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PAISD welcomed November with an attitude of gratitude, and we are thankful for the many things happening in our district.

We are thankful that we were able to complete the first three months of school without having to close any of our facilities because of a high number of COVID cases. We are currently grateful for an extremely small count of active cases and an increase in the number of staff and students who have been vaccinated.

We look forward to our students ages 5-11 being fully vaccinated as well, to protect their immune systems from this, sometimes deadly virus.

November is National Native American Month, and we are celebrating Indian culture throughout the district. We are thankful for the significant contributions these first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the United States, and we recognize the rich ancestry and many traditions that remain with us today.

We are grateful for our hard-working students and staff who are rising to the challenges of rigor in the classroom. As you scroll through our social media timelines, you will see many recognitions that we are so very proud of, including: Students of the Week, Teachers of the Month, Staff Member Spotlights, Good Character in Action and so much more.

We truly appreciate our community sponsors, business partners, PTA donors and campus supporters for allowing our employees to recognize Honor Roll and Perfect Attendance students, many of whom are being rewarded with food, games, awards and prizes.

We appreciate our staff who volunteer their time and talents to our student clubs and organizations such as the Art, Gardening and Cooking Clubs at our elementary campuses, Art Studio and Titan Men on the Rise at TJMS, Dads Club and so many more.

Many are working before, after school and on weekends to offer enrichment activities outside the classroom.

Our community is excited and we are glad our varsity Titans finished the season as Co-Champions and have advanced to the bi-district playoffs. We are also very proud of Abraham Lincoln’s 8th grade football team for being named District Champions this season.

We are thankful for an awesome job by our players, coaches, trainers and Titan supporters.

Some of our high school seniors are already receiving college acceptance letters and scholarships, and that is always something to be thankful!

We are proud to announce Jesus Saucedo Bucio has been named a finalist for the very competitive QuestBridge scholarship. We congratulate Jesus and his support system.

We are thankful that our neighbor, Noah Jackson at PNG, is on the road to recovery. We were happy to send him an oversized greeting card filled with “Get Well” wishes from many of our high school football team members, coaches and even a few of our central office administrators.

We are praying for Noah (#41) to return to 141% soon.

Several of our campuses are participating in holiday food donation drives. We love to see our students involved in community service and giving back.

Our Multilingual and Migrant Department began a new schedule of English classes this month. Classes are Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and include a section of Citizenship themes.

There is open enrollment for all classes, and those community members wanting to learn English can sign up for the schedule that suits them best. All classes are virtual via Zoom. We welcome interested parties to contact Mr. Ricardo Celis at the PAISD administration building for more info.

We are grateful for all the hard work from this department to assist and support our bilingual families.

We are most grateful to Valero’s Benefit for Children organization for awarding PAISD a grant totaling $100,000! We will proudly use the grant to purchase STEM items and equipment to support math and science classroom programs and hands-on activities.

Our math and science teachers at every level have been hard at work using experiments, observations and manipulatives to bring these subjects to life for our students, and we are thankful for their efforts.

PAISD will continue to promote our Career and Technical Education campus and its amazing programs each month. Our first social media visual highlighted the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Program.

Our other programs that will be featured are: Audio/Video Production, Automotive Technology, Business Management, Collision Repair and Refinishing, Computer Maintenance, Construction Technology, Cosmetology, Family Consumer Science, Health Science Technology, Precision Metal Manufacturing, Vocational Office Education Practicum in Business and Welding.

Many of our CATE graduates are equipped with certifications and licenses to go straight into the workforce after high school.

We have started recognizing some of our amazing alumni — many of whom are still staunch supporters of our students — on our social media platforms. If you would like to nominate an alumni for recognition, email socialmedia@paisd.org to request a form.

In this season of Thanksgiving, PAISD has a plethora of positive performances in every facility that we are extremely grateful for!

 

Dr. Mark Porterie is superintendent of schools for the Port Arthur Independent School District. He can be reached at mporterie@paisd.org.