001It's good to see everybody here this evening. Thanks for It's a whole herd of crowd here. Thanks for being here. Y'all were quiet earlier and now y'all want to talk. So, we're we're good to go. Uh we'll jump into this. We've got a lot of stuff to cover, a lot of celebration. Thank you for being here. We're excited to have all of you uh joining us and uh looking forward to doing some some celebrations here. We've got the Mar Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees for uh board meeting for Monday, April 28th. We'll call the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. We have all members present. Thanks for being here, board. Um we will kick this off with an invocation by Mr. Bergman. Will you lead us in invocation followed by the pledges by
002Mr. BIS and the vision statement by Miss McCary. Please stand and join us. Very good. Thank you. Uh we'll jump right into this. We've got some special recognitions. Uh item 6A, superintendent award, Mr. Henson, I like those bags. Welcome. There's a story behind those. If I could have Emma Casey and Isaiah Lazos, if y'all would come [Applause] up, got 237 seniors that we had to choose from. And when you put it to the staff and the students, well, not the students, we just did staff with this one. Um, these two rose above all of them as our superintendence award. And so two of the finest seniors that we have and I'm happy to present them tonight. I want to share a few thoughts um from both of you that came from teachers and students. We'll
003start with Emma. Emma's an incredible writer who works very hard in everything she does. She constantly pushes herself to deliver her best. Her determination comes through in just about everything she does. She is more than deserving of this recognition and will do great things in life after h high school. As Mr. Crane. Miss Silva says, "Emma is easily one of the most exceptional students I've encountered in my eight years of teaching. She's resilient and her pursuit of science and her level of intellectual curiosity is truly commendable. Her work ethic is unmatched. If she finished an assignment early, she continued learning through other work, reading, or initiating conversations with me about topics from class. I can always count on her to go above and beyond. She's a natural leader and has a heart for serving others.
004She never hesitates to step up to a challenge to serve the greater good and I'm excited to see how she represents our town in the next steps of her life. Christy Brewer. Emma was a standout student in fourth grade and one of the favorite memories was during social studies academic so showcase. She along with classmates Lincoln and Colton created an impressive model of Lasal's expeditionship. Emma poured so much heart into the project. Her eye for detail and commitment to authenticity were evident in every element right down to the smallest details. It was a perfect example of her creativity, work ethic, and passion for learning. Welldeserved, Emma. Again, that's from Christy Brewer. Emma impresses everyone, not only as an exceptional student, but also as a grounded, humbled, and kind individual. Her academic accomplishments are impressive, and
005they are rooted in her relentless perseverance. I'm proud of everything that she has already achieved and believe she will do even greater things based on the foundation she has prepared for herself. Congratulations from Miss Hammond. Mr. Woods. Emma is an exceptional student whose dedication and maturity surpasses what is expected of someone her age. She constantly or consistently puts forth her best effort, tackling both classwork and unexpected challenges with determination and focus. I'm excited to see what she will accomplish professionally one day. Miss Heath Emma Casey is one of the hardest working students I know, yet somehow she makes it look effortless. She is intellectual and thoughtful. It's been a pleasure watching her academic career here MFHS. Bliss Tamontes. Emma Casey is the most intelligent, hard-working, and compassionate person I've had the pleasure of knowing. She's
006smart in every sense of the word. From academics to a wisdom that far surpasses her age. However, her work ethic and motivation are what truly separates her from her peers, making her an inspiring and uplifting person to be around every day. Emma is a true role model, and I do not speak lightly when I say that she's going to do amazing things with such a remarkable mind and heart. Mr. Haley, Emma Casey was an outstanding student and leader while attending MFS. She served on the student council as a classroom representative, often participated and was successful in academic UIL events during her time in elementary school. She excelled academically, was a model student for kindness and empathy with her peers. I'm proud but not surprised to hear that she's continuing to work hard and have success
007at MFHS. Miss Dipmer, I've had the privilege to have Emma in my math class for three years. She's a quiet, amazing young lady. Probably not the same math class, mind you. Just remember that. She's a very meticulous, hard worker. I'm extremely proud of everything you have accomplished. Thank you so much for the honor of escorting you for softball and I will treasure my softball. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you. Thank you for Thank you for making my class better. Couple more. Congratulations on your outstanding achievement. I remember working with you through the Horizon's program while you were at Marble Falls Elementary. Your determination and mastering the algorithm for solving a Rubik's cube while the MF is truly impressive. I look forward to our class time as you readily shared uh
008your knowledge and experience with our class. Your ability to meet academic challenges with a positive outlook showcases your resilience and strength. Also, your skills and critical and creative thinking set set you apart and demonstrate your exceptional potential. Keep up the wonderful work. I look forward to hearing about your future academic adventures and achievements. Miss Diane Arendondo. During my 13 years of being filled with Emma or being friends with Emma, I have watched her grow into a thoughtful, kind, and extremely intelligent person. She constantly puts others before herself and sees the best in people. She tries to make everyone feel included and will always try to make you laugh when you're feeling down. One of trait of Emma's that strike sticks out from the rest is her unwavering empathy for others. Emma consistently cares about others
009feelings no matter the situation. If there is anyone most deserving of this award, it is Emma Casey. That's from Aninsley Briggs. Emma Casey is one of our most unique individuals you will ever meet. She analyzes things in such a smart way I can never keep up with it. It's no surprise to me that she is our 2025 valadictorian, a position well-earned. Not only is she very intelligent, but she's also really funny. I never have a dull conversation about anything when I'm around her. I hope everyone else sees this as well. Sophia Bajini. And then last, but not least, Emma Casey has proven to be one of the most dedicated individuals in any activity she's a member of. She's very committed to her studies and has been a member of the Lady Mustang softball program. Although
010she has a very quiet demeanor, she's very supportive of everyone she works with. Coach [Applause] Lazora. Next up is Isaiah Lzos. I got to coach Zay for three years and have him in class for a year. His work ethic is top-notch. His leadership is evident each day. He is so respected by every section of our student body. He is kind to everyone and goes out of his way to check on those he cares about. Proud is not a strong enough word. This is a young man who has an incredible character. The fun thing to say is that he is just getting started and I can't wait to see where life takes him. Travis Crane. Miss Jones says, "Isaiah is an incredibly bright and resilient person. I've had the chance to get to know him over
011the past two years. And not only has he made an impact on our BPA club, but he's also demonstrated great leadership skills throughout everything he has done, he's also very funny and always has a smile on his face. He's one of those people that just makes you feel good when you're around them. I know he will do well in whatever he sets his mind to in the future. I taught Isaiah Lzos in prek. Even when he was four years old, he was a wonderful, kind, and respectful young man. When I see him now, whether it is at our school or different school function, he's still very polite and carries himself with dignity. I'm so proud of you, Isaiah, and I know you're destined for wonderful things. As Miss Layman from Marble Falls Elementary School, Miss
012Silva says, "When I think of Isaiah, I think of charisma. Isaiah is a student that loves learning and making meaningful connections with people. His passion is business and media and when people and and when possible, he always found a way to integrate creative high-tech videos into our science presentations. He's a natural leader in the classroom and also on the school campus regardless of what is going on in Isaiah's life. He brings a magnetic personality and a positive mindset to every day and task. He constantly seeks fe see seeks feedback showing he has a growth mindset which is an impressive strength that will continue to serve him well in college and beyond. Mr. Wood says watching Isaiah grow into the remarkable young man he is today has been truly rewarding. From coaching him in seventh grade
013soccer to teaching him in AP government as a senior. He has consistently demonstrated grace, humility, respect, and outstanding sportsmanship. Miss Bowen says Isaiah's hard work, perseverance, and kindness do not go unnoticed. Marble Falls High School's honored to have you represent our school at such a high level. Keep shining. You're going places. Miss Heath says, "Isaiah Lzos has the best smile. He is always willing to lend a hand to anyone, student or staff. He manages to combine his wonderful personality with a drive for academics. We should be proud that he called Marvel Falls his own." Dr. Smith said, "Isaiah Lazos is an exemplary young man. His experiences adversity with integrity and fortitude. Academically, he is among our highest achievers. His character is impeccable. I am so grateful to have interacted with him as a metriculated at
014MFHS and grateful to be affiliated with this wonderful man as a co-alumnness. He is he chose UT over&M. What more can you ask for? By the way, UT is a Texas, not Tennessee. So, it's okay. Isaiah Isaiah is one of the most dedicated people I've ever met. He is locked in on his goals and is very visible to an audience that he pull puts full effort into anything whether that was on the court or in the classroom. He's also just truthful and caring friend willing to help you out with anything. I never heard anything negative come out of his mouth while we were on the court. He always made sure we were energized and encouraged to get better. Isaiah was a big part of the team and I believe he will play a big role
015in a lot of people's lives. He has grown to be more than just one of my friends but a brother. I'm truly proud of this man. He deserves this award along with all the rewards to come. It's Titus Willie. Isaiah was an outstanding student and leader while attending MFS. He was our student council president his senior year and was also chosen as our campus superintendence recipient in fifth grade. He was a model student when it came to character, academics, and behavior. And I'm pleased but not surprised to see that he still prioritizes these things and is having success at Marble Falls High School. That's Mr. Haley, two-time winner of the superintendence award here. Isaiah is an incredible young man. He has put his best foot forward nearly every day of his life. He's always been
