Gary Independent School District

On Friday, the Elementary Student Lighthouse team provided a gift of appreciation to the cafeteria workers for School Lunch Hero day! We are thankful for all the work they do to take care of our students!

Gary OAP earned 2nd place in the state!🥈 Wow! Miller earned Best Performer and the Samuel French award, which is such an amazing accomplishment! Jesse Dodge earned All Star Cast! Brady Balfanz earned Honorable Mention All Star Cast! The entire group worked so hard and deserved awards! Thank you so much to all the supporters! It really means a lot to have so many people rooting for us! We give all glory to God for these wonderful people and this amazing journey!

Save the date, Gary Field Day will be Monday, May 15th! More details will be coming home soon!

Floral Design is a new class taught this year by Mrs. Shadix in the Agricultural Pathway. The course has included a variety of practical and life lessons taught like: Homecoming Mums, Holiday Flower Themes, Special Occasion Themes, Wedding Flowers and more! To conclude the year, students are tested on their floral knowledge, processing flowers and flower identification to become Level 1 Floral Certified, a certification that never expires!! This test is 100 questions and they are only given 60 minutes to complete it. We have had NINE students take and successfully PASS the Texas State Floral Association Exam and become certified! Emma Newman Nicole Castillo Blair Cope Kaydence Hammers Abigail Johnson Bailee Lilly Gracie Spence Alyssa Thompson Robin Moran These certifications look amazing on scholarship and college applications and allow our students to have employment opportunities while in high school and beyond!

At each level of the FFA there are officers that represent and lead the members. The levels are: Chapter (Gary FFA is our chapter name), District (we are in the Longview District with 23 other schools), Area (we are in the Area 6 Association with over 100 other schools), and State (Texas which has over 1,000 FFA Chapters). The process to become an FFA Officer at ALL levels is rigorous. Students are expected to take an exam over endless FFA facts and history, participate in an interview with school administrators and Ag Teachers, and must write a speech and present that speech to their peers for a “popular vote.” While this process isn’t easy, we are proud to say that students learn these skills in our classes and through their participation in FFA events, which does make it “easier” for them to complete! We are teaching them how to be leaders! This year, five Gary FFA members applied to be Gary FFA Chapter Officers for the 2023-2024 school year. Yesterday they completed the three components of the process and will find out on Tuesday, May 9th at the Yearly FFA Banquet what positions they will be awarded. We are proud of them for their courage and leadership!

This summer we are excited to offer a basketball camp for grades 3rd through 6th! The camp will be from May 31-June 2nd in the high school gym. If interested, please turn in your forms and money to either school office by Tuesday, May 23rd!

We have four Gary FFA Members who have competed in the Region 5 High School Rodeo each weekend across the State of Texas this school year. Each weekend these students "gain points" towards a final total that they hope will advance them to the High School Rodeo finals in Abilene in June. We would like to congratulate: Emorie Comer- who has ADVANCED to the Rodeo Finals this summer and Eli Comer, MaCade Reaves and Braley Weems who all were just points away from advancing in one of the HARDEST Regions in the state of Texas. When you get involved with THSRA, you are supporting family values, dedicated young people and scholarships. THSRA sponsors over 125 rodeos per year throughout ten regions across Texas. The rodeo year begins in August and concludes with the Texas High School Finals Rodeo in June. It is here, at the largest rodeo in the state of Texas, where “The Elite Compete” features the top cowboys and cowgirls from each Region. They compete for numerous awards, scholarships as well as the coveted honor of representing the State of Texas at the National High School Finals Rodeo held each July. THSRA began in Hallettsville, TX in 1946. The idea behind the first High School Rodeo was to encourage rural-oriented youth to stay in school and complete their studies. Students must maintain certain academic standards throughout the school year in order to be eligible to compete. WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!!

Tomorrow, we will have our next set of STAAR exams at the high school! Students will be taking the 8th Science and the Biology EOC. We ask that students come to school on time, and with their charged Chromebooks and we will provide the snacks!

Tonight is the start of Gary Spring Playfest! Shows start 6PM at the Carthage Civic Center. $8 per ticket. 6PM is ‘Over the River and Through the Woods’ and 7PM is Lion King, Jr.!!

