What's In a Name?

The Eagle-Mountain Saginaw ISD school board naming committee was recently charged with the task of discussing possible names for the district’s third high school. High School #3, as we currently refer to it, is scheduled to open in August 2012 and we are at the point where a name needs to be selected. It is no easy task to name a school, especially a high school. Compare it to having to select the perfect name for a child; every parent wants to make sure the name is because it is permanent. As we seek community input regarding the naming of High School#3, the famous quote from Romeo and Juliet comes to mind:

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2).

I am not sure if I agree with the intended meaning behind this quote, because what Shakespeare is basically saying is what matters is what something IS, not what it is called. If we take this Shakespearean concept and apply it to our present situation of naming High School #3 then it doesn’t matter what we name it. But how do we help the “nameless high school” build a strong foundation so that they can establish character, pride, culture and build a name for themselves. If Shakespeare is correct and it doesn’t matter what something is called then we should not take into account the following when determining the name of High School #3:

• High School #3 sits just north of the TCC Northwest Campus on Marine Creek Parkway, so if would be rational thinking to name it Northwest High School. Ahh, but there is already a Northwest High School located just one district over. Do you think they would mind if we “stole” their name and used it for our own? What matters is what their school IS right, not what it is called?
• High School #3 backs up to Marine Creek Lake, so another rational option would be Marine Creek High School. But not more than four miles away from the High School #3 site is a Marine Creek Elementary that belongs to a neighboring district. How much confusion might that cause?
• Another option for High School #3 is Eagle Mountain High School. We already have Saginaw High School and our district consolidated a little over 50 years ago to form Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, therefore Eagle Mountain High School would seem appropriate. However, the high school site does not sit anywhere near Eagle Mountain Lake, and we are a growing district and much of our future growth area is in the northern part of the district, which is near the lake. We are projected to add at least one more high school and it will logically be in the northern part of the district. Do we go ahead and “use up” the name Eagle Mountain High School now and not think about the possibility of future growth in our district and the impact it will have on naming High School #4 in the future?
  

So Mr. Shakespeare, I feel confident in saying that is it possible that Juliet was wrong, and what something is named matters just as much as what it is. The name of High School #3 will determine what it is and what it because. Until it has a name, it is simply High School #3 and will not be able to establish all the aspects that make a high school great. There will be no pride, no ownership, no spirit or no character until they can say “We are proud to be [insert name] High School!”

I think we can all agree that the school board naming committee has been charged with a great task…the perfect name is out there, but what will it be?

*Note: High School #3 is located just north of the TCC Northwest Campus on Marine Creek Parkway. Colors for the high school were previously selected to be purple and gold. If you have any naming suggestions, please e-mail them to info[at]ems-isd.net.

~Tammy Castleberry, EM-S ISD Communications Specialist

Why We Support College Colors Day!

For the second year in a row, the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD will be celebrating the national College Colors Day campaign. College Colors Day seeks to celebrate and promote the traditions and spirit that make the college experience great by encouraging fans, alumni and students to wear apparel of their favorite college throughout the day on Friday, September 3, 2010.

According to CollegeColorsDay.com, “College Colors Day coincides with back-to-school and the kick-off of intercollegiate athletics, and strives to promote higher education through increased public awareness and celebrates the achievements of colleges and universities, acknowledging their critical and fundamental importance to the United States.”

We support College Colors Day because we want to:

• Foster a college going culture among our students and set the expectation that all students have access to the many opportunities that college can provide.
• Introduce students, at a young age, to the benefits of post-secondary education.
• Encourage staff to discuss with their students the benefits they have experienced due to being a college graduate.
• Show the diversity of colleges represented by our staff and introduce students to colleges they may have never heard of.
• Support education at all levels, not just K-12.
• Give students and staff a day to show their college spirit and provide an opportunity for them to connect with others they previously might not have had a connection to.
• Show that a little friendly competition never hurt anyone when you have a vested interest in something…it’s the perfect day to see Horn fans and Aggie fans bicker.

With that said, will you be supporting College Colors Day with us? What college are you going to support?

For more information, please visit www.collegecolorsday.com.

Over 2,000 Employees Kick-off the 2010-2011 School Year at District Convocation

All EM-S ISD offices and campuses were closed Monday morning so all 2,068 District employees could participate in the 2010-2011 Convocation ceremonies, held in the Saginaw High School gymnasium. This year's theme was Better by the Minute.