016focused forward with his eyes set on a higher goal. We have seen this play out many times in his life. For example, when he was in fifth grade, he told me he was running for president of student council. In my attempt to save him from possible disappointment, I told him maybe a lower office would be better because of such uh competition for president. He said, "No way. I want to run for president." He did, and he won. Fast forward to his senior year. He's once again president of the student council. hard work and high goals. The culmination of his dedication to what he sets his sight on paid off once again with his acceptance to UT Austin. My husband and I are so blessed to have helped raise this young man and it is Nan
017and Pa. Is it am I saying that right? Okay. Isaiah, keep reaching for your dreams. Miss Lazos. Couple more. I've had the privilege to have Isaiah in my math class for three years. Again, not the same math class. He is a great young man and is full of school spirit. He's going to do great things. Thank you for allowing me to be your teacher, Miss Dip Burner. I'm incredibly proud for you receiving this prestigious award again. Your dedication and hard work truly shine through in everything you do. As you wisely said in your 2017 speech when running for president of the Marble Falls Elementary Student Council, "I always work hard and put effort into everything I do. There's always a time to play and a time to work. I'm certain your words ring true even
018today. I noticed your ability to lead by example while you served as a student council president and I served as the MF student council sponsor. Your exemplary academic and leadership skills continue to inspire those around you. Congratulations, Isaiah, and I look forward to seeing all the amazing things you accomplish in the future. Miss Diane Aarono, MF math teacher. Give it up for these two wonderful representatives. [Applause] Uh, do we have some family and supporters of Isaiah back there? Would y'all stand up if you're with us tonight? And then how about Emma's family and supporters? There we go. Welld deserved. Congratulations, y'all. And um you couldn't have picked a better college choice, so I'm proud about that. So, good job. All right. Um going extra mile award, Miss Hson. Good evening. Tonight, our gym recipient is
019Jessica Martin. Jessica, will you join me up here, please? [Music] [Applause] Miss Martin is a special education teacher at the high school. She started with us in 2019 as an aid and then she moved to teacher the following year. Congratulations. I don't know where to begin with this. Um, I'm I'm gonna start off just real quick with a quick story. She didn't know about this. Um, I sent an email to everybody but her in the sped department, math department, letting them know who was going to win it and if they would give me some quotes. Found her later in the hallway and said, "Uh, hey, I'm going to send an email out in a little bit to everybody but Erica Music Griffin because she's going to win an award on Monday night. And if you
020would get me some responses. I purposely didn't send that email. Yeah, I purposely forgot to send that email. And but and what she does, she then sent an email to the staff to the special education staff requesting comments for Miss Music Griffin. And they knew who I was giving it to. And so they caught me in the hallways a couple times a day and said, "You really got her really well." And so um uh but she and then I was having a little panic moment because she wasn't here at about 3 minutes till 6. And so I texted her and I said, "Hey, what's going on?" You know, don't forget it's six o'clock. She says, "I'm on my way. I was helping a kid with a flat tire." That tells you anything. Talk about going
021the extra mile. All right, I'm going to try to read these and not get emotional. Um y'all just bear with me. Jessica is the kind of special education teacher every student deserves, but few are lucky enough to have. She shows up every day with patience, purpose, and heart. Tuned into what each student needs, and ready to meet them there. It's not just a job for her. It's a full-on commitment to helping students feel seen, supported, and capable. She always brings calm to chaos, celebrates small wins like big wins, and ne and never stops believing in her kids, even on the hard days. You can see it in how the students light up around her and how she finds ways to bring out the best in everyone. Simply put, she cares deeply and it shows in
022everything she does. As for Miss Roland, Miss Dice says, "Sped folks and others, I imagine, can always count on Jessica for guidance, support, encouragement, and that happy, positive attitude." Miss Gresham Hartung says, "Miss Martin has been going the extra mile since I met her working at HB 17 years ago. She took in one of my students with autism and job coached him through the start at HB. 17 years later and that student is still successfully employed full-time at HB. When she came to teach with us at the high school, I was so excited to have her on our special services team. Jessica has a huge heart for students and helping them to reach their fullest potential. She's a breath of fresh air and an inspiration to me daily. William Jacobs, senior. Sorry if my handwriting
023is bad. They locked me in hard tongue's closet and turned off the lights until I wrote this. I don't think that's true, but he wrote he wrote it, so I read it. Miss Martin is one of the only teachers who made me understand math, even if sometimes it sounded like hieroglyphics, but she was very patient when it didn't make sense. She would always give us extra time when we needed it, and actually made class somewhat survivable. If y'all know seniors, that's a that's a that's a that's a kudos. Yeah. In math from Dr. Smith. Miss Martin is such a blessing to work with. She serves some of our most difficult students with impeccable fidelity and care spirit. Miss Martin, as you might imagine, is one of the earliest to the buildings and the last to
024leave day after day, week after week, month after month, all year long, investing all of her energy in the care of her students and colleagues. Personally, I'm grateful for every interaction with Miss Martin as those interactions always make me better or simply affirm. While I have benefited from my share of wonderful teachers, I definitely would have been better off as younger man should I have had the fortune of receiving instruction from Miss Martin. God bless you and thank you for your service, ma'am. Sarah Davis, I have had the unique privilege of observing many of Miss Martin's math classes, and I'm always without exaggeration in awe of her remarkable classroom management. her high yet fair expectations and the genuine compassion she shows for each student. Miss Martin wears many hats, resource teacher, inclusion teacher, and department
025chair. And she brings unwavering dedication and passion to each of these roles. Despite the challenges math can pose for many students, which often leads to frustration or even resentment towards the subject, Miss Martin consistently defies that trend. Time and again, I hear students say their favorite teacher is Miss Martin, a testament to the positive and lasting impact she has on their lives. It is truly a gift to work alongside such talented and inspiring educator. Miss Martin is the embodiment of superior teaching. She leads with love and she aspires with every lesson. Logan McKesh, crazy and energetic but amazing teacher. Caleb Shriber Holland. It is easy to understand her lessons and it's fun to be in her class. I would like to be in her class every period because of how easy it is. She is
026the best teacher I got other than the PBSC staff. Debbie Williams says, "She is sweet, kind, awesome, and incredible." Lindsay Mosik says, "I'm happy to have the opportunity to talk about Jessica. I'm glad to hear she will receive this muchdeserved award. I can't count the number of times I've reached out to her with a question, whether by email or phone, only to have her show up at my door within minutes, ready and eager to help. She's not only an incredibly responsive, but also remarkably generous with her time and expertise as she streamlines systems and improves processes. Um, she consistently shares her work with others, helping the entire team become more efficient. Her willingness to give, often of work that I know has taken her hours, is a true gift to our campus. She freely offers
027her knowledge, her time, her support, always with a cheerful, uplifting attitude that makes you feel truly valued. She makes all of us better and I'm so grateful to work with her. Miss Music Griffin, the supposed winner. Jessica exudes a dedication at her role with a level of commitment that does not go overlooked. She continually strives to learn and is open to growth so that she can be the best teacher and mentor she can be. Jessica is passionate and detail- oriented, often digging deeper so that everything can be done within her power to meet the needs of her students and her colleagues. Miss Craraven says Jessica is one of the hardest working people I know. She is deeply dedicated to her students, always willing to lend a helping hand to her co-workers. Her bubbly, joyful personality
028lights up every room and has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside her. Jessica is truly an incredible person and welldeserving recipient of this award. Jessica has a passion for students and seeing them learn and grow. She often thinks outside the box to engage students in math. She's quick to acknowledge the small steps and students understanding as well as the big ones. I've seen students that may not act be actively engaged in another teacher's class work hard in Miss Martin's class. As a campus team lead for special education, she spends hours analyzing data to ensure that students IEP goals are met. She also plans monthly team meetings for case managers to ensure they are informed of current and upcoming guidelines and expectations. This year, she added monthly team meetings for inclusion teachers as a way
029to bridge gened with special ed. Some of the topics included resources, instructional strategies, how to best utilize the inclusion support in the classroom. Not everyone may know this about Jessica, but she's a fire walker and a trainer. I didn't know that. I would have got you some hot coals or something to give you tonight. She told me once that this I don't want you to stop teaching. She told me once that this was something she'd started doing after a difficult transition in her life. Her goal was to show and teach others that you can overcome hard things. Jessica personifies resilience, compassion, and hard work. I'm blessed to know and work with her. Congratulations on receiving this award award. You deserve it for Miss Mitten. Last one. Miss Martin demonstrates incredible tenacity every day while remaining
030positive and energetic for those around her. It is difficult to stay consistently motivated and have the energy to be kind, respectful, and supportive of others. Being a good teacher who creates meaningful lessons for students is challenging enough. Miss Martin not only accomplishes that, but also serves as an outstanding mentor and leader to her colleagues, a balance few could achieve with such grace. No matter how much is on her plate, and I know it's often a lot, Jessica's never failed to provide me with the support and guidance I need both professionally and personally. When you speak with her, she gives you her full attention and connects in a way that makes you feel understood while also offer also offering meaningful solutions. I've come to her in situations where I've been both right and wrong, and she
031treats me with the same empathy, respect, and help helpfulness every time. It has been a true privilege and blessing to learn from her. Jessica has been deserving of this recognition in so many ways and I'm thrilled to see her receive the credit she so deeply deserves. Miss Bruns, ladies and gentlemen, our gym award, Miss Jessica Martin. [Applause] Miss Martin, would you like to say anything? You don't have to, but if you want to. Only reason why I'm here is because my [Applause] team, Miss Martin had her back turned. So, if you were um family and then supporters, will you all stand up again and uh just give her one more round of applause [Applause] there. Welld deserved. Congratulations. Spotlight on excellence, Dr. Gway. I actually have two. We're going to recognize two tonight. And uh
