The Moore Mustang cheerleaders took home a first place title at the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) National Championships this past weekend in Dallas. The eighth-grade squad from Moore MST Magnet School broke middle school national records by earning more than 90 points in both Fight Song and Timeout Cheer, which make up the Game Time division. Coached by Lana Lambert Cain, the 24-member team competed against eight teams in their division, and outscored the second place team by more than six points.
“We can never underestimate the tremendous impact school spirit has, not only on the extra-curricular activities of a campus, but also on the main mission of the school to ensure students excel academically,” Claude Lane, Moore MST Principal, said. “We are extremely proud of the way these students represented both Moore MST and Tyler ISD.”
With teams from 20 states represented at the competition, the 2011-2012 championship was the largest in the past 10 years.
The cheerleaders each received a letter jacket, and the team took home a trophy and banner to display in the school.
Squad members: Iliana Herrera, Gracie Anderson, Alysse Miller, Khylise Milton, Captain Myriah Sloan, Jerri White, Morgan McGuire, Maggie Ensey, McKenna Painter, Krescenda Bircher, Madison Noble, Keaton Cunningham, Molly Sampson, Nayelie Molina, Madison Herber, Haley Best, Kelsi Oldham, Julia Batis, Ava Dhakal, Claire Stratton, Lauren Nichols, Shelby Rowland, Anna Orr, and Hannah Hunter.

The Longview High School UIL Academics team traveled to Athens on December 10 to compete at the Athens Winter Invitational. Following are the results:
Accounting – Deborah Conrad, Coach
Marcus Stroud– 1st Place Accounting (6 competitors)
Calculator Applications, Mathematics, Number Sense – Heather Cisco, Coach
Jackson Schaap– 5th Place Math (50 competitors)
Chris Yu – 5th Place Calculator (30 competitors)
Taylor Yuen, Jose Felix, Eric Ramos, Ali Yacoub, Simone Macklin,
Cherryl Tronzon
Computer Applications – Carolyn Warren, Coach
Terran Dixon – 2nd Place (14 competitors)
Karis Warren – 6th Place (14 competitors)
Yanitza Tapia
Computer Science – Loreto Guevara, Coach
Marcus Martinez – 5th Place (9 competitors)
Andrew Hopson – 6th Place (9 competitors)
Social Studies – Molly Adams, Coach
Josh Hilscher – 2nd Place (25 competitors)
Pedro Martinez Barillos – 4th Place (25 competitors)
Journalism – News Writing, Feature Writing, Editorial Writing, Headline Writing -Kevin Berns, Coach
News Writing
Caroline Araiza – 1st Place (20 competitors)
Jonathan Vazquez – 2nd Place (20 competitors)
Meghan McNamara – 3rd Place (20 competitors)
Hannah Brown – 5th Place (20 competitors)
Feature Writing
Hannah Brown – 2nd Place (20 competitors)
Meghan McNamara – 5th Place (20 competitors)
Jonathan Vazquez – 6th Place (20 competitors)
Editorial Writing
Caroline Araiza – 2nd Place (20 competitors)
Hannah Brown – 3rd Place (20 competitors)
Headline Writing
Caroline Araiza – 1st Place (20 competitors)
Sarah Brown – 2nd Place (20 competitors)
Prose – Pam Mercer-McWilliams, Coach, LHS UIL Coordinator
Karis Warren
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Forty-four Longview High School (LHS) band members have earned 2011 All-Region Honors in a musical playoff versus more than 300 of their colleagues from other schools.  The competition was held at Tyler Junior College. Of the 44, there were 16 who earned the right to compete at the area level.  This is the next step toward attaining All-State ranking.  Last year just two LHS musicians made the All-State Band.
LHS Band Director Louis Robinett was delighted with his students’ showing.
“Most people don’t realize that our band students are typically marching at football games several weeks after most schools,” he said.  “When you also consider that we had to learn a few Christmas pieces for the parade, holiday concert and two Honor America performances, this honor is very impressive.  These students are very dedicated to being good at what they do–in the band hall and in the classroom–and we are extremely proud of them.”
Drawn from 21 regional schools the All-Region Band will perform at the UT-Tyler Cowan Center on January 21.

