CIS
of Denton County Participants Receive Teacher of the Year and Volunteer
of The Year Awards
CIS of Denton County Hosts a Campus Retreat
Correne Lynch Receives Award from Griffin Middle School
Saturday Scholars Graduate!
Students Have Fun While Learning Social Skills
Gifts In Kind Donations Make Children Smile
VSP Partnership Benefits Many!!!
CIS
of Denton County Participants Receive Teacher of the Year and Volunteer
of The Year Awards
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We all know someone who has made a difference in our lives. But for some outstanding Texans, the impact they have made on students could be the difference on whether those students have stayed in school and look forward to a brighter future.
In conjunction with National Volunteer Week, April 21-27, the Communities In Schools (CIS) State Office honored six recipients statewide. The recipients were selected for their commitment to students, families, and the community at large. They were also selected for major contributions to the CIS programs, length of service and amount of time contributed to their local CIS programs, and their personal and professional enrichment from involvement with Communities In Schools.
A committee made up of representatives from CIS State Office, the Texas Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, and the Texas Education Agency selected recipients from nominations made by the local CIS programs around the state. Recipients in six different areas of service were chosen as honorees.
Thomas E. Hadnot of Baytown received the "Communities In Schools Board Member of the Year" Award. Hadnot serves as Board President on the Board of Directors of Communities In Schools Baytown, Inc., and has been instrumental in guiding the program from serving three school campuses to currently serving 13. He has worked with Baytown area youth in many capacities over the past 30 years.
Judy G. Traylor, of Quitman was selected as the "Communities In Schools Executive Director of the Year." Traylor directs the Communities In Schools of Northeast Texas program headquartered on the Northeast Texas Community College Campus in Mt. Pleasant. She has served in this capacity for ten years, extending the program into every school in Camp, Morris, and Titus Counties.
Monica Medina received the honor of being the "Communities In Schools Staff Member of the Year." Ms. Medina is the project director at Memorial Elementary School of the New Braunfels Independent School District. Medina's school principal described her as "a dedicated team player, who always has a plan to help a child or a family who may be in trouble."
Bill Walker of Roanoke received the "Communities In Schools Volunteer of the Year" Award for his exemplary service to the CIS of Denton County, Inc. program located in Roanoke. Walker, with the Hillwood Development Company, not only serves as a mentor himself, but also instituted a CIS mentoring program at Roanoke Elementary School utilizing 14 Hillwood employees as mentors. Mr. Walker became involved with the CIS program three years ago when he encouraged funding from Hillwood Development. Mr. Walker secured funding from his company at the beginning of the 1999-2000 school year. Hillwood has generously donated $20,000 to the program at Roanoke Elementary School for the last three years.
Ed Rawlinson of San Antonio was selected as the "Communities In Schools School Superintendent of the Year." Rawlinson is the Superintendent of the Northside Independent School District, the largest school district in San Antonio and Bexar County, and the sixth largest in the state. He has served on the CIS San Antonio Board of Directors for six years and says, "Communities In Schools of San Antonio is the best bargain in education."
Sharlyn Elliott, of Lewisville, was chosen as the "Communities In Schools Teacher of the Year." Elliott teaches an EXCELS class at the DeLay Middle School campus of the Lewisville ISD. The EXCELS program is a self-paced, accelerated program for 8th graders needing assistance in moving on to the 9th grade. In addition to fulltime teaching, she volunteers three afternoons with the CIS after-school program. CIS students readily connect with Elliott because she is always trying to find ways to make their lives better.
Communities In Schools of Denton County is honored that two individuals
that work with our program were given such a prestigious award. Many very
worthy people were nominated for the different categories and CIS of Denton
County participants received two of the awards. We are very proud to have
such dedicated people working with our students.
CIS of Denton
County Hosts Campus Retreat
 School administrators meet with CIS campus managers to exchange ideas. |
On April 23, 2002 CIS of Denton County hosted a Campus Retreat for school principals, counselors and assistant principals. All schools came together for an afternoon of food, information and planning. We were very excited to have at least one representative from each CIS campus program. During the retreat, school representatives were given the opportunity to hear about different programs and activities that are organized on other school campuses. In addition, all participants were introduced to the Family Forward Program. At the end of the presentations the school representatives were grouped together with their campus managers and representatives from other schools of similar grade levels. The participants exchanged ideas and developed a blueprint for the coming school year. Since Denton County schools are often 40 miles away from each other, it was a treat for the participants to hear from other principals and counselors in different districts.
Each representative had the opportunity to win a $250 gift certificate to be used for the at-risk students on their school campus. The winners of the gift certificate give away were Michelle Hornyack from Ryan High School, David Tickner from Delay Middle School and Cathy Byrne from Seven Hills Elementary School.
 Roanoke Elementary Campus Manager Ann Marie Buckly (left) with CIS of Denton County Principal of the Year Debbie Merki. |
At the end of the afternoon CIS of Denton County presented two awards for outstanding support and achievement. Campus Mangers nominated individuals for Principal of the Year and Counselor of they Year. Each nominee was presented and CIS staff members voted for the best candidate. The CIS of Denton County Local Principal of the Year Award was given to Debbie Merki, Principal at Roanoke Elementary School and the Counselor of the Year award was presented to Edna Hanson, Counselor at Central Elementary School. CISDC is very lucky to have so many dedicated school personnel to work with. All of our principals and counselors give so much every day, it was very hard to pick just one from each category.
Thank you to all of the Principals, Counselors, and Assistant Principals
who attended the CIS Campus Retreat. Together we can make a difference
in the lives of many young people.