032we had a unique uh dual nomination. So Randy Dalton, Josh Cole. [Applause] All right. So, here we are. It is April Spotlight on Excellence. I'm here with Sandy and Amanda. And and we normally have one spotlight on Excellence. We'll do a teacher, a pair professional, but uh we'll do somebody. But we're talking about two teachers that have made a huge impact in your grandson's life, in your son's life. Tell me about who we're nominating and and why we're nominated. We are nominating Mr. Cole and Miss Dalton from Cole Elementary. Let me tell you a little bit about how they've changed my grandson, my family, and our community basically, which is in the autism world. Mr. Cole and Miss Dalton from the beginning of be uh before fourth grade, the end of third grade, they started
033reaching out. Marcus is a fourth grader this year, but for the last two or three years, he struggled like really struggled. Towards the end of third grade, Mr. Cole and Miss Dalton started asking questions while I was there as a volunteer. What is Marcus like? What does he not like? Just asking what are his triggers? What can we do to help him? At the beginning of the year, we found out that Mr. Cole was the teacher. automatically from I would say the second week about the second week. The first week was uh but the second week we I we saw a change that continued throughout the whole year from a kid that did not want to go to school. Did not want to even carry his backpack. Failing failing spending more time outside of the
034classroom because of his self-esteem and behavior issues. He just he couldn't handle it to now that like he did not want to miss he doesn't he hates missing school. Awesome. Mr. Cole and Miss Dalton have set a solid foundation for fifth grade in years to come. My my hope is that other teachers see them as role models because this is beyond education. This is beyond uh what a sped team tells them. It comes from the heart. They have gone oh beyond what a normal teacher does. I I agree. Yeah. And I like I said I just I just want to show my appreciation for the teachers because like I want them to keep that you know momentum that drive that you know that heart that they have that they put into my kid. I want
035them to you know I want them to be recognized. I can see y'all's passion for sure and I appreciate it. I I know in our conversation I know you have prayed a lot over Dalton and this was an answer to prayer for sure and so I just appreciate your call. I appreciate your willingness to nominate them. I appreciate you coming in and and voting for them and and they are going to be our our spotlight on excellence for the month of April, autism awareness month. And what a great month to have that. So congratulations. Thank you, Miss Dalton. Here we are. It is April Spotlight on Excellence and you are our one of our two Spotlight on Excellence teachers. Tell me what inspires you. What leads you to just do your job. You do it
036well. Talk to us about why you love and inspire our kids. Um because I love the kids. I love the community. Um these kids come in every day and make me want to show up and have fun. And I um I learned just as much from them as they learned from me. So love them. Um they uh put in their efforts. They want to be here which makes me want to be here and be a better teacher. And um my team really is part of it too. So it's really a strong team and I appreciate that and I appreciate the volunteers like Sandy and it's just a great place to work for and I do it for them. They make me want to show up. So, well, your work is not going unnoticed. So, on
037behalf of the district, thank you for going above and beyond and letting us spotlight you as one of our excellence teachers this month in the month of April. So, congratulations. Thank you. I appreciate that. Y Well, here we are, Mr. Cole. It is April and we're spotlighting excellence and you are one of our two recognized teachers for Spotlight on Excellence. We got to already talk with Miss Dalton and I will tell you you were recognized by Sammy Ruiz. Tell me a little bit about what drives you, what motivates you, what makes you the great teacher that you are. Tell us a little bit about your secret. getting to know all my students and working with them and finding out what um makes them want to succeed and want to try their best and um captivating
038that energy with them and trying to find different ways to get them to learn new things that interest them that they haven't learned before. Well, one of the things that really stood out just as you talk about getting to learn your kids is that that process begins right now for your kids that you're going to get next year. I heard stories about just the investment you make in your kids and what an example what what how meaningful that is. Kudos. Thank you on. Well, thanks. I am so excited to recognize you and Miss Dalton as our two spotlight on Excellence April nominees and winners. So, congratulations. All right. Meanwhile, I'm here at the White House as President Trump is going to mark 100 days in. Wow. That was not part of the video. So, put
039on your desk and then Can I get a picture? Awesome. Miss Dalton, Mr. Casease, anything to say? Feel free. y'all have anything to words of wisdom to impart to us? Anything else? Uh, that video interview was a surprise. So, it's caught off guard, but um I really appreciate the community support of our volunteers and everyone. And um we really do do it for the kids. They're just they're amazing. And that's all I can say, I guess. So, thank you for the award. [Applause] Any family supporters? Mr. Dalton, Miss M. Miss Dalton, Mr. Case, stand up. Okay. Congratulations. Spotlight on uh engagement, Miss Lifellet. Good evening. This evening's spotlight engagement goes to a very special teacher at Marble Falls Middle School. My heart is full and I smile every time and I go in his room
040just like so many others. His students are highly engaged in mathematics and he's everywhere in the room not only supporting them but encouraging them and getting them to stretch their thinking. He's a master at creating strong relationships with his students. I would like Gip Katon, math teacher at Marble Falls Middle School to come up here while I say a few more words. Miss Christy Great House, instructional coach at the middle school, wanted us to know that having worked on a team with GIP, she knows firsthand that he goes over and above for his students. Seeing him interact with his students in his classroom is a masterclass in managing behavior and engaging students in learning. On top of all this, Git brings his humor and kindness to the middle school campus. There's no greater honor for
041us as an educator than to hear from students. And we're so fortunate that Miss Great House was able to get some of Mr. Keaton's eighth grade students to put into words how great he is from their perspective. Uh he cares about us and he acts real. Mr. Katon's funny. He makes us laugh even if it's like dad jokes. He makes sure that everybody understands and he will explain it different ways if we need him to. He's really positive and I don't even have him as my math teacher, but he helps me at ACE. Math can be boring, so it helps that he makes us laugh and makes it fun. He has so much patience for us. He is nice and he respects us. The way he is, other teachers should be like that in their
042class because we learn and we are working and we listen to him. He is a good teacher and patient with me because my English is not as good. He helps me understand better by giving me notes with pictures. Could you hear their voices? Because I could. I could. Very, very touching. Mr. Keaton exemplifies doing what it takes to get the highest of engagement in his classes. He's a role model in Marble Falls ISD for staff and students. Congratulations to Gip Katon, April's spotlight on engagement. [Applause] Mr. Katon, anything you'd like to say? Giga Maggis. [Applause] Oh, all right. Uh friends, supporters, families, Mr. Keaton, stand up and let us recognize you two. [Applause] All right, let's see. BPA, state qualifier, Skills USA, and TSA, Miss Bernard. Hello. I am actually going to ask the uh
043advisers of our CTE organizations that are being recognized tonight to come up. Um these are our state finalists who um qualified through regionals or area and then advanced to compete at the state competition and so we want to recognize them. First up is BPA and that is Miss Jones and Miss Dup Prey. Good good evening. Um, and as Miss Martin's neighbor um, in the hallway at the high school, I can tell you that everything they said about her is absolutely true. And I had a weird school dream the other day and she was the one that helped me in that dream. So, thank you, Miss Martin. Um, so hello, my name is Elizabeth Jones and I am one of the business teachers at the high school. U, myself along with Miss Duprey, um, the audiovisisual
044teacher are the two adviserss for BPA. BPA stands for Business Professionals of America. It is our club that competes in all things business. This year, we had the pleasure of coaching some really talented and amazing students. First, our students have to compete in a regional competition. And in order to advance to state, they have to be in the top two of their category. We had two students that made it to state this year. Brazos White um competing in digital media production and Jared Smith competing in entrepreneurship. In addition, we had three teams that were alternates over all almost all of our teams uh in that competed in regionals com finished in the top half of their categories, which is an overall improvement from last year. Since we had alternates, we took a total of seven
045students to compete at the highest level at our state competition in Dallas in March. While our al alternates did not get to compete in the original category, unfortunately, they were able to compete in open events while at state. I would like to mention that the highest placements in the open events were Madison Hardaway who placed 15th out of 150 competitors in digital communications, Katie Terrell who placed 17th out of 127 competitors in parliamentary procedures and Jared Smith who also competed in an open event in addition to his entrepreneurship placed 11th out of 130 competitors in digital marketing. All of our students finished in the top half of their categories, which was difficult and extremely competitive. I think it's important to note that our kids are involved in sports, key club, NHS, student council, and even
046with all that extra work, they still performed professionally and gracefully. They are extremely well-rounded and mature kids, which is a very desirable job skill in the future. We are so proud of our students and how they represented not only themselves, but Marble Falls High School. And again this year we were in fact the best dressed. So if that was an award we would have taken the sweep. Thank you very much. [Applause] Wait, wait, wait. Before you go, will you take that microphone off there and just um pass it down and just will you introduce yourself and uh maybe one of the most important things that you accomplished, something you're proud of, that sort of thing. My name's Hannah Welch and this was my second year qualifying for state and it was just um a really
047fun opportunity and um yeah, it was really fun. Hi, I'm Casey Cotton. Um, this is my first year in BPA. So, this is my first time going to state. And I'm Katie Tur. This is my second year in BPA. And I just love the bonding experience that we all had. My name is Madison Hardaway and I feel like I could really see an improvement in our presentation this year and I think that next year is going to be even better than the last two. I'm Brazwatt. This is my first year in BPA and it was a really fun experience. I'm Jared Smith and this was my first year in BPA and I had a lot of fun and felt like I learned a lot as I went through this process. Very good. Thank you all.