Yesterday, the Elementary Student Lighthouse team celebrated a special member of our Elementary campus- Lindsey Bolton. Mrs. Lindsey is the smiling face and helping hand that helps each parent as they come to the office. Happy Administrative Professionals' Day, Mrs. Lindsey! Thank you for all that you do for our school!🧡

Mark your calendars, banquet season is almost upon us! Gary FFA Awards Banquet: May 9th at 6pm in the High School Cafeteria FFA Members are asked to see Mr. Harvey by 5/4 to sign up for their tickets. Additional tickets will be released on a first-come first- served basis on 5/5. Special guests will receive their invitation and RSVP information via mail. Students are asked to wear their FFA Official Dress if they have it or Sunday’s Best if not. This event is to celebrate the successes of our students through Gary FFA. Awards will be given to: first year members of Gary FFA, second year members of Gary FFA, Seniors, Scholarship recipients, LDE participants, CDE participants, Livestock exhibitors, Ag Mechanics exhibitors, Honorary Lonestars, and MORE! If you have any questions, please contact Jessica Shadix: jshadix@garyisd.net or 903-685-2291 x 2505

Gary Jr High and High School Production proudly present the Spring Playfest! Shows start Thursday at 6PM, with a special FREE screening of the OAP State Play, 'Over the River and Through the Woods' on Friday! Tickets are $8 per night, but there will be limited $10 wristbands that get you in all weekend. Come watch these awesome shows!

Today was a great day at Gary ISD! Tomorrow, we have our second day of testing this week. The Elementary will take the 5th and 6th RLA STAAR. The High School will take the 8th RLA and English II STAAR. We ask that students come on time with fully charged Chromebooks, and we will provide the snacks! Also, as a reminder, students cannot have lunch delivered to the campus on testing days, so please have your student bring their lunch from home or eat in the cafeteria.

Panola College will be offering FREE tutorials to help students, 10-12th prepare for the TSI-A2 exams required to do dual credit courses. Their sessions have been proven to improve scores for those who participate, so it is definitely worth your time. This is during normal school hours, so students would need to have their own transportation to attend. If students do participate, they can bring the entrance form back to school and their absence will be excused! The Math tutorial will be Monday, May 8th from 8:30-11:30 at the Monk Lecture Hall. The sign up form can be found here; https://form.jotform.com/231096379623058 The ELAR tutorial will be Wednesday, May 10th from 9:00-12:00 at the Monk Lecture Hall. **IMPORTANT: This is a STAAR test/EOC day, if you must complete an exam you must be present and CANNOT attend this session!** The sign up form can be found here; https://form.jotform.com/231105567774156

On Thursday, 4/20 the Gary FFA and Gary 4-H Forestry teams traveled to the State Woodland Contest at the Stephen F. Austin State University Experimental Forest. There were 66 advancing teams at this contest from across the State of Texas and Gary showed up and showed out! RESULTS 5th Overall 4-H Team trained by Jessica Shadix: Jaycee Whitby Brodey Seals Emma Young Connally Cranford Kalen McBride Caden Young Jake Stephenson Jackson Whitby 19th Overall FFA Team trained by Paul Harvey: Eli Comer Abi Johnson Lane Cartwright Caitlynn Ayers Abby Holmes Braley Weems This contest is made up of 13 “parts” and requires students to identify the 34 hardwood trees native to East Texas, the 4 native pines, wood blocks, use a compass and measure distances, measure and find tree volume and much more! We had students from 4th grade through 12th competing and all did a fantastic job!

Tomorrow is the start of STAAR testing season at Gary ISD! While this is an important event for our students, we know that one test does not determine a student's success. We are proud of all of our students, and know that we are preparing them to succeed not only on this test, but for their future! At the Elementary campus, students will be taking the 3rd and 4th RLA STAAR test. At the High School campus, students will be taking the 7th RLA STAAR and the English I EOC test. We ask that all students be present, and come on time so that they can begin the test as soon as possible! For high school students, student rosters are posted on the entrance doors and hallways showing students where to go. Please make sure you bring your fully charged Chromebook, and we will provide the snacks! We want to give a huge thank you to our parents for supporting our district! Now, let's do this!!

Panola College will be hosting Summer Camps for students ages 6-14. There are multiple different options to choose from, including a brand new E-Sports camp that our E-Sports team will help facilitate for grades 6th-12th! You can find out more information, as well as begin signing up at the following link: https://form.jotform.com/82394557346164 Spots will fill up fast!

Tuesday’s baseball game at Garrison has been moved to Monday (tomorrow) at Garrison at 6:00. Come out and support our boys!

'Over the River and Through the Woods' ...to Austin we get to go! Gary HS OAP advanced to State by winning first place at Regionals! 154 rehearsal hours and 11 different cuttings of the script has led to this moment. Jesse Dodge earned the Top Performer award. Miller Powell and Katie Thomas earned the All Star Cast award. Brady Balfanz and Hailey Essery earned Honorable Mention awards. Beka Smith earned the Best Tech award. Our great Mrs. Tate also earned an award for all of her years of helping out! Not only that, we are proud of our entire cast and crew; Beka Smith, Katie Thomas, Miller Powell, Brady Balfanz, Jesse Dodge, Hailey Essery, Dakota Gibbo, James Burgess, Jesse Goodman, and June LaGrone! We can't wait to see them succeed at State next!

It’s official, congratulations to the following 23-24 Varsity and Jr. High Cheerleaders!