The Panther Press
March 2015
Donna Allen, PTA President
Dr. Barry Lanford, Principal
Volume 8, Issue 7
Happy Spring, Panthers! We are heading into the home stretch. The year has
really flown by, and end of the year plans are well under way.
Our last General PTA meeting will be held on April 2. This year’s parent program,
Instilling Leadership Qualities in Our Students, will feature several of our own
Lopez Panthers and the presentations they made at the Leader In Me symposium
earlier this year. Please plan to attend – it will take place at 11:00 AM in the Lopez
Library.
Also at this meeting, we will elect officers for the 2015-16 school year. The slate
of officers proposed by the Nominating Committee is as follows:
President-Donna Allen
1st VP-Erin Larsen
2nd VP-Myrthala Almada
Secretary-Vinita Fields
Treasurer-Erin Pruetz
Interested in becoming involved? There are committee chair positions open on
the Lopez PTA Board – we’d love to have you! Interest surveys are available at the
front desk or on our website. They may be turned in at school or emailed to me.
Please consider volunteering at the middle school level. It is a great way to be
involved in your child's education.
This newsletter also contains information about some of the upcoming events the
PTA will be sponsoring. Please mark your calendars for these important dates. If
you are a parent of an eighth grade student, we hope you will be able to join us
for the end of the year party on Tuesday, June 2 at Time Warner Park.
Thanks for making this year such a success!
Donna Allen
2014-2015 PTA President
[email protected]
THE PRINCIPAL’S PODIUM
Well Panthers, Spring Break has come and gone, and we’re embarking
on round one of STAAR testing. I was very impressed with how
seriously our students are approaching the test. As I walk from class to
class before school, many students are taking advantage of tutoring for
that last minute brushing up on STAAR items. As I’ve stated over the
years at Lopez, accountability is important at all levels. That ensures
quality leadership, instruction and learning. I feel confident that our
students will continue to excel as we have focused on “College
Readiness” and mastery of subjects all along and have always avoided
“teaching to the test.”
Here at Lopez, I am proud of the recent accomplishments of our
basketball teams, our tennis teams, and our Choir, Orchestra and Bands.
In addition to those winners, we had Career Tech students placing at the
Regional level and will go to Waco in early April to compete at the State
Level. Recently, the Lopez Student Congress dominated the last
competition, sweeping nearly every category. I look forward to similar
victories in the upcoming district Track meet, Golf tournaments and
VASE competition.
Keep up the good work and thank you for supporting our school.
Sincerely, Dr. Barry Lanford ~ Principal
Counselor’s Corner
Panther Counselors: Mrs. Latronico-Limon, Ms. Brandvold, and Mr. Behrens
SHARPEN THE SAW
Next time you enter Lopez, take a moment to enjoy our “Sharpen the
Saw” display at the front desk. It is a pleasure to see all the exciting
ways our friends celebrate and rejuvenate in their spare time. Now that
Spring is here, there will be numerous photo opportunities –
skateboarding, cookouts, sleepovers, bike rides … As you sharpen the
saw, please take photos and send them to us at [email protected] .
Mrs. Williams
Lopez Middle School
Asst. Principal
Mr. Toback
Lopez Middle School
Math SSI
Let’s Get Digital:
Lopez Library Digital Newsletter
https://www.smore.com/tybsm
Follow the link to see what exciting
activities are happening at the Lopez
Library.
Lopez Quiz Bowl
Lopez Quiz Bowl began the new school year with a major victory! In the San
Antonio Middle School Kickoff event hosted by Rawlinson Middle School on
October 11, eight teams from area schools contended with each other in
seven preliminary rounds and three elimination rounds to determine the
winning team. Ranked first in the finals, Lopez Red maintained the lead
through three elimination rounds against Rawlinson and Bush teams to
dominate and qualify for the state championship in April. Receiving the first
place trophy were Jared Lange (team captain), Paddy Joyce, Hawkins
Nessler, Joey Quismorio, and Sean Guild - all eighth grade students at Lopez
Middle School.
Facing stiff competition from Austin area teams at the Texas Quiz Bowl
Alliance Holiday Hoedown tournament December 6, Lopez Red again ranked
at the top during the elimination round losing in a close final to an Austin
team. Taking home the second place trophy were Jared Lange (team
captain), Lucas Moynihan, Hawkins Nessler, and Joey Quismorio.
In the most recent Bexar Bowl event at Clark High School on February 14,
Lopez Red again took the second place trophy after only one tournament
defeat in the final elimination round. The nail-biting finish between the two
undefeated teams, Lopez Red and Bush, demonstrated the ability of these
middle school competitors to play under duress with intensity and finesse to
the final buzzer. Congratulations and hand shaking between friends and
respected opponents ended this culminating last local event of the school
year for the top Lopez Middle School Quiz Bowl team, Lopez Red.
Lopez Quiz Bowl, continued
According to the Texas Quiz Bowl Alliance event organizer, Steve Fontenot,
“The eventual second-place squad from Lopez also went into the final
undefeated, having won all eight of its earlier matches and accumulating
20.38 points per bonus along the way, the highest of any middle school
team. The Lopez team was remarkably balanced, with all four of its primary
members scoring at least 20 points per game, two of whom also registered
over 40 PPG.”
