The DeSoto Digest
A publication of DeSoto County Schools
Newsletter
January 2016
Read to Ride!!!
OBE Principal Sunnie Barkley is congratulating bicycle winners. Thirty students received bicycles for reading from Academy Sports and Outdoors in Olive Branch.
   There was an extra incentive to read at Olive Branch Elementary School this holiday season.  If a student read and completed a "reading log," the student was eligible to win a new bicycle and helmet, compliments of the Academy Sports and Outdoors in Olive Branch.
Employees from Academy Sports and Outdoors delivered 30 bikes to Olive Branch Elementary for their reading program.
   The names of fifteen lucky boys and fifteen lucky girls were drawn from a box of entries.  Besides completing their reading list, their parents had signed release forms saying they could accept a bicycle if selected.
Principal Barkley said students read more than 6,000 books for this program.
   Olive Branch Elementary Principal Sunnie Barkley set a goal for students to read 6,000 books.
   "We met and exceeded that goal," said Heather Boland, first grade teacher at Olive Branch Elementary. "This program was a great incentive to get students to read more."
   Principal Barkley said, "Academy Sports knows how important reading is. Reading is one of the most important things we do at our kin
Kylin Golden was one of the lucky winners.
dergarten and first grade school.  We are very appreciative of their generosity to encourage students to be excited about reading."
   Parent Terra Gentry said her kindergarten student would come to her and say, "It is time to fill up one more spot on our reading log."
   Steve Johnson, store director for Academy Sports and Outdoors in Olive Branch, said, "As a company, we do this to give back to the communities we serve.  It was wonderful to see the expressions on the students' faces when their names were called as winners of the bikes."
   Kylin Golden was one of the winners.  When asked what he thought his mother would say when she found out he won, he replied, "She will say congratulations!"
 
5th Grade Students Learn from
Baptist-DeSoto Cardiologist
Students Dissect
Pig's Heart

   A human heart and a pig heart are similar.  That's one reason Holly Engberg, a fifth-grade teacher at Lewisburg Elementary School, decided her students would benefit from the inspection and dissection of a pig's heart.
   Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto funded the life lesson through a $500 grant with the DeSoto Economic Council's Foundation for Excellence teacher grant program.  Additionally, Baptist-DeSoto asked Dr. Yaser Cheema, a Stern Cardiovascular cardiologist practicing at Baptist, to guide the dissections and speak to the students about his profession.
   "I think these kids are our future," Dr. Cheema said.  "If even one of them out of this class can go on to become a cardiologist, I consider myself a success.  I think about the passion that I have for heart disease and I wanted to share that with them."
   Engberg said she felt the exercise had benefits to the students on several levels.
   "They're learning anatomy, defining the different parts of the heart and will actually be able to identify those," Engberg said.  "They're also exploring the blood flow through the heart, the different stops that it makes with the exchange of oxygen and actually being able to see that through the dissection and through the heart."
 
Lake Cormorant Middle School Students Volunteer to Help Tornado Ravaged Area
   While many middle school students were home for the holidays playing with their electronic devices, two busloads of Lake Cormorant Middle School students gave up their vacation to clean up debris in an area of the state hit by tornadoes.
   On December 30th, 84 Lake Cormorant students, staff and parents went to the Holly Springs area with cases of water, bags of supplies and servants' hearts.  Stacey Pirtle, LCMS assistant principal, and Missy Howard, LCMS teacher, had coordinated their efforts through the disaster relief organization "Hope Reigns" to know where to go to help.
   "We were assigned to clean up the New Hope Village in Holly Springs," Pirtle said.  "It previously served as temporary housing for the homeless in the Holly Springs area.  Our job was to deep clean the inside of the duplex apartments and clean the grounds of the village.  We also organized a clothing distribution house and food pantry."
   While it was cold and raining, Mrs. Pirtle said she never heard a complaint.
   "Everyone worked.  We laughed and raked.  We scrubbed and laughed.  We laughed and bagged leaves.  We picked up sticks and had fun as only my Gators know how to do.  More importantly, we served," she said.
   While they did not actually work in the tornado damaged areas, their work was important.
   "We made a clean, warm place for the families affected by the devastation of the tornadoes to lay their heads.  I talked to them about how blessed we are and through this experience, I hope they all see that," she said.
   After their hard work, they toured the areas hit by the tornadoes. 
   "Our kids became reverently quiet as we drove past homes that were destroyed or damaged.  The moment we saw the first tree ripped from the ground and the first demolished house, our kids 'got it," she said.
  "We left Holly Springs tired, but forever changed by our experiences.  I don't think I have ever been more proud of the attitudes and hard work our group displayed.  We are very appreciative of the tremendous help from our community for the donations and supplies that enabled us to go on a mission of service."
 
