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Trustees Support Additional Accountability Measures
Further demonstrating their commitment to being good stewards of tax payer dollars, Trustees approved additional accountability measures on construction projects. The Board authorized the District to move forward on an agreement with R.L. Townsend & Associates for auditing and construction cost control services related to the construction of Charter Oak Elementary and Lake Belton High School.
R.L. Townsend & Associates will provide construction audit services that include reviewing payment applications, change requests and other efforts related to the continuation of important cost control measures for the construction of the District's 11th elementary campus and second comprehensive high school.
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Belton High School (BHS) senior Serena Shedore was announced as a National Merit Scholar Finalist late last month. Of the more than 3.4 million high school seniors nationwide, only 15,000 receive this recognition based on PSAT scores and further demonstration of "consistently very high academic performance."
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Business Professionals of America National Qualifiers
Business Professionals of America (BPA) students competed at the state leadership conference earlier this month in Corpus Christi with three BHS students qualifying to advance to the National Leadership Conference in both individual and team events.
Senior Kadyn Utley placed fourth in Advanced Accounting and Westley Starnes, a junior, placed third in Fundamental Accounting to earn individual qualifications for nationals.
The team of senior Wyatt Weir, Westley Starnes and Kadyn Utley placed 2nd in the state Financial Analyst Team competition and will be advancing.
The National Leadership Conference will be in May in Dallas. Advisors for the BPA students are Amanda Simpson, Brittany Truitt, Nikki Rudloff and Mark Durfee.
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The film "Call Me Back" by Belton New Tech High School @ Waskow (BNTHS@W) students was awarded the top prize, of the 213 entries in the Division II Narrative Category in the state's annual UIL State Young Filmmaker's Festival at the Paramount Theatre in Austin on February 28.
This state championship film team included students Brandon Garcia, Nathan Jehl, Morgan Jones, Casey Roberts, Evan Seils, and Marcelo Torre.
Digital Media and Audio Video Instructor Kristie Shepherd is the sponsor of this team.
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Fast Growth Schools Contribute in Big Ways to the Economy
According to a new economic impact study from the Fast Growth School Coalition (FGSC), Texas' fastest growing school districts contributed $70.5 billion in increased economic activity, making these 75 fastest-growing public school districts, including Belton ISD, a significant economic driver for the state.
In Belton ISD alone, the study found that from 2000-2014 the District's local investment resulted in $412,540,864 of economic activity.
Commissioned by FGSC and conducted by Angelou Economics, the study found that as school districts invest in school infrastructure and equipment, the investment ripples through and across the larger economy impacting more than 500 business sectors.
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History Fair State Qualifiers
The 2018 Heart of Texas Regional History Fair was held in late February at Baylor University. Students who placed 1st or 2nd in their respective categories qualified to participate in the Texas History Day in late April.
North Belton Middle School had two students advance with a first-pla
ce finish for their Group Documentary. Shannon Cook and DayAnna Lamica's project was titled, "Night Witches: A D
eadly Compromise." Additi
onally, their coordinator Eliz
abeth Howson was awarded the Calvin B. Smith Award as the Most Outstanding Teacher of the Year.
From South Belton
M
iddle School, two groups and one individual qualified for state.
Kirthika Rajesh and Maheshwari Rajesh placed 1st in Group Exhibit
with "The Cuban Missile Crisis." Makenna
Morrow and Serena Ylostalo's group website, "Title IX: Leveling The Playing Field in College Athletics," was awarded a 2nd place finish.
Kole Peterson's individual research paper titled "The Inca Civil Ware and the Spanish Conquest: The Conflicts That Crippled the Inca Empire" won 1st place. Danielle Conner, Robin Burney and Brandi Frazier are their coordinators.
BNTHS@W students Logan Flory, Edgar Paz, Akeem Ortiz, Aryan Ojha, and Jaden Cortez took 2nd place in the group documentary category with their project "Fat Man, Little Boy, and Japan: The Aftermath." Lexi Kaer, Emma-Le Olsen, Thea Lancaster, Sylvia Asunción-Crabb, and Natalia Garza placed 2nd in group exhibit with their project called "Saipan: The Untold Story of World War II." Jayla Ward, Gracie Krieg, Milo Fertsch, Jeremy Mutugi, Emma Kate Howard earned a 2nd place finish in group performance for "Viva Mexico." The group website called "Hysteria in Haymarket Square," created by Diego Sierra, Ashley Santillana and Austin Williams placed 2nd in that category. Earning 1st in the same category was Reyna Gonzales and Heather Westberg for their website titled, "Marcion vs. The Church: The Creations of Macrionism." Addi Ross, Nick Mueller, Gbemiga Oyenubi, Ethan Rodarte, and Evan Burns achieved a 1st place finish in group documentary for their project "The Conflicts of the Disabled and the Compromise of America." Logan Riggins, Bella Rose Mortel, Sarah Batson, Delanie McClanahan, and Maia Borchardt also took the top honors with their group exhibit, "Molding America's Youth: The Fight for Free Choice in Education." Caroline Moehlenbrock achieved a 1st place finish for her individual exhibit titled "Sullivan," and Jackson Small's individual performance, "The Prohibition," was awarded a 2nd place finish.
