Four campuses kick off Safe Routes to School programMayor Julian Castro and Superintendent John Folks joined students from Neff MS, Glass ES, Glenoaks ES, and Powell ES to kick off the Safe Routes to School program.

Funding from a $1.2 million grant from the Texas Department of Transportation will be used to help make sure that students who walk or bike to school get there safely.

Kickoff festivities included a bike show, a walk around the Powell ES neighborhood to celebrate International Walk to School Day, and the announcement of poster contest winners.

Grand prize winners were Christopher Rios, Glass ES; Celia Jairala, Glenoaks ES; Reem Bekhit, Powell ES; and Sarahy Guerrero, Neff MS.

Christopher and Reem are pictured (right top) with TxDOT’s Sam Aguirre, Mayor Castro, School Board President Karen Freeman and Dr. Folks.

Pictured (right bottom) with Glass Principal Patricia Lambert at the kickoff are (from l-r) students Ellie Murphy, Kane Sandoval, Christopher Rios, Ephriam Rios, Jan Filip Alfaro, and Arianna Agueros.

For more details about this program, visit the District’s Safe Routes to School website at http://www.nisd.net/safe-routes/.

Neff MS Principal promotes “Walk to Stop Diabetes” through poetry Pat Neff MS Principal Sylvia Wade was inspired to write a poem (see right) about defeating diabetes and the efforts of Team Northside coming together to raise money for the walk.

Pictured, holding buckets of money raised by each grade level, are (from l-r) Laura Bracamontes, receptionist; Dorothy Tschirhart, Vice Principal’s secretary; Sandra Carrasquillo, Principal’s secretary/bookkeeper; Coach Hank Hennig; Principal Sylvia Wade; Regina Jefferson, math teacher; and Camila Castro, English teacher.

Northside Independent School District, San Antonio TX 78238-1606 October 12, 2011

$50,000Goal

$40,306

Diabetes DefeatedHere we go

It’s time to showOur strength and compassion

To reach the goalTo gather the teams

In NISDTo come together

This storm we’ll weatherDIABETES DEFEATEDIs the challenge we’ll meet

Come on NorthsideGet on your feetWalk the WalkShare the talk

Inform the worldThat we are ONE

And what we’ll do Is raise the fundsTo meet the needs Of those diseased

Somewhere we knowThere is a cure

It will be foundREST ASSURED

-- Sylvia Wade, Neff MS Principal

inside.nisd.net/weekly

inside.nisd.net/weekly

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Cody sisters get big surprise! There were some screams and some tears when first grader Kimmie Perez and fifth grader Susie Perez looked up from their work in their classrooms at Cody ES. To their surprise, in walked their sister, Mass Communication Specialist Rosalie Garcia, a former Cody ES student who has been serving the U.S. Navy for six years. For the past two years, she has been stationed on the USS Ronald Reagan, where the crew assisted efforts in Japan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Pictured (from l-r) are Susie Perez, Rosalie Garcia, and Kimmie Perez.

Valley Hi students learn about graffiti Valley Hi ES had a special visitor as part of San Antonio’s Graffiti Wipeout campaign. District 4 Councilman Rey Saldaña talked to the fourth graders about the dangers and damages caused by graffiti in the community. He read the book Graffiti in Tahiti, written by Victoria Wilson-Merritt, and each student received a Graffiti in Tahiti t-shirt and coloring book.Pictured with Saldana are fourth graders Melody Lara, Megan Nava, and Natalie Longoria-Baltazar.

Curiosity Day at Ott ESIt was a curious day at Ott ES. When Pre-K, first, and second graders visited the school library one day, they were met by The Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George!As part of their critical thinking and research lesson, students were treated to “Curiosity Day” and learned to ask five important questions, listened to stories, saw a piece of baleen from a whale, and chose a Curious George book to take back to their classroom. After reading the book, the class asked their five questions, and the students in grades three through five were asked to answer those questions. Pictured with students from Judy Haegstrom’s Pre-K class are The Man in the Yellow Hat (aka Librarian Charmaine Bride) and Curious George (parent volunteer Vanessa Mondragon-Bittman).

OF THE WEEKEducator Appreciation Week at Barnes & Noble starts Oct. 15

San Antonio Barnes & Noble locations are offering discounts to Northside ISD staff members Oct.

15 - 23 during Educator Appreciation Week. Save up to 25 percent on personal book purchases and 10 percent on CDs and DVDs with an Educator Discount Card (not the

institutional discount teachers use for school purchase orders). The Educator Discount card is available for free at a

Barnes & Noble cash register.

Team Northside has more than 1,300 walkers and 115 teams in the Step

Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes being held Saturday, Nov. 5 at Brackenridge

Park. To sign up or to donate, go to www.diabetes.org/nisd.

WOW!

Science students hear Pillar keynote at geophysicist expoAbout 135 high school science students from across the District recently attended the Society of Exploration Geophysicists International Expo in downtown San Antonio. They listened to Marshall HS grads and 2011 Pillars of Character Dr. Celina Suarez and Dr. Marina Suarez give the keynote address and explored the exhibit floor. The Suarez sisters’ keynote was “Walking with Dinosaurs and other Critters through the Cretaceous Greenhouse World and into the Future.” During their master’s degree research, the Suarez sisters discovered a new dinosaur that has since been named Geminiraptor suarezarum. The Society of Exploration Geophysicists helped fund the field trip.

AROUND THE DISTRICT