Wednesday (Sept 25) was See You At The Pole at GCSD. This is an annual event where students and staff meet around the flag pole for a time of prayer and reflection. See You at the Pole (SYATP) is a nationally organized annual gathering of Christian students of all ages for prayer, scripture-reading and hymn-singing, during the early morning before school starts. We are fortunate to be able to do things like this in Guthrie.

First grader Daylee wrote a story and drew a picture about her experience at See you At The Pole.

Guthrie Juniors, Kylor Gilbreath and Kiwi Vasquez, have received news from Kenya that the first two laptops have arrived safely. Kylor and Kiwi are in the GHS Computer Maintenance class and have been learning to repair laptops. The laptops they refurbish are sent to be used in two schools in Kenya. Form more information about this unique program, CLICK HERE 

Kylor and Kiwi received a photo from Nairobi, Kenya with two students holding the laptops that were sent.

Due to the weather, the Homecoming Bonfire and Activities have been cancelled for Thursday afternoon/evening. We'll be in touch again when we have them rescheduled. 

The schedule for Friday's Homecoming activities has not changed. The Homecoming pep rally will be Friday (Sept. 28) at 3:10 in the old gym. The Little Jags take on Woodson JH at 5:30pm and the Jags kick off against the Woodson Cowboys at 7:30pm. Homecoming Queen activities will take place at 7:00pm. Hope to see you there.

Texas Commissioner of Education Michael L. Williams invited Guthrie and 22 other school districts to participate in the Texas High Performance Schools Consortium. The Consortium will help develop innovative, next-generation learning standards, assessments and accountability systems. “The school districts selected to participate in the consortium are already known for their innovative work and are looked to by many as educational leaders. This exciting project will help the Governor, legislative leaders and the Texas Education Agency craft a sound, well-thought out plan to move all Texas schools to the next performance level,” Williams said.

The consortium will make recommendations in four key areas:

1. Digital learning - Engagement of students in digital learning, including the use of electronic textbooks and instructional materials and courses offered through the Texas Virtual School Network;

2. Learning standards - Standards that a student must master to be successful in a competitive postsecondary environment;

3. Multiple assessments - Various methods of measuring student progress to keep students, parents and schools informed, and the actions consortium participants are taking to improve learning; and

4. Local control - Ways in which reliance on local input and decision-making enable communities and parents to be involved in the important decisions regarding the education of their children.

Districts submitted an application and went through a rigorous selection process to become part of the consortium. Following is a list of those selected to participate in the consortium.

Dr. Nelson Coulter, GCSD Superintendent commented, "It should be a great ride that will provide our staff and our students with a learning opportunity that is extremely rare. Moreover, it will provide us a unique opportunity to serve others. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:  "To whom much is given, much is required."

CLICK HERE for more information.

Homecoming week in Guthrie is September 24-28th.

Door Decorating Contest:
We'll have a class competition between the elementary classes, and then a competition between the 6th-12th grades. Winners receive a Popcorn Party!!

Elementary will decorate their own room’s door
6th grade will decorate Mrs. Daniel’s door
7th grade will decorate Coach Sloan’s door
8th grade will decorate Mrs. Brendle’s door
9th decorate will  decorate Coach Chisum’s door
10th decorate will decorate Mrs. Bergvall’s door
11th decorate will decorate Mrs. Rothwell’s door
12th decorate will decorate Mrs. Grave’s door

Dress up days:
Monday – Outsmart the Cowboys (wear college t-shirt)
Tuesday – Put the Cowboys to sleep ( wear pajamas)
Wednesday – Boot the Cowboys (wear boots)
Thursday – Out Shine the Cowboys (wear neon)
Friday – Green and Gold Day

The Homecoming Bonfire will be held Thursday night (Sept. 27) with a pep rally at the bonfire. 
The Homecoming pep rally will be Friday (Sept. 28) at 3:10 in the gym. 
The Little Jags take on Woodson JH at 5:30pm and the Jags kick off against the Woodson Cowboys at 7:30pm. 

The Guthrie Jags hosted the annual Guthrie FCA Cross Country Meet last Saturday. We had good weather and a fantastic showing from Guthrie CSD athletes. The JH and HS results are listed below.

JH Girls Team Results:
1. Spur 48
2. Jayton 52
3. Lorenzo 75
4. Guthrie 95
5. Crosbyton 129
6. Aspermont 133
7. Motley Co 166

Guthrie JH Girls Individuals:
2nd Place – Reagan Maxwell
12th Place – Jaycee McCaulley
16th Place – Sarah Ballard
Other Team Members: Tristin Lewis, Shalee Lopez, Yaretzi Sandoval, Abby Gilbert

JH Boys Team Results:
1. Crosbyton

Guthrie JH Boys Individuals:
8th Place Individual - Bailey McAnally
12th Place Individual – Riggin Johnson
14th Place Individual – PL Gibson
20th Place Individual – Nicholas Mitchell

HS Girls Team Results:
1. Jayton 51
2. Spur 57
3. Lorenzo 65
4. Guthrie 77
5. Crosbyton 108
6. Motley Co 144

Guthrie HS Girls Individuals
2nd Place - Candace Tarver
14th Place – Kara Hurt
17th Place – Carli Maxwell
Other Team Members: Diana Sandoval, Caitlyn McWhirter

HS Boys Team Scores
1. Guthrie 26
2. Crosbyton 29

Guthrie HS Boys Individuals
3rd Place – Jacob Jones
5th Place – Gustavo Sandoval
7th Place – Jose Sandoval
14th Place – Christian Rocha
15th Place – Kealii Vasquez
17th Place – Noe Sandoval

We have posted the highlight video from the game against the Crowell Wildcats. The Jaguars played a good game and really worked hard. Keep it up guys. Hope you enjoy the video and tune in each week for the game's highlights. This video was created by Krista Sweeney. 

