Navasota FFA's Ramsey at San Antonio Livestock Show

Kyle Ramsey represented Navasota FFA at the San Antonio Livestock Show, Feb. 10.  Kyle had the Reserve Champion Hampshire Ewe.  This is a ewe that he has raised and was the result of an embryo transfer project that he participated in last year.  Her name is Bandit and Kyle showed her all fall winning several TJLA jackpot shows.  Bandit was also his showmanship lamb and together they claimed the TJLA Senior Showmanship title.  Kyle also participated in the Calf Scramble at the Rodeo on Sunday afternoon.  He was the first one to catch a calf and the 3rd one to cross the finish line!  Kyle will receive an $800 certificate to purchase a ewe lamb to exhibit next year at the San Antonio Livestock Show.  Kyle is currently a 10th grader at Navasota High School.

NISD Education Foundation Fall Awards

High School math teachers Mitchell Welch, Crystal Cox,
Nikki Robinson, and Sean Witherwax received a grant to
purchase SMART Slates for the math department. SMART
Slates facilitate greater student participation with interactive
white-board technology in the classroom. 

The Navasota ISD Education Foundation awarded more than $35,000 in grants to teachers during its fall distribution walk this month. Funded projects included After-School Robotics at John C. Webb Elementary, SMART Slates at Navasota High School, and H₂O for You at Navasota Junior High School in which students will be able to visit the current exhibition called, Flow, at the Stark Galleries located on the campus of Texas A&M University.  The Education Foundation awards grant requests once in the fall and once in the spring of each school year. More than $400,000 dollars have been awarded to Navasota ISD teachers through the foundation since its inception in 2003.

U.S. Department of Education Awards Grants to Boost Literacy Skills for 21st Century Success

Navasota ISD is among 46 organizations nationwide to receive a portion of funds under the U.S. Department of Education's Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) Program. The USDE grants are designed to increase student achievement by promoting early literacy for young children and by motivating older children to read. The Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) program supports high-quality programs designed to develop and improve literacy skills for children and students from birth through 12th grade within the attendance boundaries of high-need local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools.

Navasota FFA's Ramsey Brothers Win Big at Heart O' Texas Fair in Waco

Navasota FFA students Kyle and Clayton Ramsey competed at the Heart O' Texas Fair in Waco in October, earning a combined $4,000 in scholarship money. In two days of competition, Clayton had the Reserve Champion Finewool and Kyle had the Reserve Champion Southdown in the Market Lamb shows.  In the Breeding Sheep show Clayton had Champion Club Lamb Ewe and Ram and won Supreme Ewe overall. Kyle had the Champion Southdown Ewe, Hampshire Ewe, and Hampshire Ram and won Reserve Supreme Ewe and Ram. Kyle earned $2250 in scholarship money and Clayton earned $1750.  Kyle also caught a calf in the calf scramble at the rodeo Friday night and received a $300 certificate to purchase a new ewe. Clayton won junior showmanship and won a belt buckle.

Superintendent Gesch Among 39 in State Selected to Future Ready Superintendents Leadership Institute

Navasota Independent School District Superintendent Rory Gesch is among 39 superintendents in Texas to be selected by the  Texas Association of School Administrators to participate in the Future-Ready Superintendents Leadership Institute.

TASA’s Future-Ready Superintendents Leadership Institute is designed to create a cadre of superintendents who will help develop and initiate innovative, systemic changes, both locally and statewide, that support the mission of the Public Education Visioning Institute and the Texas High Performance Schools Consortium.

The Future-Ready superintendents and senior-level district administrators in the early stages of their careers will work together in the spirit of student-centered learning. The design of the institute is modeled after elements of project-based learning, action research, the flipped classroom and design thinking.
New Vision for Public Education in Texas

U.S. Department of Education Recognizes NISD as "Together for Tomorrow School Improvement Champion"

Dr. Dawn Marie Baletka, Director of 

Grant Services, and Superintendent 

Rory Gesch at The White House 

Sunday, Oct. 14 attending a reception

for "Together for Tomorrow School

Improvement Champions."

Superintendent Rory Gesch and Director of Grant Services Dr. Dawn Marie Baletka visited The White House in Washington, D.C. this week as part of a two-day event during which Navasota Independent School District was recognized as a "Together for Tomorrow School Improvement Champion" by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) for the district's Responsible Students, Volunteers, and Parents Program (RSVP).

The "Together for Tomorrow School Improvement Challenge" (TFT) invites schools, national service programs, higher education institutions, and community-based organizations to work together to facilitate school improvement. The USDE and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) recognized 31 organizations from across the nation as "Together for Tomorrow Champions" for the 2012-2013 school year. Navasota ISD was the only organization in Texas to be recognized.

"School improvement should be about more than just schools. It has to be about the whole community," Gesch said, "and the RSVP program, like all of the initiatives recognized as 'Together for Tomorrow School Improvement Champions', is about making meaningful connections among people to improve a community's quality of life and, in our case, to improve the learning experiences of our kids as well."

The RSVP program is based on the positive youth development program, Raising Healthy Children. The program is a K-12 initiative that promotes protective factors and reduces risk factors as it delivers both intensive professional development to all staff and workshops, training, and resources to parents. The goal is to increase commitment and bonding of students to the local schools in an effort to decrease discipline referrals and increase attendance, academic achievement, and post secondary education.

The RHC approach is grounded in a 30-year longitudinal research study that has identified predictors of positive student outcomes including academic achievement and commitment to school. To address these issues, family support and parenting workshops are offered using three family programs - Guiding Good Choices, Supporting School Success, and Raising Healthy Children.  Workshops are offered throughout the school year for parents of students and anyone else who is responsible for raising a child who attends district schools. In addition to parental support initiatives, full-time, on-campus program coaches provide support to school staff developing and strengthening skills in the areas of classroom management, instruction, cooperative learning, and student motivation. The program is funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Adolescent Health.

Board of Trustees Secretary Interviews Former Texas Workforce Commissioner

Navasota ISD Board of Trustees Secretary Marilyn Bettes recently sat down with former Texas Workforce Commissioner Tom Pauken for a discussion about vocational education in Texas high schools. Pauken served as commissioner from 2008-2012. He is currently serving as Commissioner Representing Employers for the Texas Workforce Commission.