Students' Test Scores
Reflect Teachers' Dedicated Work
   From the moment a kindergarten student takes his first steps off the bus, until he walks across the stage at graduation, an amazing transformation will take place at DeSoto County Schools.  This student may come to DCS not knowing his ABC's. However, there is a high probability this student will score far better than his peers across the state, according to the Mississippi Department of Education.
   At the end of the year, MDE released results of three statewide tests, one taken by incoming kindergarten students as they began school in August. The other two were taken during the 2014-2015 school year for grades 3-8.
   The Kindergarten Readiness Assessment indicated how well kindergarten students were ready for school.  The kindergarten assessment state target score is 530, but DCS students scored an average of 524.   That translates into less than half (47.2 percent) were ready for kindergarten when they first entered school.
   Ryan Kuykendall, director of testing, said, "Teachers use the test results to find exact target areas to teach, depending on the students' scores, and start working in those areas immediately.  Kindergarten has changed.  Instruction begins on their first day of school."
   The second set of test scores that were released were for students who were in grades 3 through 8 last year.  They took part in the Mississippi Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests, a new benchmark for testing.
   "Because this is the first year we have used the PARCC tests, there were no previous years to compare the figures to, but the results put DCS students above most other districts in Mississippi," Kuykendall said.
   "We are extremely proud of our seventh and eighth grade math performance," he said.  "The seventh grade math performance is ranked second in the state out of 147 districts.  The eighth grade math was third in the state."
   He noted overall, math was at the top ten in grades three through eight for all the districts, a huge accomplishment considering DCS tests about 2,500 students in each grade.  This is about 1,000 more than any Mississippi district with the next highest number of students taking the test.  Most state school districts tested 500 students or fewer.
  The third component released by MDE included results of American College Testing (ACT).  This was the first time it was required for all Mississippi juniors.
   As a district, DCS had an average ACT composite score among juniors of 18.7, more than a point above the state average of 17.6.  Additionally, Lewisburg High School earned a 21.2 composite score, second overall in Mississippi for non-specialty high schools.
 