Students in the Guthrie HS Computer Maintenance & Repair course are busy learning to repair computers for a very good cause. Kylor Gilbreath, Kiwi Vasquez, Christian Rocha and Gustavo Sandoval are learning the in's and out's of hard drives, processors, operating systems and LCD's, all in the name of making a difference on the other side of the globe. They are refurbishing laptop computers that will soon be sent to schools in Kenya to be used by high school students there.

GCSD has approximately 40 laptops that have been removed from inventory and rolled out of commission due to their age and the fact that they are no longer under any kind of warranty. In the past, GCSD has held public surplus auctions to dispose of old computers that have reached the end of their lives. "Three years ago, we auctioned off surplus computers for as low as $1 each, but now we are finding a lot more value in them," says Darren Wilson, GCSD Technology Director

GCSD is partnering with two schools in Kenya, East Africa that are desperate for computers. These schools, located in Nairobi and Kisumu, Kenya, are open to students 14-18 years old who have been orphaned or are from families living in extreme poverty. These schools use computers to teach business skills like accounting and budgeting as well as how to design menus, posters and flyers and even photography. Without donated equipment, these students wouldn't have the opportunity to learn to use a computer at all.

GCSD has developed a contract with these two partner schools to send the decommissioned laptops to Kenya to be used for educational purposes there. "The Kenyan school administrators and instructors are happy to accept these laptops, even if they show signs of age and years of use. They are very resourceful and committed to providing a high quality education to the students they serve," says Wilson. 

GCSD superintendent Nelson Coulter says, "Our Guthrie students are learning that they have something to offer to the world, even if they live in a remote area themselves. The world is flatter now, and neither our students, nor the students in Kenya need to be isolated by geography. We want children in Guthrie to learn to become entrepreneurial, self-directed and risk taking. Projects like this laptop refurbishing project fit well within the scope of teaching these things." 

The laptops the GHS students are working on will be sent to Kenya as soon as they are ready. "Our students, all of the sudden, are highly motivated to learn quickly and do a good job, because they know that the work they do each week will make someone's life better. We're pretty proud of them." added Wilson. GHS students will be sending the first seven refurbished laptops to Kenya later this week. 

The students are relying on donations to cover the cost of purchasing needed replacement parts for some of these computers. If you would like to make a donation to help cover the cost of replacement parts or shipping these laptops to Kenya, visit the class website at www.TheBlackBoxStudio.weebly.com. 

To learn more about the Kenyan schools that will be receiving and using the refurbished laptops, please visit: www.kctsministries.org and www.madeinthestreets.org.

The 2011-2012 Yearbooks have arrived. They are $25 each and are in Mrs. Rothwell's room. 

By Nelson Coulter

The BUSINESS of school is LEARNING!  At Guthrie CSD we have chosen a pathway of MORE for the learning of our students; more than the minimum requirements, more than the state’s curriculum, more than the tested standards.  Another of the five dimensions of the Guthrie Graduate Profile, which has emerged over the last several months as a commonly held aspiration for our students, is that we intend for our graduates to be:

Effective Communicators

They are/can/have:

•       Confident and self-secure
•       Communicate in an articulate, effective, and efficient manner
•       Critical listeners
•       Communicate by use of advancing technologies

In his book titled A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink makes a rather compelling case that the folks who have the best chance of achieving their life goals in the 21st century are those that can effectively engage, collaborate, and communicate with other individuals and groups.  The fundamental vehicle for successful interpersonal engagement is effective communication skills.

Faculty members at Guthrie CSD have determined to embed a purposeful curriculum of communication skills enhancement into our day-to-day business in order to help our students leverage the vast and rich opportunities that exist in our “connected” world.  We are convinced that our students must become skillful in expressing their own thinking through multiple media and skillful in listening to (and actually “hearing”) the messages of others.  In the words of the late Stephen Covey in his book titled The 8th Habit, we want our students to be successful in “finding their own voice and helping others find theirs.”  Through these deliberate instructional processes, educators at Guthrie believe our students will develop more confidence and be more self-secure in the way they present (and think of) themselves.  When you think about it, what activity is any more cognitively challenging than carefully formulating and expressing one’s own thoughts, positions, opinions, and knowledge in a way that is crystal clear to others?

Our full intention at Guthrie CSD is to graduate students fully armed and prepared to compete in the world marketplace of work and school and life in a way that will make them the “crème of the crop” in any setting in which they choose to live and compete.