From the Desk of Mike Gilbert:

The second semester is in full swing. The high school started the new year with some new policies that we feel will make the school day more efficient and safe. All teachers are now wearing ID Badges and any visitor to the campus must sign-in and wear a badge while in the building. Students that drive to school are parking in assigned spaces, and the traffic at the end of the day flows much better. The guidelines for visitors to the high school, published in last month's letter, are now in place. Our students and staff have received the changes very well, and the new semester is off to a great start.

Spring is a busy time at the high school. We are in the middle of basketball for boys and girls, all spring sports are about to start, and UIL Academic meets are getting underway. Statewide assessment (TAKS) will be February 22 and April 20 - 22. We will be giving Advanced Placement tests in early May. You can find information about athletic schedules and results through the link on the High School Web page. We will be on an alternate schedule at the high school for several weeks during the spring to allow our students to prepare and review for TAKS testing. This review schedule will allow all students to look at their past test results and practice for the upcoming test. The dates and times for the classes are as follows:

This schedule can be used for the review of all students. We can make some guidelines to exempt certain students based on past TAKS performance.

All seniors who have met the standard are exempt and will come to school at 8:40 on review days.

Current year grade 11 can be exempt if they were commended in the subject being taught that day. These students will come to school at 8:40 on the days they are exempt.

Tentative review schedule:

For Eng/LA TAKS Test February 22
Review Schedule M – F, February 7 through February 21.
Students out of school on February 14 and 18.
For Math and Science Test Dates – April 17 – 22
April 18th and 19th for testing strategy reminders.

Go Panthers!

Mike Gilbert, Principal

There is a Panther in the varsity boy's dressing room, black hair, big teeth, the whole nine yards. All five feet of him is intensely dribbling a basketball. Junior Slade Williams was responsible for working out all the details and seeing that the Panther was painted and completed in a timely manner.

Coach Keith Taylor had asked Mr. Dunn if an art student would be willing to paint a Panther in the varsity locker room, and Slade volunteered. Williams used acrylic latex paint, which is important for this picture, because it works best with cinder block media. He started on the wall during mid-November.

"I wanted to do this because I would have done a project in this school that would last for several years," Williams said. "I'm trying my best that is why it is taking some time to finish."

Dunn has been a big encouragement for Williams. He tries to impress his teacher with his best work. Although he is getting a grade for his locker room art, he is still perfecting and fine tuning the artwork.

Williams has entered seven contests, and has won awards in five of them. His favorite type of art is computer-generated art. He has also been in art since sixth grade.

Slade likes art because it's easy, but he knows how much patience it takes, and he puts his best into it. He also has a lot of talent, and he puts everything into all into all his artwork. To him art comes easy, but it helps a lot when he likes the teacher, and when he has so many admirers.

True insight into the life of an American soldier in Iraq might best be gained through reading his own words taken from correspondence home. The following paragraphs are excerpts from e-mail letters to family and friends from Clinton Alexander, a 1992 Spring Hill graduate, who is now a captain for the U.S. Army in Baghdad, Iraq.

April 5, 2004. "The whole day, you could tell a storm was brewing. Kids were mostly off the street, shops were closed, and most of the Iraqis on our camp didn't come to work. It's kind of like the old west, folks know when to stay off the street. Our tanks were surrounded by a mob, and kids were throwing rocks. The crowd dispersed, and the first RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) was fired at our tanks. For the next five hours, groups of two to three men attacked our tanks with rifles and RPGs. Three cars charged the tanks (probably packed with explosives), and three cars were destroyed. Later in the night, insurgents on rooftops began dropping grenades on the tanks. But by 1AM, either the bad guys were all dead, or got tired and gave up. Most of all it was great that we had zero casualties that night."

April 14, 2004. "Basically, now that the fighting has died down, I have gotten myself into a pretty good routine. It is a splendid life, only interrupted by the occasional attack. All and all, I feel pretty safe here. If you drive fast and look like your ready to fight, with guns out, you won't get messed with. If you drive slow, and look like a soft target (a big fuel truck for example), you will get attacked. Nightly, we get attacked by some form or mortar, or idiot trying to shoot an RPG over the wall. Mostly though, the Iraqi's are bad shots, so I'm really not worried."

