Dickinson ISD Gator Bytes

This Thursday, April 7, the Dickinson Independent School District will host an open house and ribbon cutting from 5-6:30 p.m. for its new Education Support Center, located at 2218 FM 517 East, near the intersection of Timber Drive and FM 517. The event is open to the public. A ribbon cutting will take place at 6:00 p.m.

The new ESC is part of the $107.5 million dollar bond issue passed by voters in 2007. The building has been designed very energy-efficient with solar panels and also a wind turbine to help with electricity costs. Three baseball fields have been included behind the facility to benefit Dickinson youth. The building was constructed in a way to allow for growth in the future, as student enrollment is expected to continue to increase. Dickinson ISD, which currently serves 9,000 students, has grown by approximately 3,000 students since 2003.

DHS Boys Varsity Soccer team

ends playoff run as Area Champs

The playoff run for the Dickinson High School boys soccer team came to an end Tuesday night after being defeated by Pasadena ISD's Dobie High School 3-1 in the regional quarterfinal game at the Galena Park ISD Stadium.

The boys playoff run is something the team can be proud of as they went farther into the playoffs than any other DHS boys soccer team in UIL 5A competition to finish the season as Area Champs. The team scored a 2-0 victory this past Friday night against Channelview High School to earn the Area Champs title.

Congratulations Gators on a great playoff run.

DHS FFA competes at Houston Rodeo

While most of us were on Spring Break, the Dickinson High School Future Farmers of America were hard at work with their animals. DHS had six students compete in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. For the entire week the students arrived at the livestock show at four in the morning and left late in the evening. The students worked hard to have good showings and promote the Dickinson FFA.

Students that competed included Scott Henry, Courtney Olney, Tiffany Seliner, Brittany Hines, Kyle Laqua and Megan Manis.

All together the students brought back to Dickinson a 5th place finish, 7th place finish, 9th place finish, and a 11th place finish. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is extremely competitive, so finishing in the top 15 is a big honor. On March 20, John Pelzel and Jake O'Kelly competed in the rodeo. Collectively, they won over $3,000 in prize money. Senior Brittany Hines also won a $1,000 scholarship from the rodeo. Good job, FFA!!

DHS "Gatorzillas" Robotics Team takes big awards at Houston regional contest

The Dickinson High School Gatorzillas earned 2nd place and were named finalist at the Houston Lone Star Regional competition. The Gatorzillas faced several challenges during the day, but persevered and were even given the Gracious Professionalism Award for outstanding sportsmanship.

The Gatorzillas began three years ago at Dickinson High School. In that time, the group has made quite a name for itself at area and regional competitions. Way to go, Gatorzillas!!

Fourth graders show off golf skills
at First Tee's Champions Challenge

The Houston Shell Open kicked off activities March 26 with the First Tee's Champions Challenge, where 265 fourth graders from 93 elementary schools participated in the event held at the Red Stone Golf Course.

Participating in the event where 14 Dickinson ISD students from Bay Colony, Calder Road, K.E. Little, San Leon and Silbernagel elementary schools.

The Dickinson students were placed on teams with students from other campuses. The team including Calder Road students earned second place on the blue course, while the team including Silbernagel students placed second on the orange course. Two Silbernagel students were among the top individual scorers with Jafar Otems in fifth place and Sydney Wilke in seventh place. Also earning the opportunity at the campus level to represent Dickinson ISD at the event were Megan Jacobs, Shain Jordan and Amy Medina from Bay Colony; Olivia Resendez and Clay Sheppard from Calder Road; Andrea Rivas, Carolyn Richards and Sidney Wilson from K.E. Little; Joseph Jacquet-Childs, Mariya Pettigrew and Christian Salinas from San Leon; and Zack Rady from Silbernagel.

Teachers helping coordinate the First Tee Champions Challenge included Jenny Delafuente from Bay Colony, Debbie Broxmeyer from Calder Road, Lara Sanchez from K.E. Little, Shari Flatt from San Leon and Lisa Guthrie from Silbernagel.

McAdams Symphonic Choir gets high praise

Congratulations to the McAdams Junior High Symphonic Choir for the outstanding performances at the UIL competition in Lake Jackson. The choir received a rating of "1" or "Superior Performance" from all six judges on the stage and sight-reading performance. A "Superior" rating is the highest rating that a choir can receive in UIL competition. As a result, the choir earned the Sweepstakes Trophy!

Members of the choir are Brianna Bell, Kayla Brannan, Rosie Calderon, Ana Cannatella, Kathryn Chan, Claire Espinoza, Nicole Fredericksen, Kiana Henderson, Meghan Howard, Katlyn Huynh, Samantha Jaramillo, Kassie Long, Alyssa Papa, Melissa Perez, Robyn Reichle, Maria Santos, Annissa Senegal, Shelby Sonnier, Alicia Strambler, Cristina Velasquez and Vanessa Vo.