New Head Football Coach
at Lewisburg High School
   Matt Gehrke, a former football scholarship player for the Memphis Tigers from 1998 to 2002, has been promoted to Lewisburg High School's head football coach. It is a 5A program.
   He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Butch Veazey who served as head coach for the past six years.  Veazey will continue as a teacher at the high school until the end of this school year.
   Gehrke, 35, began his football coaching career at Horn Lake High School.  He came to Lewisburg High in 2006 and worked as an assistant football coach for four years before accepting a position at Rossview High School in Clarksville, TN.  In 2014, he became head coach at Potts Camp in Marshall County. In 2015, he returned to LHS as an assistant football coach and teacher.  He has also served as head coach in powerlifting, track and archery.
   "We came back to DeSoto County because we wanted our two children to attend school here.  That was always our plan.  We love it here and have purchased a home close to Lewisburg  schools," Gehrke explained.
    "My vision for the football program is to match the success of the band, baseball and volleyball programs at Lewisburg High," he said.  "I am excited about the direction we are going.  I hope to build on Coach Veazey's foundation."
  "We are going to work closely with the Lewisburg Middle School football staff so when their students come to the high school they are ready to go," he added.
   A Texas native, Gehrke describes himself as competitive. From 4th grade through 12th grade, Gehrke lost four games.
   "I love winning.  I hate losing even more," he said. "I vividly remember every detail of those four games," he noted.
   While he loves winning games, Gehrke said he wants his team to know there are other important aspects of life in which he encourages them to strive for success.
   "I believe my players need to know more than football," he added.
   Gehrke's wife, the former Ellen Shackelford of Byhalia, is a third grade teacher at Chickasaw Elementary School.  When she told her husband about the needs of one of her students, he talked to his team and they decided to help that child and his family have a Christmas they would always remember.  On Christmas Eve, his team delivered bicycles and gifts to this family.
   Gehrke is also proud of the academic performance of the Lewisburg High Varsity team.
   "At the end of the second nine weeks, they had a 3.43 GPA.  I check their grades constantly," he said.
   In addition to sports, Gehrke teaches Mississippi Studies, a law-related class, World Geography, and Health. 
   He says he is looking forward to leading the team through spring practice.
  "We are blessed to have the facilities we have here.  Our weight room rivals that of many colleges.  We have a lot of talent with our assistant coaches.  And I think this school system has great administrators.  They have the kids' interests at heart."
 
The DeSoto Digest is a publication of the
Communications Department
DeSoto County Schools
5 East South Street, Hernando
Mississippi 38632
Katherine Nelson, Director
The DeSoto County School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.
The DeSoto Digest is produced by the Communications Department and delivered to all employees and subscribers on the first of each month.

For additional news about DeSoto County Schools, please visit  DCS News or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

Katherine Nelson
Director of Communications

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Good Things Happening at DeSoto Central Middle School
     During the season when most middle schoolers think about what they can receive at Christmas, DeSoto Central Middle School's Beta Club students focused on what they could give.
      On December 18th, students packed 600 donated toys into cars to take to "Bunny Lane" at LeBonheur Children's Hospital.   The whole school contributed gifts so sick children at the hospital could ride in their wheelchairs down "Bunny Lane" and select the gift they wanted.  
     The Beta Club conducts a project each month and the toy drive was their December effort.  The toys will be used throughout the year for patients by the hospital's child life department.
For the Latest
DCSAA Sports News
visit our website
For the second consecutive year, Center Hill High School's Dance Team won the "5A Hip Hop State Championship" at the Mississippi High School Activities Association competition. 

Their dance team coach is Kerry Matthews.

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Calendar 2015-16
January 18th
King/Lee Holiday
February 12th
Professional Development
(Student Holiday)
February 15th
Washington's Birthday Holiday
March 14th -18th
Spring Break
March 25th
Good Friday Holiday
March 28th
Easter Holiday
May 20th
Students' Last Day
May 25th
Teachers' Last Day
May 30th
Memorial Day Holiday
Statewide Magazine Features
DeSoto County
CTC East Student
   Rhylan Morgan attends Center Hill High School and DeSoto County CTC East.  He is the "Student of the Month" in a statewide publication produced by the Mississippi Construction Education Foundation (MCEF), an organization dedicated to recruiting and training "Tomorrow's Workforce."
   At CTC East, he is involved in the Industrial Maintenance program.
   CTC East Instructor Jamie Berryhill said, "Rhylan is an exceptional student and portrays a perfect example of leadership and teamwork.  As a 4.0 student, he has excelled academically.  He is also a hard worker and is dedicated to his tasks.  Rhylan is talented musically, plays the guitar, and is involved in his youth group.  After graduation, Rhylan plans to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering."
Community leaders, teachers, administrators, retirees and many friends turned out for Milton Kuykendall's retirement reception.  The reception was held in the Board Room.  It was hosted by employees to say thank you for the twelve years he served as
DeSoto County Schools' 
Superintendent of Education.