September 12, 2022
Focus on our Fabulous Students
Congratulations to Haskin Elementary’s Super Students! Last week, the first round of Super Students were recognized for their hard work and great behavior!
Here are the Super Students:
Kindergarten- Gianna Marquez
Edelyn Guaderrama-Dominguez
Anna Bucio
1st Grade- Arianna Perez
Arianna Chavez
Mikael Bernal
2nd Grade- Yuraisi Villagomez
Jacqueline Ramos
Ryker Bouet
3rd Grade- Jayden Aragon
Neelah Frank
4th Grade- Aubree Gonzalez
Lexi Beiriger
5th Grade- Ricardo Ruvalcaba Martinez
Gisselle Enriquez
Way to go! We are proud of each of you!
Focus on our Fabulous Staff
This isn’t Michael Martinez’s first year in the district, but he is taking on some new responsibilities. Mr. Martinez is teaching math to our 6th-grade students along with working with our middle/high students in re-engagement. Michael is an ASU graduate and holds a B.S. in science. Michael does a great job connecting with our students and being a positive role model for them. He gains the respect of students by being a good listener and a great student advocate. We are glad he is part of the team.
Just like Michael, Rodney Mondragon is not a new face in the district, but he is also taking on a new role. Rodney is supporting our youngest Vikings at Haskin as the Elementary Behavior Support teacher. He has been our head HS wrestling coach for several years. He has done a great job motivating and coaching our students. Last year he stepped into the head football coach position and he is continuing in that role this year. Our Viking football team had a successful first home game on Friday night against Peyton! The boys showed a lot of heart and came out with the victory beating Peyton 28-20! Great job Coach Mondragon and Vikings!
Jade Cantello is a new member of our Viking staff and is one of our 1st-grade teachers. She worked previously at Metz Elementary. She loves teaching and considers her greatest attribute to be her patience. Jade is a mom to two daughters, her oldest daughter is Avacyn, who is 5 years old, and Liliana, who is 3 years old. Her family lives in Monte Vista. She loves to teach and her favorite subjects are reading and science.
Trish Rue is a new face in our district, but not new to education. She is a very experienced educator and we are excited to have her as part of our team. Trish worked in Mountain Valley for 2 years, Del Norte for 14, Sargent for 2, and she even did her student teaching in Center when she was just getting started. We are glad she made the decision to come back to Center! She is teaching math classes to middle school and high school students. Trish’s assets include her growth mindset and her ability to use data and resources to provide quality instruction. She is already off to a great start building positive relationships with students and still holding them to high expectations!
Chad Hacking is our new middle school social studies teacher. He is coming to us from Mt. Nebo in Payson, Utah, where he worked for four years. He is a knowledgeable, passionate, and entertaining teacher. I’ve already heard some great instruction coming from his classroom. He has been giving 110% since the first day of school. Welcome to the team Chad. We are glad you are here!
Chasey Blach is our new 4th grade teacher and this is her first year teaching! She took a class in high school in which she helped in an elementary classroom. That experience helped solidify her decision to become a teacher. She played volleyball at Adams State and went through the teacher education program there. She brings some great energy to our team and has even stepped up to share her expertise and is coaching middle school volleyball!
Joe Martinez is a veteran staff member and has been in our district for 18 years. He first started with the district as a substitute teacher and later he was hired as a paraprofessional. He was in that position for 2 years and he was gradually given classes to teach in his field of study. Within 4 years, he was teaching a full schedule of Middle School PE classes. He is an Adams State alum and he is currently a full-time High School PE/Weightlifting teacher. Throughout his time in Center, he has coached football, soccer, basketball, and track. Joe shares that coming to work isn’t a job, he says, “I get to come in and share my knowledge and passion of fitness with my students. I love seeing students make strong growth in my class. I get to enjoy and share moments of success when students reach their fitness goals in class.” As a Center graduate, Joe’s favorite color is Viking blue!
Rewind
There are great things going on around the district. Quality instruction, students focused and engaged, and staff working hard to meet the needs of all of our students. Last week, the furniture was delivered and installed in the modular buildings. Hannah Metzgar’s elementary art class has been meeting there since last year and Mr. Mondragon and Mr. Kuhn's classrooms are now set up.
Thanks to Wendy Murillo for coordinating with optometrists to provide vision screenings for ALL of our students. These efforts help the district to fulfill one of our core beliefs, that with our support, ALL students can succeed and be successful in life.
Each of the leadership teams working on improvement strategy #5- Team Commitment met last week to continue the Big Rock work that was started this summer at our retreat.
Friday was a professional development day for staff and included training on Branching Minds Activ Panels, small group reading interventions, and educator ethics. Staff also had time to work on Canvas course development.
Our fall sports are in full swing. The Lady Vikings played hard Thursday night and had three close games. The girls are playing well together and their skills and experience are evident on the court! The team is 1-1 in league play and will be headed to Buena Vista onThursday. Let's go ladies! You ARE the BEST!
Our cross-country team had its first meet this weekend at the Joe Vigil Invitational. Our two high school runners, Promise Casados and Bianey Higuera represented the Vikings well and finished the race together within 30 seconds of each other. Our middle school runners also did well. Dahir Ornelas was the first Viking to cross the finish line, followed by Westlea Tipsward. Giselle Meraz was our first middle school lady Viking to cross the finish line. Keira Ruggles was close behind, followed by Oceana Garcia, Anahlicia Villagomez, Charli Martinez, and Mia Higuera. The ladies placed 10th as a team. Way to go girls! (photo courtesy THE MR. Schoenfelder)
Fast Forward
Upcoming dates to get on calendars
Monday, September 12th- juniors and seniors will be attending a College Fair at Adams State. Thanks to Ms. Alfson for making the arrangements so that our students can have this experience.
Tuesday, September 13th- Superintendents Advisory Council- SLV BOCES
4:30 pm- District Accountability- first meeting
6:00 pm- Regular School Board Meeting
Wednesday, September 14th- School Picture Day
Thursday, September 15th- Rise SymPawsium for Juniors
SRO interviews
Cross Country @ Antonito
Volleyball @ Buena Vista
Friday, September 16th- New Teacher PD
7:00 pm- CHS Football @ Rye
Saturday, September 17th- Benefit Dinner for Abel Martinez
Wednesday, September 28th- Open House- 4:30- 6:00 pm