Mathis ISD Conference Provides Windows Into District Learning Infrastructure

4/6/2009

Intermediate School 6th-grade reading teachers Jemima Gomez (left) and Yolanda Dominguez explain a reading strategy that helps students analyze and strengthen reading comprehension skills.

“Building a Strong Foundation for Our Students” was the theme of Mathis ISD’s Parent Involvement Summit held on Saturday, April 4, at Mathis High School. Dr. Maria Rodriguez-Casas, Superintendent of Schools, said “the district’s emphasis on reading and reading strategies, on an extended instructional day, on dual language study is all about preparing our students for future work in which college will play a stronger role in gaining access to work, and certification at all levels will be the norm.” The Parent Summit supplied attendees with windows into the tools, programs, and laboratories the district has set up to support student learning and academic success.

In 30-minute sessions one could learn reading strategies for Intermediate students that would make a lawyer happy; a vocabulary-building exercise for Weber-Hardin students—but applicable for any age student; a lesson in art appreciation from Martin Garcia, the muralist who teaches students in the after-school 21^st Century Community Learning Centers at Weber-Hardin and Intermediate School.

In a well-attended session, parents learned they have access to the “parent portal” on the Mathis ISD website that tracks a child’s TAKS scores, grades, attendance, on-time behavior . Several parents pulled their chairs up close to not miss any part of the demonstration of the powerful tool called the “View Student Information” (VSI) system. VSI has been available to parents for three years. Carmen Westbrook and Sylvia Medrano signed up a number of parents at the session.

A tour of the MHS Learning Laboratory revealed that the lab has the software readily available for each course taught at MHS, and that all students can “catch up” or review any course. The Learning Laboratory can also provide “custom” help to students. If a student is not making progress on a subject such as “quadratic equations” the staff, Manuel Ponce and Frank Galvan, will create a program specifically tailored for the student to learn quadratic equations. This is service that students would have dreamed of in the past, and students today have few excuses to fail a course with such a service available.

The guest speaker, Municipal Judge Daniel Garcia, continued the theme of building a strong foundation by describing his upbringing and his mother’s role in teaching him reading at a very early age, and encouraging him to attend college, and graduate from law school. Judge Garcia not only urged parents to encourage and support their children, but also asked parents to develop their talents, and expand their learning to strength their own foundations.

The “Building a Strong Foundation” theme was emphasized by performances by the Mathis Mariachi Band, which is one of the few district bands to compete in the first-year UIL Mariachi competitions this year, and by the Mathis band’s award-winning percussion band who performed outside in the bright sunshine. If the drumline had appeared in the cafeteria they could have done serious damage to their parents’ eardrums.