Category: Education

Nominate someone for Hornet Hall of Fame

Vivian Castleberry, AHS class of 1940 and now 95 years old, held the audience in thrall at last year’s Hornet Hall of Fame Induction Banquet with her many stories. She’s shown here with event organizer and emcee Toni Garrard Clay.

Press release

The deadline is fast approaching to nominate someone for the Athens Hornet Hall of Fame. Applications must be submitted no later than Thursday, April 20 — either by midnight online or delivered to the Athens ISD District Support Center (104 Hawn Street) by 4:30 p.m. No late applications will be considered.

The Hornet Hall of Fame was established in 2016 to recognize former students and employees who have distinguished themselves in their chosen fields and/or have made notable positive contributions to their communities. Those inducted into the Hornet Hall of Fame should serve as examples of character and achievement for all who follow. The Hornet Hall of Fame is not dedicated to athletic achievement. Plans are underway to launch a means of exclusively honoring those former students who were or are outstanding athletes. Posthumous nominations are accepted.

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Athens High School math team piles up medals

Press release

When the Athens High School math team competed at the Sulphur Springs academic invitational meet last month, team members earned 35 medals and two team trophies.

The calculator team of Yuvia Leon, Mollie Davies, Eli McCool and Ideal Ademaj won first place, as did the mathematics team consisting of members Davies, McCool, Ademaj and Sierra Graves. The number sense team of Ademaj, Davies and McCool won second place behind the defending AAA state champions from Chism High School.

Individually, Davies won first in calculator and math, and sixth in number sense. McCool was second in calculator and math, and fifth in number sense. Ademaj won third place in number sense, fourth in math and fifth in calculator applications. Leon won sixth in calculator with a personal best of 113. Graves won fifth in math with a personal best of 58. Lauryn Gore also competed and won a sixth-place medal in math.

Pictured are, from left, Ideal Ademaj, Mollie Davies, Eli McCool, and (seated, from left), Yuvia Leon, Sierra Graves and Lauryn Gore. (Courtesy photo)

Hernandez wins state title in UIL Congress

By Toni Garrard Clay/AISD Communications Coordinator

Athens High School’s Matthew Hernandez can add 4A UIL Congressional Debate State Champion to his already impressive list of accomplishments. On Wednesday in Austin, the senior became the first Hornet in recent memory to win a championship in the contest. In 2016, he made the top 30 in extemporaneous debate at the national speech and debate tournament and, along with partner True Head, won state in UIL Cross-Examination Debate for the second year in a row.

“I couldn’t have done it without the teammates who did research and everything else for me,” said Hernandez of his latest achievement. Last year, he advanced to finals in congress. This year, he said, he put a lot more work into preparing for the event.

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Opinion: Don’t be duped by the farce of A-F school ratings

The Texas Education Agency this week released a preliminary work-in-progress report for the new A-F accountability rating system for school districts and campuses.

Athens ISD Communications Coordinator Toni Garrard Clay wrote the following opinion piece in response.

By Toni Garrard Clay

Well, here we are. Servants of the public school system have been braced for months for the gut punch known as “A through F school ratings” to be thrown, courtesy of the 84th Texas State Legislature. The blow has finally landed, and we’re left dazed and wondering why.

Imagine you work tirelessly performing well at a job to which you feel called, while your boss tells everyone you’re a failure, demands you do more with less, and threatens to use part of your salary to pay contractors whose work won’t be reviewed. That’s the plight of schools located in the most challenging educational environments, and the new A-F system only makes it worse.

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