Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Whether we’re talking about fall festivals or Halloween, this is the season that launches us — with glorious color — into winter. This season brings with it some unique activities: from pumpkins popping up to trips to getting lost in corn mazes. Children and adults alike have been pondering and planning for their costume for the 31st of October. The whole community participates: shops and malls are gearing up for an onslaught of dressed-up little creatures; churches and other...
Walking into Sandia Elementary the other day, I was noticeably struck by how spotless and sparkling everything was. Not only is this clearly attributable to Sandia’s amazing custodians, but I learned more was going on. It’s not every day one gets called to a school to talk to a teacher who just wants to brag on a colleague and the impact that colleague’s been making. Gina Rubio, fourth-grade teacher at Sandia, contacted us to talk about the amazing recycling program they...
Education in today’s world is not only about classroom academics; other facets must be taken into consideration, whether involving sports, clubs or the overall well-being of students. The latter has become more of a focus as schools across the nation have encountered increased violence and other challenges affecting students’ overall well-being. With our own community having undergone some serious tragedies during the last couple of years, it’s worth sharing some of the measu...
Not everyone is aware of some of the amazing activities taking place at Clovis High School in the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) program. Headed up by retired Maj. Alan Fields and assisted by Senior Master Sgt. Michael Kilcullen, this CHS program is formidable. Fields recently shared some additions to the program at CHS. Beginning with a bit of history, I learned that the JROTC program was actually created as a citizenship program, and CHS was one of...
At Mesa Elementary School, there’s quite a history of accomplishment, including the achievement of being named — not once, but twice — a National Blue Ribbon School. That’s no easy achievement. For those unfamiliar with National Blue Ribbon, this program, established in 1982 by the U. S. Department of Education, was designed for the express purpose of recognizing public and/or private schools (K-12), based upon their “overall academic excellence or their progress in closing e...
Stopping by our Clovis High School Freshman Academy last week, I had an opportunity to chat with Bekki Jones, history teacher of 14 years and varsity cheer coach. Jones works closely with Amanda Boydstun, the CHS junior varsity cheer coach. Jones began by expressing her gratitude for the leadership of Lonnie Baca, our athletic director, and his support of all our sports in the district and the high standards and expectations. Not everyone understands just how hard our student...
Having heard about a unique learning experience at Sandia Elementary, I dropped by the school to speak with fourth-grade teachers Gina Rubio and Faith Calvin. Partially as a get-acquainted activity, partially as a team-building activity, teachers combined their classes the first week of school to try a powerful learning activity. Students were divided into about 10 teams with four or five students each. Each group was given 20 pieces of uncooked spaghetti, one marshmallow,...
Last Friday night was the first home football game of the season. Still inspired by our new superintendent’s exhortation to “remember how great we are,” with a view to re-igniting our Wildcat pride, we renewed our reserved seating football tickets. Wow … how fortunate we did; Friday night was quite an experience. A new “voice of the Wildcats” took the helm: Loran Hill, Yucca Middle School principal, long serving in many CMS sports relieved “Chief” Bill Gaedke after a dedicat...
Despite the many long hours teachers spend with students on a daily basis, studies show the parent is still the first teacher and most important influencer in a child’s life. If parents value education, students will value education and strive harder for success than if parents are uninvolved or disconnected. Heading into a new school year, we decided it would be useful to check in with teachers for the best advice they might offer parents to optimally support their c...
There has been undeniable excitement in the air in recent days. A new school year has begun; we are prepped and looking forward to a transformative year. Schools and our central office have already been hopping for many long weeks in anticipation of new and returning students. There have been ongoing professional development opportunities throughout the summer for our staff, intensifying during the last few weeks, as if the new school year has already developed a momentum of...
Unbelievably, another school year has zoomed past. Students filled with excitement, while educators are uttering a deep sigh of exhaustion. For both, there are likely bittersweet moments: teachers thinking of students so challenging at the beginning they’ll really miss now; students feeling the tug of a heartstring as they leave that teacher they so disliked at the beginning of the year, now feeling sad and realizing how much that teacher deeply cared about them and their succ...
Stepping into Mesa Elementary’s multi-purpose room recently was stepping back into The Golden Age of Radio. Fifth-grade teachers Cheryl Cunningham, Ashlee Spears, and Aundi Curtis resurrected a play they’d done some years ago, called “Radio Days.” Written by Cunningham years earlier, when teaching at Cameo Elementary, this production had actually grown out of a classroom “reader’s theater” activity Cunningham had incorporated to improve students’ reading fluency. Radio...