Lopez Red advances to the 2015 Texas Quiz Bowl Middle Grades
Championships which will be contested on April 25, at St. Mark’s School of
Texas in Dallas. After this state championship event, Lopez Red will
participate in the 2015 Middle School National Championship Tournament
at the Dallas-Fort Worth Hyatt in May. Go Panthers! Go Lopez Quiz Bowl!
Lopez Quiz Bowl Club meets Tuesdays and Fridays after school in room
B201. This student-led club elects officers, collaborates to achieve team
goals, practices for competition, and trains new recruits for tournament
play. The club met for the first time this August with two returning members
from last year, and by February had enough members to form two 8th grade
teams and one 7th grade team. Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders are all
welcome to join the Lopez Quiz Bowl. For information about the Texas Quiz
Bowl Alliance, visit http://www.texasquizbowl.org.
Pictured is Lucas Moynihan at the Bexar
Bowl on February 14, 2015.
Reflections District Awards
Congratulations to the Lopez Panthers who took home
awards at this years’ Reflections District Awards Ceremony!
Matthew Hill
Musical Composition
Award of Merit
Sahar Momin
Visual Arts -Award of Excellence
Cameron Wood
Dance Choreography
Overall Award of Excellence-District
Award of Excellence - State
Crystin Galan, Arts in Education/Reflections Chairperson
***PVSA REGISTRATION UPDATE***
March 26, 2015
Presidential Volunteer Service Awards’ website has upgraded. If you registered with the
site before upgrades you are still in the system but will need to update your profile with
a new Record of Service Key…HCN-30789. If you still need to register, please, follow
these steps below. The last day to log PVSA hours is Thursday, April 30, 2015. PVSA
Awards Luncheon is Thursday, May 28th at 11:00am in the Lopez Library. Official
invitations will be sent out in May.
www.presidentialserviceawards.gov
1st....click on Get Involved
2nd...click on Volunteers
3rd....click on Register
4th....an email will be sent to you to confirm account
5th....click on link from PVSA
6th....once confirmed…log back into PVSA and click on Profile
7th....add the Record of Service Key… HCN-30789
Any question, please contact Heather Boudreaux…[email protected]
Don’t forget to log your hours! You can log hours if you provide your time helping
others. Did you know that each time you donate an item…food, gift, clothes or supplies
to an organization that each donation to different organizations counts as an hour. If
you take care of a neighbors’ pet, water their plants or collect their mail while they are
out of town (and you don’t get paid) that you can earn hours. There are many different
ways to volunteer and I am certain that most everyone is giving their time to help
others…so log your hours!
No One can do Everything, but Everyone can do Something
2014-2015
Lopez Middle School
PTA Board
Officers
President – Donna Allen
1st Vice President – Erin Larsen
2nd Vice President – Tonya Joergensen
Secretary – Sheryl Staffier
Treasurer – Erin Pruetz
Parliamentarian – Deanna Lauer
Historian – Kim Greenberg
Committee Chairs
8th Grade Party – Kym Pharris
8th Grade Party – Anita Sioco
ADEPT – Terri Solis
Arts in Education – Crystin Galan
Awards/PVSA – Heather Boudreaux
Campus Improvement – Kelly Samaie
Council Delegate – Tori Scoffield
Directory – Valarie Day
Healthy Lifestyles – Emily Okikawa
Hospitality/Faculty Appreciation Heather Wood
Annie King
ZZ Mylar
Shelly Hull
Library – Casey Herridge
Life Membership – Deanna Lauer
Founders – Deanna Lauer
Membership – Claudia Mitre
Multicultural Fair – Maritza Morgenroth
Newsletter – Valarie Day
Pantherama – Donna Allen
Social Coordinator – Viviana Schlereth
Special Education – Heather Baseley
Spirit Items – Connie Carrington
Volunteer Coordinator – Michelle Dunn
Support Positions
Community Relations – Jeanette Shoaf
Social Media – Dora Evans
Website – Stephanie Dullea
Workroom – Rachel Maurer
Lopez PTA Membership
PTA Links
 NEISD Council of PTAs ww.necouncilpta.com
 State PTA www.txpta.org
 National PTA www.pta.org
Lopez PTA has it’s own website to keep you up with all
PTA events: www.lopezpta.org
Yearbook News
Don't delay...order your yearbook today!
http://www.jostens.com/apps/shop/yrbk_catalog.asp?cid=271617&pfid=2014
061004152968794&affiliateId=1623514
A Reminder From Attendance
Please send a note with your student when he/she is absent. A student has 2
days to turn in a Parent or Dr.’s. note to receive credit for that absence.
Thank you!
Lopez Calendar
of Events
Do you want to stay current on the Lopez happenings?
From the Lopez homepage (www.neisd.net/lopez/) you
can subscribe to Lopez Middle School events!
Keep in touch with the NEISD app!
Download it now from the app store!
Lopez FCA Information
2014-2015 Meetings
When: Every Thursday @ 7:00 am
Where: Lopez Gym with Coach Barbosa
FCA COMMUNICATION
This year we will be communicating in a new way - Via Text Reminder by way of the app “Remind”
(We will continue to use email during the transition period.)
If you would like to receive information about Lopez FCA events please follow these steps!!
1.
2.
3.
Send a text to (409) 527-8563
In the message portion type: @lopezfca
Hit send
You should get a confirmation text back within just a few minutes!!