April 1, 2010 is Census Day. An accurate census of our area will benefit our school district and community by influencing the distribution of $300 billion in federal funds earmarked for states and local communities. In order to accomplish this, it is important that everyone participates. Census information is confidential by law and no other agency has access to the personal data.

I have included information for you to share with other community members.

* The U.S. census is taken every 10 years.

* Census questionnaires will be mailed or delivered to households in March.

Watkins Middle School has been selected as a National Demonstration Site for Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), a fourth- through 12th-grade system that has turned thousands of underperforming students into confident, college-going scholars.

Watkins, which joins approximately 117 other expected AVID National Demonstration Sites, was selected through an application process, screening and review that included a site visit. Adopted by more than 4,400 elementary, middle and high schools in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and 16 countries and U.S. territories, AVID serves more than 400,000 students.

Watkins was commended for its AVID site recognition during the formal Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, March 8.

The Langham Creek High School boys’ basketball team wrapped up its most successful season in program history on Friday night, falling 69-63 to Garland Lakeview Centennial in the Region II-5A semifinal at the Ferrell Center in Waco.

The Lobos ended their season with a 24-12 record. They were the fourth-place seed in District 15-5A and regional semifinalists—their deepest postseason run in program history.

“This season was an incredible experience as the head coach at Langham Creek,” said head coach Charles Ament. “Reaching the regional semifinals in only my third year of being a head coach has been truly a blessing. I have realized very quickly that you have to have great players, great assistant coaches and terrific community support to have a chance.

Fourteen students in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD were recently selected as school finalists for the Do the Write Thing challenge, sponsored by the National Campaign to Stop Violence, and will be recognized at a reception on Saturday, April 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Minute Maid Park.

More than 15,000 students from 141 middle schools in the Houston area submitted essays in the contest that gives middle school students an opportunity to examine the impact of youth violence on their lives. Through classroom discussions and writings, students communicate what they think should be done to reduce student violence while committing to do something about the problem.

Cy-Fair High School U.S. Government, economics and street law teacher Lana Burns received the Texas Council for the Social Studies (TCSS) High School Teacher of the Year award at the TCSS Convention in Dallas in October.

By winning the Cy-Fair Council for the Social Studies (CFCSS) Outstanding High School Teacher of the Year award in 2008, Burns had the opportunity to submit her nomination packet to the TCSS.

The TCSS Outstanding Teacher Awards honor one elementary, one middle and one high school teacher for:
• outstanding teaching;
• contribution to the advancement of social studies education within the school and community; and
• active participation in local, state and national social studies councils.

Robin Sabo, high school social studies curriculum coach, received the Texas Alliance for Geographic Education (TAGE) Distinguished Service Award during the TAGE annual conference in October.
The award is granted in recognition for making a substantial contribution to geography education in Texas. TAGE, a state alliance of the National Geographic Society, has more than 6,500 members—including teachers, university professors, parents and community leaders—who share the common goal of strengthening geographic education in Texas.

Sabo has served on various state and national boards while working within the state to promote geographic education. She has served on the board of the Houston regional geographic educators’ group, Friends of Geography (FOG), for a number of years as conference co-chair and regional representative, while promoting geographic education through her role as a teacher advisor on the Merage Foundation for the American Dream board and through service on the Texas Council for Social Studies (TCSS) and the Cypress-Fairbanks Council for the Social Studies boards. Sabo has also presented geography sessions at TCSS, TAGE and FOG conferences.

“With so many amazing geography educators in Cy-Fair and around Texas, I am honored and humbled to receive this award,” Sabo said. “The study of geography is about so much more than maps. I believe developing geographically literate students is important and I am proud to support geography education in Texas.

One girls’ and two boys’ basketball teams will advance to the next round of competition in the Region II playoffs after winning their games this week.

Girls Basketball
• Cy-Fair High School defeated Cypress Creek High School, 70-51, on Monday in the regional quarterfinals to advance to the regional tournament this weekend. The Bobcats will face Dallas Skyline in the regional semifinal on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Baylor University’s Ferrell Center in Waco. The winner of that game will play the winner between Bryan and Georgetown on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at the Ferrell Center. Cypress Creek finished its season as the third-place team in District 15-5A and Region II quarterfinalists.
• Cypress Falls High School fell to Georgetown, 47-43, on Wednesday night. The Golden Eagles wrap up their season as the runners-up in District 15-5A and regional quarterfinalists.

Boys Basketball
• Cypress Woods High School knocked off Round Rock McNeil, 63-54, on Wednesday. The Wildcats advance to play Oak Ridge in the area round on Friday at 7 p.m. at Tomball High School (30330 Quinn Road).
• Langham Creek High School pulled out a thrilling 59-55 double-overtime victory over Cedar Park on Wednesday. The Lobos will face The Woodlands College Park in the area round on Friday night at 7 p.m. at The Woodlands High School (6101 Research Forest Dr.).
• Cypress Creek High School ended its season with a 61-54 loss to Georgetown on Wednesday. The Cougars were 15-5A runners-up and bi-district finalists.
• Cy-Fair High School also wrapped its year with a 69-51 defeat to Cedar Park Vista Ridge on Wednesday. The Bobcats were the third-place team in district and bi-district finalists.

Model United Nations delegates from Cypress Springs and Jersey Village high schools showed strong performances at a recent two-day Houston Area Model UN (HAMUN) Conference and will participate in the UNA-USA Model UN Conference in New York City in May.

