Teacher Spotlight by Kristi Ramon
Starla Whiteley has been in the profession for twenty-four years. She is a West Texas A&M University graduate where she was a member of the Lady Buff Basketball Team. She is married to Shane, and they have one daughter that graduated from Spearman High School, and a son who is a junior at Spearman High School.
Whiteley teaches 8th grade health, is the head cross country boys/girls’ coach, and is the head high school girls track coach. Her teaching experience includes high school honors English, English as a Second Language (ESL), and science. “Athletes are the best thing about my job. Whether I win or lose with them, I just hope they know I was in their corner while I coached/taught them and as they go throughout their lives,” shared Whiteley.
“Teaching/coaching my own kids, winning tight competitive basketball games, watching Lynx and Lynxettes at the State XC Meet and State Track Meet, having a front row seat when our athletes earned medals or new personal records, and seeing Champion names on the gym wall are some of my most favorite memories,” reminisced Whiteley.
Whiteley has earned many awards in her career including 2009, 2010, 2011 Coach of the Year, CCAT; 2010 Cross Country Coach of the Year, TGCA; 2011 AGN Cross County Coach of the Year; and December 2020 Spearman ISD Employee of the Month.
Congratulations on impacting the lives of others. You are a great asset to the SISD team!
Help spread kindness by celebrating Random Acts of Kindness Week, February 13th -19th. Thursday, February 17th is Random Acts of Kindness Day.
Good luck Lynxettes! We are cheering you on to a victory!
The Varsity Boys Basketball games on Tuesday versus River Road have been pushed back to 6:00 and 7:15pm due to shortage of officials.
Teacher Spotlight by Kristi Ramon
Shanna Kenney is the high school Special Education (SPED) teacher. She has taught fourteen years with twelve of those years in Spearman. “I love that my job allows me to work with all four grade levels of students and all subjects in high school,” shared Kenney.
She is a graduate of Spearman High School and West Texas A&M University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Special Education. She is currently working on her master’s degree at Lamar University as an Educational Diagnostician.
Kenney has three children who all graduated from Spearman High School. She is engaged to Taff Tyler. In her spare time, she enjoys being outdoors, working out, and cooking.
Congratulations on being in the profession for fourteen years and continuing your education. We are proud of you!
Gus Birdwell Elementary celebrated Mrs. Williams this week for School Counselor’s week! Mrs. Williams is a blessing to our students and staff! 💜
Teacher Spotlight by Kristi Ramon
Maria Carbajal is the librarian at Spearman Junior High (SJH). She is married to Luis and they have two sons. Carbajal graduated from Spearman High School and has attended West Texas A&M University.
She enjoys making connections with students through literature, “The most rewarding thing about being a librarian is making connections with the students about books. I often ask the students what type of books they like to read,” shared Carbajal. She takes the time to visit with the students about the books they are reading.
When asked to share a funny story, Carbajal was reminded of a story while she worked in Pre-k. “I had a sore throat. My voice was hoarse, and I told the students that I had a frog in my throat. The kids took it literally, and they were very worried about me. I played along because they were very quiet and well behaved. On Monday morning my voice came back, and I told the students the frog had finally found its home!’ laughed Carbajal.
Carbajal has been instrumental is the start-up of the Mrs. McGee’s Reading Program. She looks forward to watching the program grow.
Congratulations on building relationships through literature. Keep up the great work!
Game Time Update!
Boys basketball game times for this Friday, Feb. 11th, have been moved back to 6:00/7:30 due to officials.
Tickets for the Lynxettes Bi-District game against Idalou are online at ticketspicket.com
1. click on Buy Tickets
2. type Canyon in the search bar
3. click on Canyon ISD
4. click View All Events and scroll down to find our game
All tickets are $5 and must be purchased online. They will have a card reader at the gate but no cash will be accepted for admission.
Please help us to get this information out to family, friends, and other fans of the Lynxettes.
Nurse Sally Swan did CPR training for the 8th grade health class. She has also trained the students on Stop the Bleed. Thank you Nurse Sally for training the students on an important life saving skills.
The Lynxettes take on Idalou at Canyon High School on Monday, February 14th at 6:00 PM. Good luck in the Playoffs Lynxettes!