048Congratulations. [Applause] All right. Next up, we are going to have Skills USA. So, Mr. Hartsock and Mr. V, if you will come on up here. And your kiddos, too. Skills USA, come on up. There's a lot of kids here. If you guys know Mr. V over here, you know he can sell salt to a slug. So, I'm gonna let him talk about all this. I know. Thank you. Thank you very much. These are our competitors that went this year to Corpus Christie for Skills USA. Mario, come on. Get over here. Come over here. This is the most we've ever taken to Skills USA. We had uh approximately 15 make it. I think we ended up taking 11 because some people couldn't keep their grades up. So, but that's just the way it happens. Uh, we
049had the biggest uh entourage of welders go. Two, one person is the second time state winner. Correct. Bronze, bronze last year. Okay. And the the most welders we ever had. I can't stop thanks and Rybeck. They did a great job with these young men and a young lady also. So we also had the most projects to go take blue ribbons at district and then we end up going to um Corpus Christie for skills and we take blue ribbons there. They don't give out medals. Uh we didn't medal in anything this year. We had two people that did dual things. Uh one was uh shakurerie board and tool identification and the other young lady, she's not here right now. She did tool identification. They didn't place in the top three. But also we had a one
050young lady, she did the table, right? So we had two guitars built. What else did we do? Shakuri board. Oh, Mr. Colton Milm, he scored 390 out of 400. I've never seen that happen. That's way up there. So, uh, I'm going to get give the mic to them. Let them give them what's going on. Tell them your what your project is, what what it was, and tell them your name, please. Uh oh. Oh, Mario and I think Mario Cortez and I was part of the Yeah, welding team fabrication. Yeah, I'm Mark and I was part of the fabrication team also. I'm Lucas La and I made the shery board. I'm LT Ganes and I built a guitar. I'm Roman Brown and I was part of the fabrication team. I'm Timothy Fogle and I did a
051welding sculpture and a slideshow presentation that never happened. I'm Colin M. I did the fire pit. Esther Baker, welding furniture. Payton Garcia. I built a guitar. Uh I'm Chris M. Uh, I was part of our little AV production team. Um, we never actually turned in our video project and we still somehow made it to state and I think we what we were bronze. Yeah. And yeah, just good experience all around. It's funny how things happen like that. [Applause] Okay, these young people, they span everything from freshman all the way up to seniors. We're going to lose all of our seniors. We've got a bunch of kids coming up. They are super excited when they see this many people go to a state competition and come home with an award. They want to go do it
052again. They want to go do it. So, Chris is a fourtime state qualifier. So, he's won every time except for this year. So, thank you very much. He's turn around. Wave everyone. Thank y'all very much. We're gonna take a picture. [Applause] I'm going to say one thing while they're talking. Um they have some amazing projects and if you haven't seen it on Facebook, check them out. These kids are crazy talented. Um what was really interesting with our welding fabrication team is they show up to state and they're given a project and blueprints and they have to put it together and they've got seven hours. Seven hours So, TIG welding um and a seven-hour time limit to fabricate this project. Um there was only one team that made it in the time limit and we were
053like one minute out, but that's really cool. They have to build it all in one shot. So, congratulations, guys. Good job. All right. Um high school TSA, Miss Tedesco. High school TSAers, come on up here. Yeah, you can come over here. All right. Um, my name is Lindsay Tedesco. I'm the engineering and robotics teacher at the high school. Um, I also do um TSA, which is technology students association. Um we took uh 30 kids to state this year which was the most the high school's ever taught um most the high school has ever taken. Um super proud of these kids. Um they also like if you took how we did in previous years they collectively scored higher than anyone else. Um and the robotics team did better than they ever had at state also. So
054they did amazing. I'm gonna Let's see. Start down here. I'm Jonathan Lelet and I competed in three photography events. One was architectural buildings. Animal pet black and white animal pet color. I'm Brazes White and I competed in the on demand video. Um, I'm Landon Griffith and this is my third year qualifying for state in the forensics category. I'm Evan Puga and we did engineering design. I'm Landon Fletcher and we also did engineering. I'm Noi Hall and I did debate with Brooke Mikum Metum. Wait, I'm Brian Bernard and I did technology problem solving. I'm Abby Kinsel. I was on the VEX team. Um, and with the team I did web master, stem mass media, and what was it like software design? Hi, I'm Brook Mechum. I did five events. I did debating technology issues, seen mass
055media, seen mass media, web master, um video game design, [Music] um yeah, I'm Kaylee Copus and I competed in fashion design and technology and audio podcasting. I'm Cassie Stence and I competed in digital photography um where I took a picture of an architecture and then I also competed in a sticker decal where I made a Miata. I'm Connor Yaklin and I competed in structural design and engineering up there. Take a picture. I don't know. All right, we've got middle school TSA. So, Miss Jet, Mr. Will, I don't know if Mr. Bush is here or not. Okay, bye. And TSA kiddos, come on up here. Just like the high school kids, come line on up. Hi, I'm Michelle Jet and um this is Marble Falls Middle School TSA and we went to regionals first um heart
056of Texas region um and competed in Waco for a day and then the students who qualified went to state and we took 33 students for four days and three nights in Fort Worth sixth through 8th grade. So I think we are the only group that takes kids that young overnight. Um and they did amazing. Um no problems at all um taking them that far and that long. Very proud of them. We actually won several events that we qualified for nationals and several events that stop at the state level that we won first place on. And a lot of our kids, like I said, there were 33 of them are involved in sports and they couldn't be here tonight because they're competing um with their sports. But um couldn't do it without Corey. Um Corey Williamson.
057Corey Williamson. Introduce yourself. Tell us what your name and what you got. Hello, I am Zelen Pac. I did off the grid with Magnolia, my sister and Rita and I got sixth estate. Hi, I'm Eli Bradley. I did uh medical technology with uh Evan Casper and Noah Yuri. I also did promotional marketing and play seventh. Hi, I'm Noah Yuri. Uh, I competed in medical technology with Eli Bradley and Evan Casper and I think either uh towards last place. I'm Charlie Dean. I competed in um website design and I am not sure what place I got. I'm Sam Padrazza and I competed in off the grid with my friend Max who is not here and I honestly don't know what we placed. My name is Joshua Mason and I did coding and my partner Cooper's not
058here but I'm not sure what place I got. I just want to say that even if they didn't place making it to the state is an awesome awesome thing. Hi, my name is Kimberlin Buouie and I competed in forensic technology for eighth place and leadership strategies with fourth place. I'm Kamia Chaley and I was her partner for forensics and we got eighth and leadership strategies. We got fourth and our third partner, Cooper Halum, is not here. My name is My name is Claire Falero and I competed in woodworking and I got first place with Lillian Clark. My name is Lucy Great House. I competed in chapter team and problem solving and we got last place on both. I'm Jake Welch and I did a community community service video and got second. [Applause] So up on
059the screen you can see under the national qualifying events those kids that got first and second um qualified for nationals. Um so yay congrats to them. I'm sorry parents. Um and some events top four go. So you we have a few more national qualifiers. So congratulations. Oh, and the t-shirts won first place at the competition. T-shirt design. Awesome. Good job. And that is [Applause] us. All right. Very good. That gets us to item 6F is powerlifting state qualifier. Coach Timmer Timberman. Yeah. What can I say? These young men know how to clear a room. Um, good evening. My name is Carl Bilfeld. I'm the head powerlifting coach at Marvel Falls High School, aka Coach Beef. That's my assistant, George Bunz. Um, and we had the privilege of of taking three young men to state this
060year. Uh, powerlifting has its own mystique, both a team and individual competition. A lifter finds themselves on a platform with three strangers judging their performance and whole other multitude waiting to see if they will successfully complete their lift. We had three young men that consistently met that challenge and earned a spot at the 2025 Texas High School Parlifting Association state meet at the Taylor County Expo in Abalene, Texas. Along the way, they fought through missed lifts and the roller coaster of emotions that can either propel you or derail you in your uh in your endeavors. The Boris earned third place at the regional meet in Gayesville, Texas as a whole. We had five medal. Uh, one of our state lifters, Newos Saladar, established a new regional record for bench with a bench of 390 pounds
061in the 181 pound weight class. Um, so if you saw any my videos on on Instagram, it was kind of a um things. But then we talk about the fact that everybody stops and watches that one lifter go after those big lifts. And so that's why I love powerlifting so much is is as much as you're standing by yourself, doesn't matter where you go to school or everybody's going to root for anybody picking up big weight. Um so representative here tonight is Daniel Dominguez uh who finished sixth at state with a total of 135 pounds across all lifts. Um his brother David obviously being responsible young had had to work tonight placed ninth with a total of 100 ah I can't talk 1125 pounds and then uh NUFO finished first at regionals with a total
062of 1465 um but from each year we have had we're scaffolding to use an educational term as far as going from one year to next as far as going from regionals to state and then we'll finish competition at state but I will say this even after missing a lift at state and that finished his uh afternoon there or morning I should say. Um took about 15 minutes and he was back supporting his teammates and doing whatever he could to help us go there. But when we finish and we look back at regional at state rankings right now, even having not finished state, he's still ranked number 10 in the state of Texas. Um so [Applause] Uh so when you look at the multitude of individuals that lift in this competition u it's not it's pleasure
