Rummel Creek Celebrations!

Rummel Creek has always had a history of great celebrations.  This year, even with the move, RCE is showing it's true colors.....Red, White, Blue and of course ORANGE!  The music teacher, Karen Donathen, had a vision after watching the Darrin Goforth funeral to celebrate the officers of the law during our annual Red Ribbon Spirit Rally with the Rummel Creek students.

The design started in Karen's head, but quickly moved to student creativity and envolvment.  Students wrote songs, performed them, and created videos.  A committee made up of students and faculty members planned the Spirit Rally.  Ethan Manry, fifth grade student, designed the invitation and Ross Stewart, fifth grade student, began putting together video clips and coming up with ideas.  Girl Scout troops offered to do things as well.

Video of the students performing their songs
Video in honor of police and law enforcement
Slide show with words to songs

Check back to the blog next week to see photos and information about the actual event.

Keep forgetting to update this blog

It's August of 2015.  We are still housed in the Transition Campus on the parking lot of Westchester Academy.  We're in the countdown months to moving into our new building back at 625 Brittmoore.  What a change is taking place on Brittmore.
Here are some photos from the first day of school.  We are up to 718 students...quite a few more this year.  Lots of new smiling faces and new parents to show around.  We are so excited this year!

Here are some updated photos on the new building.  It's really taking shape ....the cabinets are up on the wall and you can see the magnetic wall backing on the teaching wall of the classroom.

2015-16 is off to a GREAT start!  

Another Last....sort of....

Well, I had started this months ago (And never posted)....and now we are at the lasts....of so many things.  It's still hard to believe that we are down to the last two weeks in the current RCE building.  Below are some more thoughts and photos of some of our "last" activities.

In April we had our Bluebonnet Celebrations for students reading books from the Bluebonnet Award List.  This year for the give aways, I cleaned out drawers of sketches by illustrators and authors that had visited Rummel Creek over the years.  The kids had so much fun picking out their posters from the stacks I had saved.  I also found my box of buttons from conferences in the past.  Students had fun picking through the boxes and finding just the right button....glad to find new homes for these mementos...the new library will be mostly glass, so no posters hanging around!

As the students rummaged through piles of posters, I  thought back to all of the fun authors and illustrators who have visited RCE over the past 12 years.  Lots of great memories and learning.  I even found a few posters from years before the current library..and photos of the original library at RCE.

And still another last. Our last visiting author in this school building shared with us in May.  The authors (Katie Clark and Sarah Wynne) of the River Royals entertained the students in the KIVA all day long as we followed the history of the Mississippi River and learned about the states along the river.  It was good learning for the students, and teachers were given some packing time.  PreK and Kinder students listened carefully to all of the states that we traveled through as we tubed down the Mississippi River.

Although the new campus will have a KIVA, we will miss this one...it's perfect for all of our large group activities....great for Author Visits...everyone can see....Our last Author Visit in the current RCE...great memories of writers and illustrators that shared their stories with us...

Although it's not a last, the library is looking pretty sad...the books that filled the shelves have been packed and shipped out to the transition campus or long term storage.  Technology is beginning to be packed and sent over as well.  Our days are numbered in the current RCE building.  Such memories in these walls!  The number of students that have passed through the halls from PreK - fifth grade and on to bigger and better things.  Looking forward to the new building, but remembering the illustrious past and the special students that have passed through the doors of this Rummel Creek building. (Wondering what the future will be!)

Oh yes...in the middle of the packing...we had book fair...our last book fair in this building....see the silver carts before we set it up in the "barren" library.

And still more photos of the packing going on...it's 25 years of "stuff" for me to evaluate and 51 years of books a memorabilia...hard to decide what needs to be kept and what needs to go.   It's hard to believe that the current library was built in 2001 and it's will be gone in just a few weeks.

And of course...last week we had our final faculty meeting in the current building.....our next meeting will be June 6th at the transition campus.  Two more weeks (and they are not full weeks) at the current RCE....

And so the lasts continue!

