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School News 2008-2009 |
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 Signs of Change
We are living in a time when nothing stays the same and the signs of change are everywhere, even on the Harper ISD Campus. New looks for our campus lately are “literally” in the form of signs! Earlier this year the Harper PTO purchased and installed a much needed digital marquee. The sign was one of PTO’s goals for this past year, being funded from a portion of the 1st and 2nd Harper Walk-A-Thon proceeds. We would like to thank Security State Bank for their generous contribution of $1,500.00 towards this marquee.
More recently,
the Agriculture Department designed a sign that greets all Longhorn fans
as they enter the football stadium. The motto of this project, Horn
Pride Begins Inside, was the idea of junior
The Harper Student Council, under the leadership of Kaitlin Rangel, provided the idea, the inspiration, and the financial backing for the new sign. This project was the Student Council's goal for fundraising during the 07-08 year. These signs are just the beginning of many changes coming to our campus in the near future. Let us all remember to not be afraid of change as we continue to grow as a school and community. In the words of David Livingstone, "I'll go anywhere as long as it's forward." |
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After the Christmas break, a new cell phone policy for
middle and high school will go into effect. Students may not use
cell phones during class time and phones must always be off during that
time. However, between 12:00 and 1:00, students may use their phones
outside the school building. Phones may still not be used inside at
any time. Phones may be used on extracurricular trips.
Violations of this policy will result in increasing consequences.
Refer to page 13 of the
student handbook for telecommunication policies.
Cell phone policy violations will result in: 1st Offense: Verbal Warning – The student may get phone back at end of the day. 2nd Offense: $15.00 Fine – The student can pay fine and get the phone back that day. 3rd Offense: $15.00 Fine – A parent must pick up the phone. This penalty will continue with each additional offense. |
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Harper FFA |
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| The Harper FFA and 4-H Livestock Show will be Jan. 2nd and 3rd. The animals will be checked in and weighed on that Friday afternoon, the 2nd, from 1-5 pm and then the show will start Saturday morning, Jan. 3rd at 9:00 a.m. The Gillespie County show will follow this show next week in Fredericksburg. | |||
 Harper FFA Chapter was well represented last night at the District FFA Banquet and Awards Competitions in Comfort. Some of the highlights included: · Kandace Davenport was elected Hill Country District FFA Reporter for the 2009-10 school year! · Ashley Kershner WON the Hill Country District FFA Talent Contest and will be representing Harper and the Hill District next Tuesday and Wednesday at the Area VII FFA Convention in San Marcos. She played her own original songs and the voting delegates and crowd seemed to truly enjoy her talent. Needless to say, she is on Cloud 9 this morning!!!!!!!! If she should win Area next week, she will perform in front of about 10,000 screaming teenagers at the State FFA convention in Dallas this July! · Kandace Davenport also was named Hill Country District FFA Star Chapter Farmer Award winner and will compete for Area competition. Hopefully she can win area as she did last year as a Greenhand and be on that stage as well at State in Dallas in July! · Nine of our FFA members advanced to next week’s round of competition attempting to attain their Lone Star FFA Degree (which is the highest degree you can obtain on a State level)! Those members applying for the Lone Star FFA Degree include: Paige Parker, Rhett Townsend, Alex Stinson, Josh Harper, Trina Crenwelge, Tina Wasmuth, Amanda Tenery, Jessica Felts and Taron Beyer. · Zachary McMahon also advanced to the next round of scholarships competitions as well! The students had a great evening of success and please give them a pat on the back if you see them in the hallways…we think this is the first time anyone has ever advanced in the Talent Team Competition from Harper and Ashley beat out several strong contenders. Wish them luck in the coming next few days and weeks as they go thru the various rounds of competition.
Here is the Land Judging team that placed 2nd at the State Qualifiers Meet in Hamilton out of all the State Qualifiers. Matthew Schmidt is holding another plaque that showed he was tied for first as High Individual of the contest. So, needless to say, we are on cloud 9! |
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Harper's varsity
cheerleaders and mascot had a most successful experience at the Universal
Cheerleader Association camp this summer which was attended by squads from
schools ranging from 6-man to 4A. Each and every day, they were
awarded the spirit sticks and superior ribbons. Less than ten
percent of the campers are selected as All Stars for their skills in
dance, cheer, and jump. Four of our cheerleaders (seniors, Ashly
Kershner and Alyssa Randle and freshmen, Krystal Kershner and Victoria
Bacon) tried and all won the honor. Additionally, there was a camp
jump-off wherein the one best jumper in the entire camp at the freshman
and below level and the one best jumper at the sophomore to senior level
are chosen. The best for both divisions were Harper cheerleaders!
