Smooth Start to New School Year!
LadyCats Win Silver Bracket of Lu Allen VB Tourney!
August 26, 2010
Hard to believe but another school year is underway! Guess this makes number 29 for me (professionally and 45 years totally!) and it has to be one of the smoothest starts in all those years. Coach Spitzer has jumped right in there with both feet and done a great job of kicking off his first year as principal. Ms. Bailey, Ms. Rhodes and Ms. Creel are "gently" showing him the ropes and doing their magic to get students in the correct classes and filling in all of that horrid paperwork required by the state of Texas and the Texas Education Agency! They do a wonderful job making sure that everything is in compliance and done in a timely manner.
It is such a tremendous benefit to have such a great, stable faculty/staff with which to work! When our instructional team gets back to school they can hit the ground running and it's business as usual. This gives us a tremendous academic advantage. Our biggest hurdle is integrating our new students into our family and making sure that they understand the exemplary expectations that we have within Newcastle ISD. Doesn't take long!
Our support staff which includes cafeteria, custodial and maintenance employees have also been very busy with preparations for the start of school. Poor Allen and Clemencia have been working all summer to prepare not only for the start of school but our big homecoming the first week of August. They have done a great job and Allen has truly been a blessing to our school with his vast knowledge and experience. Elizabeth is in her second year of food service supervision and has also hit the ground running. There is much pre-planning that has to be done for our cafeteria to operate and she has done a wonderful job as well. She's got all the food ordered and ready for Deanie to cook up for the kids! It's always hard to keep the troops happy when it comes to food, but our ladies do the very best they possibly can under some very tough circumstances. Due to the cost of food, drinks, supplies, and equipment it is nearly impossible to make ends meet in the cafeteria but we do the best we can!
Our Newcastle LadyCats finished the first week of school in fine fashion - a championship trophy from the Lu Allen VB Tournament's small school (Class A - AA) division, silver bracket! The LadyCats played 3 matches Friday versus Henrietta, Caddo Mills, and Electra. The results of those games placed them in the silver bracket and Saturday the LadyCats faced Graford, Ranger, and in the championship 2-A Lexington! I didn't write down the scores of the championship match because they were in constant fluctuation and we seldom knew what the true score might be, but in the end the LadyCats won 2 out of 3 and came away with a championship trophy!
Tuesday the LadyCats beat another 2-A school, the Jacksboro Lady Tigerettes. The LadyCats totally dominated the first two games with scores of 25-11 and 25-12. But, as often happens in volleyball, the momentum changed and the Lady Tigers sneaked out a 21-25 third game victory. The final game was a little different with the LadyCats jumping out to a 6 point lead and then having to hang on for a 25-23 fourth game win that gave them the match. I don't think anyone could have beaten the LadyCats during those first two games. It was incredible! Today they take on an even larger challenge at the Breckenridge Tournament. Two of their first two competitors are 3-A teams, Bridgeport and Grape Creek. They finish off the day with Archer City. The Breckenridge Tourney will be an exercise in survival! What doesn't kill you only makes you better!
And our Newcastle Bobcats finally get to play a real game this Saturday against a tough Crowell team in Trent! Last year the Bobcats played one of their best games of the season and upset Crowell so I know they will be looking for a taste of revenge. It should be a great game so everyone come to Trent Saturday, August 28th for a 7:00 pm kickoff!
