Children’s Books written by students in AP history class
students get different perspective on writing and history
by Jessica Kimbrell
"The Road to American Independence" was the title on many of the children’s books written by Coach Sexton’s AP History class. Sexton’s students had to write and illustrate a children’s book for students ages of 8-10.

"It was hard to write the book on a 8-10 yr. old level," said junior Mikal Mayo.

Students were required to include many vocabulary words into the books, which is where a portion of the project grade was derived As I participated in this project, I had a first-hand approach to the difficulty of the book writing.

We were also graded on our pictures, the way the book was put together, and how much correct information the book included. When we turned in the books we had to present them to the whole class and briefly tell whether it was fiction or nonfiction, what all was included, and what our pictures represented.

"I really liked writing the children’s books because it helped me to learn the chapter better," said junior Lorisa Bedford.

A lot of the books turned out to be really great, creative, and interesting. If you’d like to see some of the students’ work, Coach Sexton might just be willing to share some of them with you!

Canned food drive successful,
seniors win pizza party
by Yesenia Suchil
Last week, the New Deal Student Council held a canned food drive in conjunction with the Food Bank. The high school was competing to see which class would bring in the most cans. The winning class was awarded a pizza party held on Wednesday, November 19. This school year the pizza party was won by the senior class. The seniors had 313 cans. The total amount of cans brought by the whole high school was 613. Thank you to those who participated in the canned food drive. Congratulations to the senior class, and we hope they enjoyed their pizza!

School Board convenes in special, regular meetings

The New Deal School Board met Tuesday November 11, 2003 at 6:30 p.m. in a special meeting. Those present were Sandra Gowens, Perry Looney, Eddie Ramirez, Karl Rieken, District Services Coordinator Pam Noland, Director of Finance Steve Jerden, and Superintendent Jimmy Noland. President Sandra Gowens called the meeting to order.

At this time, New Deal I.S.D. held a Public Hearing on Schools Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas for the Fiscal Year 2001-2002. Eddie Ramirez made the motion to accept the Public Hearing on Schools Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas for 2001-02. New Deal received a "Excellent" rating, which is the highest rating available in Texas. This motion was seconded by Karl Rieken and it carried 4-0. Karl Rieken made the motion to adjourn and was seconded by Perry Looney. The motion carried 4-0.

Following the special meeting, the New Deal School Board met at 6:45 p.m. in regular meeting. Those present were Sandra Gowens, Perry Looney, Eddie Ramirez, Karl Rieken, District Services Coordinator Pam Noland, Director of Finance Steve Jerden, and Superintendent Jimmy Noland. President Sandra Gowens called the meeting to order.

Steve Jerden reviewed the Budget and Expenditure Comparison, Estimated and Actual Revenue Comparison, and the tax report with the board. At this time October bills were reviewed. Jimmy Noland discussed the 2002-2003 District Academic Excellence Indicator System Report and the West Orange Cove/ Alvarado Intervenors Lawsuit. This is the district looking at options on whether to join the lawsuit against the state concerning school finance. Karl Rieken made the motion to accept the minutes of October 14, 2003 and seconded by Eddie Ramirez. The motion carried 4-0.

Eddie Ramirez made the motion to approve Policy Workshop on Teacher Evaluations and was seconded by Perry Looney. The motion carried 4-0. Teacher evaluation will continue annually, as is the current policy.

Karl Rieken made the motion to approve Lubbock Central Appraisal District Directors Election which was seconded by Perry Looney. The motion carried 4-0.

Eddie Ramirez made the motion that the Board add, revise, or delete (LOCAL) policies as recommended by TASB Policy Service and according to the Instruction Sheet for TASB Localized Policy Manual Update 71 per changes on BBG (LOCAL). This was seconded by Karl Rieken and the motion carried 4-0.

Karl Rieken made the motion to table District Improvement Plan and was seconded by Perry Looney. The motion carried 4-0.

Karl Rieken made the motion to approve the Superintendent’s Contract which was seconded by Perry Looney. The motion carried 4-0.

Karl Rieken made the motion to accept the resignation of Stephany Sledge and was seconded by Eddie Ramirez. The motion carried 4-0.

At this time Jimmy Noland discussed facilities, Canine Detection Program Report, December Board Meeting, and enrollment, which is currently at 697.

Karl Rieken made the motion to adjourn the meeting, which was seconded by Eddie Ramirez and carried 4-0.

Juniors take ASVAB
by Shawn Mele
On Tuesday, November 12th all the juniors, 51 to be exact, met in the library to take the ASVAB Exam. ASVAB is an anachronism for The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude and Battery Exam. The ASVAB was administered in the High School Library by Sue Franklin, an official employee of the US government.

The test took three hours. The test is administered in schools by specially trained test administrators from the Federal Government.

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery is a multi-aptitude test battery. It consists of eight short individual tests covering General Science, Arithmetic Reasoning, Electronics Information, Auto and Shop Information, and Mechanical Comprehension. Not only do students receive scores on each of the individual tests, but they also receive career exploration scores. These scores are the results of individual tests combined to yield three exploration scores: Verbal skills, Math Skills and Science and Technical Skills.

"It will be interesting to find out what areas or careers we are best suited to," junior Jessica Kimbrell said.

The ASVAB is designed to help students plan a career to expand into when they graduate by telling them areas they are proficient in and what field of study would be ideal for them to develop into.

"It was the easiest test I have ever taken, and it opened my eyes to my knowledge of various subject," junior Tracee Murph said.

Copyright 2003 New Deal ISD