063to come back and say that you have both the sixth place in the 123s ninth place in the 132s and the 10th place 108s in the whole state of Texas across all regions and the thousands of of young men that compete in this sport. Um so kudos hats off to them for their accomplishments this year. Mr. Newos Salazar and Mr. Dan [Applause] Dominguez. Awesome. Very good. Congratulations, y'all. All right, that's all the spec special recognition. So, if you'd like to slip out, now would be a good time to do that. But, uh, feel free to stick around and join us as well for the rest of it. Uh, Miss Schaefer, any citizen comments? Nope. Okay. Very good. information items. We've got general fund summary, expenditure report, quarterly investment report, and special awareness dates. All those
064were in the packet. Any questions on any of those, Dr. Gasway? Well, as a matter of fact, the very first Friday in April is designated as Texas Fruit and Vegetable Day in public schools to promote awareness of the health benefits of fruit and vegetables and to encourage students to consume more fruit and vegetables during Texas Fruit and Vegetable Month. So, there we go. And just as another side note of a special recognition day, Bill or turned 70 today. Happy birthday. Happy birthday, Bill. Add that one to the calendar. Special awareness date. Very good. Uh, okay. Anything else? Anybody board questions? Very good. That gets us to presentation, discussion items, possible action. Uh, 9A, fine arts update. Dr. semester. As you all know, we have an incredible fine arts program here in Marble Falls ISD, and
065I'm excited to be able to turn this over to five of our teachers that we're going to be talking about each of their programs. I had the unique honor this year to get to travel with the choir to Europe over spring break and got to hear those kids perform a lot and they were amazing. And so, um, I'm going to start with Miss Thomas and visual arts. Big green one. Sorry. Okay, great. Um, I'm Kim Thomas and I teach our uh, advanced drawing, ceramics, and AP courses. Um, I'm really proud of our AP data. Love AP for giving us such great data. Um, we had a small group of AP drawing submit last year, but 100% received a five, which is the highest that you can get. Um and we are trending um above well
066above average in Texas with our data and above average in uh global when it breaks down per each category on the rubrics. We're also above global. Um that's been trending up in the last few years as we've just gotten the program even more tuned in. Um, our goal now is to try to be above the global average in all of those categories, which I think we can probably do within the next few years because we keep trending upward in that data. Um, our UIL visual arts scholastic event was also very successful this year. We continue to bring more artworks, more students every year. Um, and uh, like with our AP program, we are small but mighty. Uh statistically it's a huge it's the biggest art competition in the state possibly like the surrounding three states
067as well. It's very competitive. Um we compete with all size schools. So even programs that have jewelry making uh sculpture like huge programs. We're competing with them and uh beating them doing really well. Uh this year we broke records and we had five students qualify for state the last several years. The standing record was two which statistically is really great for our relatively small team. Um this year we had three freshmen qualify from our art one program which is great because just five years ago we didn't have an art one team at all. So we've been like he's Mr. Mr. Garcia has been doing really great with that program and the middle school has been really great feeding in um kids that are ready to take on that challenge and we just competed at state
068Saturday and they did really great and we'll talk more about those results probably meeting but they did awesome. Our national arts honors society was started seven years ago and uh it continues to grow as well. uh they added a new project of focusing more on scholarship this year for their requirement. Um we did um a collaborative project with the uh elementary schools where we asked all the elementary students to create a creature or a monster from their imagination and then our NHS and ceramic students uh created those out of ceramics and we got to go talk to them um about their creations um at the semester and that was really cool. We collaborated and did some designs with local businesses and local charities and their works were like auctioned off um to be able to
069give back to the community. Um we also just competed in our annual huge local community competition. Uh this year we were given 20 spots to fill where they sponsored students to work with professional artists to learn plain air paintings. These were almost all of our uh competitors and they did really great. We were one of the few schools in the area that actually have a program big enough with like students to fill those 20 spots. So, I thought that was really great for us. Um, and our students did really well winning uh best in show, first, second, third, and third and several honorable mentions. So, we're like the top dog art visual arts in the community um in several different competitions. Um, I'm proud of the kids starting to learn and uh help grow our
070art shows. Uh, we have one large one in December and then a smaller competition of awards kind of focused one. Um, but they're learning how to math things, how to do marketing, how to like talk about their art in a community setting when people come to see it. It's been really great for them in the program. Um, I'm trying to go fast. Sorry. Um so in 202122 um was uh my first year collecting data with the AP program and we had seven enrolled um and it's been trending upward. We had a we graduated a lot of seniors last year so we went down a little bit but now our numbers are doubling next year. So um our AP program is growing. Um interest in uh creating at a very high level is growing. Um we
071have 11 enrolled in nine testing this year and we have 22 currently signed up for next year. Um and expect that average of submitting to College Board to be um about the same to be very high percentage which is great. Um let me talk about Right. I think that's my three minutes. Just to say I'm really enjoying my ginger man coffee cup. Oh awesome. that my daughter made. And it is it is dishwasher safe so far. Yes, it should be. And it should be safe up to like 2,000 degrees. So, thank you guys. [Applause] Thank you guys so much for the opportunity to come and speak tonight. Uh I'm going to look at a few notes so I don't forget anything. Uh but I'll try to go as quick as I can. I've been up
072here and talked to you guys about band before and I always seem to start in July and I feel like I kind of leave some things out that we do to get ready for July. So want to tell you kind of how we get to summer band that actually starts in January. uh we meet with our design team and our staff to go over basically how we're going to plan our fall show. And that includes meeting with vendors, talking about musical concepts, visual concepts, design aspects of our show with props, aesthetics like flags, uh the material we use for our uniforms, color guard, costumeuming, everything. And so that takes place all the way through the spring semester. To date, we've probably had uh at least 11 meetings with our design team. And by the time
073we get to this portion of the year, May, we actually have pretty much our entire fall show planned. Um right now, I can tell you, uh the title of our show is imagine a view. Uh it is basically a concept of flying around in a hot air balloon and looking at things through a different perspective and a different lens and kind of changing your vantage point to to see things. So uh we're really looking forward to it. Um at this point we're also having deliverables. Uh we've got rough drafts of our music, our drill, all kinds of stuff that are coming in. So we're going to start working on that as soon as it's allowable to do so. Uh so that gets us all the way to July where we start our summer band. And
074um as you know, we're out on the asphalt uh working with the kids. Uh many of our kids are also student athletes. So in addition to being out here jamming away with us, uh they're going back and forth to volleyball and football practice, uh tennis, you name it, cheerleading, dance. Um in the fall, we I'll stop here for just a minute. We wear two hats. uh one of those being uh basically function as a cog in the school spirit machine. So going to football games, pep rallies, morning performances in the commons on Fridays, uh participating in community pep rallies, uh being there to do hall parades, uh basically we try to connect and engage with as many of our students and other student organizations and community members as we can in that respect and we
075enjoy it. Friday night lights is one of the things that we look forward to the most uh in the fall season. The other part of our fall season is basically we function as a competitive marching band and class 4A UIL competition. Um we end up going to several uh invitational competitions leading up to our UIL. And so this year we were lucky enough we finished second at the Fredericksburg Marching Festival in our classification, second in our classification at US Bands down in San Antonio. And all along the way we're getting feedback and critical uh input from our judges and other clinicians that we have come in looking to UIL which is in early October. Um we were very fortunate. We ended up making sweep stakes at UIL this year. That means all three of our
076judges gave us a superior rating on our field performance which advanced us for the seventh time in a row to the area marching competition level. And so uh very proud to say we're kind of making that a part of our tradition uh for our kids is getting to that area level. One of the things that we had not done is uh area is a kind of a double elimination day for us. We have preliminary competition in the morning and then finals in the evening. Those finals determine whether the band gets to advance to state. We had never made area finals and so we set out this year from the very beginning to have that be our goal. Uh the kids met and exceeded every challenge we put in front of them leading up to that.
