AROUND CAMPUS November 2017 FINE ARTS On Saturday, several of Bixby High School's most talented students auditioned for All-State Honor Choir. The following students have passed the first round of auditions and will compete again in two weeks in the final auditions for Oklahoma's most prestigious honor choirs.
Senior High Choir 1st round qualifiers: Aidan Sudler Maddie Cooper Becky Walters Azlee Decatur Hanna Doudican Junior High Choir 1st round qualifiers: Paige Emberson Sarah Albert Levi Huddleston Natalie Iden Margo Mironava Aubrey McNiel Austin Shay McKenzie Ragsdale Samantha Shay Charlotte Sams
If you have these students in your class or see them in the hallway, please congratulate them on their hard work and accomplishments. It is certainly a great time to be a Spartan!
The month of October was a great month for the BMS Choirs! On Saturday, October 7, many of our students auditioned for the All-District Honor Choir and 7 students were selected for the Choir and 2 were selected as alternates. Our outstanding singers are: Trinity Kohnen, 8th grade Alto 2; Kate Quiroz, 8th grade Alto 2, Alex Harris, 8th grade Tenor 2; Joel Huddleston, 8th grade Tenor 2; Evan Sudler, 8th grade Tenor 2; Noah Rice, 8th grade Bass 1; and Kaden Wright, 8th grade Bass 2. Our alternates are: Alexis Norman, 7th grade Soprano 1 first alternate, and Rachel Brooks, 8th grade Alto 1 first alternate (and I've just received word that she is being called up to sing in the choir!). These students will attend the All-District Honor Choir festival Monday and Tuesday, November 6 and 7, at First Baptist Church, Tulsa.
On Monday, October 16, our choirs presented their fall concert at the (nearly full) High School auditorium! It was a great night of singing! On Saturday, October 29, many of our students attended the first round of All-State Honor Choir auditions, and 6 of our phenomenal students will be advancing to 2nd round, which takes place November 14. Those amazing singers are: Alexis Norman, 7th grade Soprano 1; Alex Harris, 8th grade Tenor 2; Joel Huddleston, 8th grade Tenor 2; Evan Sudler, 8th grade Tenor 2; Noah Rice, 8th grade Bass 1; and Kaden Wright, 8th grade Bass 2. I am incredibly proud of all of our students. It's a great day to be a singing Spartan! - Tiffany McGrew
Ms. Coleman is teaching a new course to high school students. This course is designed to stimulate student growth in piano through the use of performance, theory, listening to and history of piano performance. Students will learn theory and history to teach them the knowledge necessary to form a lifelong enjoyment of music. ACADEMIC Freshman went to Crash Court. Judge Moody came to the school and provided students the opportunity to see the dangers drinking and driving. Students saw two people get convicted and heard the testimony from the wife of a survivor of a drinking driving accident.
Mrs. Rowland’s class has been working super hard on their writing samples. They had a publishing party today. During this party they completed their writing samples and read them to their classroom friends as well as special guests. The students were so proud of their finished products.
Students in Ms. Colvin’s 4th grade Great Expectations Task Force presented a bullying 101 presentation on Friday, October 27th during Specials to their peers and classmates. The leadership group began their first meeting in early September discussing a variety of subjects that were hot topics to their age group before settling on bullying. The leadership students then discussed what aspects of bullying they felt were important to talk to students about and got into groups to do independent research. The students took the information and determined how they wanted to present it to their classmates. Groups did skits, lecture, question and answer, and group participation with the 4th graders. They will do one more bullying presentation with more in-depth information during the spring semester.
Mrs. George led the charge in a school service project to collect adult socks to donate to the homeless. Socks were collected throughout the month and the final tally was 365 socks donated. We are proud of our students for their service to the community.
Each year, Northeast hosts a Literacy night for our students and families. This evening allows the families to engage with the teachers and staff in a fun and memorable way. Each child that attends is given a passport and they travel from different countries. Each grade level prepares a lesson on that country with a take away activity. The night is always a fun way to connect our teachers and families of Northeast.
I am sure all of you are aware of the park called The Gathering that is being developed next to the Arkansas River in Tulsa. From all reports it will be a great place for all ages. North Elementary students were able to have a preview of the park. A dome was set up in our gym and students were able to go in the dome and watch a presentation projected on the walls and ceiling of the dome. Part of the time it was real pictures of the progress and part of the time it was animated to show how it will look. I know all of us after the viewing are really excited for the park to open. Each student was also provided a reading folder with different activities.