Fourteen industrial technology majors at The University of Texas at Tyler recently achieved a 100 percent pass rate on the Association of Technology, Management and Applied Engineering’s Certified Manufacturing Specialist exam, Dr. Harold Doty,
College of Business and Technology dean, announced.
This is the university’s first group to attempt the exam.
“I am really proud of my students because the national pass rate for the exam is currently at 47 percent. To have all of them pass it is quite an accomplishment,” said Dr. Mark R. Miller, UT Tyler professor and industrial technology program coordinator.
Students are Ray Adkins, Darren Downey, Alan Jackson, Daniel Lee and Tyler Morris, all of Tyler; Clint Helms and Carlos Zavala, both of Flint; Charles Higgins and Mitch Koerner, both of Glen Rose; Adrienne Crone of Winnsboro; Kerri Parker of Overton; Justin Waller of Henderson; Johnathan Wilson of Brownsboro and Bryan Ganske of Whitehouse.
The CMS exam covers manufacturing processes and materials as well as topics including supervision, electronics, quality, industrial safety, automation and engineering graphics.
“The exam is a good assessment measure of how well our students compare to students from other industrial technology and applied engineering programs all across the country at more than 40 other institutions, such as Purdue, Kent State and Iowa State,” Miller added.
The industrial technology program prepares individuals to apply basic engineering principles and technical skills in support of industrial engineers and managers. Graduates hold positions to include plant manager, quality assurance manager, industrial engineer, manufacturing engineer, inventory manager, project engineer, technical salesperson, technology professor and more.
One of the 15 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler offers excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and communityservice. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degree programs are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of almost 7,000 high-ability students at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine.

Michael Timms is John Tyler High School’s (JT) associate principal for curriculum and instruction, and very good at his job.
The Texas Association of Secondary School Principals (TASSP) has named him its Texas Assistant Principal of the Year.  Only those who display the absolute best performance in their positions and show the greatest leadership skills as secondary education officials are considered for this honor.  A committee of eight of Texas’ leading educators chose Timms unanimously for the recognition.  JT Principal Shon Joseph was delighted with his colleague’s award.
“It is truly a pleasure to work side-by-side with Mr. Timms,” he said.  “He is a highly effective leader on our campus, but more importantly he is a positive influence on our students.  I have no doubt many John Tyler graduates will list him as an inspiration in their future successes.”
As TASSP’s Texas Assistant Principal of the Year Timms will receive a trip to Washington, D.C. for a conference with the other 49 assistant principals of the year.  He will also have audiences with the President of the U.S., the U.S. Secretary of Education and assorted federal lawmakers.
The TASSP selects its assistant principal of the year from 20 Regional Assistant Principals of the Year.  Timms was made the District 7 Assistant Principal of the Year last summer.  His next move is to compete for the title of National Assistant Principal of the Year.
He started his 24 years as a professional educator as a substitute teacher in the Dallas ISD, moving on to a position as a full-time biology teacher after earning his certification.  He worked as an assistant principal for several Dallas area elementary, middle and high schools.  He has worked at John Tyler since 2010.

Longview ISD Superintendent Dr. James E. Wilcox on Monday tendered his notice of retirement to the district’s board of trustees. It will take effect on December 31.
Wilcox came to Longview from Waxahachie ISD in April, 2007. Though many new academic and career and technology programs were established under his watch, the highlight of Wilcox’s tenure was a $267 million bond election that brought seven new elementary campuses, three new middle school campuses and extensive improvements at Longview High School. Wilcox also oversaw the district rezoning – reducing the previous 28 attendance zones to six – which paved the way for a federal court to relax a 40-year-old desegregation order.
“I’m pleased to have been a part of the best school district east of I-45,” Wilcox said. “This is bittersweet, as I have loved every day in Longview ISD.”
Wilcox said he hasn’t made immediate full-time work plans, but intends to remain active in educational circles and Longview-area organizations.

Kilgore College will offer classes at KC—Longview this spring geared toward working adults.
The classes, called QUEST classes, give students an opportunity to earn 12 hours of college credit in only 16 weeks.

QUEST, which stands for, “Quick Education for a Successful Tomorrow,” will give students the needed education to succeed in a career or enter a bachelor’s degree program.

“Many adults who want to go back to college find it discouraging. They can only take a course here or there, and they have to get time off from work to attend day classes,” said Frank Mosley, Instructional Student Support Director  “Every QUEST class is very affordable and offered in the evening, making it a perfect fit for working adults.”

QUEST classes are usually offered in a hybrid format, with one-half of the class on-line and one-half in a traditional classroom setting with the instructor.

According to Mosley, students are given the opportunity to earn up to six college credits with QUEST in the first eight weeks and six college credits the second eight weeks of a traditional fall or spring semester.