Congrats to freshman Victoria Bacon and sophomore Aubrey Blackmore!
At the camp's conclusion, our mascot, Chelsea Hood, was awarded the
superior trophy as was our cheerleader squad. Judge's remarks
included, "best stunt group here," "outstanding tumblers," and
"great, consistent enthusiasm."
UCA honors about one percent of their 30,000 camp participants across the nation with an invitation to apply to become an instructor with them. Our Ashly Kershner was one of that very small number of honorees.
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Sam Janke Back in Harper |
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| One of our foreign exchange students from Germany, Sam Janke will be returning for a visit in August with his 15-year old sister, Susanne. She is one of the top 100 pianists for her age in Germany and performs all over the country. She will be performing at the Harper Presbyterian Church at 6:30 on August 10. Sam will be singing songs in German with her. | |||
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2008 Harper Ladyhorn Volleyball Honors Coach Gina Lumpkins & Coach Melissa Herring
The following Harper Ladyhorn Volleyball players were named to the 27-2A academic all-district team: Maria Brucker Autumn Davis Amada Herring Amelia Herring Paige Parker Jordan Maner
We also have two ACADEMIC ALL STATE players: Autumn Davis and Maria Brucker |
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Here are the all-district honors: District 27-2A Volleyball
Amelia Herring – MVP Amanda Herring – Setter of the Year 1st team- Autumn Davis and Jordan Maner 2nd team – Jacqueline Goldman and Courtney Cantwell Honorable Mention – Paige Parker
“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible, “ was the quote chosen by our team the day of our first district game. I gave each player an “inspirational” card that contained a quote…they were store bought and even I didn’t know what they said. I told them that on the way to Comfort, they had to read them all and choose the one they liked the best. When we arrived at the gym, they presented their quote…and decided that winning the district title would certainly be fun…but NOT impossible! From that match on, we just kept having fun doing what “others” thought was impossible. In our minds, we believed all along. However, we knew nothing would come without a price…We had to MAKE THE TRADE!!! The team certainly made the trade all season…sacrificing many things to be part of something greater than themselves. It has been an incredibly rewarding season…not just winning the district…but getting to spend so much time with such quality kids. They were a blast…they knew how to work hard, accept their roles, and enjoy practice. They kept us laughing and crying with their sincerity, honesty, love of the game, and of last but not least …their sense of humor and ability to entertain us! WE MADE IT! - Coach Gina Lumpkins |
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| Harper will now officially be a 2A next year. Our new district now includes Blanco, Comfort, Johnson City, SA Brooks, San Antonio Cole, Universal City, and Randolph. These are the teams we will face in all sports including football, volleyball, basketball, and track at the district level. | |||
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Harper Art Students The selection committee of the 2009 San Antonio Stock Show Art Contest recently announced the winners of their annual competition. Twelve students from HHS were among the winners in a competition that was open to all public and private schools in central Texas and attracted just under 500 entries. Tommy Morris was one of only 50 first place winners, making him eligible to compete for a free spot at the three week art camp held at Schreiner University and the Cowboy Museum of Art. Second place winners were Adela Moore, Jennifer Scozzari, Tana Radke, Jose Rodriguez, Robby Mounce, and Autumn Flores. Winning third place ribbons were Elizabeth Eubank, Emily Eubank, Dawn Etheridge, Anthony Villegas, and Jordan McNamara. |
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 Harper One Act Play
Even though this year's one act play did not advance out of district, everyone who saw their performances thought this cast did very well. Kathy Clark, director, reported that Blanco and Randolph advanced. Rachel Smartt got honorable mention all star cast. Cara Pascarella got all star cast. They did well (as they always do), but did not do the play the way the judge envisioned it. Director Melanie Parker summed it up by saying, "After months and hours of hard work and dedication, the Harper One Act Play cast, crew, and directors, experienced disappointment on the road when they competed at the district level. Moon Over Buffalo was a big hit with students, community members, and audiences from other schools; however, when all was said and done, the performance was just not the way the judge preferred it. One Act Play is one of the few UIL sanctioned events that’s fate is decided by a sole judge’s subjective opinion on one given day. Knowing this, the kids have learned firsthand, that at times, they will feel like they were not served justly. And while no one likes to feel they have been given the short end of the stick, it does teach them a valuable lesson. In life, people are not going to always think as you do, and just because someone thinks differently, it does not make them wrong. In reality, where everyone thinks the same, no one thinks very much at all." Life is a stage, and “The Show Must Go On!” Harper Theatrical Design Team
Harper's theatrical Design team entry has qualified for state for the second time in a row. We have entered three out of four times since the contest began and have qualified all three times. The team of TK Watson, Emily Eubank, and Elizabeth Eubank will be competing against 9 other schools in May (most of these schools are 3A or larger that have interior design, fashion or technical theater classes).