Cypress Springs’ Russian delegation won the Secretary General’s grand prize, while Jersey Village was awarded Best Delegation. Both schools earned a $5,000 trip to New York City with airfare and accommodations provided by the Board of Governors representing HAMUN.

Jersey Village students and Croatian delegates Citlalli Alvarez and Yahya Khan were selected as Outstanding Delegates for their committees of General Assembly Third, while Veronica Tverbakk won Outstanding Delegate for the UNICEF committee. Citlalli and Yahya will travel to New York City, representing the country of Lebanon in the Security Council.

District 15-5A boys’ basketball teams will complete district competition this week, and playoffs will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

Cypress Woods clinched the district championship, as Cypress Creek took the runner-up spot and Cy-Fair placed third. Cypress Falls and Langham Creek tied for fourth place and will face each other in a tiebreaker game on Friday at 6 p.m. at Cypress Falls High School.

Both Cypress Woods’ and Cypress Creek’s opponents will be determined after Friday night, when a three-way tie between Georgetown, Stony Point and McNeil high schools in District 16-5A is broken to determine its third and fourth seeds.

The bi-district playoff schedule is as follows:
• Cypress Woods will face an opponent to be determined on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Bryan High School (3450 Campus Dr.);
• Cypress Creek will face an opponent to be determined on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Rudder Gymnasium (3251 Austin’s Colony Pkwy.) in Bryan;
• Cy-Fair will meet Cedar Park Vista Ridge on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. at A&M Consolidated High School (1801 S. Harvey Mitchell Pkwy.) in College Station; and

The Cy-Fair High School girls’ basketball team clinched its second state championship in the last three seasons, running away from Fort Bend Hightower, 65-41, on Saturday night at the Erwin Center in Austin.

Senior Chiney Ogwumike ended her career as a Bobcat on a high note, pouring in 31 points and grabbing 18 rebounds on the way to earning unanimous 5A Tournament MVP honors. “I guess it all hit me this week while I was sitting in class, dreaming that a state championship was within our reach,” Ogwumike said. “My dreams came true as a senior and it’s awesome to exit on a win. It’s so overwhelming.”

The Cy-Fair High School girls’ basketball team defeated Cedar Hill, 54-50, in the Class 5A state semifinal on Friday afternoon at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, and will advance to the state championship game on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. The Bobcats will play the winner between Fort Bend Hightower and Northside Jay high schools, who play in the other semifinal tonight.

Cy-Fair senior Chiney Ogwumike led the charge for the Bobcats, compiling 24 points and 25 rebounds in the victory. Junior Cassie Peoples chipped in with 18 points.

Gina Guidry, an assistant principal at Sheridan Elementary School, has been named the principal of Sheridan. Guidry replaces Anne Wilcox, who will open Emery Elementary School in August.

Guidry has spent 27 years in education, 26 of those within Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. She began her career as a teacher in Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico, for one year before coming to Lieder Elementary School, where she taught six years before serving one year as an assistant principal. She then was named an assistant principal at Sheridan, where she has been the last 19 years.

For the fourth consecutive year, the Cy-Fair High School girls’ basketball team is headed back to the UIL Class 5A State Championships in Austin.

Cy-Fair won both of its games in the Region II Tournament in Waco on Friday and Saturday to be among the final four teams remaining in Texas. The Bobcats defeated Dallas Skyline, 54-39, on Friday evening, then knocked off Bryan, 54-50, on Saturday afternoon to qualify.

“We had some chances to pull away but Bryan played extremely well and they weren’t going to let it happen,” Cy-Fair coach Ann Roubique said of the regional championship game. “Our kids made buckets when we had to have them, caused turnovers when we had to have them and made free throws at the end and we were able to get a big victory.

Third-grade students at Hamilton Elementary School will have the unique opportunity to serve as an “interactive school” on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Using satellite communications technology provided by IOCOM, the students will participate in a live video conference with scientists, technicians and crew on board the scientific ocean drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution on its way to Antarctica.

Beginning at 1 p.m., the 60-minute live video conference will enable students to explore current research in climate change, careers in science and life at sea. Students will learn about the scientific method and how science data is collected, while asking questions of the scientists and taking a virtual tour of the ship’s on-board laboratories.

Four teams of Smith Middle School students won top-three honors at the Mars Rover Celebration, held on Saturday, Jan. 30 at the University of Houston.

In the competition, each team was asked to build a rover that could accomplish a mission on Mars. Additionally, the students had to create a five-minute informative skit that focused on the components of their rover.

Smith’s teams competed against teams from the greater Houston area in two out of the three possible categories, Remote Control and Freeform, and earned the following trophies:

Cypress Falls High School senior Mateo Martinez received an honorable mention award from the Bill of Rights Institute for his essay in the Being An American Essay Contest.

More than 50,000 high school students from all 50 states and U.S. territories participated in the contest, which has awarded more than $300,000 since its inception in 2006. The contest asks students to share their thoughts on American citizenship by answering the question, “What civic value do you believe is most essential to being an American?”

In his essay, Martinez spoke of many American leaders who showed courage in their convictions to reach their goals, as well as his family’s struggle to escape a civil war in Colombia to live the American dream. For receiving an honorable mention, Martinez will be awarded a cash prize of $250.

“Mateo is the type of student who is not simply satisfied with a high GPA; he values his education for the knowledge he gains,” said Theresa Douglas, Cypress Falls AP Economics teacher.