077And we were fortunate enough uh out of 30 bands to advance into the finals competition at area and uh on their evening performance which was about 14 hours later than our morning performance on that same day. Uh the band performed again and we were lucky enough to get named as one of the bands that advanced to state marching. So, uh, kind of wrote some school history for the band this year in that regard. First time ever to make area finals and first time to be at state. Uh, the kids went to the Alamo Dome in early November and we gave it our A class effort. Uh, didn't make finals, but, you know, being there at the state marching contest was an honor and truly, I think, a a lifelong memory for our kids that they
078got to be part of that process. Um, had somebody ask me about what we thought this year looks like. Uh, I can tell you I don't know if we're going to make it to state again. Uh, if you would have asked me in July if we were going to be at the state marching competition in November, I would have said no. Uh, and not because we don't have confidence in the kids, but it's just uh the planets and the stars kind of have to align for that kind of thing to happen. And we were just really fortunate the kids bought into everything we asked them to do this year. And our motto throughout the year was that we were happy with everything that we were doing, but we were never going to be satisfied. And
079so every day we showed up, we tried to work just a little bit harder and make things a little bit better. And that model really proved very successful for us. So ended up having a really good fall semester in that regard. A as we get towards the end of the season, uh we kind of go into some individual competition for our region band. And um there's a few more football season pictures here from football games, our middle school band night, etc. That Alamo Dome, our uh drum majors and and color guard leaders got interviewed on the big screen at the Alamo Dome. That was a lot of fun. Um they were pretty nervous about that. They don't like talking. Uh but uh when we get into the that fall semester at the end, we do
080region band, which is the start of our all-state process. Just like choir, we go to region band auditions and uh we had a lot of fun with that. We had some kids that did really really well this year. Um we had five students make the region jazz band, 10 make the uh region band for our our concert ensembles. And then for the first time ever, our region sponsored a percussion ensemble uh for the region level and we had four students advance to the the performance area there. All of those kids got to go in January to perform in a concert setting with all the other kids from the region that made the the band. So, lots of fun for them, a great learning experience. They got to be some really astounding teachers over the course
081of that two-day clinic that they got to participate in. Um, so that was a lot of fun. As we get into the spring semester, we uh are probably our most vocal and visible uh thing that we do in the community is our concert ensembles for our UL competition. Um that happens usually in uh mid-March, early April. We went this year. Both of our high school bands uh made a sweep stakes rating. Again, that means that all of our judges on the stage and in the site reading room gave us a superior rating. Um that is the first time in school history that our varsity and non-varsity band at the high school have ever gone and earned a sweep stakes rating at the same time in the same school year. So very happy about that. Very
082proud of the kids. Uh very proud of Mr. Cindy and his group for all the hard work that they put in. Our middle school varsity band uh earned a sweep stakes as well for the second year in a row. And our non-varsity band at the middle school was just this close to getting it done. uh they made an excellent rating on uh their stage performance, a 221 and straight ones in the site reading room. If they had uh one more judge kind of lean that direction, we would have ended up having all four of those bands make sweep stakes, which would have been pretty amazing. Uh in the midst of working on all of that stuff for the uh concert bands, we have our individual competitions and we have solo and ensemble. So um our
083kids uh work really hard. Uh not all of our kids perform at Solen Ensemble. They're some of them just aren't interested in doing that and some of them to be quite frank are too busy uh functioning in other roles uh BPA, sports, cheer, dance, etc. And so uh we entered 15 uh events at Solone Ensemble and out of the 15 events we had 15 make first division ratings. So really proud of those kids. Uh there were nine of those students that were recognized and will be going on to the state level in uh on May 24th. That's the day after graduation. They'll be competing at Hendrickson High School uh to see if they can earn another gold medal at state. Uh those students are Maxim Slovia, Kirsten Plumbley, Christian Morales, Gage Keaton, Miguel Salazar, uh
084Ivan Martinez, Arvin Santinez, James Lawrence, and Madden Hernandez. So, uh we'll keep you posted on the results that they bring forward in the May competition. Um also, uh we had uh nine of our students, uh that advanced here, but we had 10 students make the region band. And out of those 10 earlier in the spring, we had four of those students advanced to the area level. Uh and that means that they basically got to go and audition for All State. While they didn't make All State, making it to that level of individual competition is a really big deal. uh across the regions in the state. So, we're really proud of those four students uh that advanced to area and the concert band. Um we are always looking for new performance opportunities. So, a few years
085ago when we hired Mr. Tyrie, he said came into my office one day and he said, "Mr. Lovelet, could we have a percussion ensemble concert?" And I said, "I think that would be super cool. I don't know that our community understands what that is. Uh and it would be really great to expose the kids and the community that." So, we've been doing the co percussion ensemble concert. Now, this is third year in a row. And our percussion ensemble concert is actually tomorrow night. If you're free and you want to drop by the high school auditorium, I promise it'll be a treat. I would love to have the rest of the staff here, but they're actually over helping to prepare for that concert tonight. So, they're a little busy, but if you guys get to come
086out tonight, tomorrow night, it'd be really cool for you get to see that. Uh here's some uh pictures of our kids that advanced. Our area qualifiers were Cody Harris, Jonathan Leiplet, Morgan Montgomery, and Maxim Salovia. Here's our flyer for the percussion ensemble concert tomorrow night. It's free. Uh you don't even have to stay for the whole thing. If you want to show up and just hear a little bit and then duck out quietly, you can do that. Uh if you catch anything, I promise you're going to enjoy it. It's all of our percussion districtwide from sixth grade to 12th grade. So, uh lots of fun for there. We also took our jazz bands to uh the Fredericksburg Jazz Festival, middle school and high school this year. and we got to perform over there and see
087some really great bands uh perform as well at that festival. Uh the clinicians that were there gave our kids some really great feedback. It was a good opportunity for them to learn and get to see other students performing jazz. By the way, we're super fortunate here and I want to thank you for us being able to have jazz in our daily curriculum. There's some schools, districts across the state that have cut that out and it's a huge part of music education and so very happy that we get to do that here in Marvel Falls. We always trying to look forward to what comes next and um although numbers are not the most important thing uh we always like to think that if we're growing a little bit that's a pretty good sign of health in
088our organization. Uh this is where we started the year. Uh this is where we're headed. uh not sure that the projections are going to turn out this way, but if they do, we're definitely going to be a little bit bigger at the middle school and high school next year, and that's super exciting uh for us as a staff, but also for our kids. Uh they are excited to see our organization get stronger and stronger and grow. Um we were fortunate this year, uh since 2017, we haven't really taken a large scale trip. I'm kind of jealous. Uh Mr. Gage has been all over the world uh since I've been here and I mean I keep trying to say let let's go do something really cool and so this year we actually did we went to
089Hawaii and it was a tremendous trip uh really great educational experience for the kids and I know the the adults and the kids that went on the trip were able to make some lifelong memories. Uh we're looking forward to many more opportunities like this. Uh maybe Europe someday, maybe Europe. Uh but uh it was lots of fun to to get to go to Hawaii and we had a ton of our kids uh really since we haven't traveled that much. A bunch of our kids had never even left the area here of Marble Falls. And so we had some firsttime travelers really uh and a lot of first-time flyers. And so it was a pretty neat experience to see them uh react to all the new things that they got to experience on the trip. Uh
090we got to see a lot of cool stuff. went and hiked in the mountains uh in the interior of the island and saw some beach stuff and all kinds of things. Our future goals uh always trying to think about new projects uh ways that we can strengthen our relationship with the community, continue to grow the band program. Uh I'm hopeful uh I won't overstep here, but we are in a bond election and so that next goal of renovating to accommodate growth, hopefully that takes care of itself in the next few days with the bond. Uh but we're super excited about that. Our future goals, always thinking to expand our private lesson staff, again, increase performance opportunities within the community. Um, learning opportunities for our kids. We brought more clinicians in and had more group performances
091this year, uh, than we ever have. I think to date, we're at 70 group performances and over 250 individual performances for the year. So, lots of cool opportunities. uh continue to improve the facilities. Even though the bond is on the horizon, uh we're still projecting in the band hall currently. So, if you come by and see tools and wood stacked up in the band hall, that's just because we're trying to make it better uh while we remain in there and trying to make it cool for the dance and cheer hopefully, too. So, um and like I said, obviously we're always trying to think about ways that we can grow the band. if we're if we're growing, we feel like we're really having some health in our organization. So, super excited about that. Our last goal
092is to install our new 18-wheeler uh that will be delivered thanks to you guys and the community uh coming up in July. So, we're have that new 18-wheeler on the road for us this fall. Uh we have upcoming performances. Uh I won't read that to you, but we've got a lot still to go for the end of the school year uh coming up for performances. Just finished up the spring starlet show. It was a lot of fun. Uh concert tomorrow night for the percussion. And then definitely want to thank our uh staff and our our sponsors. Um all of this stuff that I mentioned tonight, none of this is about the staff or accomplishments for us. All of the recognition and the accomplishments is about the kids. Uh we wouldn't be here at all if
093it wasn't for the tremendous musicians that we work with every day. And just like Miss Jones said earlier, uh we have kids in BPA, kids in uh athletic events, too many to name. Uh we have kids that hold full-time jobs and part-time jobs. We have kids that are involved in scouts, that are involved heavily in their community churches, that volunteer throughout the community with key club and other organizations. They're involved in NHS, student government. And in spite of all of that dedication and all that hard work, they still find time to dedicate their efforts and their music ability to us in the band. And we couldn't be more proud of them and more happy for them that we had a tremendous year. It it really is a testament to all that they are. And um
094just while we're at it, I've got other fine arts staff members here in the room with me. Um, we are so fortunate here, uh, to have a great team. I can't tell you the number of times that I go to my colleagues and bounce ideas off of and just talk to them. Sometimes it's just to get a a a a check in the day like, "How you doing?" or, "Uh, I need a little pep me up, so I go sit and talk with Mr. Gage or or Miss Gilpin or somebody." And so, uh, we have a great team here in our fine arts and super fortunate for that. Um, and super fortunate that you guys allow us to have so much freedom with our programs. So, thank you. Thank you very much. And thank you
095for all the support. Thank you guys for all the support. Hope I didn't take up too much time. [Applause] I think the common theme you're going to hear tonight is that school history and school records. Uh I don't think anyone could argue that we have the best fine arts department uh in the state in class 4A. You just can't argue with all the results that you see. So we've had a crazy year as you know we've been in in front of you several times. We started out actually at the beginning of the year we won a state championship in Perform America's Next Level Small School contest and that was like the first day of inservice that happened where they named us the the state champion and we're actually doing that competition starting again this week.