Offered on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6 to 8:50 p.m., QUEST classes provide the Texas Core Curriculum which is guaranteed to transfer to any public university in Texas.

To participate in QUEST classes, students must meet all prerequisites for the courses and have access to Internet access.

KC will hold late registration on both the Longview and Kilgore campuses on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

The first day of class is Jan. 17. For a spring QUEST schedule visit: www.kilgore.edu/quest.asp

For more information, contact Mosley at: 903-983-8689, 903-753-2642 or e-mail: fmosley@kilgore.edu.

The Lindale Independent School District board of trustees voted Monday night to join more than 300 school districts in the Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition-Equity Center lawsuit filed against the state.
The lawsuit, filed in October, is in response to the Texas legislature’s more than $4 billion cuts to school funding.  The goal of the lawsuit is to push reform for the state’s current funding system in order to begin a new means to fairly distribute resources to districts, adjust for varying costs of educating students of all needs and vary operating costs of districts of different classifications (rural versus urban).  The lawsuit addresses state property tax, adequacy and suitability, student equity, target revenue, tax payer equity and equal protection.
“Lindale ISD, like most districts, wants an efficient and equitable funding system for public schools,” Superintendent Stan Surratt said.  “Lindale ISD is below the state average in terms of revenue per student.  Also, the current funding system designed by the legislature has major issues in adequacy and future capacity. We want to see this changed.”
LISD trustees first examined joining the lawsuit as part of the business discussion at the October 10 meeting.  LISD school board president Brig. Gen. James K. “Red” Brown was not present at Monday night’s meeting but Surratt said Brown had discussed the litigation with the school district’s attorneys and recommended the district participate.  With Gen. Brown’s recommendation, trustees approved the contribution of $1 per Weighted Average Daily Attendance (WADA) for the lawsuit by a vote of 6-0.
Lindale ISD joins several schools from East Texas in the equity lawsuit including Tyler ISD, Bullard ISD and Van ISD. There are currently three school finance lawsuits against the state.
“In the past, most major reform and improvement in school funding has come about due to school districts filing lawsuits in the state.  This is not the first time this has happened.  Our goal is to prompt and motivate legislators to address the funding crisis that schools are facing.”

Seven Tyler ISD middle school students earned awards in the Tyler/Smith County Fire Prevention Poster Contest. The Tyler Fire Marshal’s Office, along with the Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office, hosted the competition, which required students to submit a poster highlighting an important fire prevention theme.
“The Tyler/Smith County Fire Prevention Poster Contest provides a great opportunity for Tyler ISD to partner with our community on a project that highlights our students’ talents while raising awareness of important issues,” Tyler ISD Director of Fine Arts George Faber said. “We appreciate the Tyler and Smith County Fire Marshal’s offices for providing this opportunity, and we are proud of all our students who participated.”
Students who placed in the contest are listed below.
Dustin Cox: 3rd Place, County
Noah Cunningham: 2nd Place, Overall
Monica Diaz: 2nd Place, 8th Grade Division III
Carlin Gray: 1st Place, County; 1st Place, Overall
Meagan Killian: 1st Place, 6th Grade Division III; 3rd Place, Overall
Timothy Sanford: 3rd Place, 6th Grade Division III
Enrique Valle: 2nd Place, 7th Grade Division III

The University of Texas at Tyler debate team continues to remain the top team in national rankings after winning their final tournament for the fall 2011 semester, Dr. Martin Slann, College of Arts and Sciences dean, announced.
Senior economics major Alex Warren of Tyler and senior communications and political science double major Travis Smith of Palestine placed first in the three-day tournament at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., where they beat teams from schools including McKendree University, Texas Tech University, Pepperdine University, University of Oklahoma, Whitman College and Loyola University.
This is Warren and Smith’s third final round appearance and top finish.
“Alex and Travis make up one of the top teams in the country, and their success proves it,” said Dr. Charles Walts, UT Tyler director of forensics.
The team’s ranking is determined by a points system that currently ranks more than 300 teams in the country competing in the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence.
“Because there are no conferences or divisions in debate, we have to be ready to debate anyone. It can be a massive undertaking to gather intelligence and prepare for 300 different teams,” Walts added.
The UT Tyler team will begin its spring campaign in early January when they travel to Salt Lake City, Utah and Bellingham, Wash. for two of the largest tournaments of the year.
“We are seniors this year, so there are no second chances. For us, this is it. It’s time to go big, or go home,” said Smith.
The university’s debate program competes in both NPTE and the National Parliamentary Debate Association.