better.

And the last thing I will address and sound like the old grouch principal, students are not allowed to wear holes in their jeans, pants, britches, shorts, etc. No holes simply means no holes.

Of course we get excuses: “It was the only clean pair of pants I had.”

But they are still not allowed. OK, that is the last I am going to address, in this article at least, about school issues regarding discipline.

Hey, let’s get to some fun stuff.

At the writing of this article, the volleyball team had clinched a playoff spot. Way to go Coach Rogers, coaching staff and team.

It is always good to make the playoffs because then you are one of the best in the state.

The football team is in the middle of a playoff hunt.

They are currently 5-2 with three games remaining. They had a huge win last week against the Waco High All-Stars.

Keep them going in the right direction Coach Young and staff.

The team has truly played with some grit and determination this year. They could easily be nicknamed the Cardiac Kids because they won two of their district games in come-from-behind fashion.

Both the boys and girls cross country teams have run really well this year, and their district meet is fast approaching on Wednesday. The district meet will be run in Midlothian; good luck to all of the CC runners.

Do I need to even say anything about the CHS swim team? Of course I do; they have been doing wonderful and winning their swim meets.

In fact they have a big swim meet coming up on Saturday in Waco called the Spooktacular. If you can make it to Waco, I am sure it would be worth your while.

The CHS Stuco has its annual blood drive coming up.

Just recently council members were given an award for their participation in the Carter Blood Drive. Way to go Stuco.

Others gearing up for action are the academic UIL teams. They will soon start going to meets and we have a new sponsor this year, Krystal Sandefur. Good luck to her and all the UIL groups as they prepare for competition.

Nov. 3 will be college and career night at CHS. The time will be from 6-8 p.m. in the commons area at the high school. College night is for all CISD students in grades 8-12, and parents and students are encouraged to attend. More than 50 colleges and trade schools will offer information about their institutions.

This is an open format, come and go, so plan to come to CHS and check it out.

Pam Elam and the choir had 17 students advance to the second round of auditions for the all-district and all-region choirs this past Saturday. At the writing of this article I do not know how they came out, but I am sure CHS will be represented well.

On Nov. 2, the BETA Club will have its induction and awards ceremony at 7 p.m. in the PAC.

Last year’s newest members will be inducted and the academic achievements of the members will be recognized. Families and friends are encouraged to attend.

BETA Club, as well as many other organizations, is participating in the Thank A Soldier campaign at CHS. The club serves local charities and will again this year donate food, holiday cards and toys to various agencies for distribution.

Sometimes I wish it were as easy as it used to be — just teach reading, writing and arithmetic. But those days are long gone.

Educators face many challenges today in the education of our students.

The teaching staff at CHS, as well as all of CISD, is concerned about each and every student and doing what is best for them.

I encourage you to become involved in your child’s education. Please let us know if we can ever be of assistance.



Monte Pritchett is principal at Cleburne High School