Last week, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. VanDolah celebrated the Northeast students by dressing up as cowgirls and bringing a very special friend, Daisy. The students were challenged to purchase 1,000 books from the fall Book Fair. They surpassed the goal and were surprised at a special Rise and Shine! While Mrs. Williams and Mrs. VanDolah did dress up, the true star was Daisy! Thank you to all the students who purchased books so that this event was a success!
BHS October Senior Students of the month being recognized at the Optimist Luncheon. Mabrey bank is the sponsor of this award. Students pictured are Seniors Nina Fox, Carrington Keithline, Zac Taylor and Cayden Fivecoats. BHS Director of Activities, Dewayne Patterson is the coordinator of this award for BHS.
Congratulations to Central Intermediate October Students of the Month: Service. Gentry L. and Isaac N. were chosen by the 4th grade team. Jessi L. and Noah B. were selected by the 5th grade teachers. The 6th grade teachers chose Allie M. and Beau H. Students received a certificate as well as free kids’ meals at Raising Cane’s and Cici’s Pizza. Congratulations! COMMUNITY SERVICE Central Elementary would like to thank our Rotary Club for delivering dictionaries to our third grade students. Our students LOVE the deliveries and the visits our Rotarians make to the classrooms.
Teddy bears, ninjas and T-Rex’s oh my! Fall Festival at Bixby High School was a success! Thanks to everyone who came out. We were partial to the football family, the sleepy teddy bear and Burt the Lamb. The event was sponsored by Student Activities.
FUN!!! FUN!!! FUN!!! That is the best description of the North Elementary PTO’s Carnival the PTO planned for our students. Great activities, Great food, Great ice cream, and Great fun. We had a great turnout of students and parents. If you attended these pictures will remind you of the students having fun. If you were not able attend the pictures should make you want to come next year.
Northeast sixth graders, Hayden B. and Jaydn B., were selected to recite the pledge of allegiance and pick up the tee at the home football game. They were super excited to represent Northeast and get to be part of Bixby’s Football Game! We love Spartan Spirit!
Our Bedlam Food Drive was a HUGE success! Students brought in cans to show their support for OSU and OU. OSU came out on top in the contest, but Bixby Outreach Center was definitely the winner with over 950 cans donated!! Mrs. Campbell's 1st grade class brought in the most cans; for their reward they were able to load them into the BOC truck. Thank you Central Elementary families for your generosity!
STAFF NEWS Congratulations Michelle and Lawanna, November Educator and support employees of the month. Michelle Spillars Michelle is a special education teacher in the BEAR program at BMS. Mrs. Spillars does exceptional work for her students & the department. As the BEAR teacher, Michelle works with many students who are non-verbal, have limited verbal abilities, or are on the Autism spectrum. These students require different modes of communication in order to be successful in the classroom & social environments. Mrs. Spillars has attended several trainings in the area of augmentative & alternative communication in order to better serve her students. In our department, we refer to her as the “LAMP guru”. LAMP Words for Life is a program designed for students with limited verbal abilities. It can be accessed through an IPad or other speech generating devices. This program allows students to develop typical language skills through motor planning processes. I have witnessed Michelle go above & beyond for her students by creating visual schedules, academic activities, visual supports, & language engaging opportunities using the vocabulary & icons from the LAMP Words for Life program (i.e. pictures below). Michelle spends many of her evenings & weekends creating these tools for her students so they may have equal access to communication as the rest of us. Without her efforts, school would not be as engaging for these students. They would not make the tremendous amounts of progress academically or behaviorally as they show during their time in her classroom. Michelle helps give a voice to the voiceless. Seeing children light up because they can express their basic wants & needs is inspiring. Any student would be lucky to have her as a teacher & we are extremely thankful to have Michelle Spillars as a part of our education staff. Lawanna Hunter Lawanna always goes above & beyond. This year she is doing the job of 2 people & trained a new staff employee. Lawanna keeps track of half of all the virtual high school students. She visits with students/parents/counselors/Sped teachers when students are making progress; enters grades & maintains the virtual lab alone 2 periods out of the day. She always answers emails immediately even off of school time. Lawanna is very deserving of this award!