BNTHS@W also achieved the Sweepstakes Award at the competition for being the school with the most students qualifying for state. In addition to each of the students who qualified for state, recognition goes to the coordinators at the campus - Timothy Potts, Shanon Gish, Matthew Mastrilli and Veronica Smith.
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Choir UIL Solo & Ensemble State Qualifiers
Thirty-one members of the BHS Choir, seventeen soloists and four ensemble groups, achieved a rating of 1 (Superior) on the hardest level performance, class 1, at regional competition to advance to the Texas State Solo & Ensemble Competition
to be held in Austin on May 26. Within this group of students from both BHS and BNTHS@W, there are eight vocalists that will be competing both as a soloist and as a part of one of the state qualifying ensembles.
Students that achieved a Superior rating and will be competing as soloists are: Rachel Schiller, Julia Lee, Kaylee Buuck, Nathan LeBlanc, Andrew Holcomb, Jehovah-Jireh Seo, Kara Fish, Adasia Marsden, Anabel Avila, Gracie Krieg, Ian Farrell, Ashley Barnes, Karis McMurry, Kaitlynn Kempf, Kaelin Connor, Caitlyn Traynor, and Rachel Wohleb.
Students in the four ensembles that achieved a Superior rating and will be competing at state are: Emily Alvarez, Jenna Colvin, Florentino De La Rosa, Josh Moreno, Rachel Shed, Rachel Thomas, Austin Sandefur, Ryan Peterson, Sarah Broussard, Britnee Curtis, Kobe Holloway, Madison Kessler, Adasia Marsden, Matthew Watkins, Ashley Barnes, Kaylee Buuck, Kara Fish, Rachel Wohleb, Ian Farrell, Andrew Holcomb, Nathan LeBlanc, and Quinn Pierce.
The Belton High School Choir is directed by Tonya Lovorn, with assistant Travis Campbell.
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Texas Citizen Bee Region 12 Winners
The Texas Citizen Bee is a statewide civic education program and competition. Students compete by completing written exams, as well as orally responding to questions based on current events, the constitution, Supreme Court cases and historical documents. Students are ranked on their combined scores in both sections.
At the regional competition held on March 21 in Waco, BHS senior Serena Shedore finished first and will be representing Region 12 in the State Competition on April 28 in Austin. BNTHS@W freshman Kylan Menapace placed second and BHS junior Elizabeth Nix achieved a third-place ranking. Two additional freshmen from BNTHS@W were the only other ninth-grade students competing at the regional level. Ibarra Ibarra and Saige Muniz placed 6th and 24th respectively.
Tanya Larson and Veronica Smith coordinated students participating in this competition.
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Big Red Community Partner - Central Texas 4C, Inc.
Central Texas 4C, Inc., a non-profit agency with more than 40 years of service, is committed to building stronger Central Texas communities, one child and family at a time - a mission that closely aligns with Belton ISD. As Belton ISD has increasingly become a district of choice for many, the partnership between the District and 4C has grown. Belton ISD has worked with 4C to provide Head Start Programs to the youngest students or learners in Belton for many years. Providing comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition and parent involvement services that not only meet but often exceed the federal and state standards, which is possible through this important partnership. 4C Board President Grace Anne Wilhelm and Executive Director Janell Frazier accepted this award.
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Superintendent's Report
Fast Growth School Coalition Economic Impact Study
Considering the close to half a billion dollars in economic activity created by the District in the past 15 years, it is easy to conclude that the next 15 could see that impact greatly increase as we complete the construction projects voters supported in the May 2017 Bond Program.
Belton ISD has been able to manage our fast growth because we plan for it and we are grateful to our community for their continued support.
STAAR Testing
The state required State Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) begins the week of April 9.
April 10 is writing assessment for grades 4 and 7, math for Grade 5 and 8, and English I End-of-Course (EOC).
On Wednesday, April 11, testing will include: reading for grades 5 and 8. Students in grades 5 and 8 are required to pass reading and math in order to be promoted and are given three opportunities to do so.
Sophomores will take the English II EOC on Thursday, April 12.
Retesting for EOC exams will take place for Algebra I, Biology, and US History, beginning May 8.
The state required Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) began February 26 and will end April 6 for all English Language Learners in grades K-12.
Beginning April 2, the STAAR Alternate 2 assessment for special education students who are identified for that assessment will be administered.
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More photos of students and staff members recognized at this month's board meeting can be found on Belton ISD's Google+ page.
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