S-T One Act Play 'Crocodile Smile' Advances to Area Competition

Rob Boscamp, making the words "I've gouged my eyes out" sound funny. That's Robert Brown with the impressive beard.

Congratulations to the S-T ISD Drama Department for advancing to Area competition with their excellent production of the comedy/drama "Crocodile Smile." S-T ISD Online reports Rob Boscamp and Brett Howard were awarded All-Star Cast, both for their second consecutive year, and Tori O'Brien received Honorable Mention. Area Competition is scheduled April 6th at Jones Auditorium at Texas A&M Kingsville. Skidmore–Tynan will perform at 3 p.m.

Click here for more photos of the March 23 public performance of Crocodile Smile at Shutterfly.com

Fire Station Hosts Saturday Rabies Clinic

Skidmore's annual spring Rabies Clinic is scheduled Saturday, April 1, from 1-5pm at the Skidmore Fire Station on the corner of 4th & Refugio Street. Rabies shots are $5.00. Combination shots are $10.00+

Be worried, be very worried

Do you remember when people used to say there was no proof that smoking caused cancer despite overwhelming anecdotal evidence? Now we're applying the same logic to the health of the entire planet. CNN.com - Be worried, be very worried - Mar 26, 2006

Sports Pics - Varsity Baseball vs Three Rivers

Bubba Gonzales and Jordan Haws relax during a time-out.

The Bobcat Varsity Baseball team has had many tough breaks this season but all went well in Friday night's 10-5 win over Three Rivers. Excellent pitching by Ricky Gutierrez (fresh off the disabled list) and Jordan Haws kept their opponents scoring opportunities to a minimum. Let's hope the team can maintain its momentum throught the remainder of the season.


Leonard Torres slides safely into 3rd base.

Click here for more game photos at Shutterfly.com

Professional high-resolution photos of the Three Rivers game may be purchased through Rob's Digital Photography.

Top Elementary Student Fundraisers Earn Prizes

Elementary fundraiser winners John Cirone, Felicia Ortiz, Sadie Gibson, and Alexis Quintero.

Thank you to everyone that helped S-T elementary students buy and sell items for the fundraiser. Our fundraiser winners are John Cirone - winner of a Game Boy in the drawing, Felicia Ortiz - top seller and winner of a $15 Walmart gift card, Sadie Gibson - second place and winner of a $10 Walmart gift card, and Alexis Quintero who received a $5 gift card for third place. Thank you to all of the students for their hard work. -- Submitted by Mich Ortiz, FirstGrade Teacher, Skidmore-Tynan Elementary

March Issue of the Skidmore Signal Now Available

The March issue of the Skidmore Signal features a new health column penned by RN BSN Lori Hudson, thoughts on "multi-tasking" by Jo Kreis, Jessie May Wallek's traumatic teenage experience of moving to Skidmore, and more great tech advice from J.D. Henshall. Pick up your copy of the Skidmore Signal at Papa's Market, Dalia's Cafe, Chisholm Trail Cafe, or Kwik Pantry.

Community Members Speak Out at School Board Meeting

State-bound Alto Sax Quartet, Nick Gentry, Victoria Lopez, Cody Holubec, and Alan Hinojosa receive Board Recognition. Not pictured but also going to State are Class 1 Trumpet Trio, Stephanie Schirmer, Beth Gonzales, and Trevor Dragon.

A regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of Skidmore-Tynan ISD was held March 6, 2006. Two community members spoke in the Public Forum portion of the meeting.

Daren Wilder, speaking on behalf of a group of parents of transfer students, asked the board to reconsider the recent non-renewal of administration contracts. “As representatives of the school district, surely you must want what is in the best interests of the district. Up until this point, you have built one of the best school districts in Texas. Please reconsider your actions with respect to the administrative contracts before it is too late and the district loses the excellent administrative staff that is currently in place. Our children’s education is too important to jeopardize taking a step backwards.”

Amanda Colmenero, also speaking in Public Forum, expressed her disappointment that a letter originally published in the “Superintendent’s Corner” of the Skidmore Signal was sent home with her child. Mrs. Colmenero took exception specifically to a portion of the letter in which Dr. Belmarez praised his administrative staff and expressed his wish that students “mature to have the same qualities and the character” of those administrators. “I don’t want kids to be like the administrators. I want them to be the way I want them to be, the way we raised them in our homes with the same morals and standards. I was offended because I felt that you felt we were not doing a good job as parents.” Dr. Belmarez later stated that the letter had not been sent out at his direction.

Action items before the board included:

Consideration and Possible Approval of Employment Contracts for Teachers, Counselors, Nurse, Librarian, and Diagnostician. This item was approved.

