San Marcos CISD: Home To Great Readers And Texas All-State Musicians
San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District is making strides to engage its students in learning every day.
San Marcos CISD has nearly 8,000 students enrolled between its high school, two middle schools and six elementary schools according to the district’s website.
Here is a quick look at what SMCISD students and staff were up to the week of January 14 thru January 18.
Students At Goodnight Middle School Named First In The Nation
Mrs. Martin-Thompson students are number one in the GREAT READING GAMES in the Nation!
The Great Reading Games is a seven-week reading competition across the Nation put on by Learning Ally.
This is a competition started by Learning Ally three years ago to provide students the opportunity to read audio books. Goodnight has been in the top every year, receiving national recognition in some way, but never first.
Our first year, two students, Nathan Kinsey, and Shelly Backus received National recognition for their reading.
Both Shelly and Nathan are avid readers today. Last year, Justine Hernandez received an award and was 2nd in the Nation as the second top reader across the Nation. This year, Goodnight’s lead reader is 7th grader Jarren Villalobos.
This year in the first ten days of competition, Goodnight has placed 1st in the Nation for eight consecutive days reading more pages than any other school.
“Each morning, I run the report provided to me by Learning Ally, post it outside my room, and take great pride knowing Goodnight is first in this competition. We are starting week three of our competition; we may not stay here long, but it’s nice knowing we are there now. We plan to keep reading the next five weeks to try to hold on to our position in first place!” stated Mrs. Martin-Thompson.
Learning Ally is the only human voice activated audio reading program for children with disabilities.
This program provided by Learning Ally is a free service to students with dyslexia and or reading disabilities.
“I am very proud of my students love for reading and they initiate reading at home and at school.” Said Mrs. Martin-Thompson.
Connie Martin-Thompson is the Dyslexia Specialist, the 504 Coordinator at Goodnight Middle School. This is her twenty-ninth year in the San Marcos Consolidated District.
Area Choir Students Selected as Texas All-State Musicians
On January 12, 2019 four choir San Marcos CISD students were selected to perform in Texas All-State Music Ensembles. Over 72,900 students initially entered the All-State competitive process 1,780 students are selected to perform in 15 All-State ensembles (bands, orchestras, and choirs).
All-State performances will be held as part of the annual TMEA Clinic/Convention, Feb. 13–16, 2019. Over 29,000 people from Texas and around the world will attend over 300 workshops, 100 performances, and visit over 1,400 exhibit booths at this nation’s largest music educators convention. For more information please visit: www.tmea.org/convention.
Chloe Espinoza, Joaquin Garza, Dennis Gutierrez, and Rachel Heiser, members of the San Marcos High School Varsity Chamber Ensemble, will perform with the Texas All-State Choir in San Antonio, Saturday, February 16, 2019 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center as part of the 2019 Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention.
They were chosen for this prestigious honor through a competitive process held this year across the state at District, Region, and Area levels. All four students are under the tutelage of private voice instructor, Ms. Mackenize Powell and sing in the SMHS Choir programs under the direction of Dawn Sheridan-Reinhuber and Brigitte Smith who are members of the Texas Music Educators Association, a 19,000+ member organization headquartered in Austin.
This is Chloe and Dennis’s first year to perform as a member of a TMEA All-State organization and Joaquin and Rachel’s second year. Chloe Espinoza is the daughter of Gina Hernandez. Joaquin Garza is the son of Alfredo and Joanna Garza, Dennis Gutierrez is the son of Dennis and Sharla Gutierrez, and Rachel Heiser is the daughter of Billy and Roxi Heiser.
High school students selected to perform in the All-State concerts have competed through auditions to qualify at the state level. All-State is the highest honor a Texas music student can receive. 1,780 students are selected through a process that began with over 72,900 students from around the state vying for this honor to perform in one of 15 ensembles (bands, orchestras, and choirs).
Texas Music Educators Association sponsors the Texas All-State competition. This competitive process begins throughout the state in auditions hosted by 33 TMEA Regions. Individual musicians perform selected music for a panel of judges who rank each instrument or voice part.
From this ranking, a select group of musicians advances from their Region to compete against musicians from other areas in eight TMEA Area competitions.
The highest-ranking musicians judged at the TMEA Area competitions qualify to perform in a TMEA All-State music group. Only the top 2.4 percent of musicians who initially audition become All-State musicians.
These All-State students participate in three days of rehearsals directed by nationally-recognized conductors during the TMEA Clinic/Convention.
Their performances for thousands of attendees bring this extraordinary vent to a close. For the All-State concert schedule and conductor information, go to the Performances section of www.tmea.org/convention.
The Texas Music Educators Association is an association of over 13,500 school music educators dedicated to promoting excellence in music education. Go to www.tmea.org/convention for more information.
