Welcome to Good News!
Highlighting Achievements and Successes at
the Texas School for the Deaf.

Volume 6, Issue 5

TSD's VEX Robotics Teams Score High in Recent Tournaments

Our Middle School VEX Robotics teams has performed amazingly at recent tournaments against other Deaf high schools across the country.

The 8th grade Robotics team, TEXAS RANGERS, won the VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) out of 21 Deaf schools. The other TSD team, CALI KING, came in second. This is the third consecutive win for TSD.

Additionally, four 7th grade robotics teams (DELTA, VIRUS, THUNDER BOTS, and BATTLE BOTS) competed in the VEX IQ Challenge. Both the BATTLE BOTS and THUNDER BOTS won the competition as an alliance.

The BATTLE BOTS team also received the Excellence Award, the top all-around program award. The Think Award, recognizing effective programming, was awarded to the THUNDER BOTS team. The DELTA team received the Design Award, recognizing the most effective and efficient robot design process.

During a recent Governing Board meeting, Board member Dina Moore said her husband watched the competition, which was virtual. She shared, "My husband watched the Deaf middle school robotics competition and was very impressed with TSD; they did a really good showing."

Congratulations to our wonderful robotics middle school teams.

Photo shows the five members from the eighth grade robotics team, Texas Rangers. All are wearing their blue robotics team t-shirt. One is holding the robot.

Photo shows two of the Cali King robotics team members wearing red shirts as they guide their robot through the obstacle course.

Photo shows two students of the Battle Bots robotics team holding their robot.

Photo shows two students of the Thunder Bots robotics team holding their robot.

Sunshine 2.0 Performs at TSD for Black History Month

The theatre performance troupe, Sunshine 2.0, performed at TSD for Black History Month.

Led by Fred Beam, the traveling group from Rochester Institute of Technology's (RIT) National Technology Institute for the Deaf (NTID) entertained TSD students with interpreted musical theatre and dance.

Their message to the students: to be their true self and reach for their goals.

Photo shows the Sunshine 2.0 theatre troupe wearing a combination of black and red dance interpreting a song.

Two TSD Athletes Receive High Accolades by NDIAA

Two of our students were selected as National Deaf Interscholastic Athletic Association's (NDIAA) Athletes of the Year.

Selected as 2021 NDIAA Player of the Year, Zefan N. was recognized for taking a huge responsibility as quarterback leading the Rangers football team to nine wins. A leader on and off the field, Zefan kept the team together through difficult times and always found a way to get everyone involved.

Offense
Passing: 111/183, 2040 yards, 40 touchdowns, 4 interceptions
Rushing: 44 carries for 639 yards, 9 touchdowns

Defense
96 tackles (47 solo, 49 assist), 7 quarterback sacks, 2 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery

Patricia S. was selected Female Runner of the Year due to her best time in two miles (16:37.0) among the Deaf female runners in the nation. She is the fifth TSD female athlete who has been selected for this honor since 2016.

[Id. First photo is of NDIAA Player of the Year Zefan N. who is wearing his navy Rangers football jersey in front of a backdrop of TSD Rangers logos. The backdrop also reads tsdrangers.com]

[Id. Second photo is of Patricia S., Female Runner of the Year, wearing her navy Rangers track jersey in front of a backdrop of TSD Rangers logos. The backdrop also reads tsdrangers.com]

Chess Champions

Competing against 12 schools at the National Chess Invitation III, hosted by the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (WPSD), the TSD chess team won.

They beat WPSD, the defending champs, in the semi-finals, and then won against Michigan School for the Deaf (MSD) to claim the championship.

Photo of the TSD Chess Team: Coach Wayne Bankston, Max P., Shadow T., Patricia S., Joshua M., Alex K., and Coach Donald Cook. Patricia is holding the large trophy.

Our Book Tasting Party at the MS & HS Library

You may be wondering—what is a book tasting party?  Do we actually taste books?  Well, we are glad you asked!

A book tasting party is a high-impact event that engages students in a fun activity while introducing them to a wide array of books, including different authors, genres, and series.

This activity gives students the opportunity to sample (or in this case, taste!) some juicy reads in a short period of time and come away with a wish list of titles to pursue.  The 7^th graders and their teachers visited the library for their book tasting party and sampled a total of six genres (fantasy, mystery, realistic fiction, non-fiction, historical fiction, and sci-fi) and magazines on our Sora by Overdrive app.

The book tasting menu and critic’s notes helped students determine their new favorite genre and were prompted to check out books shortly after their party.  In sum, the party was a great way to share our love of reading!

Photo shows librarian Meghan Blackmon explaining Book Tasting to a group of 7th grade students.

Education and Advocacy Summit

Photo of the 2022 Education Advocacy Summit Group.

TSD High School students got to meet virtually with U.S. congressional offices to bring awareness to the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act, IDEA full funding act, and increased funding for personnel preparation.

Isabelle M. (10th Grade), Amrin S. (12th Grade), Rylee D. (10th Grade), Jeanique D. (9th Grade) and George J. (12th Grade) got to meet with Johana Mata with Congress Lloyd Doggett and Patrick Michaels with Senator John Cornyn.

Trevor Anderson, TSD's U.S. History teacher, said of the students' experience after the virtual meetings, "Our students are feeling empowered and inspired after the summit. They expressed interest in doing more advocacy; [we] will work with our career counselors and others for more opportunities like this."

Ribbon Cutting Open House

TSD officially opened its new Early Learning Center (ELC) and Administrative and Welcome Center (AWC) with a ribbon cutting and open house on February 24th.

Ribbon cutting honorees included former Governing Board President Eric Hogue and the Governing Board, Superintendent Claire Bugen, and high school senior Trey Johnson.

Several TSD students served as ambassadors, providing tours of the new ELC and AWC. Representing student organizations, these ambassadors included Deyon R. and Timara A. (BDSU), Bre'asia M. (PRIDE), Josue F. (Manos), Trey Johnson (Jr. NAD), and Anahit T. (PAL).

Among those in attendance included Governing Board members, TSD Foundation members, architects from McKinney York, representatives from CHASCO Constructions and TFC, TSD students, families, alumni, other stakeholders, FOX 7, Telemundo, and a staff person from State Senator Royce West's office.

The new construction incorporates the architectural philosophy known as DeafSpace using deaf-friendly design principles which takes into consideration sensory reach, space, proximity and mobility, light and color, and acoustics.

ELC and AWC Ribbon Cutting Open House Highlights

Photo shows former TSD Governing Board President Eric Hogue, Superintendent Claire Bugen, and High School Senior Trey Johnson cutting a blue ribbon with very large red scissors.

Photo shows attendees talking at the new Administrative and Welcome Center.

A student ambassador talks to a visitor about the Superintendent's office at the new Administrative and Welcome Center.

A group photo of attendees in the lobby of the Administrative and Welcome Center. Among them are previous and current TSD Governing Board members, including Angie Wolf, Connie Sefcik, Shawn Saladin, Eric Hogue, Superintendent Claire Bugen, and Sha Cowan.

Many photos shared in this document were taken from respective
TSD department's Instagram accounts.

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Published March 24, 2022 Print