Consideration and Possible Approval of the Supplemental Duty Pay Schedule for the 2006-07 School Year. This item was approved.

Consideration and Possible Action on Employee Grievance: Mrs. Diana Trevino (Mr. Rick Olivares). Dr. Belmarez earlier requested this item be addressed in open session. After lengthy discussion whether the item could be addressed in closed session, and a brief recess to confer with the grieving party, this item was dropped from the agenda.

Consideration and Possible Approval of Recommended Policy Change for FMH (Local): Commencement (Graduation Exercises). Administration recommended passage of this policy change requiring all students to meet state graduation requirements including passing all exit level state assessments. The recommended policy change was supported by 26 of 28 S-T High School teachers. Current policy allows students to “walk down the aisle” in the graduation ceremony despite having failed to earn a diploma by passing all exit level testing. Board president Rick Olivares argued that the administration was somehow failing these students and that the school should have a 100% graduation rate. Administrators argued that the current policy serves as a disincentive to students who are allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony without actually earning a diploma. The administrators further explained that students have two full years in which to satisfy the exit level testing requirements and that targeted tutoring is provided to all students experiencing difficulty passing the tests. This item failed by a 5-1 vote with Alice Gonzales the sole dissenting vote.

Consideration and Possible Approval of a Proposal for Facility Renovations with the Corresponding Budget Amendment. This item was approved.

The next regular meeting of the S-T ISD Board of Trustees is scheduled Monday, April 10, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. in the S-T ISD Board Room.

Estrada, Mengers, Coker Make All-District Basketball Team

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times announced All- District Girls Basketball results Sunday, March 19th. Representing Skidmore-Tynan in District 31-2A on the All-District First Team were Senior Stephanie Estrada, and Junior Emily Mengers. Senior Stephanie Coker was named to the All-District Second Team. Read the full story on the Caller-Times website: Caller-Times' All-South Texas girls basketball team.

Sports Pics - Bobcat JV vs. George West

Chris Hall pulls in a high pick-off throw at 2nd base in Tuesday's game vs. George West.

Click here for more game photos at Shutterfly.com


Rob's Digital Photography also got some great shots of the game. Custom photo layouts can be purchased direct from their website.

Six File for Three School Board Positions

March 13th was the final deadline for candidates to file for a place on the S-T ISD Board of Trustees. This year voters will designate two 3-year term Trustees and one 1-year term. The 3-year terms for Alice Gonzalez and Minnie McGee have expired with Mrs. McGee choosing not to run for re-election. The 1-year term represents the final year of former Trustee David Torres' 3-year term. Mr. Esequiel Ortiz was previously appointed by the board to fill the vacancy left after Mr. Torres' resignation.

Candidates filing for 3-year terms:
Alice Gonzales (Incumbent)
Esequiel Ortiz (Incumbent)
Lauro Ramos
Keith Petrus

Filing for the 1-year term:
Ken Haggard
Jerry Rodriguez

The election will take place Saturday, May 13, 2006 with early voting scheduled Monday through Saturday May 1st-6th, and Monday-Tuesday the 8th and 9th.

Sports Pics - Ingleside Varsity Baseball Tournament

Slugger Jose Lopez was named S-T All-Tourney player in the Ingleside tournament.

Click here for more tournament photos at Shutterfly.com

Support Bobcat Baseball with an Outfield Fence Sign

Advertise your business on the outfield fence at Bobcat Field. A one-year wall sign sponsorship ($350.00) provides advertising throughout the 2006 baseball season as well as summer camps and tournaments. Checks should be made payable to Skidmore-Tynan Athletic Department. Contact coach Jason Gonzales at (361) 287-3427 for more information.

"All-A" Students & Parents Enjoy Breakfast on S-TISD

"All-A Honor Roll" students and their parents were treated to breakfast in the cafeteria on Thursday, March 2. The children and their parents enjoyed visiting with each other and with the teachers. -- Submitted by Mich Ortiz, 1st Grade Teacher, Skidmore-Tynan Elementary.

The following children earned a spot on the All-A Honor Roll at Skidmore-Tynan Elementary & Junior High.