Convocation is the only time in the year that all employees get together under one roof. "Convocation is like a big pep rally for all of the employees. It is a time for us to celebrate and kick-off the new school year," said Kristin Courtney, Director of Communications. Interim Superintendent, Weldon Hafley, set the stage for this next year by talking about what Better by the Minute means. Hafley said, "Today, we are here to celebrate our achievements and to cast a vision for the future success of our District. Our Convocation theme is Better by the Minute. Although investing quality time does bring good results, "better" isn't always about data, or improved test scores. "Better" is also about who and what we become in the process."

Employees played games like the TV show, "Minute to Win It" and the winner won a Flip video camera donated by Troxell Communications. The EECU prize blimp circled the crowd and dropped prizes. Troxell Communications also provided Flip cameras for seven other lucky winners.

Board President Dick Elkins spoke and made the popular announcement that everyone was getting a raise. The Board approved a 2% raise for all employees at the July Board meeting. He also spoke of the Board's confidence in the Interim Superintendent and talked about the process for hiring the next Superintendent for the District. He said that the Board hopes to have a new Superintendent in place by the beginning of January.

"I speak for all of your Board members when I say that we are extremely proud to be a part of Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD. I am excited about our forward direction and what this upcoming year holds. You are in great hands with Mr. Hafley leading the way and we, as a Board, have full confidence in him and are thankful that he has agreed to serve as our Interim Superintendent," Elkins said.

Convocation wrapped up with a video that reminded employees that they succeed when students succeed and that they can do far more united as a team than they can do on their own. Employees had district in-service training Monday afternoon and Tuesday and are scheduled for campus inservice training the rest of the week.

A Principal's Perspective on Starting Back to School

Even though the halls may be absent of students throughout district campuses during the summer months, work doesn't stop for school district administrators. Many times as school district administrators we often get the question "what do you do during the summer break? You can't be that busy when the students are out of school." In reality, the summer is a really busy time for school districts. Whether a campus is undergoing major renovations during the summer, or just managing the tasks associated with wrapping up one school year and preparing for the next it's a busy time while the students and teachers are enjoying their well deserved summer break.

With that thought in mind, we asked Ed Willkie Middle School Principal, Melanie Caldwell, to share a principal's perspective on starting back to school as we all gear up for the 2010-2011 school year to begin later this month. Here's what she had to say...

"With the start of back to school, there are many tasks to be taken care of by a variety of people on our campus. The custodians spend all summer cleaning and waxing the floors to bring the building back to "brand new". In the office, we have a check off list that we work off of to make sure we don't forget anything. We order office supplies, restock spirit wear, print off information for residency verification, do mail outs and call outs to parents about upcoming events, check out athletic uniforms and equipment, plan 6th grade orientation, and many, many, other tasks. I would say as a principal, my greatest task is preparing the master schedule. This is a cumbersome task which takes a lot of time to make it the best possible situation for the majority of all the students. Since we have teaming at Willkie, it makes the master schedule even more challenging, but our philosophy is that it is what is best for students. The master schedule is like a huge rubric's cube, but teaming is worth the time I devote to making it work.

We also spend our summers attending training to assist us in providing the best possible experience and education for our students. My role is to take the information I learn at these trainings and work with my staff on the best practices to implement, so that we can do our best to reach every child where they are and take them to where they can be."

Photo: Ed Willkie Middle School hallway taken by Jana Burns, EM-S ISD Director of Special Programs.

We've Gone Social!

It's been a long time coming, but the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District is proud to announce that we are going social. You may wonder why EM-S ISD, a public school district, would choose to engage in social media. The basic reasoning behind our "social push" is to give the district another communication outlet to communicate with district stakeholders, as well as other individuals and/or entities interested in our school district. By engaging in social media we are hoping to engage in open, two-way communication with the EM-S ISD community and extend our conversation(s) with you.

We invite your feedback through all our social media sites (district blog, twitter and facebook) through the commenting features. Where applicable, comments will be moderated by the Communications Department. The Communications Department will use the district's social media guidelines as a basis for monitoring comments. To read our social media guidelines, click here. Simply stated, we welcome your thoughts and comments and look forward to what you have to say. However, we will not leave postings that:

• Break the law or encourage others to do so


• Talk about someone else’s work, reference to this person and/or provide a link to an outside page to an individual


• Contain abusive or inappropriate language or statements. This includes remarks that are racist, homophobic and sexist as well as those that contain obscenities or are sexually explicit.


• Easily identify students and/or staff in defamatory, abusive, or generally negative terms


• Do not show proper consideration for others’ privacy or are considered likely to offend or provoke others


• Are spam or are advertisements/promotion of a service or product

If there is something you would like to see us blog about or post on our sites please send it to info@ems-isd.net. Regardless of why you're here, we're glad you stopped by. Check back soon for new posts.