096We are it involves us submitting recordings and head-to-head competition again. And so we hope to take care of that uh and become a two-year state champion. Then we also we had the foundation of music education. It is a national competition and we were named a national commended winner in that. We were in the top 25%. Our school performances, you see all the things we do all year long and it's crazy. And that's just first semester. Y'all came to nearly everything. I've seen y'all at a lot of things. fall concert, all state auditions, all that kind of stuff. Um, the all state auditions is a three-step process for us, much like the band. Um, and we are going headtohead. We actually hosted our own camp here for the second time, and we've already put it out,
097uh, we have people coming for our third year, we host our own camp. One of the things that Mr. Lelet didn't tell you is because of all the new facilities that you have provided for us is that we all host events. that percussion uh region percussion concert that they had which was the first year we hosted it here in Marble Falls. We host the region small school, high school and middle school concert during the fall. We host that. John Clark hosts uh UILs for other competitions in one act uh other school levels and then he also hosts his own clinic. So we use our facilities. We maximize those and we thank y'all for doing all that. Uh we had our camp in our all state auditions. We had 31 make the region choir. You can
098read that. 24 pre- area, all that. We had six allstaters this year. That's 13 Allsters in two years. Uh and our goal is to have 10 Allsters next year. And I think I could name them off the top of my head right now. Uh we also had two first alternates. That's scary, but both of those were young kids. They didn't like they didn't like it, but you know, they're ready for next year uh in that. So all sters, it's a great thing. Uh, one of the smart things that John Clark did with me, among the many things that he did this year, because we had a crazy year and he knew it, we chose to do a smaller musical and we moved it at a different time during the year. We did Godfell Jr. with
099uh with our kids. Uh, and it was a fantastic opportunity to do a smaller show and we still ended up with nominations at the High Awards. Evan Puga performed last week. Was it last week? It's all blurry. Um, it was last week in Austin at the High Awards and we got to see him on stage and I'm just gonna say when they opened up and all those kids came out on stage and there were a lot of them across the region, you could pick out Evan Puga like that simply because of his energy and his presence on stage. It was amazing. So, we didn't win any of those categories, but we're competing against 37 other schools and we're the only small school that competes in that contest. Um, this was big for us. We were
100chosen as the number one school in in 4A, number one choir in 4A and in 5A. And there were only two schools ahead of us in 6A that were chosen to perform at the TMEA convention this year. It basically dictated our whole year. Out of that, TMEA also invited us or chose us to perform at TASA uh in January at the uh that's the Texas Association of Superintendent School Administrators. Um and so we performed there. where we performed at the capitol a couple times. We gave multiple concerts in January and February. Um, and that kept us very, very busy. Our performance in San Antonio in February, uh, there were over 3,000 people in attendance. Uh, and it went it went okay. I can say it was it was fine. It was really, really great. Um,
101and so, uh, that happened. Amongst all of that, we were in the middle of doing magical festival while we were doing TMEA. So, we went and competed in Dallas at the uh North Texas Magical Festival. Our elite men received superior. Chamber singers got a pod. It's called a performance of distinction. Some of those are kind of hard to realize what they are because you understand state championships, you understand winning. So, a pod in chamber singers, they basically do it like this. It's a Michelin star. So, we got a one with our men, but our chamber singers got a Michelin star. And so, there are so few of those that are given out during that contest. But then our women turned around and got third place, which we were the only small school in there. Again,
102we're competing against 5A and 6A. So, that is really amazing that they did as well as they did. Um, here we go. Obviously, you've already heard that we went to Europe. The Salsburg Cathedral was the only place that we were supposed to sing a full concert. Uh, that we had been guaranteed. The other places we were supposed to do informals, and once we started singing, they asked us to give our four full uh performance. And so we sang concert after concert after concert all over uh Europe. Uh it is correct that we sang a ton. Up there on the left you can see that was in Munich. Uh no that was in Vienna. That was St. Peters in Vienna. Uh the next one is the library in St. Florian's Abbey. That's just one of the
103walls. And so if you looked really close, you actually can see letters for the library. They mean nothing. There was actually letters even mentioned u missing. Uh they just put them up there because they thought it would be they should have letters because it was in library but it really had nothing to do with the organization of that. Uh on the far right that is the gazebo from the music the sound from the musical the sound of music. Uh there's actually a video out there of Heather Mezer dancing around it and singing and I'm sure I can get a hold of it if you need it. Okay. You have the video. Okay. The one on the bottom left, that is a boat we're fixing to get on in the salt mines. And that what is
104to the left is actually the water and it's uh it's projecting the image of the ceiling, not the uh not below it. And so that was really cool going into the salt mines and then we had the performance at St. uh at the cathedral in Salsburg and then our first one at St. Peters in uh Munich. And you can see in some of that we are bundled up because it was cold the whole time. UIL happened. All three of our choirs got superior ratings at UIL. It's the first time that every choir that we took got sweep stakes. We have had 10 straight years of varsity sweep stakes at UIL. And in the last 10 years, we have received 32 sweep stakes total. And so that is u a thing that we that we base
105our standards on. We're not finished. We have a concert on Wednesday. It's a recording concert as we get ready to do submissions. The TMEA thing that was the contest that Dr. Gasway had encouraged us to do that we had that we won. We are getting ready to uh compete in seven states now uh because we've made that we've made it past the first level which was TMEA and so it's called Slacka which is the Southwestern American Coral Directors Association and those submissions are due at the end of the month uh end of next month sorry uh and we'll be competing in that uh head-to-head with people again. It's also a non-class so it's everybody against everybody. Our spring pop show, the 21st, stage and screen. We're singing things from Leverne and Shirley and all that
106kind of stuff. You'd recognize some of that music. Our middle school choir is doing great. 250 kids enrolled. They were part of the small school honor choir that we uh hosted here. They had 21 kids make those choirs. And then they had two students this year make the TCDA all choir, which uh Zelum is one of those students. And so I think you all know him. And so we're excited. We appreciate all you do for us. Thank you. [Applause] Hello, I'm Christy Gilin and the starlet director. I'm gonna go short and sweet. Okay. Okay. All right. So, this is this year's team. Um we always start in the summer. We go to camp. This year we did something different where we hosted a camp here and I will never do that again. We um they
107just don't come. So, we're going away next year. We went to San Marcus and we're going to a hotel camp in June this year. So, we're starting earlier. We usually go in July. Um see the those um then we have football season. Just some cute little pictures from them. Um this year we only went to one competition because we did go to New York. Um so this competition we got best in contemporary and this is the first time we ever competed a modern piece. Um which is really different and if you went to the show you know you're like that's a weird routine but the girls did really well. Um, we got sweep stakes. Um, we got choreography awards, presentation awards, and entertainment judges awards. We got runner up in hiphop, which I don't think
108we should have gotten that, but anyway. Um, and then we got uh all our soloists got division one. And then we got to go to New York. Um, here's some pictures of New York. Um, we got to go um to the stage where the Rockets perform. I literally cried. I'm not kidding. They made fun of me because I walked on the stage and I cried. Um they were like, "Why are you crying?" Um and then we took a dinner cruise to see the Statue of Liberty. We went to the 911 um museum and did all you know the Brooklyn Bridge is right there. We got to take a picture with a rocket. So that was really cool. And Miss Mitten really liked that. She was our admin and she she's a dancer, too, if you
109didn't know that. So she was really excited. And then last weekend we finished our year. we had our annual spring show and um I'm really proud of that show of course probably because my daughter's a senior and she choreographed probably about 90% of that show. So that's and oh we have something for you. Hold on. [Applause] How do Uh my name is John Clark and I'm the head director at Marble Falls High School. This is Jordan Jones, my partner and I'm just gonna introduce him as he goes through these slides and then talks. No. Okay. Um I'm gonna burn through this y'all. Uh so um our year kind of starts off with our summer theater camp. We have a week-long summer camp and it has grown a lot. So last the year before we had
11030 and this last year we had 43 campers and we're hoping to keep it growing. So if you have any little ones, make sure you register them. You get a discount as a MFISD employee. Um and our our kids, our high school kids are they run it all. They do everything for us. We're just kind of there to provide guidance. Um and those little ones look up at our high school kids like their Broadway stars. So it's a pretty cool experience all the way around. Um we then went to our the International Thespian Festival. Um, it's a five-day theater intensive. Thank you guys for allowing us to attend that. Um, MFHS won the Thespie Award for their duet acting, one of three duets in the country, selected as a thes winner. So, um, getting accolades
111at Texas Thespian is awesome, but at nationals, you're up against the best in the nation. And so, for us to be selected one of three is pretty awesome. Um, we had 11 students attend. We got to see the best high school shows from across the country. Cali Coker and Elliot Rosbach were the the two that were selected for that honor. And then we did our sweet treats fundraiser and a almost main performance. Um we kind of shifted from a improv night to more of a show like a duet scene. And we think that really helped all of our kids because it allowed them to all of them to have like five to eight minutes on stage really rehearse their own thing for an audience. So um there's no substitute for a live performance. And then
112we went to Texas Thespian Festival. It's a three-day festival. Um this year we had 36 thespians. All students competed. we require them to because it's not just like a go to the gaylord and hang out. Um we want them working towards something. So this year we had 19 national qualifiers which is the most that we've had in a number of years. I think in 2011 or two we had 23. So we got pretty close there with a young group. And then Elliot and Cali with a different scene. They were named mainstage performers. So one of seven groups in the whole festival to be asked to perform um at closing ceremonies. This is the highest honor a thes competitor can achieve. And I believe this is our sixth um selection for mainstage in about that many