We will be celebrating Senior Night tomorrow, Feb. 8th.
#BE LOUD 🏀#BE PROUD 🏀
Maddie Lozano is the twelve-year-old of Christen and Michael Lozano. She attends Spearman Junior High. Her father is the owner of Lozano Athletics, and she has been lifting since she was eight years old. She would watch her dad lift in the garage at the young age of four and wanted to lift then.
Maddie and teammates Connor Lozano and Cooper Sonnenberg recently competed at the state level. Maddie set state records across the board. Connor earned first place and hit personal records, and Cooper placed fourth also breaking personal records.
Maddie is a two-time silver and one-time bronze medalist at the past three Youth National Championships. She is a two-time state silver medalist, and three-time champion holding three records in her age and weight class at the state level.
The 2022 Youth Pan American Championships in Puerto Rico in the 15 and under will be held in April, 2022. Maddie has been selected to compete against the best youth lifters from North and South America!
Maddie has a shot at winning a gold medal at Nationals this summer. Congratulations to the team members of Lozano Athletics. Michael Lozano is the Spearman ISD sports trainer and Christen Lozano teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) and Special Education (SPED) at Spearman Junior High.
We are proud of each one of you for your hard work and dedication! Best of luck, Maddie, at the 2022 Youth Pan American Championships!
Photo: Courtesy of Lozano Athletics
Lynx/Lynxettes vs. Dalhart Wolves
Friday, Feb. 4th @ Dalhart
JV - 5:00 pm
VG - 6:15 pm
VB - 7:30 pm
You must purchase tickets online. Link below:
https://gofan.co/app/school/TX12117
Spearman ISD will have a 10:00 AM start Friday, February 4th. Buses will run 2 hours later than normal.
Due to inclement weather and extremely cold temperatures,
Spearman ISD will cancel school on Thursday, February 3, 2022.
We will continue to monitor weather conditions and provide notifications as soon as possible regarding any further delay or cancellation this week.
Spearman ISD will begin classes at 10:00 am tomorrow. Busses will run accordingly.
Congratulations, Brayden Klafka, on signing to play football for West Texas A&M University. We look forward to watching you play as a Buff and wish you the best in all you do. In the words of Superintendent Dan Gist, "It is a great day to be a Lynx!"
Mark your calendar - Upcoming Pre-K Registration
Teacher on the Rise
Teachers and students at Spearman High School had a surprise assembly to recognize a deserving teacher for the January 2022 Teacher on the Rise Award. The students and administrators were in attendance for a surprise celebration to honor Sandra White.
The Teacher on the Rise was launched in the Amarillo and Panhandle area. Teacher on the Rise is a student/parent nominated teacher recognition program sponsored by United Supermarkets, Mrs. Baird’s Bread, and Liberty Packaging Company. Every month three winners are selected (one elementary, one middle school, and one high school) from across the Texas panhandle. All winning teachers receive a great prize package worth more than $200.00. The student who nominates a winning teacher receives a $50.00 gift card.
Spearman High School Principal, James Layman, Teacher on the Rise, Shane Sumrow, Liberty Packaging, Amarillo, Texas representative, Bryan Hill, and representative Rafael Estrada, United Supermarkets, Perryton, Texas recognized Sandra White as the January 2022 high school winner.
Autumn Brown nominated Sandra White for this award.
“When I found out Spearman was getting another ag teacher, I figured she would just end up being like all the other ag teachers I had before. Sandra turned out to be the opposite, she is someone that I have always been able to turn to when I just simply need advice. She has never given up on me or any of her other students. She puts in long and hard days just to make sure all of her students succeed. She makes sure that we all get to our events, whether that be stock shows, IDE’s or even EDE’s still doing all of this while raising two boys by herself. She has never turned me down when asking for help. This is why I believe Sandra White should get the recognition she deserves.”
Congratulations, on a job well done. Thank you for inspiring students to be the best they can be and encouraging them to follow their dreams.
Picture 1:
Sandra White and Autumn Brown
Picture 2:
Rafael Estrada, United Supermarkets, Bryan Hill, Liberty Packaging, Sandra White, Spearman High School Ag teacher, Autumn Brown, Spearman High School student, Shane Sumrow, Teachers on the Rise, and James Layman, Spearman High School Principal