If you see TK Watson, Emily Eubank, or Elizabeth Eubank congratulate them! |
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2008 Band Accomplishments:
ATSSB OPS AREA SOUTH OUTSTANDING
CONCERT 1 SELECTION
ATSSB OPS AREA SOUTH OUTSTANDING
MARCH
PARTICIPANT TEXAS STATE WIND
ENSEMBLE CONTEST |
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The Association of Texas Small School Bands Oustanding Performance Series Regional Winnning Entries was held on June 18, 2008 at Giddings, TX. Judges again unanimously selected the Harper High School April 15th performance of “British 8th March” as the 1st place outstanding march performance of 2008 among all South Texas Class A schools. At the same competition, the judges unanimously selected the Harper High School May 3rd performance of “Nimrod” from Enigma Variations as the 1st place outstanding concert performance of 2008 among all South Texas Class A schools; and unanimously selected the Harper High School May 3rd performance of “Knights of Dunvegan” as the 2nd place outstanding concert performance of 2008 among all South Texas Class A school.
This marks the 1st time in the rich history of Harper bands that all 3 Harper High School contest selections have been selected as the outstanding performances for the year at the area level. At this point the march is one of 8 statewide to advance; while the 2 concert selections will advance in a field of 13. Harper has finished 2nd, 3rd, 5th (two occasions),11th and 14th at the state level over the previous 4 years of entry under the direction of Charles Sander.
The band’s 2007-2008 year will end on July 27th at the Texas Bandmasters Association State Convention when the tapes are heard at 3:00 PM in Convention Center Room 004; just 3 days before the 2008-2009 band begins music rehearsals at its band camp on July 30th at Schreiner University. |
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Even though the school year has ended, the 2007-2008 edition of the Harper High School Band is still competing in statewide competitions by virtue of recordings made at various contests held this past spring. These will be the last events in which Harper extracurricular activities will compete in class A. One of these competitions is the Association of Texas Small School Bands (ATSSB) Outstanding Performance Series (OPS). OPS is a program designed to recognize annually the most outstanding single performances of Class C and CC middle school bands and Class A, AA, and AAA high school bands in Texas. This program is the property of the ATSSB and is produced, supported and adjudicated solely by its members. Should the band advance through the entire competition, the band’s 2007-2008 year will end on July 27th at the Texas Bandmasters Association State Convention; just 3 days before the 2008-2009 band begins music rehearsals at its band camp on July 30th at Schreiner University. The band has been directed by Charles Sander for the last 5 years and Joseph Allen is completing his first year in Harper.
At the regional adjudication of OPS entries held on June 1, 2008 at Fabens, TX judges Mike Porras, Robert Gonzales, Joe Denham, Forrest Perry, and Joel Chavarria unanimously selected the Harper High School April 15th performance of “British 8th March” as the 1st place outstanding march performance of 2008 in UIL Region XI Class A.. At the same competition, the judges unanimously selected the Harper High School May 3rd performance of “Nimrod” from Enigma Variations as the 1st place outstanding concert performance of 2008 in UIL Region XI Class A; and unanimously selected the Harper High School May 3rd performance of “Knights of Dunvegan” as the 2nd place outstanding concert performance of 2008 in UIL Region XI Class A. This marks the 5th consecutive year that all 3 contest Harper High School selections were selected as the outstanding performances for the year at the regional level.
