MISD’s Youngest District Spelling Bee Champ Reclaims Title

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It was a familiar feeling for 13-year-old Kailey Choi to be on stage holding the district spelling bee plaque.

The eighth-grader from T.A. Howard Middle School made her debut at the Mansfield ISD District Spelling Bee when she was in third grade and became MISD’s youngest champion.

In the following years, Choi qualified for the competition but fell short of the first place title. That is, until this year’s contest, which is the last year she will be able to participate in the event.

“It’s like a legacy,” she said. “I won first, and I won last.”

Choi competed with campus winners from MISD’s elementary, intermediate and middle schools to earn the district title. She won in the ninth round with the word “infrastructure.”

Choi's father and principal came to support her.

“When I heard the word, I freaked out; but then I calmed myself down and said it letter by letter,” Choi explained.

Organizers of the Feb. 9 event, sponsored by the Mansfield Sunshine Rotary Club, said they have been preparing for it since September. It takes work to coordinate each campus bee and the district competition, but they said the end result is satisfying.

“My favorite part of the spelling bee is seeing those kids on stage with their eager faces and all of their study skills and habits coming into fruition,” said Kristi Gonzales, MISD coordinator of elementary language arts.

Gonzales added that spelling bees help students with communication skills and self-confidence.

Choi will be going off to high school next year and will not be eligible to compete, but she gave her advice for those wanting to earn the next district title.

“What you have to do is strive for it, study and be calm.”

The spelling bee champ will now prepare for the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee on March 1 at Texas Christian University. When she appeared at the event five years ago, she lasted 14 rounds.

MISD Spelling Bee Campus Winners

School	Student
Alice Ponder Elementary	Dinh Luong
Anna May Daulton Elementary	Prince Olowookere
Annette Perry Elementary	Riley Myrow
Asa Low Intermediate	Samantha Malone
Brooks Wester Middle School	Emmanuel Allison
Carol Holt Elementary	Emily Trinh
Charlotte Anderson Elementary	Daniel Ogiozee
Cora Spencer Elementary	Kaleb Giggins
Cross Timbers Intermediate	Tiffany Lam (district runner-up)
D. P. Morris Elementary	Amina Allen
Danny Jones Middle School	Zoe Leddy
Della Icenhower Intermediate	Ayush Shah
Donna Shepard Intermediate	Jaxson Latimer
Elizabeth Smith Elementary	Caden Overby
Erma Nash Elementary	Joseph Oehlke
Glenn Harmon Elementary	Omar Akkad
Imogene Gideon Elementary	Adebola Adeshola
J. L. Boren Elementary	Mariam Dohadwala
James Coble Middle School	Yvaine Penaranda
Janet Brockett Elementary	Marli Field
Judy Miller Elementary	Zain Durrani
Kenneth Davis Elementary	Josiah Smith
Linda Jobe Middle School	Ruth Oyerokun
Louise Cabaniss Elementary	Lucy Duku
Martha Reid Elementary	Angel Brefro
Mary Jo Sheppard Elementary	Marcus Jones
Mary Lillard Intermediate	Collin Overby
Mary Orr Intermediate	Noah Gakuba
Nancy Neal Elementary	Kamryn Ross
Roberta Tipps Elementary	Ryu Cheng
Rogene Worley Middle School	Tojumi Olayiwole
T. A. Howard Middle School	Kailey Choi  (district winner)
Tarver-Rendon Elementary	Joshua Oyerokun
Thelma Jones Elementary	Hailey Alajandre
Willie Brown Elementary	Tej Marimuthu

 

All-Male Middle School Classes Seeing Early Success

Editor's Note: Men of Tomorrow (MOT) launched in 2011 at Legacy High School, under the leadership of Ashley Brown, as an all-male English class with the focus of growing successful men inside and outside of the classroom setting. The story below depicts how staff at a middle school started its own chapter of MOT and expanded it to fit their needs.

When administration at a Mansfield ISD middle school noticed a gap in male and female performance on test scores, they implemented a unique learning experience in hopes of increasing performance.

New this school year, T.A. Howard Middle School launched a program called Men of Tomorrow. It’s an opportunity for male students to receive all of their core content instruction in an all-male setting.

Ninety-seven boys are currently enrolled. Seven male teachers, including one for special education, are designated to the program.

Staff say before they started, they created a committee and sent out a community survey, which included input from students, to determine how to improve the learning experience for males.