Simon MacFarlane works his magic in and out of the classroom. Mr. Simon MacFarlane started with Bixby Public Schools a few years back as a math teacher splitting time between buildings. He worked with kids in our building then traveled to the Ninth Grade Center to teach freshmen. His unique style grabbed the attention of his students as he tried to prepare them for not only the challenges of subject but the road ahead in life. As luck would have it, a full-time position opened up here at BMS and we were lucky enough to snag him full-time. Since then, we have enjoyed seeing Mr. MacFarlane perform with our house band, I Saw A Mouse, dress up like a pirate, rockstar, cowboy, etc. He has sponsored Cube Club, an after-school Middle School club where students tackle the challenges of solving a multitude of Rubic’s Cubes. And, he has also been known to rap the math lessons for his classes! “I believe you can reach and teach kids in a variety of ways. I just want to try as many ways as possible to get my students to be high achievers”, stated Mr. MacFarlane about his teaching style. We here at BMS certainly enjoy Mr. MacFarlane’s classroom approach to education and look forward to his next wacky event. We wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see a future Bixby High School graduate make it big and credit Simon MacFarlane’s classroom antics for the reason they had a great school experience. Keep it up Simon! You are much appreciated!
BIXBY TEACHERS OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED Congratulations to Mrs. Jean Bundy for being selected as our Bixby Middle School Site Teacher of the Year! She is such a great teacher and an even better person! Congrats Jean! Well deserved!
Mr. Jerry Davenport is our Bixby High School 2017-2018 teacher of the year. Mr. Davenport grew up loving science in Michigan. He grew up during the space race and many of his fellow high school students knew statistics about rockets and astronauts like most today know about baseball and football. As a child
people would say, “You might as well fly to the moon!” whenever something was so impossible that you shouldn’t even try to do it. By the time he was in college, a successful moon landing had been accomplished.
Mr. Davenport graduated from Parma Western High School near Jackson, Michigan with a degree in Physics from the University of Michigan – Flint. By the time he was finished with college he decided that he wanted to be a lawyer instead. Mr. Davenport attended law school at the University of Texas where he met his wife, who was getting her Master’s Degree in Microbiology. She now teaches at Tulsa Community College. They have three grown sons and three grandsons. They love being parents but love grand-parenting even more!
As a lawyer, he was always w given projects that involved technology or science Because of his background in physics. He eventually focused on environmental law and spent more than 20 years working on environmental issues. When here retired as a lawyer, he decided to do what he always wanted to do in the first place: Teach Physics.
Mr. Davenport teaches AP Physics 1, 2 and C at the high school and is much respected and revered by his students and fellow teachers. Last year his students brought Physics to Bixby Intermediate sites with their “Little Shop of Physics” program to help get students interested in science and in discovering the “whys” of the world. While AP Physics is challenging and rigorous coursework, he encourages students to see the real learning found within making mistakes, learning from them and trying again. One of his favorite quotes comes from physicist Savas Dimopoulos: “Jumping from failure to failure with undiminished enthusiasm is the big secret to success.” Congratulations, Mr. Davenport. The award is much deserved, and we are very proud to call you one of our own.
Staff members at Central Intermediate selected Mrs. Trisa Scott as our 2017-2018 Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Scott is one of the wonderful Special Education teachers at CI. She has been teaching for 14 years, all of those in Bixby. She was a paraprofessional for 5 years before moving into teaching. She even mentored our 2015-2016 Teacher of the Year, Mr. Max Hammontree! That is how awesome her knowledge and skills as a teacher are. She was inspired to become a teacher because her mother was a high school teacher and her mother-in-law was a kindergarten teacher.
One of the amazing things about Mrs. Scott is her relationship with her students. You will always find her working with her students. She will have students join her during their lunch to talk about things that are unrelated to school. She will take time during her plan to go check on her students or work with them one-on-one or in small groups to make sure they are understanding the math concepts taught that day. It isn’t surprising when a student is having a rough day that they seek out her attention and nurturing spirit. When you see Mrs. Scott in the hall or in her classroom, she always greets you with a smile and a hello.
When she isn’t at school, you will find Mrs. Scott enjoying time with her husband, Rob, their three sons and wives, and her four grandchildren. She also enjoys gardening, cooking, and going to estate sales
North Elementary is very proud to announce our North Elementary Teacher of the Year for 2017-2018 is Becky Even. Mrs. Even teaches first grade at North Elementary. Mrs. Even is in her twenty-third year of teaching first grade for Bixby Public Schools. Mrs. Even is married to Randy and has a daughter Mindee, and sons Judd and TJ. Her children are proud graduates of Bixby. Mrs. Even has her degree from Liberty University. Her hobbies are her family, cooking, reading, and breeding French Bulldogs. You could talk to any of her students over the last twenty-three years and the one thing they would tell you is that Mrs. Even made learning fun and coming to school enjoyable. On a personal note Becky was the first teacher I observed and evaluated when I became a principal. In keeping with tradition since this is my retirement year she will be the last teacher I evaluate this year. Mrs. Even is very deserving of this honor and North Elementary is very proud of her.