April 22, 2004. "Yesterday I went on a patrol with our Psychological Operations (PSYOP) team to two of our neighborhoods we cover. All the boys ran up to us, yelling and waving. You would have thought the parade was in town. When we left, we tossed the kids a bunch of propaganda stickers that say "Go Iraq" and other slogans. They loved it. Finally, we went to meet one of the Ministers of the Interior, but he wasn't in. Next to his office, some folks came out and asked us in. We went in, and these men owned a contracting firm. They laid down a great argument for the coalition, and spoke nothing but praises for the U.S., and they were so grateful. All they kept talking about was liberty, freedom, and responsibility. It was very moving."

May 6, 2004. "While on patrol, my favorite part of the whole country is the kids. They are so happy to see us. They run after us yelling 'mister, mister, chokolat, chokolat!' This means they want candy. They also love having their picture taken. Let's hope they still love us when they grow up. Many of the teens are not as loveable, but they do want to come talk to you and find out about America."

May 15, 2004. "In case you didn't know, soccer is big here. Iraq beat Saudi Arabia the other night. There was a lot of celebratory fire in the air. The practice is, whenever something good happens, you take your AK-47, go outside and shoot off a bunch of rounds in the air. It was crazy, and sounded like a small war. A few bullets hit our building, so it was safest to stay inside that night. Rumor is when Saddam was captured there was so much celebratory fire that over 100 locals were killed from bullets falling back to earth."

June 5, 2004. "As things are going so well for us, and other reasons, we have been given a new zone to cover. It is part urban and part rural. The rural folks are very poor and struggling farmers. The urban folks don't seem as friendly yet. We'll get them turned around. The kids throw rocks, so we throw candy back. We've passed out some humanitarian aid bags, and hopefully can address some of their concerns (mostly sewer, electricity, and trash). We'll see what happens."

August 25, 2004. "Our troops have been battling in Sadr City, and it has been hard fighting. We lost of couple of tanks to mines or IEDs, and a couple of Humvees to IEDs. Additionally, there has been an increase in mortar attacks on our camps. We have been hit at least three times in the 48 hours I have been back. Hopefully it dies down soon, and we return to more peaceful operations. One of the big problems with all the fighting is that many of the projects we have begun to improve infrastructure are on hold, because the civilian workers clearly don't want to work when the bullets are flying. In closing, one bright spot for us is that during all this fighting, and with over 2000 patrols conducted in Baghdad, we have not lost a soldier to enemy fire or accidents."

September 2004. (Clinton asked Spring Hill to participate in collecting soccer balls for Iraqi children.) "Hopefully a kid won't pick up an AK or an RPG once he's old enough, because he remembers getting a ball from a nice soldier," Alexander said. "Normally it is on patrol when we pass them out, and we just toss it to the kids as we drive by. The kids are shocked and take off running after us waving and cheering when we do. The people are really grateful, and it makes us feel really good to see projects occurring, instead of always fighting." (Spring Hill collected roughly 150 soccer balls for the cause.)

December 5, 2004. "Thanksgiving was really awesome. At noon we had a mass formation and a traditional Thanksgiving prayer and message from our commander, and then the mess hall opened for serving. Next, we had the finals of our flag football tournament. I ate after the game, and we had turkey, ham, prime rib, shrimp cocktail, all the sides, pecan/pumpkin/tater pie, and egg nog. It was delicious, and I ate until I felt sick. It was a great day. We also had a lot to be thankful for. I was really thankful that I'm still alive and kickin', have all my parts and pieces still attached, that I have a great group of friends and family back home, and that I'm from a country that is so blessed."

January 3, 2005. "Most of what I have to tell is about Christmas. Christmas was a very busy time this year. There was not as much of the festivities as we had at Thanksgiving, mainly because of two things. First there were several threats to the Christian churches in our area, and secondly, the bombing in Mosul had us at an increased force protection posture. However, there was still quite a bit of fun for all. The chapel hosted the 12 nights of Christmas movies, and showed a different Christmas movie every night, as well as numerous religious services. In the afternoon, the mess hall had the traditional Christmas meal, and it was as good as Thanksgiving. Finally, after the day was done, and I was extremely tired, I opened all my care packages and presents. That was really special, and made me feel good after a long hard day. There has been little enemy contact, and we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, for our eventual return in March. "

This final quote sums up the closing sentiment in most of Clinton's e-mail letters to friends and family. "Thats all for now. I hope all of you are well, and thanks again for the thoughts, prayers, letters, e-mails, packages, and all the things that keep our spirits lifted. "

Band Earns Honors
submitted by Mike Barnes

The High School Band had another successful and event-filled fall. The band earned 1st Division Ratings from all three judges at UIL Marching Contest for the fourth consecutive year. The Twirlers earned nine 1st Division Solo and Ensemble medals. The Twirlers and Flags both won Outstanding 3A Novelty Routine at the Vicki Bowden Mobbs Classic. The High School Band had 18 students make the All-Region Band and 6 Area Qualifiers. Additionally, the Band performed at 12 Football games, the Veterans Ceremony, Senior Citizens Luncheon and a Christmas Concert.

