Ms. Madison Pike is pictured with 8th graders Collier Paige and Urijah Thompson, whose project was to clean up Devine.
Devine eighth graders Collier Paige and Urijah Thompson are set on cleaning up Devine for their FCCLA project this year. On November 13th the duo held a trash clean-up for the FCCLA chapter at the road leading to our local Walmart. Paige stated, “This road always has trash along it and looks terrible. I thought it should be the first place we started with our project.” FCCLA members, advisor Linsey Outlaw and another parent volunteer helped to clean up four large bags of trash. Paige and Thompson next set out to teach Devine’s younger students about the importance of not littering and why recycling is important. On December 11th, the DMS students presented to 81 third and fourth graders in Ms. Pike’s Science class. The boys created a slideshow with facts about pollution and some effects that it has on our planet, the different types of pollution, and asked the younger students where they see this locally and beyond. Paige and Thompson reached out to Don’t Mess with Texas for help with their speech. They utilized educational materials on the site for this presentation. To get the third and fourth graders thinking about how they could help with this problem, the boys asked them to create posters about littering on the intermediate campus. These were put up around the school by Ms. Pike to remind all the students to clean up any litter they see and to keep Devine Intermediate looking beautiful!
Devine Lion’s Club recognizes Students of the Month for November. Pictured are: Kellen Nixon, Juan Gonzales, student Tate Wisenbaker, Lewis Stroud, and student Savannah Parker, and Bill Herring.
DHS Student of the Month: Savannah Parker School and Community Involvement: My involvement in school and the community is a huge part of my life. I stay active by playing sports, which not only keeps me fit but also teaches me teamwork and discipline. My time in the FFA gave me a chance to develop my skills of leadership and learn more about agriculture, which is really important to me. I volunteer whenever I can, either helping out at events or participating in community service projects. These experiences have helped me build strong connections and make a positive impact within my community. Future Plans In the future I plan to take flight classes and acquire my private pilot’s license. Once I have my license, I aim to work for a company like UPS or Amazon, delivering packages. This career path excites me because it combines my passion for aviation with the opportunity to play a crucial role in logistics and delivery services. I’m looking forward to the adventure and responsibility that comes with being a pilot.
Devine seventh grader Kamden Paige is setting a goal to help our local Devine Animal Control shelter this year for his FCCLA project titled, “Give a Pet a Home”. Last week, he organized a donation drive at Devine Middle School for the most needed items the shelter is in need of. To generate interest, he was given permission by Mrs. Darnell to offer an incentive for the grade level that donated the most items. At the end of the week, the drive garnered 127 items and the 7th and 8th graders tied! Paige donated the items on Monday, November 25th. He has also created a board that is placed at Triple C Steakhouse in Devine with pictures and biographies of available pets for adoption. Paige plans to update it every other week, as required, to keep it current for those looking to add a pet to their family. When asked why he chose this for his project, he stated, “Because I wanted to help animals get adopted. I’m an animal lover and want them all to have a home.”
By Anton Riecher With a decision required by Dec. 5, the Devine school board tabled action on moving to a four-day school week for the 2025-2026 school calendar with plans for a called meeting in the near future. In the face of opposition from board member Renee Frieda and a quorum of only five members present for the Monday meeting, the board opted to table action until a full board could be present. Frieda cited a lack of research on the impact on families with both parents working for her opposition. She and others also expressed concern about how the change in schedule might affect the learning routine for kindergarten and elementary students.
“I still don’t think we did our due diligence with the people who I think are the most negatively impacted,” she said. However, a motion by Frieda to stick with a five-day school week for the coming school year died for lack of a second. More than 2,100 public schools in 25 states have switched to a four-day school week, often in hopes of recruiting teachers, saving money and boosting attendance, researchers estimate. Rural schools facing significant teacher shortages have led the trend, choosing to take off Mondays and Fridays to give employees and students a three-day weekend. To make up for the lost day of instruction, school officials typically tack time onto the remaining four days. District Superintendent Todd Grandjean recommended moving to the four-day schedule, citing the need to attract and retain qualified teaching talent as the primary advantage. “What we came down to was, in the end, it is a focus on attracting highly qualified talent and retaining the teachers that we have,” Grandjean said. “That in itself will have a positive impact on our students.” Consequences with regard to students remain largely undetermined, he said. “In the beginning, student performance, student attendance and student success were looked at,” Grandjean said. “We were unable to determine whether or not that had a positive or negative growth cycle.” The district has focused on the La Vernia and Bandera school districts in its research on implementing a four-day week. “My recommendation is to approve the four-day work week and then for you to ask us (staff) to prepare a 2025-2026 proposed academic calendar,” Grandjean said. Frieda countered that the board is sworn to make decisions “on the basis of what is in the best interest of the kids, not parents or teachers.” “While I can see that attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers absolutely benefits kids, at the core, this is an experiment that we don’t yet know the impact it would have on the kids,” she said. Some of the most important components of early education is consistency and routine, Frieda said. “When you’re teaching fundamentals to kids and they have three-day breaks instead of two-day breaks what kind of loss to we have as far as consistency,” she said. She also expressed concern that a longer school day for younger students might mean instruction time sacrificed to facilitate more athletics and nap periods. Responding to a question from the audience about whether the problems for parents and their work schedules board president Nancy Pepper said that district moving to a four-day week often compensate with special programs. Unfortunately, those districts report that over time participation in those programs drop to near zero, she said. Frieda said she grew up in a low-income family with five children and that “it would have been very problematic for my parents had they not been in school five days a week.” “I’m raising my kids not in a low-income family and it would have been very problematic for me to determine how we would handle childcare when my child was younger,” she said. The only solution available would have been to move the child to a different school district, Frieda said. Other members of the board said that the need to attract qualified teachers remained a powerful incentive to move to the four-day week. “We have core positions that we can’t fill where people are going to the districts around us with four-day weeks even though our pay is right up there with those,” board member Chris Davis said. Pepper said that of the two missing board members – Carl Brown and Henry Moreno – one indicated support for moving to the reduced week for staffing reasons while the other remains uncommitted. No date was set for the special meeting needed to decide the issue.