Central Elementary would like to congratulate Teacher of the Year, Shelly Sumler. Mrs. Sumler is originally from Kansas. This is her 12th year of teaching. She began her career at Cherryville, Kansas. She has taught Pre-K and Kindergarten. She attended Kansas State. Mrs. Sumler is married to Rick Sumler. They have two children Lawson (a senior) and Lauren (a sophomore). Both are Bixby High School students. We are super excited to have Shelly as our Teacher of the Year representative!! Angie Row was selected by her colleagues as the North Intermediate Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Row, who has been a special education teacher at BNI for six years, first began at working in the district as an Indian Education tutor at Central Elementary. Graduating from OSU with a degree in Special Education, she has certification for the areas of Mentally Handicapped, Learning Disabilities, Mild to Moderate, and Early Childhood. Mrs. Row moved to Bixby when she was eleven years old and graduated from Bixby High School. She has two sons, Colton and Carl, who also live in Bixby. Her hobbies include: horseback riding, shopping and spending time with her family
Tina Thomas was selected as the Brassfield Learning Center Site teacher of the year. She was presented with flowers and a cake during a luncheon hosted by her fellow teachers. We would like to congratulate Mrs. Thomas and recognize her ongoing commitment and her outstanding work with at-risk students.
The students and staff honored Northeast’s 2017-18 Teacher of the Year! Mrs. Whit Leutsch was name Teacher of the Year and surprised with a banner and flowers by her family! We are truly honored to have Mrs. Leutsch as part of our Northeast staff. Thank you, Mrs. Leutsch, for all you do for our students each and every day!
Technology Specialist, Cheryl Wilkinson is helping integrate technology into the classrooms at Bixby, while also showing her fellow educators how to utilize the technology in the most efficient and instructional ways possible. Before she took over this position, Wilkinson was a Special Education teacher. With her Master’s Degree in Reading, Wilkinson was able to specialize in a key developmental factor of education, and she was passionate about it. When asked about why reading was important, Wilkinson had a simple but profound understanding, saying, “If I could unlock reading for a student, then that student could be successful at anything else.” Her passion for education has grown with her different positions at Bixby Public Schools. She is one of the many educators affected by budget cuts, seeing a position she was dedicated to stripped of funding. She is also one of the numerous teachers who have kept going through the adversity the education system is facing in Oklahoma. Her hard work has paid off.
SPORTS CROSS COUNTRY: October 23rd Cross Country team competed at the eastern Regional in Broken Arrow last Saturday and again qualified for the State Meet by finishing in the top 7 of a 16 team field. This is the second year in a row that the girls have qualified for the State Meet. This year's State competition will be held next at Edmond Santa Fe High School. The girls were led by freshmen Libby Rowland who finished 11th out of 108 runners. Other Lady Spartans runners and their placings were Ashley Riggenbach (25th), Kendall Stieben (33rd), Josie Scott (50th), Rachel Brown (56th), Kaylee Blankenship (64th) and Alexis Von Hagen.
October 30th The Lady Spartans competed in the State Cross Country Meet at Edmond Santa Fe High School. Cold temperatures did not impact the girls as every member of the team ran their best time of the year and finished 10th out of the 14 teams who qualified for State. Freshman Libby Rowland again led the Lady Spartans finishing 22nd while Kendall Stieben finished 33rd. Other Lady Spartans were Ashley Riggenbach, Josie Scott, Rachel Brown, Kaylee Blankenship and Alexis Von Hagen. ~ Billy Carter, Head Cross Country Coach
FOOTBALL: October 19th After a mistake filled first half, Bixby High found itself in a battle with the fired up Bartlesville Bruins during a Class 6AII District 2 clash at Custer Field here Friday night. Sixth-ranked Bixby led 23-14 at halftime but the Bruins seized the momentum at the break, scoring with 25 seconds remaining in the first half. Bartlesville opened the second half rolling from its own 25-yard line to the Spartans’ 20, thanks to a productive passing game and three Bixby penalties. The Spartans needed a big play to stem the tide. Bixby’s defense and offense each contributed big plays during the crucial third quarter to help the Spartans salvage a 37-21 victory to remain unbeaten at 4-0 in district play and raise the overall record to 5-3. It was a disappointing performance for the Spartans. But, Bixby left town with a win and with its 15 district points in-tact. The margin for error, however, diminishes in the final two regular season games, beginning with Friday’s district showdown with top-ranked Tulsa Washington. “We messed up about every way you can and Bartlesville played really good. It was just one thing after another ... it was very frustrating,” Bixby head coach Loren Montgomery said afterward. “We have to play clean football, which we haven’t done much of this season. “We got out with a win but we’ve got a lot of work to do before next week,” he added. “They (Washington) are extremely good. They are fast and run all over the field well. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