1st Grade: Alexandria Hinds, Grace Calvert, Jette Polasek, Mikayla Barnett, Vanessa Vela, Amber Moreno, Felicia Ortiz, Jane Hunt, Kylie Wallace, Anyya Del Bosque, Dustin Toelken, Randi Pace, Rush Hoelscher
2nd Grade: Melanie Martinez, Mercedes Aguilar, Abigail Hinds, Bobbie Stowe, Sarah Colle, Savannah Stephenson, Desirae Leafty, Jodee Corrigan, Kati Stroman, Sydney Baker
3rd Grade: Sierra Young, Avery Fields, Joseph Rocha, Kyle Gabbert, Rebekah Colle
4th Grade: India Aguilar
5th Grade: Gerad Galloway, Rogelio Estrada, Casandra Chambers, Justin Gabbert, Courtney Leonard
6th Grade: Margarita Aguilar, Zachary Guerra, Julia Hunt, Samantha Minter, Sara Rix, Chance Schirmer
7th Grade: Taylor Riddle, Will Stridde
8th Grade: Kaitlyn Cortez, Trevor Dragon

S-TISD Online has a complete list of students making the All-A and A-B Honor Roll or scoring Perfect Atttendance during the last six weeks.

Elementary Celebrates Public School Week

Skidmore-Tynan Elementary invited the community to have donuts, fruit, coffee and juice with our students for Texas Public School Week. There was a great turnout for the event. The parents and teachers enjoyed visiting Wednesday morning and were also invited to visit the classrooms after breakfast. –– Submitted by Mich Ortiz, 1st Grade Teacher, Skidmore-Tynan Elementary.

S-T Drama Department Presents "Crocodile Smile"

Charles Gringoire (Brett Howard) takes a turn for the worse in the 2006 S-T Drama Dept. Production "Crocodile Smile" by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee.

Members of the S-T Drama Department traveled to Alice Friday, March 3, to attend a One-Act Play workshop. This year's One-Act Play, "Crocodile Smile" directed by Pam Keeton, is the story of "two inspired French comedians, both popular favorites. A beautiful woman, in love with both of them, agrees to build them their ideal theatre. Then the rivalry begins: for she agrees to marry the "better actor." Each goes to extravagant extremes to prove his mettle. The remainder of the play brings the awareness that genius cannot be handed over, gift-wrapped, to another generation. The play's balance of humor and drama provide an ideal platform to showcase the talents of S-T veteran actors Brett Howard and Rob Boscamp.

Mrs. Keeton was quick to point out there were many kinks to work out in this, their first live performance. The ensemble is working on improved make-up and costumes in addition to fine tuning the script and timing of the production.

On Friday, March 10th, the Drama Club will make another practice run in the One Act Play Invitational hosted by Rockport-Fulton High School. A local performance of the play will take place in the S-T Fine Arts building, 7:00 p.m., Thursday, March 23. Tickets are $2.00 for adults and $1.00 per child.

Click here for more "Crocodile's Smile" photos at Shutterfly.com

Chenoweth Receives Award for Mysterious Photo

Denise Chenoweth just returned from Las Vegas where she received an award from The International Society of Photographers for the photograph she is holding in her hand. The photo, taken in Arizona, in 1998, is of the sky, with a strange cloud that followed her for a number of miles as she was driving down the highway. Also in the photo is a contrail that was flown either through or directly behind the dark cloud.

And just what was that mysterious cloud? Mrs. Chenoweth prefers to leave that to the viewer's imagination!

School Board Meeting Monday March 6

A Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Skidmore-Tynan ISD will be held March 6, 2006, beginning at 6:00 PM in the Skidmore-Tynan School District Event Center Board Room. Click here to view the full meeting agenda via BoardBook.org

Caller-Times Sports Brief Spotlights Returning Baseball Players

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times included a quick sports capsule on the S-T baseball team in their story Returning starters to lead teams in Class 2A

24 Inducted into S-T National Honor Society

Garrett Gonzales accepts his NHS certificate from Superintendent Dr. Brett Belmarez.

The Skidmore-Tynan National Honor Society inducted 24 new members Monday, February 27th, at the S-T Events Center. NHS sponsor Helen Favre welcomed the students and parents to the evening's ceremony. NHS President Sara Schirmer introduced keynote speaker Dr. Brett Belmarez whose message of "making a living and making a life" surely inspired those present to continue on the path of excellence. High School Principal Patricia Holubec congratulated the inductees and Danae Arnold presented the ceremony closing remarks.

Representing the Senior Class were new inductees Garrett Gonzales, Jordan Haws, Brett Howard, Stephen Longoria, and Crystal Salazar.

The Junior Class inducted Chris Hall, Courtney Hudson, Mary Ann Rocha, and Mary Jane Vega.

Sophomore inductees included Kevin Allen, Miranda Bohac, Quint Butler, Erica Casas, Heather Cuevas, Nick Gentry, Erica Hall, Daen Luna, Cory Markham, Maria Perez, Josh Petrus, Roxanne Ramirez, C. J. Schindler, Melanie Sepeda, and Noel Solis.

The Signal congratulates each and every one of these hard working students. We wish them success in their studies and equal success in life after high school.

Click here for more NHS Induction photos at Shutterfly.com