The tapes will now be advanced to the Area South adjudication on June 18th at Giddings, TX. Last year at the area level, Harper won 2 concert categories before finishing 2nd and 5th in the state round. The second place tape of the 2006-2007 band’s “On A Hymnsong of Phillip Bliss” is featured on the ATSSB OPS CD that is distributed to interested persons around the world, and band directors and classical radio stations throughout Texas Results from the Area round will appear in the next edition of this paper. The first official UIL trophy of the Class AA era has arrived at Harper ISD. The band completed its marching contest season with a unanimous superior rating. Receiving comments such as “Excellent as usual.”; It’s good to see that “The Pride of Harper” lives on.”; and “Great teaching and learning are happening in Harper, TX.!” Also receiving 1st division ratings in class AA were Jourdanton and Cotulla. Harper will not be advancing this year because only class 3A and class 5A’s are going on to Area and hopefully State. So our season ends without a “playoffs” this year. Harper has made straight 1’s for the 16th consecutive band contest (48 consecutive judges) dating back to the spring of 2005. 1 is the best and 5 is the worst. 1 is comparable to a score of 90 and above; 2 is comparable to a score of 70-89; 3 is comparable to a score of 50-69; 4 is comparable to a score of 30-49; and 5 is anything less than 30. Take time to congratulate the band students on another EXCELLENT marching season.
Some of the band officers and our sweepstakes trophy: Battery Percussion Captain-Cori Taylor; Brass Captain and Drill Instructor-Tesca Korbelik; Melodic Percussion Captain-Sarah Lester; Woodwind Captain-Taylor Clark; and Drum Major-Codi Diane Hammons.
Congratulations to the members of the band for their fine showing at UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest in Bandera on Tuesday, April 21. Although the school has changed classifications, the band earned its 17th consecutive year of superior ratings at Concert Contest dating back to 1992! This was the 4th consecutive year of superior ratings in Sightreading and the 4th consecutive Sweepstakes Award. This marks the 14th Sweepstakes award in those 17 years. Competing in class AA Concert Contest for the first time the band played selections from the class 4A and 3A required music list. Among the comments were: "What a wonderful performance! Congrats to you! Awesome!"-Frank Horejsi, retired "Excellent style throughout your performance today. Good attention to phrasing. WOW, what a musical performance! I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, enjoyed hearing your fine performance. Bravo to band and director. Excellent stage presence. Be sure to thank your director for all of his hard work! Congrats!"-Chuck Young, Band Director "Students perform artistically with the appropriate musical style on ALL selections! Congrats!"-Charles Cabrera, Band Director During the sightreading the band is given a piece of music that they have never seen before and after 7 minutes of explanation by their director they perform it for the judges. Among the 3 first division ratings of the sightreading judges were the following comments: "Band you read like you are supposed to. This was a "TEXTBOOK" example of director's instructions and great learning and playing by students. Congrats and Best Wishes. Thank you for making music while you read. Excellent teaching is evident."-Ben Chason-retired "Thank your directors for teaching you so well!, Congratulations!"-Eddie Benitez, Band Director "Very good instructions by the director. This is a well-taught band! Congratulations! A job well done!" Fran Badrak, Band Director As you encounter these students, congratulate them on a fine performance in representing the school and community in such a fine fashion! Results from Jr. High Region in Johnson City - ALL 11 of the middle school students were named to the All Region Band. Concert Band is the 2nd Band and Symphonic Band is the top group. As these students get to HS, these tryouts are what earn the scholarships that so many of our kids have enjoyed over the last 6 years. They were competing against kids from BT Wilson, Hal Petersen, Kerrville Home School Band, Johnson City, and Center Point.
