district home page     contact us

School News - Tip Sheet - 12/17/2008

Up With Trees Beautifies Historic Campus 

12/19/2008, 3 p.m.

Up With Trees, the local non-profit organization dedicated to beautifying Tulsa and creating urban forestry awareness through education, has been working with students at Will Rogers High School to spruce up the grounds of the historic campus.

On Friday, December 19, school administrators are recognizing students involved in the project.

Assistant Principal Lyda Wilbur says members of Up With Trees are replacing unhealthy trees with new ones, and handling watering and other maintenance.

“This is an exciting time for our school,” Wilbur said.

The school was built in 1939 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. Founded in 1976, volunteers with Up With Trees have planted more than 18,000 trees and now maintain more than 450 tree sites in the Tulsa area.

 

Elementary Students to Visit Assisted Living Center 

12/19/2008, 10 a.m.

McKinley Elementary School students are delivering holiday cheer to residents of the Prairie Rose Assisted Living Center.

Teacher Carolyn McDonald—who will also, along with her class, demonstrate pillow making—reports her students have been hard at work preparing gifts to give to the residents. McKinley music teacher Sharon Hatfield is teaching her charges to perform “Christmas at the OK Corral.”

The public and media are invited to attend. Call 833-8720 for more information.

 

Award-Wining TPS Students to Perform MLK Speeches 

1/15/2009, 6:30 p.m.

Three students in the Tulsa Public Schools system that received accolades during a speech contest honoring legendary civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., will reprise their performances this week.

The contest’s theme was: “I Have a Dream, Too.” Students were not allowed to paraphrase or directly quote from Dr. King’s original “I Have a Dream” speech. The competition, a mainstay for over a decade and judged by members of the local media, was held at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church.

Eighteen students entered. The third place winner was Kerr Elementary’s Robert Oterra, second place went to Mitchell Elementary’s Angelo Ramirez and Kennedy Brooks, a student at Carnegie Elementary, took first.

“All of the students did outstanding,” said Bill Crowell, an associate minister at the church. “Kennedy—she’s a ball of fire. The first line in her speech was, ‘I may be small but I have big dreams.’ The crowd was hanging on her every word.”

You can hear it for yourself. Angelo, Kennedy and Robert will deliver their speeches again when the church holds their annual awards dinner on January 15 at 6:30 p.m. Contact Crowell at 699-0127 for more information.

 

School Marks Obama's Inauguration 

1/20/2009, 6 p.m.

Anderson Elementary School is commemorating the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.

The event, dovetailing with a school literacy night, will feature student performances, story time, and door prizes before and after Obama’s address.

“We are excited to commemorate this momentous occasion,” said Brenda Anderson, the school's principal.

 

District Students Selected by Music Educators Association 

1/28/2009

Tulsa Public Schools is extremely well-represented as the Oklahoma Music Educators Association selects its All-State Choir and Jazz Ensemble.

Paige Godfrey, the district’s music curriculum specialist, reports the choir and ensemble are “very prestigious groups chosen from the top musicians across the state.”

Here is the TPS line-up: Betsy Hays, Edison High School and Madelyn Edwards, East Central High School, were selected for the choir.

Ben Cowen and Taylor Johnson, Edison, have been tapped for the jazz ensemble. Booker T. Washington’s Terri Fleming and Madeline Lackey and Memorial High School’s Sara Weisman are part of the All-State Women’s Choir. The association’s annual conference is January 28-31, 2009, at the Tulsa Convention Center. Go to www.OKMEA.org for more information.

 

Choose your style.