Good morning!  I hope you had a great weekend and enjoyed the wonderful weather we had.  Even though last week was a four-day week I know it was a busy one for everybody.  I know that great things are happening in our schools for our kids and I appreciate the hard work and focus that everyone has demonstrated these first two weeks of school.

Last Tuesday night was our Northside Education Foundation Gala.  This is one of the major fundraisers for the Foundation and it is also the night we recognize our Pillars of Character.  As most of you know the individuals that represent the Pillars of Character are graduates of Northside high schools.  Six Pillars of Character are named representing the pillars of caring, respect, fairness, responsibility, trustworthiness, and citizenship.  The 2008 Pillars of Character are:

What a great group of outstanding individuals to represent the character traits that we teach in our schools every day.  Many people expressed to me how impressed they were by these individuals.  According to Bonnie Ellison, Director of Partnerships, we raised close to $176,000 for the Foundation.  Thanks to Bonnie and her staff, as well as many others, that worked so hard to make this event so successful.  Thanks to the Board of Directors of the Foundation and especially Merry Raba and Dave Gannon who co-chaired the event.  A great event for Northside ISD and for the Northside Education Foundation.  So many people "believe" in Northside and what we do that they work and contribute so much to the success of this event.  Thanks!

Each year at the opening general session of our Administrator Institute which really kicks off the school year in late July or early August, we recognize an individual as the NISD Innovator of the Year.  This award is named for our former superintendent Ed Rawlinson, and he is present to present the award.  You may have read in Inside Northside Weekly that Phil Linerode, Program Evaluation Specialist in our Testing and Evaluation Department, was named the recipient of the 2008 Innovator of the Year Award.  I wanted to mention this in Monday Message because I am so proud of Phil and appreciate so much all the work he does for Northside.  He was recognized for the development of the "Incentive Calculator" which helps campuses determine the amount of award an individual will receive under the Governor's Educator Excellence Program, the Texas Educator Excellence Program, and the District Award for Teaching Excellence.  This is only one of many areas in which Phil helps the District utilize data to make decisions, target instructional areas, and evaluate programs based on the data.  He certainly is Northside's own "Dr. Phil!"

Also, I want to mention in the message the 12^th Annual Deaf Dance Performance which was held back at the end of June.  Each summer in June a camp is held for San Antonio area students who are hearing impaired in which they learn to dance primarily by count based on the vibration coming from the music.  A few years ago I had a group perform at convocation that was a part of this program.  Wyvonna and I attended this year's performance and enjoyed it so much.  I am so proud of our students and faculty for the dedication and hard work they put into this program.  A special thanks to Carol Ann Brodersen, founder of the San Antonio Deaf Dance Company and one of our teachers, for all she does in making this program available for these students.  A great program, performance, and an example of how "We Believe" in the success of our students.

The Texas Business Education Coalition names an "Honor Roll" which recognizes schools that have demonstrated three years of consistent high performance in all subjects compared to other schools serving similar student populations.  Health Careers High School and John Jay High School have made the TBEC Honor Roll for 2008.  Of the more than 8,000 Texas public schools less than 4% attain this honor.  They will be recognized in November at a dinner sponsored by TBEC.  Congratulations to both of these schools and we are proud of you for this accomplishment.

Many of you have sent me an e-mail with the URL to a video of a student who spoke at the Dallas ISD convocation.  It is a great video and certainly in line with our theme "We Believe."  I hope each of you will go to http://www.dallasisd.org/keynote.htm and listen to this student.  It will take approximately five minutes of your time, and it will inspire you to answer the question, "do you believe?"

I hope you have a great week and remember "we believe" that each student can be successful!