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The Lytle Pirates set their sights on going to State, and that’s exactly where they are gonna do! Pictured above are: Johnny Rey Alvarez, Lucas Salazar, Bryan Montes-Rodriguez, Diego Reyna, Yandel Esquivez, Adrian Reyna, and Nathan Garza. Photo by D Wagner.
Lytle Lady Pirate Svetlana Lopez placed 12th to qualify for the November 2 State Meet in Round Rock. Congrats! Photo by D Wagner.
Warhorse Devo Dixon ran a personal record placing 13th and punching his ticket to state! Photo by T Anderson.
Lions District 2-A2 Governor Rose Ann Barajas, Devine Lion’s Club President Lewis Stroud and DHS Principal Juan Gonzalez with students of the month Kourtni Geyer and Jacob Sollock. The Devine Lion’s Club meet the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month at Triple C. Contact Lewis Stroud if you would like to join.
Devine High School students Kourtni Geyer and Jacob Sollock were honored as Students of the Month at a recent Devine Lions Club meeting. Both are seniors at DHS. Kourtni Geyer Kourtni is number three in her class of 119 students. She is president of the student council, president of her Class of 2025, president of the National Honor Society and a member of Youth Alive. She attends church at FBC Devine and is involved in the youth group. She holds a leadership position in the youth group and is the high school representative for multiple committees including children’s, youth, preschool, Lord’s Supper and baptism. “After high school I will be attending college at Texas A&M in College Station. I will be majoring in Kinesiology and Motor Behavior. After taking 1 ½ to 2 years of pre-requisites, I will apply to the Texas A&M School of Nursing and attend for two years. This will allow me to become a registered nurse in just 4 years or less. While working as a nurse, I plan on eventually becoming a nurse practitioner,” said Geyer. She is the daughter of Sue Geyer.
DHS Band Blast from the Past Pictures! Bill Bain was the John Phillip Sousa Award winner in 1963. Bass Drum with new Warhorse logo from the mid-1970s. DHS Band picture from the 1974-75 school year.
Nov. 8 & 9
*All former Devine Band members will be honored at Homecoming this year! You will be recognized in the stands at the HC football game on Friday night, Nov. 8th then again on Saturday, Nov. 9th at the VFW, you will be honored at the DExSTA HC Social, starting at 1:00pm. Come join us and bring pictures or old uniforms, music, etc, for our Band Memory table. If you were ever in the band, no matter how recently, or how long ago – this is for you!! Should be fun to catch up with others and see how the band has changed over the years! Pass this info on to your former band classmates too! See you on Nov. 8-9! *For more information about this, contact Nancy Ehlinger Saathoff ’75 at 210-289-6205 or gnsaathoff@aol.com or on the FB page for the Devine Ex-Students Teachers Association.
By Anton Riecher Enrollment at John J. Ciavarra Elementary remains below pre-COVID numbers with 489 students presently attending, elementary principal Magdalena Strickland reported to the Devine ISD school board on Sept. 16. Strickland, who has been principal at Ciavarra for three years, said that enrollment during her first year on campus stood at between 520 to 530 students. “Our goal was always above 98 percent (capacity) but after COVID it has been kind of hard to get our attendance back up,” Strickland said. “Right now we are holding steady at 93.15 precent.” Families frequently having to move makes it difficult to establish a steady enrollment figure over a length of time, she said. At least 46 students on the Ciavarra enrollment list have some type of military connection. Among programs that Ciavarra utilizes to improve student performance is the Texas Curriculum Management Program Cooperative, a shared service agreement between the 20 Educational Service Centers across Texas. TCMPC reflects the combined effort of the ESCs to help schools operate more efficiently and cost effectively. Ciavarra also utilizes the Character Strong curriculum program that supports students in developing important skills and character traits necessary for success in life and school, Strickland said. The three main goals is teaching students to be kind, strong and well, meaning emotional regulation. The elementary also utilizes the CHAMPS (Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, Participation and Success) behavior management program. “It’s a proactive approach to classroom management that helps teachers create…
Devine Learning Academy graduated its biggest class yet in a ceremony that took place at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, August 19. Twenty-two students received their high school diplomas, with plans for university, military service, and careers ahead of them. Jodie Dzierzanowski, the DAEP Principal spoke at the ceremony, commending the perseverance of the graduating class. “What I like to say is ‘life happened’ and it got them off track,” Dzierzanowski said. She discussed how students had shown a good deal of initiative in this program, since it must be sought out and balanced with the other responsibilities. DLA was started by Devine ISD in 2020 to help young people who were unable to complete high school due to missing credits. It is designed to be flexible, functioning as an online-charter hybrid school. It is free for students living in Devine ISD, though it is still available to other districts with tuition fees.
SAN ANTONIO – Kaydence Lynn Scott was awarded a $1,000 Hermann Sons Life scholarship. Kaydence is the daughter of Jack and Carissa Clark. Three past Hermann Sons Life campers are awarded the Hermann Sons Youth Camp-=Shannon Leigh Gaffney Scholarship based on their application and essay, “How being a Hermann Sons Life camper shaped the person I am today.” Kaydence, a Devine High School graduation, plans to attend the Milan Institute to study massage therapy and esthetics. She is a member of Hermann Sons Life Biry Lodge.