113years. So about half of the time that we go to to a festival, we're selected to perform at Mainstage. And that's getting it once is awesome. Getting it six times in the last few years is pretty pretty cool. Um 19 national qualifiers, Evan and Addison, all of these guys are in duet acting. Men and Elsa, Tyler and Santiago. Um, Nathan and Sophie, Cameron and Uven, Evelyn and Daly, and then Ella and Nina in Solo Musical, Hunter and Jay and Duet Musical, Elen in Scenic Design, and Anthony was an honor crew member. Our fall show was in the Blackbox. Uh, it was beautiful, really welldesigned. I give a lot of thanks to my partner Jordan Jones. Um, yeah, it was a cool experience in a really cool, intimate space. If you haven't ever been to a
114show in the Blackbox, you should definitely try it out. And we're actually building a JV show in there right now and that's going to happen at the end of May. I don't think I added that to this. And then Marble Falls High School's one act play Moby Dick rehearsed this year. So the first thing that I want to talk about is Elliot Rossbach. So he is now a four-time best performer. Um I think that the most uh best performer, best actor, actress accolades to ever for a student to ever get is two as a in a career at when I was here at Marvel Falls High School. got it twice my junior and senior year. Um, and last year we had two girls get it twice. So, we got it four times last year, but
115this year Elliot has gotten it at all four rounds of contest. And so, that's really, really incredible for him to be selected four times. Um, and he did it in one season. Um, we have made it to state five out of the last six years. Um, that means that we're in the top eight. And the state contest is May 19th. It's a Monday. I know it's a schoolboard meeting for you guys, but we just got our performance order. And going in the first session is not great. Going first, which we did a couple years ago, is really not good because there's been three state champions out of 255 in the last like 750 years or something. And so, we're going last. And eighth is a good spot for us to be in. Um, it's not
116the best spot, but it's definitely not the worst spot. And, um, we're feeling really good going into contest. Um this is our eighth straight regional appearance which means we're in the top 24 but again we're trending upward five out of the last six years. Um we've meddled before this year. We don't know how that's going to go but we've meddled two out of the last four um trips to the contest and our ninth straight playoff appearance. That other ninth playoff appearance was COVID. So we made it to the first round advanced and moved on. Um so now we are the district champion by district champion area champion region champion and we'll see about state. Um, I will say that, you know, we've had good success in the past, but we've never had we've never won
117every round of contests. And so for us to be here, we're we're feeling good about our chances. And I think that's it. Is that under three minutes? So, so I do tell them that they had three to five minutes, but that's really hard to do with these amazing programs and all that they do and all the activities and the accomplishments. So, um, thank you guys for trying and, uh, thank you guys for supporting them. Very good. Coach, you need a break or we push forward? You're good. Okay. All right. Let's see. Um item 9B, possible purchase of renewal of Imagine Learning Egenuity. Miss Slelet, good evening. Uh we are recommending the renewal of Imagine Learning Egenuity. I have a long paragraph written in here, but really we've used egeneuity for over six years. The quote,
118the price did not increase from previous years. Uh the quote itself is for $55,700. We're asking for an extra $3,000 to be built in in case we have kids move in who need a specialized course. An example of that would be a senior who moves in in January who's taken one and a half years of French. we don't want to start them off in another foreign language. So, we can purchase a semester course from egeneuity to do that last semester of French and they provide a teacher. So, we have that buffer. We only had to use that buffer last year uh this past year for one kid. Um so, it's just there just in case. We only use it if we need it. This is first read. And so, um we will recommend final approval
119at the May board of trustees meeting. Remember, egenuity is what we use to run all of our falls courses, all of our credit recovery at both falls and Marble Falls High School, as well as there are a lot of uh test preparation courses within there um in order for us to serve students in a variety of ways outside of the school day. Are there any Questions, comments? Anybody want to take this one tonight? motion by Mr. Bchers, second by Miss Tubig. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Possible purchase of renewal of NWA map. Yes sir. Marble Falls IST administration is recommending the renewal of NWA map growth for the following subjects and grades. So for reading kindergarten through English 4. For math kindergarten through grade 8 with algebra 1
120geometry and algebra 2. Science grades six through eight and biology. and science for fifth grade only if needed where a teacher would only be teaching uh fifth grade uh science or science and social studies. A teacher would not have another comparable teacher incentive aotment area. NWA MAP will continue to serve as the district's required universal screener and as the state approved teacher incentive aotment reliable and valid measure for student growth metrics that we give at the beginning, middle and end of the year. It would continue to be served in conjunction with CBAs for the seamless assessment process for the 2526 school year. At this time, the purchase would be funded from the instructional materials allotment. However, the legislature is meeting and so if circumstances change and the instructional materials aotment cannot be used, then we
121would use local funds. Uh the total amount of the purchase is not to exceed 55,000 that is a slight buffer. The quote attached is for $50,790. I don't expect us to come right up to 55, but if we were to have any fifth grade scienceonly teachers, we would need to purchase licenses for their kids. This is first read and we're going to recommend final approval at the May board of trustees meeting. Questions, comments? Anybody want to take this one tonight? That's what I was going to say. I just looked at Bill just to make sure he he fig you know he uh I was so blessed to go to a conference with Bill last week. He's a mastermind on school finance and so if he can't if something ends up not being allowable, he can
122switch it around for something else. So I'll make a motion to approve the purchase of the renewal of NWA map out of the instructional materials department for an amount not to exceed5,000. Motion by Mr. Pac. Second. Second by Mr. Verell. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Very good. Yes, sir. It gets to consider possible approval action for the consent agenda. We've got minutes from March 24th meeting. We've got recommendation for fentanyl abuse prevention and drug poisoning awareness. Staff development waiver for uh 2025 2026 school year and extension of the depository contract. Anybody have any of those that they want to pull off or motion do the minutes separately? Okay. Sure. Uh we can pull minutes separately and let's do that one first. Anybody uh like to make a
123motion for the minutes for March 24th. Motion by Mr. Bers. Second. Second by Mr. Verell. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? One abstension. Mr. Bason. Motion carries. All right. That's leaves uh items A, two, three, and four for a consent agenda. Anybody want to make a motion for that? Motion by Mr. Boschers, second by Mr. Burkeman. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. All right. Item 10B is certification of provision of instructional materials. Dr. Fields. Yes. We talked about this, but I didn't know exactly which selection we were going to be making for social studies. Just to confirm, we are going to be staying with the same resources that we already have for social studies. We have quite an investment with those. So, we'll just
124be continuing those, but we wanted to make sure that that's what teachers wanted to do. So, um we would like to ask that you certify for each subject in the required curriculum that students have access to instructional materials that cover all of the TEICSS. Um by certifying that and there's a signature page that Miss Schaefer will have for you that gives us access to the instructional materials a lotment so that we can move forward. So we have to do that yearly so that we can access those funds. Questions, comments, motions on that one. I'll make a motion that we um certify uh each subject in the required curriculum that students have access to instructional materials that cover all the TESS. Motion by Mr. Verdell, second by Miss Tubig. Any discussion? All in favor say I.
125I I Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Okay, we've got upcoming meetings and board training opportunities. Wednesday, May 14th is a special called meeting at 8:30 a.m. That one's early. Uh that then we have the May 19th, Monday regular meeting at 6 PM and SLI is June 11th and 14 through the 14th. that we have a Monday, June 16th special board meeting at 5 and then a regular meeting also on Monday, June 16th at normal time. Anything to add to that questions? Just a reminder that the 5:00 special call meeting will be a chance for us to reflect on lessons learned that uh from SLI and so that will give us an hour to debrief SLI before we get into the regular agenda. All right. Anything else? Anybody? Okay, that gets us to executive session
126for discussion of professional personnel under Texas government code 551.074, including the renewal and extension of teachers contracts and then consideration and possible action regarding superintendent recommendation to terminate a probationary contract at the end of the contract term of Marble Falls High School classroom teacher. Uh, we will stand adjourned into executive session at 7:49 We're back in open session at 8:25 p.m. Discussion. Possible approval of action arising from executive session. We've got possible approval of professional personnel including renewal and extension of teachers contracts. Uh let's see. I didn't bring my paper. Yeah. Will you or just make a Administrative recommendation that the board all board members approve personnel list number one as presented in close session. So moved. Motion by Mr. Verell. Second. Second by Mr. Boschers. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Any
127opposed? Motion carries. Administration makes the recommendation to approve uh almost all board members to approve personnel list number two uh as presented in close session. Motion by Miss Tubig. Second. We'll give that one to Mr. Pac. Uh any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? One abstension, Mr. Burkeman. Motion carries. Administration recommends almost all board members approve personnel list number three as presented in close session. So move motion by Mr. Pac, second by Miss McCary. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? One extension. Mr. Verell. Motion carries. Administration makes the recommend recommendation. All board members can vote uh to approve personnel list number four as presented in close session. So move motion by Mr. Verell, second by Miss Tubig. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion
128carries. Very good. Item 13 A2 is possible action regarding superintendent's recommendation to terminate the probationary contract at the end of the contract term of Marble Falls High School classroom teacher Mr. Whittle. Administrative recommendation is that we move that the board of trustees terminate the probationary contract of Victoria Ryback at the end of the contract term in the best interests of the district and direct the superintendent to provide notice of this action to the employee in accordance with state law. Administrative recommendation. So moved. Motion by Mr. Verell. Second. Second by Mr. Pac. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? Abstension. One abstension. Mr. Bers. Motion carries. All right. That gets us to uh no further action items. So, we will just stand adjourned at 8:28