On February 3rd the Band will have an Ensemble Recital in the High School Cafeteria. Dessert and Coffee will be provided. On February 4th the band will participate in the Regional Solo & Ensemble Contest at Sabine. The Band will be traveling to Disney World in March for a performance at Magic Kingdom.

Congratulations to the following band students for making the Texas All-State Band. They will attend the Texas Music Educators Association Convention in San Antonio from February 9-12. They will perform a concert with the best high school musicians from across the state.

Megan Shafer - 3rd Chair on Clarinet
Jordan Stith - 1st Chair on Bass Clarinet
Max McRuiz - 1st Chair on Snare Drum
Keith Zuech - Tied for 1st Chair on Timpani

submitted by DeeAnn Coker

The apparel class concluded the semester by completing a memory "quillow" as a final project. Each student designed 12 original squares using old t-shirts, scraps from prior projects, transfers of computer images and digital photography. The squares were then assembled into a one-of-a-kind blanket that folded up neatly into a built-in pocket that formed a pillow. Guys and girls alike were tremendously proud to show off their projects. They all agreed that it was a great way to "wrap up" the semester.

Laws of Life Essay
submitted by Nancy Green

Each year the Longview News-Journal sponsors the Laws of Life essay contest. Eighteen area schools participated, and each district provided five entries. Miss Green sent essay selections from her AP English class. Andrea Jones, Erin Magerl, Katie McCrary, Jessica Reifschneider, and Lindsey Skinner represented Spring Hill in the contest. An awards banquet was held on January 13 at Pinecrest Country Club, and Andrea Jones and Lindsey Skinner were recognized as first and second place winners from Spring Hill, respectively. Each student received a certificate of participation, and the winners also received a monetary award in the amount of $100 for second place and $200 for first place.


Spring Hill Students Place at Pine Tree UIL Academic Meet
submitted by Pat Gatons

On Saturday, January 8th, Spring Hill students competed in the annual University Interscholastic League academic practice meet held at Pine Tree High School. Twenty-five schools competed in the 1A, 2A, and 3A division, and individual medals were presented to the top six finishers in each event.

In the math-science competition, the division was further broken down into grade-level contests. Winners of individual awards for Spring Hill were:

Brian Bass—2nd in number sense, 6th in calculator, 1st in math, and 1st in science
Zach Barnhart—1st in number sense, 2nd in calculator, 2nd in math, and 2nd in science
Geoffrey Albanese—5th in number sense, 6th in calculator, and 2nd in science
Caleb Engelke—6th in number sense

In the at-large competition, Spring Hill winners included:

Lizzie Baker—6th in current issues & events and 4th in social studies
Brittany Callas—5th in accounting
Hayden Henry—4th in headline writing
Ashley Herrin—4th in feature writing
Lela Coker—6th in news writing
Tawny Offett—4th in spelling and vocabulary
Brandon Sepulvado—6th in spelling and vocabulary

In addition, the current issues and events team finished 2nd, the spelling and vocabulary team was 2nd, and the math-science team was 3rd.

On January 22nd, the math-science team will compete in the Kilgore College Meet, and on February 12th, Spring Hill students will compete in the White Oak Invitational Meet. On January 29th, Journalism students will participate in the Lindale Invitational Meet.


YBA - Taxes & Job Shadowing
submitted by Fran Scott

The Young Business Associates, club of the Diversified Career Preparation work program, will be offering free income tax preparation with electronic filing at school for any student who worked in 2004. Students will introduce the service project to all first block classes in January and give a handout for students to take home. Tax information, W-2 and 1099 INT/DIV, will be taken up the first week of February. Tax returns will be completed and filed the second week of February. The YBA is an official IRS VITA volunteer site, and the group is trained by an IRS representative. With electronic filing and direct deposit to a student's checking or savings account, refunds should be received in approximately 10 days. Students can save the $35-100 companies charge for completing these tax returns by allowing the YBA to complete their taxes for free.

Diversified Career Preparation students will be job shadowing in February with a business mentor in their chosen career field they plan on pursuing after graduation. They shadow thier mentors from half a day to a full work shift at the work site. Shadowing provides the opportunity to experience the job first hand at the actual work environment, ask questions, and make contact with professionals in the field they can call upon in the future.

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