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Correne Lynch Receives Award
from Griffin Middle School
 Griffin Middle School Principal Cynthia Williams (left) presents CIS Campus Manager Correne Lynch an award for "Teacher Who Makes a Difference." |
Correne Lynch, Campus Manager at Griffin Middle School, received an award from her school and her students and was recognized as a "Teacher Who Makes a Difference." Correne was presented with this award at the Griffin Middle School PTA meeting on Tuesday, May 7, 2002.
Students were polled and asked to nominate teachers who made a difference
in their lives. They were also asked to make comments about that individual
and explain what made this particular individual special. Some of the
comments students made about Correne were:
· She helps me with my homework
· She says she will never give up on me and that makes me never
give up on myself
· She thinks she is an adult, but really she is just a big kid
herself.
· She pushes hard then pushes some more. She is the only reason
I am still in school.
· She makes going to homework club fun. I really like going and
getting my homework done.
Thank you Correne Lynch for being someone who makes a difference.
 Saturday Scholar students celebrate with pizza and festivities. |
CIS through its partnership with Saturday Scholars provides students an opportunity to receive free tutoring approximately two Saturdays per month. Students attended each session for two hours and received scholar dollars for participation. The Scholar Dollars can be used to purchase items such as T-shirts, pens, candy, etc. Volunteers from Verizon, the communiry and from the National Honor Societ at local high schools helped tutor students in this program. Approximately 40 students from DeLay Middle School and Griffin Middle School participated in this program.
On Saturday, April 27th, an awards ceremony was held to honor those Saturday Scholars who worked so hard throughout the year to improve their grades. Scholars and their families were invited, as were the tutors and teachers who devoted so much of their time on Saturdays over the past year. Students received recognition through the presentation of certificates, pens, and data organizers. Students who attended each session also received special distinction for their perfect attendance. Certificates and prizes were awarded to tutors and Griffin faculty to recognize their dedication to the students. The afternoon ended with a lunch consisting of Pizza, cokes and candy.
Congratulations to all of the students who improved their grades
through the Saturday Scholars Program!!!
Students Have Fun While Learning
Social Skills
 L-R: Seven Hills Parent Liason Dora Chazarreta, CIS Parent Tammy Adcock, CIS Campus Manager Lara Varcoe and CIS Program Director Brian McCauley act as the waitstaff of La CIS Restaurante. |
This year at Seven Hills Elementary School 3rd grade girls participated in a manners group that grew to be much more. Not only did these girls learn proper table etiquette and conversation skills, but they also explored character building skills including honesty, friendship and promise keeping.
At the end of the program, the CIS office was transformed into a fancy restaurant called "La CIS Restaruante". In order for the girls to participate in this dining experience, they had to write a story about something they learned while participating in this girls group.
 La CIS Restaurante patrons toast Ms. Lara! |
All of the girls dressed up in their nice dresses and were served lunch by a wait staff that included Lynnea Williamson, CIS Executive Director, Lara Varcoe, Campus Manager, and Dora Chazarreta, Parent Liaison. Brian McCauley, Program Director, fashioned a tuxedo as he served as the Maitre d'. The girls had the best time. At the end of the event each girl who had earned 175 points by completing worksheets and being recognized as dong good deeds, received an award with prizes. Their prize package included a t-shirt, necklace and award ribbon.
Lara Varcoe stated, "I am so proud and delighted with the accomplishments
and growth these girls have achieved. I believe I got as much or more
out of the experience as did the girls."
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Gifts In Kind Donations Make
Children Smile
 Roanoke Elementary students show off their costumes donated by The Disney Store. |
During the 2001-2002 school year CISDC entered in a partnership with Gifts In Kind International to receive donations from Office Depon and The Disney Store and Adobe. Office Depot and The Disney Store both located in Lewisville, make monthly and sometimes weekly donations to our program. Through this program, CIS is able to receive many useful and fun things for our students. Office Depot often donates colored pencils, markers, gel pens, scissors, packpacks, paper and software to our program. The Disney Store has regularly donated dress-up costumes, toys, pajamas and various other items that kids love. During the 2001-2002 school year CIS has received $8,114.27 of in-kind donations from Office Depot and $7,191.84 of in-kind donations from The Disney Store. Adobe's Philanthropy Program through Gifts In Kind also donated Adobe Photoshop 6.0 and Adobe Illustrator 10 to CISDC. The software is valued at $988.
CISDC is very grateful to these three organizations for their generosity.
VSP Insurance Helps 342 Students
Receive Glasses!
 Students at Lewisville Central Elementary display their new glasses thanks to VSP Sight for Students. |
For the past two years, CISDC has partnered with Sight for Students to provide vision exams and eyeglasses to students. CIS was very excited about this partnership because many students benefit, regardless of where they live. This program has also been a benefit for our community because it does not deplete local resources such as the Lion's Club and local store programs. Students are screened by the school nurse and in several cases volunteers from Prevent Blindness Texas. If this preliminary screening indicates that the student may need to see an eye doctor, a CIS campus manager will talk with the parents and give them a voucher. The voucher allows a student to see an Ophthalmologist and if necessary receive a free pair of glasses. As a result of this program, CIS was able to help screen 4,112 students and help 170 students receive glasses during the 2000-2001 school year. CIS is pleased to announce that we have surpassed this number in the 2001-2002 school year and helped 172 additional students receive glasses. As a result of the CIS and VSP partnership, 342 students have received eyeglasses over the last two years.
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