Saying Good Bye to an RCE Legend who leaves behind a strong Legacy

It is with sadness that we must report the passing of Shirley Ann Bayless Hale Lincoln on January 22, 2014.  She was born on June 23, 1934 in Iraan, Texas.  Shirley graduated from Odessa high School in 1952 and from the university of Texas in 1956, magna cum laude, with a B. A. degree in the Plan Two program. Shirley completed her Master's degree from Cornell University on a Ford Foundation Fellowship in 1957.  On June 1, 1957, Shirley married her college sweetheart, Hulen Hale.
Shirley taught first grade for four years and became the the youngest educator to serve as an elementary school principal in the history of SBISD.
During Shirley's 43 year career, she served as president of the Texas elementary Principals' Association, president of the South Central Association of Elementary School Principals and president of the National Association of Elementary School Principals.  Among her many honors, Shirley was also name Distinguished Principal of the Year in 1983.
In 1996, during a tragedy in her late adult life, she found a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Shirley leaves a legacy of students, teachers and parents that she touched through her 38 years at Rummel Creek.  How we will miss Hurricane Shirley!

On Monday, February 3rd, a gathering of her fellow educators, parents and past students joined together in the Shirley Lincoln Library at Rummel Creek to celebrate her life and share precious memories of this fine woman who moved at a fast pace and never met a problem she couldn't tackle one way or another.
Bonnie Williford Meine shared stories of the early days of Rummel Creek and the strength that this school was built upon.  It was a wonderful gathering of old friends just before the Rummel Creek school as we know it goes down in preparation for a new building.  How perfect that Shirley was able to attend our 50th anniversary celebration last spring!

 Flowers from TEPSA

Sublett Wild Family

Judy was a student and then her children also attended RCE!  

Martha Jorgensen (co-conspirator to get the gathering going), Susan Thompson 

David Mudd - first student to register at RCE in 1962!

David and his sister Pam (second student to register)

Bonnie starting to share the stories

Here's a little of what I had to say at the Gathering:

The library in the new school will continued to be named the Shirley Lincoln Library to keep her legacy going at RCE.  I would love to collect stories of Shirley to put together in a book to be left in the library.  So if you have stories and have a moment to drop me an e-mail..I’d love to have them.

Here at Rummel Creek, our fifth grade students write "I am poems," so here’s an "I am" Poem in memory of Shirley.

Shirley was from sticky notes, yellow legal pads, hand lotion and big glasses filled with water – always with a straw.

Shirley was from ambition, drive, determination, goals and achievements

Shirley was from faculty meetings, parents, teachers and students

Shirley was from Rummel Creek is home and faculty is family

Shirley was from Texas - Odessa, UT, Cornell, Spring Branch, and Rummel Creek, Marshall

Shirley was from “hey friend”, “Good to see you, good to see you”, “Gena” and “mr. Joe will take that”

Shirley was from Carrabas and Olive Garden

Shirley was from meticulous, Neiman Marcus, and hair appointments

Shirley Bayless Hale Lincoln was Educator Extraordinaire, Mentor to many and principal to plenty.

How blessed we all were to be a part of Shirley’s world. 

Wayne Schaper Sr. sharing about the scholarship

Roddie Ray-Stiles, principal from Meadwood & Frostwood sharing Shirley stories

Mike from TEPSA

Hulen Hale

A scholarship fund has been set up through the Spring Branch Education Foundation.  Please contact the Foundation if you would like to contribute in Shirley's memory.   Please note on your contribution that it is for the Shirley Bayless Hale Lincoln Scholarship.

Another fund has been set up to purchase a bench or sculpture at the new school in memory of Shirley.  If you are interested contact Rummel Creek and we'll get you more information.

Remembering fondly a true Rummel Creek Legacy.  Another Rummel Creek Legend/legacy will be celebrated at the Spring Branch Gala. 

 Rummel Creek as one former teacher put is "a utopia" - an unbelievable place to work and even better place to learn.  Through the Shirley stories we learned that Shirley asked for what she wanted, no matter who it was - she even asked the superintendent to get her a sandwich because she was working late.  That legacy has continued!  Rummel Creek is a very special place.