Harlandale ISD to induct five new members into Hall of Fame

Week of October 19, 2015
Harlandale ISD to induct five new members into Hall of Fame
The Harlandale Independent School District is set to induct five new members into its Hall of Fame. This
year’s inductees will be:
Harlandale High School
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Jerry King, a 1964 graduate from Harlandale High School where, among other studies and activities, he sang, played guitar in a band and won a radio station contest to have a recording session in Nashville. Following DJ stints at KBER and area stations, he joined KKYK Radio and recently
celebrated 40 years at the station. King has been inducted in the Country DJ Hall of Fame in Nashville,
the Texas Radio Hall of Fame and the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo Hall of Fame.
•
Esperanza M. Mitchell, a 1961 Harlandale High School graduate. During high school she was an avid Volleyball player. In 1965 she began her teaching career at Flanders Elementary and she retired from Columbia Heights Elementary in 2002. Her greatest passion was teaching children to read. Ms. Mitchell touched the lives of many students who went on to be doctors, teachers, lawyers and musicians. Ms. Mitchell passed away in 2012.
McCollum High School
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Adolf Martinez attended Rayburn Elementary, Terrell Wells Middle School, and McCollum High School. In addition to running a business, he made time to coach basketball with the Little Dribblers for several years. Adolf played a significant part in establishing the annual McCollum Alumni Softball
Tournament which provides scholarships for graduating seniors. He is often a participant and sponsor
of the annual Friends of the Cowboys Golf Tournament.
•
Larry Scott Hermes attended McCollum High School. He earned his Associates degree at Palo Alto College and received training at the San Antonio Police Academy. In 1993 he joined the San Antonio Police Department. Scott has patrolled his entire 22 years out of the south substation. As a SAFFE Officer, he works with schools and community organizations and annually speaks to criminal
justice classes at Palo Alto. He has mentored at-risk children about making good life choices.
Community Service
•
Gaston Tesson, served in the United States Army before attending Texas Tech University, where
he graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Mr. Tesson was a well-known figure in the Harlandale community. He attended Harlandale Baptist Church where he served as a deacon and member of the Finance Committee. Mr. Tesson served on and was an officer of the Harlandale
ISD Board of Trustees from the early 1970s to the mid-1990s.
All five inductees will be honored at banquet on Wednesday, November 4 at the Charles Boggess Center.
The event is open to the public and tickets ($12) can be purchased at the HISD Business Office. The
inductees will also be honored on Friday, November 6, prior to annual Frontier Bowl. Tickets for the game
go on sale Monday, November 2 at 8:00 a.m. at the Athletics Office, 1201 96th St.
Harlandale ISD began honoring its distinguished alumni and community supporters in 1985 and has since
inducted more than 165 people into the Hall of Fame.
Bands earn straight 1st divisions at UIL Marching Contest
On Saturday, October 17, the Harlandale HS
and McCollum HS Bands competed at the
UIL Region 11 Marching Contest at Gustafson
Stadium. Both bands earned straight 1st
divisions from all judges. The bands will be
competing at the Area Marching Contest in
CalAllen, Texas on Saturday, October 24 with
the state competition set for November to be held at the Alamodome.
The Harlandale High School Band is under the direction of Band Directors Raul Escobar, Joel Wagner, Joey
Mata, and color guard instructor is Ray Ramirez.
Directors for the McCollum High School Band are: Gilbert Borrego, Luis De La Cruz, John Perez, and color
guard instructor is Adam Duron.
Gilbert Elementary honored by San Antonio Spurs and company
The Gilbert Elementary Safety Patrols have been named a San
Antonio Spurs Team Up Challenge Semi Finalist for their community
and campus health initiative! Gilbert’s health initiative was one of 18
projects selected out of 136 submissions.
Semifinalists were announced in a surprise ceremony on the
grounds of the AT&T Center, with help from Spurs forward Boris
Diaw, the Silver Dancers, the Rampage Ice Girls, Coyote, T-Bone,
and Andrew Monaco.
The following message was provided by school counselor Jennifer Montes to describe the group’s health
plan:
Mustangs on a Mission is the mantra of the Gilbert Elementary Safety Patrols as they are on a mission to
increase health and wellness at their campus and in the community. Their Health and Wellness initiative will
include three components: Health Education, Fitness, and Sports Clinics. The Patrols will organize monthly
health seminars to be held for parents to learn about such topics as nutrition, disease prevention, pre-natal
care, and dental hygiene. Also, every Monday, the Patrols will give their Monday Morning Health Tip on the
morning announcements to encourage students to make healthy choices. They will also initiate a weekly
Zumba class that will be open to the community where students and families can come to get fit. Lastly, they
will be organizing three sports clinics for students to come on a Saturday to learn about the fundamentals
of basketball, football, and soccer. Each participant in the clinics will receive a free ball to take home to
encourage kids to be active. All of these events will be free and open to the public.