Misty Rieger-6th Grade-7th chair Concert Band Flute Kara Strange-8th Grade-3rd chair Concert Band Clarinet Crystal Schlueter-8th Grade-1st Chair Concert Band Trumpet-RECEIVES A MEDAL FOR FINISHING FIRST Levi Lashley-7th Grade-12th Chair Concert Band Trumpet Jacob Krebs-8th Grade-3rd Chair Concert Band Percussion Shelbi Korbelik-8th Grade-3rd chair Symphonic Band Clarinet Riley Horton-6th Grade-6th chair Symphonic Band Alto Saxophone Dennis Land-8th Grade-10th chair Symphonic Band Trumpet Amber Rauhut-8th Grade-1st Chair Symphonic Band Trombone (This is the 7th consecutive year for Harper to have the best MS trombone and 2nd consecutive year that it has been Amber)-RECEIVES A MEDAL FOR FINISHING FIRST Austin Rowe-8th Grade-1st Chair Symphonic Band Tuba (This is the 2nd consecutive year for Harper to have the best MS Tuba) -RECEIVES A MEDAL FOR FINISHING FIRST Katie Jackson-8th Grade-5th Chair Symphonic Band Percussion |
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2009-2010 Harper High School Band Officers: |
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Drum Major/1st Conductor- Diane Hammons
Assistant Drum Major/2nd Conductor- Tesca Korbelik
Drill Instructor/3rd Conductor- Becca Jackson
Brass Captain/4th Conductor- Lance Meier
Woodwind Captain/5th Conductor- Bailey Baethge
Percussion Lieutenant- Sarah Lester |
Uniform 1st Lieutenants- Keshia Fulcher/Sarah Lester/Adela Moore; 2nd Lieutenants- Taylor Clark/Jacob Krebs
Senior Equipment Lieutenant- Jenny Hale
Junior Equipment Lieutenant- Cameron Sander
Librarian- Krissi Green; Assistants- Mariza Betancourt/Shelbi Korbelik
Middle School Band Representative- Levi Lashley |
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Elementary School Ready for August 25 Opening
Teachers are now picking up keys to their new rooms and some are already working to get their rooms ready for the new school year. Grades Pre-K through second and special education services will be in classrooms in the new addition, while grades three through five will be in the older section of the elementary. Students will have their own cafeteria space in the elementary building. Teri Lange will take over as attendance clerk and elementary secretary. Susan Henderson remains the elementary nurse. Parents will need to drop off and pick up their elementary students at the north end of School Street instead of behind the administrative offices on Doss Road. |
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HHS UIL |
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At the UIL regional meet on Saturday, Khadem Nitol
placed 2nd in Science. He was also the top Chemistry scorer. He
will advance to state on May 9. The science team placed 2nd overall,
but will not advance. Also placing was Paige Parker – 5th place in
Poetry Interpretation. Here are the results of the district UIL meet. We placed 3rd as a team and have 10 advancing to regionals. The kids listed in boldface are advancing: Persuasive Speaking: Bethany Mounce 5th place Rachel Smartt 6th place Informative Speaking: Matthew Chevalier 3rd place Clayton Harrington 4th place Leighton Henderson 5th place Accounting: Tim Jacoby 6th place Calculator Applications: Khadem Nitol 5th place Mathematics: Khadem Nitol 1st place Social Studies: Kristen Green 2nd place Becca Jackson 4th placeComputer Applications: Amanda Herring 4th place Editorial Writing: Morgan Boggan 3rd place Headline Writing: Morgan Boggan 4th place Literary Criticism: Becca Jackson 1st place Cori Taylor 4th placeBecca Jackson, Cori Taylor, Sarah Lester, Codi Hammons 1st place team Lincoln Douglas Debate: Matthew Chevalier 4th place Mathematics: Khadem Nitol 1st place Number Sense: Khadem Nitol 4th place Josh Day 6th place Poetry Interpretation: Paige Parker 2nd place Science: Khadem Nitol 6th place Khadem Nitol Top Scorer Physics Spelling: Megan Torres 1st place Prose Interpretation: Alex Lang 5th place or 6th place (According to the manual calculations, she placed 5th, but according to the UIL computer program, she placed 6th, so the meet director is going to call UIL today and let us know the results.) The highest scoring 2nd place team of each region is allowed to advance to regionals as a wild card team. We had the the highest scoring 2nd place team in both science and social studies, so we will advance both of those teams as well. The team members are:
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At the 2009 state meet, Nitol placed 11th in science with a score of 60. Medals were given to 1st – 6th place. The 6th place score was a 64, so he was very close to medaling. |
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Harper I. S. D. | 23122 West Highway 290 Main | P.O. Box 68 | Harper, TX 78631 | Phone: (830) 864-4044 | Fax: (830) 864-4748 |
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student Dustin Inmon,
but the project was the result of many different students who wished to
add a unique touch to our home stadium. 
