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Early voting for the Hays CISD $86.7 million bond election continues through today. During the day, you may vote at Kyle City Hall, Buda City Hall and the Hays CISD Central Administration Office. You may vote early at the Performing Arts Center from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today. During early voting, you may vote at any location and your ballot will reflect which issues/candidates you are eligible to vote for. The bond package includes two new elementary schools, a new middle school, $7.1 million in districtwide improvements, and the purchase of buses, technology and land for future school sites. Because of the growth in the commercial tax base in the district, this bond package carries no additional tax rate impact. Election day is Saturday, May 10, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. When voting on election day, you must vote at your precinct's location. If you are unsure where to vote on election day, please call the district's Central Administration Office, 268.2141, or the Hays County Elections Office, 393.7310.    link to additional bond info
 

Hays CISD announces the 2008 Teachers of the Year. A teacher representative from each of the district’s 17 campuses, plus a Special Education teacher, is named every spring by their peers.
 
Hays CISD Teachers of the Year will be feted at a luncheon on May 9 at the Onion Creek Country Club, hosted by the Hays CISD Education Foundation. An elementary Teacher of the Year and secondary Teacher of the Year for the district will enter the regional and statewide Teacher of the Year competition, sponsored by the Texas Education Agency. In the past six years, three teachers from Hays CISD—Jim Cullen, Renee Herrington and Paige Collier—have represented Central Texas in the statewide competition.

The 2008 Hays CISD Teachers of the Year are:
 

	Tracy Mulligan, Kyle Elementary School
	Betty Nash, Elm Grove Elementary School
	Jamie Huston, Buda Elementary School
	Jamie Griggs, Tom Green Elementary School
	Janice Mangrum, Fuentes Elementary School
	JoAnn Zavala, Hemphill Elementary School
	Mary Ellen Lewis, Negley Elementary School
	Patty Jones, Science Hall Elementary School
	Lucila Bosquez, Tobias Elementary School
	David Hall, Wallace Middle School
	Lorenzo Pool, Dahlstrom Middle School
	Elaine Rackley, Barton Middle School
	Jason Younts, Chapa Middle School
	Danielle Zweschper, Hays High School
	Ryan Neuhaus, Lehman High School
	Joseph Bennett, The Academy @Hays
	Evelyn Gamble, The Impact Center
	Denise Minton, Special Education.

The 3rd Annual Technology Showcase, “no limITs with Instructional Technology” will be from 6-8 p.m. on May 15 at the Performing Arts Center (PAC). As in years past, the PAC will be filled with students, teachers, parents and community members demonstrating and viewing firsthand the “out of this world” technology projects that are happening in Hays CISD.
 
The event will showcase more than 50 projects, including interactive maps, “smart” boards, PowerPoint presentations, architectural drafting systems, robotics, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and distance learning. Students from elementary through high school will be participating in the projects featured.
 
New this year to the technology showcase will be the awarding of Hays CISD Education Foundation Innovative Teaching Grants. The Education Foundation, twice a year, awards grants to teachers for innovative ideas in the classroom. Teachers completed applications for grants in early 2008, and the Spring round of grants will be awarded at the technology showcase. Since 2000, nearly $400,000 in Innovative Teaching Grants have been awarded by the Hays CISD Education Foundation. The public is invited to attend “no limITs” technology showcase. Admission is free.
  link to technology showcase logo winners
  link to technology showcase invitation
 

Kindergarten Roundup is set for May 15 and 16, at all elementary schools in Hays CISD. Children who will be five years old on or before September 1, 2008, are eligible to be enrolled. Parents should bring to Kindergarten Roundup: The child’s birth certificate, current immunization records, proof of parent’s residence in Hays CISD such as a current utility bill or lease agreement. If you do not know which school your kindergarten student would attend, please call 268.2141 or consult the Attendance Zone Info on the website.     link to Attendance Zone Info

40 DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS
The 40 Developmental Assets is a framework adopted by Hays CISD based on the theory that building positive personal assets can help young people grow up healthy caring and responsible, and can protect them from high-risk behavior. For more information, and a glimpse of what the campuses are doing in celebration of the 40 Assets, use this link.

#32 Planning and decision making--Young person knows how to plan ahead and make choices.

The Blanco Vista Elementary School mascot, selected by the school's future students, is the Wildcat and school colors are red, silver and black. Blanco Vista, located in the Blanco Vista development in San Marcos (and within the Hays CISD boundaries), will open with kindergarten through 5th grade for the 2008-09 school year. The dual-language magnet program, currently at Tobias Elementary, will move to Blanco Vista Elementary School.

# 21 Achievement motivation--Young person is motivated to do well in school.

	Four Lehman High School varsity soccer players earned spots on the Academic All District team. They are: Jacques Rogers, Oscar Martinez, Eddie Martell and Jesus Chavez.
	Lisa Padron of Lehman High School will receive a $2,500 scholarship through the Austin Community College College Connection program.

# 22 School engagement--Young person is actively engaged in learning.

Ethan Becker, student at Wallace Middle School, has been selected to travel to the Houston/Galveston area as a participant in Education in Action's Lone Star Leadership Academy, June 23-27. Ethan's selection for the Academy was based on his outstanding academic success, demonstrated leadership ability and his involvement in school and community activities. Education in Action is dedicated to fostering educated and involved Texans, who have the Lone Star Leadership Academy to "Instill the Spirit of Texas in Tomorrow's Leaders."

# 33 Interpersonal competence--Young person has empathy, sensitivity, and friendship skills.

In early October of 2007, Wallace Middle School teachers Glynnis Akin and Christy Henry joined together to complete a project that would have Henry’s 6th grade Language Arts students writing letters to soldiers stationed in Iraq. The brigade the students wrote to belonged to the son of one of Akin’s friends.   All 130 letters were mailed to Corporal Dylan Carroll’s brigade, and as luck would have it they were lost not once, but twice in the mail. Luckily Ms. Akin and Ms. Henry made copies of the letters before sending them off, and Carroll was able to come home to New Braunfels during Christmas and the letters were hand delivered to him at that time. In early April, students received the response they’d been awaiting. The teachers weren’t sure what to expect, but the package was a special surprise. Carroll and Private First Class Antionette Moore replied to 13 of the letters. In addition, the soldiers took the time to make video depicting scenes of their barracks, tanks, missiles, members of their group, and other photographs that helped give the students an idea of what daily life in Iraq looked like.   Ms. Henry’s students have since written back to Carroll thanking him for the letters and video and wishing him a safe trip home. Pictures of the students showing their thanks will also be included with the letters. He is scheduled to return to Georgia in late May. The newest round of letters will be waiting for him when he arrives.

# 26 Caring--Young person places high value on helping other people.

Kyle Elementary School students and staff, through the sale of "Casual Day Passes" and "Luminarias," raised $1,700 for the Relay for Life cancer research event. The amount exceeded the school's goal, and more was expected to be raised through other events.