From the Desk of the Principal:

This year is really going well. Our students and teachers are doing a great job in the classroom!! Every day I see a great deal of teaching and learning in our school, and I’m very proud of that.   Report cards will be coming out October 21st.  The first nine weeks ended October 16th.  Be sure to ask your student about the report card.

For your information, we are continuing to use the calling system we used last year. This calling system allows us to inform you of activities, as well as, pertinent information such as when progress reports are sent home. If you are not sure we have your correct phone number please call us and check. If you did not receive a call last Wednesday, you were either not home, the answering machine did not pick up, or we have a wrong number. Please let us know if you feel you did not get a call.

Our football team started District last Friday with a great win over Chapel Hill! The volleyball team has a perfect record so far in district play. Finally, our band will be participating in the UIL Marching Contest October 20th in Mt. Pleasant. We want to wish them well.

Bobby Watkins
“EXPECT TO BE EXEMPLARY”

Busy Fall for Student Council
submitted by Haley Allen

Student Council has been busy in September and October. They were involved with events such as the Education Foundation Dinner, Fall Forum at Liberty Eylau High School, Food Box contributions, AM Bucks Mud Volleyball Tournament, babysitting for PTA, morning announcements, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Volunteering for Debate and Volleyball tournaments at the high school, selling football programs, spirit weeks like twin day, recycling paper, and contributing to Hope’s closet. The Student Council served at the Education Foundation dinner. They were there when Mrs. Gillentine won her new Altima.

They also contributed to Food Box with canned foods they gathered at their meeting. Another event that StuCo participated in was a donation drive to Hope's Closet. Donations are still pouring in from the Spring Hill community. The final count on pounds of donations is growing.

Fall Forum was fun and exciting for Student Council as they learned how to become leaders of good character. Many Student Councils from other schools attended the event, and students were split into groups of students from other schools. They had a scavenger hunt together, and worked to win even though they didn’t know each other. They also participated in fun relays, but there was more to it than just games. All of the schools voted on a district project to build wells in Africa for the people with the difficulty of finding clean water.  A motivational speaker was invited to speak at the Forum and did a fabulous job reaching the students and teaching leadership skills.

The student council enjoyed getting muddy at the mud volleyball tournament that raised money for AMBUCS. Staying involved with volleyball, they volunteered to work two high school/junior high volleyball tournaments during October. The debate tournament that they worked at the high school was also fun.

The student council's most exciting project to date was the fun and fabulous fund raiser for our beloved Nancy Green, who is fighting breast cancer. Through the sale of "GREEN" shirts with her name on them, teachers paying to wear jeans, students paying to wear shorts, and donations they were able to raise $2300.00 in less than a week, and donations continue to come in. All Spring Hill campuses participated in the fundraiser. On Wednesday, October, 14, at 7:30 am students and faculty from all campuses surprised Ms. Green in the high school library in our shirts and presented her with her check. Local newspaper and television stations were present. The tears flowed. It was a priceless moment for all involved. Ms. Green seems truly touched and appreciative. We continue to pray for strength and healing for Ms. Green.

Another exciting project that Student Council is working on is a paper recycling program at the high school. Stucco has partnered with PTA to gather paper to be recycled at East Texas Shredding. Colleen Helton gathers paper daily from classrooms and combines it in large receptacles. Then Kyle Akin and Logan Wallis drive the paper to the shredding company where it is shredded and recycled. There is currently no recycle company that will come to schools in East Texas, so StuCo is thankful that East Texas Shredding is working with them on this project.

The Student Council continues to work hard in helping with the community and inside the school. Upcoming events include Red Ribbon Week, and the traditional Fall Festival.




JV Volleyball
submitted by Chelsea Comfort

The Junior Varsity volleyball team is on a roll so far this season.  The Lady Panthers have a combined record of 21-3, a district record of 4-2, and have taken 1st place in all three of their tournaments.

The first tournament the team participated in was the Hallsville Tournament.  The girls defeated Kilgore 25-9, 25-10 to move on to Hallsville. The team defeated Hallsville 25-14, 25-20 to win the tournament.

Next was the Spring Hill tournament. In the Spring Hill tournament the team defeated Arp 25-15, 25-11, defeated Henderson 25-18, 20-25, 25-18, then in the championship they defeated Lindale 25-18, 25-16.

The last tournament the team participated in was West Rusk.  The first game they defeated Overton 25-15, 25-15, defeated Troup 25-19, 25-16, then in the championship defeated Timpson 25-12, 25-6.

In district play:

It's YBA Sweatshirt Time!
submitted by Holly Whittington

It’s that time again! The YBA is selling its annual sweatshirts and are also offering sweatpants so you can make it a full outfit. We have a variety of options to choose from such as: crews, hoodies, and zip-ups. Also there are two different options of sweatshirts: Traditional and Contemporary. Prices range from $15 to $25, and order forms are available at each campus office. Deadline for purchase is November 4th so don’t miss out!

Twirler & Flag Lessons
submitted by Karen Hagler

WHO: Girls of all ages
K - 12th grade - Twirling
5th - 12th grade - Flag

WHAT: Twirling/Flag Lessons, Private or Group
Will offer:
*required fundamentals for twirling & flag
*marching fundamentals
*routine(s) with music & notes
*preparation for invitational competition
*Twirler/Flag/Drum Major Tryouts

WHEN: Beginning Tuesday October 6, 2009 - Tuesday April 27, 2010.
We will go by the Spring Hill School Calendar for Holidays.
Lessons will be 45 minutes. Cost is $15.00 per lesson.
Times for Twirler / Flag Lessons:
*3:45 - 4:30    *4:30 - 5:15    *5:15 - 6:00    *6:00 - 6:45    *6:45 - 7:30

WHERE: Spring Hill High School Band Hall

Any Questions:  Please Call 903-738-4803 Jo Karen Hagler




Freshman Volleyball
submitted by Holly Ford

The freshman volleyball team is currently 4-2 in district.  They have defeated Tatum twice as well as Gladewater and Chapel Hill.

This team also won consolation in the Pine Tree Tournament and second place in the Spring Hill Tournament.  According to Coach Holly Ford, "These girls are definitely improving.  We had a much more offensive game this past Tuesday against Tatum."

Team members are:  Priscilla Bogue, Hailey Buckelew, Dani Deckerd, Haleigh Driver, Brianne Jones, Emily King, Jasmin Kullenberg, Casey Rice, Laney Self, Mikayla Soliz and Lisa White.  Courtney Dozier is the team manager.




Band Marching Competition - October 20
submitted by Karen Hagler

The Spring Hill Band will perform Tuesday, October 20 for AAA - AAAA High School Bands UIL Marching Competition at Sam Parker Field at Mt. Pleasant High School. Performance time is 11:15, and we ask that you come out to support us. We also have a performance on October 31, at Stephen F. Austin University for National Association of Military Marching Bands. Performance times will be announced at a later date.




Physics Egg Drop
submitted by Allison Gillentine

Students in Mrs. Gillentine’s honors Physics dropped their completed egg drop projects on September 30th and October 1st first nine weeks.  The project required students to create an apparatus that would allow a raw egg to survive two 25 foot drops from the top of the high school stadium.  Student’s projects had to weigh less than 500 grams with the raw egg inside, and be no larger than a 4 X 4 X 4 inch cube.  After completing their drops students found the velocity of their apparatus in free fall.