October 27th The battle for the Class 6AII District 2 championship between top ranked Booker T. Washington and sixth ranked Bixby boiled down to defensive execution. With nine minutes left in the second quarter and throughout the second half, Bixby High’s Spartans displayed hard-nosed defensive football in blanking the Hornets. Booker T.’s defense, however, threw its second straight shutout and fourth this season. The dominating defensive effort and an early offensive eruption allowed the Hornets to upend the Spartans, 21-0, and capture the district title in front of a large, chilly Lee Snider Field crowd Friday night. ~ Ron Holt, Sports Write
Congratulations Zach Riddle! The United States Armed Forces presented the Armed Forces Award of Excellence to an outstanding senior football player, during the senior night pregame celebration. The outstanding senior football player was Zach Riddle, who accepted the award from US Army Sergeant Graves
November 3rd Finesse and flair are descriptions seldom used when Bixby’s Spartans and Sand Springs’ Sandites annually collide on the gridiron. Dogfight and slugfest are more accurate descriptions. Such was the case here (at Sand Springs) last Friday night as sixth-ranked Bixby shifted into high gear early in the fourth quarter to distance itself from ninth-ranked Sand Springs en route to an important 42-21 Class 6AII-District 2 victory that earned the Spartans second place in the district. Bixby, 6-4 overall and 5-1 in district play, hosts fourth-ranked Stillwater (8-2) in the first round of the Class 6AII state playoffs Friday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. at Lee Snider Field. ...“Usually when we get together with these guys it’s a battle ... it gets down and dirty,” Spartan head coach Loren Montgomery said. “The third quarter has been an issue for us and we’ve got to get that figured out. Being able to recoup and finish was really big for us. I think we’ll have a little momentum going into the playoffs.” ...“We came into the game knowing they wanted us to hand the ball off and throw it short. We threw a lot of screens and kept pounding the ball up the middle,” said King, who was 19-of-29 passing for 211 yards and one TD. “On the pass to Cade, at first I thought I didn’t see a safety since he was so wide open. “The way we finished means a lot. Our defense stepped up big and the offense ran the ball. It felt good and will give us some momentum for next week,” he added. Pawley, who continues to improve following a knee injury earlier this season, scored from seven yards out with 1:50 left for the 42-21 lead. “I’m not 100 percent but I’m getting really close ... I’m feeling better every week,” Pawley said. “We knew this was going to be a battle. They have a great running back and I have a great O-line to run behind and that’s what made the difference tonight,” Pawley said. “Our momentum is super high right now and that’s what we want. We wanted the home playoff game for our fans to be there to cheer us on.” ...“We did great late. We did what our coaches told us to do and we finished strong ... that’s what we do,” said defensive end Zeke Upshaw. “Scott is pretty tough. He’s strong and has a strong build. But, we got the win. We’ve just got to keep on finishing games.” ...“Hats off to them. That running back (Scott) is special ... for three years we’ve tried to tackle that kid,” Bixby defensive coordinator Rodney Flowers said. “I thought the kids responded well and once momentum got to our side I think our guys took over and put the game away. “You’ve got to be able to stop the run game and we did at times tonight. To win a game like this and stop a running back like that will help us next week,” he added.
NOTABLES–Bixby and Stillwater last met in the first round of the Class 6AII state playoffs in 2014 with the Spartans winning at home, 61-28.... Spartan QB Staton King attended school in Stillwater for six years before returning to Bixby as a freshman. ... Offensively against the Sandites, Bixby was led in receiving by Zach Riddle’s seven receptions for 64 yards, Brennan Presley with six catches for 33 yards and Cavender with three grabs for 71 yards. ... Defensively, senior linebacker Coby Tillman had another dominating performance with 14 tackles, 13 solo stops and a pass interception. Tillman intercepted a pass by Sandite quarterback Caden Pennington that was deflected by teammate Presley. Ryan Kerr ended with 4.5 tackles and Noah West ended with four stops, all solos. ~ Ron Holt, Sports Writer
CHEER: A great job by Taylor Reimer, Logan York and Carrington Keithline at All-Region Cheer tryouts in Owasso! Taylor and Carrington will be advancing to All-State tryouts in Owasso on November 7th!
SOFTBALL: Congratulations! Meredith Iden & Sarah Tyree have been named to the All-State Softball Team!