The recent Clovis Municipal Schools Education Foundation Hall of Honor Banquet was a dazzling evening of celebration. The large venue at the Clovis Civic Center was filled with warmth and sparkle, as many Clovis High School alumni as well as other community members and current CHS students met and mingled. The sights and sounds were lovely, from the tables decorated in purple, white, and black to Jeff Lynn’s spectacular lighting effects. Music was provided by “Top Cats in the...
Walking into Lockwood Elementary the other day, I came face to face with a Sasquatch-like character; definitely a bit startling. Immediately reaching out his fuzzy paw to shake mine, I realized all was well. “Squatch” is the mascot of ACT, a program of our local district attorney’s office, which stands for “Abolish Chronic Truancy.” Begun roughly 10 years ago, the program is to not only reduce truancy, but also to positively encourage consistent and on-time student attendanc...
It’s widely known that we are about to welcome to the helm a new superintendent for the Clovis Municipal Schools. Before plunging ahead, however, it’s incumbent upon us to pause and offer our gratitude to Jody Balch, who’s served as our leader for the last five years. Balch began his career in 1979 and has served in a wide range of capacities: from the classroom to assistant principal, followed by principal at Yucca Middle School for a number of years. Moving to Clovis High...
If you are ever around kids, it’s likely you’ve heard about various types of video games. There is a whole complex field of research called “game theory” where mathematical models are studied to determine the various types of reactions to decision-making, physical response, critical thinking, motor skills, and other cognitive processes. There are considerable implications from not only the areas of social sciences, logic, and computer sciences, but also for education. One par...
April is a month filled with reading-related activities. First off, it is National Poetry Month. It was in 1996 the Academy of American Poets designated April as National Poetry Month, and it is now the largest literary celebration in the world, with “tens of millions of readers … marking poetry’s important place in our culture and our lives.” The website — www.poets.org — states that National Poetry Month, as a widely celebrated event around the world, is showcased b...
It’s that time of year again when we celebrate outstanding Clovis High School alumni through the CMS Education Foundation Hall of Honor. The gala banquet honoring the recipients will be May 11 at the Clovis Civic Center. This year’s recipients again include a wide range of exceptional graduates, and we are proud to share a few of their stories. n Bubba Jennings has enjoyed many sports accolades over the years, such as being named “Player of the Year” multiple times, and wil...
Earlier this year we described moving our preK program back out to our elementary school sites for several reasons — one of which was to make it more convenient for parents with older children at the same school. In addition to this and other changes made to enhance early learning, we’ve also been piloting a program at four of our school sites to support literacy acquisition. Waterford Early Learning is from the Waterford Institute, a non-profit research center, spe...
“Digital Learning Day 2019” — information at digitallearningday.org — was Feb. 28. Digital learning is basically incorporating technology into the learning process to enhance learning and instruction. It includes a wide range of technology, from software to devices to strategies. While a number of our school sites participated in DLD, Clovis High School centralized some of its digital activities in the CHS Library. Librarian Jenny Jeffery set up stations with some “makers...
For our students who qualify for gifted education, there are a variety of events and resources available. Recent conversations with our district’s Gifted and Talented (GT) Liaison, Annette Walton, revealed the details of the overall program. According to the National Association for Gifted Children, “… gifted education varies widely across the United States.” One of their goals is to “support those who enhance the growth and development of GT students through education...
You may well have heard more about spelling bees in recent months than in the past. This is because a more concerted effort has been made to engage students, staff, and schools in the event. As a spelling bee judge, it is always fascinating to see how caught up in the event students become; waiting to see if a fellow classmate’s spelling was correct or not; enthusiastic cheering for those spellers who spell their words correctly; and hearing from participants about how hard t...
Dropping by Cameo Elementary recently near the end of a school day, I came upon Cameo teachers organizing furniture and technology devices in the school’s multi-purpose room. There was a lot of activity and energy in the air; the event was “Bingo For Books” that would be held that evening. Talking to veteran teachers Keith and Kathryn Sacane, who were connecting a digital tablet to the projector for a giant image on the wall, they filled in the blanks. Keith Sacane, who served...
One of our long-term and ongoing goals is to develop ways to actively engage our secondary students as we prepare them for the workplace. One of our strategies is to partner with community enterprises — whether non-profits or businesses, or others — to develop learning opportunities that powerfully impact our students’ futures. To that end, we came into contact this past fall with a couple of groups who themselves partner to take advantage of one of our most prevalent natur...
In education, we have the gift of new beginnings. The beginning of the new school year, of course, after staff and students are rested from the summer months; but, we also have the gift of the beginning of a new year when we return to school after the holidays. The countdown to the holiday season at the end of the first semester was, as usual, incredibly busy. This year, it seemed as though so many of our students and staffs — via their schools — were involved in activities to...