Seven male teachers are part of the Men of Tomorrow program.

“We did this to meet the specific learning needs,” said assistant principal Brad Schilder. “We identified three research-based best practices that coincide with their desires and how they wanted to learn.”

The key for engagement, he said, is the use of visual aids, movement within the classroom setting and a need for competition.

Although their core classes are all-male classes taught by male teachers, the students still have the opportunity to partake in other extracurricular activities.

“I like Men of Tomorrow because I feel like I get more work done, and the teachers understand me,” said Sebastian Haros, a seventh-grader. ”Having a male mentor is important.”

The program is in its first year, but results are already being made.

“We have seen a reduction in disciplinary issues. We have also seen an increase in academic achievement,” Schilder explained.

Schilder said it’s still too early to know where Men of Tomorrow will go in the future, but the program has the potential to expand pretty quickly.

For more information about T.A. Howard's Men of Tomorrow program, visit the school's website.

MISD Teacher Shares His Battle with Leukemia

Ray Riley said he chooses to see the positive in life.

Cancer is not an easy topic to discuss for some, but for one T.A. Howard Middle School teacher, he hopes his story can encourage others.

“I can’t help someone else holding on to my testimony,” said Ray Riley.

The eighth grade English teacher vividly remembers the details surrounding the time he first discovered he had cancer. It was the first week of October 2015. He was at his home and felt a sharp throbbing pain in his arm. No medication eased the discomfort, but it eventually went away.

On October 16, Riley felt the same excruciating pain. This time, it was in his right arm. He went to work anyways, but the school nurse told him that he had high blood pressure and needed to seek medical attention immediately.

After some tests, a doctor told him that his white blood cell count was high. He was then diagnosed with leukemia, although he showed no obvious symptoms. Riley was in disbelief. This was not the news he was wanting to hear as a soon-to-be father.

“I cried for a little bit, but you have to move on,” Riley recalled. “Life is not the way you always plan it. When things don’t go your way, you have to adjust.”

Riley has to take a chemotherapy pill for the rest of his life, but said he is blessed to have caught the leukemia in its early treatable stages. Now, Mansfield ISD’s Colors for Caring Days have a whole new meaning for him.

“I see the students and staff here at Howard wear orange to support me with my leukemia, and it means a lot,” he said. “You never know what anyone else is going through, and it really hits home when it happens to you.”

Through it all, Riley has kept his fighting spirit and has a message for others who might be in the same situation.

“Stay positive and don’t give up,” Riley continued. “Don’t have a pity party because you’re allowing the disease to win.”

MISD Basketball Team Looks to Continue Two-Year Undefeated Streak

Coach Alex Howard holding a trophy with his 2014-15 team
after being named tournament champions.

T.A. Howard Middle School basketball coach Alex Howard has been coaching for 20 years; but when he first came to Mansfield ISD three years ago, he said he knew there was something special about the group of boys who would later make up his eighth grade team.

“Those guys were really good and competitive,” said Howard. “They had natural talent, but they also had a relentless work ethic. They were always willing to get better, and you don’t see that all the time. Everyone who saw them play noticed it too.”

The team went undefeated as seventh graders in the 2013-14 school year, and continued to be unstoppable as eighth graders the following year. The boys dominated in all in-district games, out-of-district games, and tournaments. Howard said his eighth graders never shied away from tough teams all over the metroplex.

“Parents, referees, workers—people from everywhere we played would always stop and ask how I was able to get all of those highly skilled players on one team,” Howard continued. “It was a sight to see, and all of them were MISD-bred.”

Eighth graders Timi Efunboade and Jaedaun Slack after
a day of drills in basketball class.

With that type of notoriety, there’s a lot of pressure on T.A. Howard’s new eighth grade basketball team to carry on the tradition this season, but Jaedaun Slack says he’s up for the challenge.

“I want to keep it going,” said Slack, who looked up to the undefeated team as a seventh grader. “It’ll take hard work and teamwork, but I think we can do it.”

Timi Efunboade, who is also ready for a flawless season, said he thinks the 2015-16 team can do it again if they learn to cooperate on and off the court.

“On the court, last year’s team played every game with all their hearts like it was their last. Off the court, they were really good friends. I want to do an even better job of that this year,” said Efunboade.

The Howard Knights will get a chance to carry on that legacy in the coming weeks. Tryouts are Nov. 9-11, and the first game is Nov. 19.