Harlandale’s own earns spot on National Board
State & Federal Programs Coordinator Nadine Wolfe has been named to
the National Association of Federal Education Program Administrators
(NAFEPA) Board.
During the Association For Compensatory Educators of Texas (ACET)
Conference on October 19, Wolfe was announced as the National Level
nomination to be the representative from Texas on the NAFEPA’s Board.
Congratulations to Ms. Nadine Wolfe!
Students travel across the world without leaving the classroom
Students from Schulze Elementary did a little traveling this week and did not
have to leave the classroom. How is that possible, you may ask?
Thanks to a visit from Good Expedition, several classes were able to take
a virtual “expedition” around the world to places like the Galápagos Islands,
the Moon and the Little Bighorn Battle Field, just to name a few.
“When the students take the STAAR test and have to write about an
experience, they can now talk about their virtual experiences to these historic
places,” said Schulze teacher Ximena Huerta.
The students were able to utilize a device to view the historic locations, while the teacher used a tablet to
“steer” the expedition.
One Schulze Elementary student requested a virtual tour to Mars, the Google representative replied, “Give
us a few years on that one.”
Cowboys punch ticket to Regional meet
The McCollum Boy’s Cross Country Team placed 3rd in District 28-5A and
have qualified for the regional Cross Country meet set for October 26.
Members of the team and their placement include Christian Cuevas-6th
place, Jonathan Lopez-7th, Alexis Nino-8th, Mateo Rodriguez -17th, Alfredo
Romero-22nd, Juan Ortiz-29th, Joel Carmona-33rd, and Mathew Elizalde is
the alternate. Head Coach is Mr. John Rivera.
This year, the regional meet will be held on the campus of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
Rayburn celebrates milestone during school’s Bike Rodeo
Rayburn Elementary held its annual bike rodeo that included a milestone
for the school. The first year Life Skills program had one of their students
participate in the annual bike friendly event put on by Rayburn Coach David
Alonzo.
“Coach Alonzo is implementing Kids School Health Advisory Council
(KSHAC) alongside with SAFD L.I.F.E program to teach students about
eating clean and living a healthy lifestyle as well as promoting literacy,“ said
school counselor Nichole Nava.
Harlandale Board of Trustees recognized
The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) has recognized
the Harlandale ISD Board of Trustees for their 100% attendance in
TASB this year.
HISD Board of Trustee Christine Carrillo has been selected by the
Texas Association of School Boards to be a part of the Leadership
TASB class of 2016. The group is participating in a yearlong
education leadership study program. These trustees represent school districts of all sizes, with student
populations of 1,000 to 159,000, and reflect a similar range of property wealth. Participants who complete all
required elements of the study will graduate next year by earning Master Trustee status. This is the highest
designation recognized by TASB.
Harlandale well represented at World Heritage Missions Ceremony
On Saturday, October 17 Harlandale ISD’s four middle school mariachi
groups performed for the World Heritage San Antonio Missions Dedication
Ceremony. To go along with the mariachi performance, Harlandale ISD has
several student art pieces on display.
The mariachi group performed several songs in front of Mission San Jose,
while the student artwork was on display at Mission San Jose and several of
the surrounding Missions.
The mariachi groups are under the direction of Aroldo Villarreal and Juan Escamilla.
MHS Gold Stars take a walk down memory lane
On October 10, 2015 the McCollum High School Gold Stars Dance Team
held their annual youth dance clinic. Participants, ages ranging from 4 to 13,
learned basic dance technique and skills.
At the McCollum vs Brackenridge football game, participants joined the Gold
Stars and Wranglerettes Pep Squad on the field and performed a special
routine highlighting skills learned at the clinic.
“This is by far the dance team’s favorite fundraiser to put on every year. They love to connect with the children
and for most of them it brings back memories of attending the clinic themselves when they were younger,”
said Dance Director and Spirit Coordinator Lacey Davis.
The proceeds of the annual dance clinic helps defray the Gold Stars contest expenses and the Wranglerettes
yearly costs. The Gold Stars and Wranglerettes would like to thank the community for supporting their annual
clinic.
Mike Ramirez earns ESPN’s Student Athlete of the Week
Congratulations to McCollum running back Mike Ramirez for being named
ESPN San Antonio’s High School Student Athlete of the Week! Former
Dallas Cowboy Dat Nguyen presented Mike with the award in front of family
and friends at McCollum High School on October 19.
Frontier Bowl button pins now on sale at Jewel Wietzel Center
The students at the Jewel Wietzel Center have produced three different Frontier
Bowl button pins that we will be selling for the upcoming Frontier Bowl between the
Harlandale Indians and the McCollum Cowboys.
The Center has created a button pin design for each school to go along with the
official 2015 Frontier Bowl button pin that includes a helmet from each school.
The three button pins have been made by Jewel Wietzel students and are on now
sale for $2.00 each. Contact the Wietzel Center at 210-989-3280 to order yours today!