PHYSICAL EDUCATION
By Lorraine Divila-McVey

Physical Education classes were started at Leon Springs without the facility being available. The classes met in the back faculty parking lot and the lot was petitioned off with big orange cones! Lorraine Divila-McVey and Susan Zavaleta taught a Jump Rope Unit until the gym was finally open in late October! No other unit was considered safe to do in the parking lot! There was only one tree and the kids were quite "smelly" when they were returned to the classrooms! They learned everything from single rope jumping, trick jumps, double jumping, long ropes, and double dutch. At the end of the unit, we had some very fit students and very hot teachers! But we survived and were the envy of all the other Physical Education Teachers in the district because of our beautiful new facility with all the modern updates.

One of the scariest events that happened in our gym was the day the ceiling fell! Thankfully, it missed the children and only made a dent in the floor and not a child's head! Boy, were Mrs. Allen and Mrs. McVey hot that day! The construction people had to come out and replace all the "bread tie" connectors that held metal pipes onto the ceiling. They wanted to put more "bread ties" up. Mrs. Allen would have no part of that. She insisted that they heavly glue each connection, and then put the heavy plastic holders around each pipe. She saw to it that it was done quickly and correctly. This was a quite interesting situation and really let people know that to Mrs. Allen her children were important and would not be put in danger by anything! The children had to have classes outside until this problem was solved!

Every year we would have an "All Day Field Day", and then in class we would have an "In Class Field Day". The first was a fun day of activities that we did with the entire school. We should have given a prize for the teacher with the best hat and sunglasses! The PTA provided ribbons for our second field day and this was competitive. All the children competed for ribbons in the 25/50/100 Yard Dashes, the High Jump, the Softball Throw, and the Scooter Races. Everyone received a ribbon and competed in their level of the event. We had school records that were kept from year to year. Stephanie Richardson's Softball Throw record has never been broken!

Every year we did a community service project for the American Heart Association. It was called "Jump Rope for the Heart". No one was required to participate because it was an after school program, but Leon Springs was always one of the top contributors. Our students made us proud. They also had a great time! One of our parents would come and be the disk jockey for us and, thanks to Annette VanSlambrouck, Keeblers would donate cookies every year. What great times we had doing these events.

The students would get points for attendance, participation, attitudes, and grades. Every year each classroom would be presented with the top boy and top girl award for Physical Education. Then using the same point system, we would have an "Outstanding Physical Education Boy and Girl Student" awarded in every grade level, every year. You can still see their names on the plaque on the wall outside the gym today. We were so proud of these students and all their accomplishments. They were our shining stars and really made us proud.

We had special programs every year. We had a clown come one year before our gymnastics unit to show us how some of the skills we learned could be used in a profession outside of the school environment. We had the safetyman come out to talk to us about how to handle stray dogs and how to protect ourselves if we were attacked by a dog. We had the National Jump Rope Team come to the gym and perform for us, and we had the fireman and police bands telling us why we should not do drugs!

During classes, we did various activities, but one of the special things that we got to do, thanks to our wonderful PTA, was to use Heart Rate Monitors. These were very expensive but the children collected Box Tops and the PTA met us half way. We were able to have a monitor for every child in class! We learned so much about our hearts and fitness, and were able to see what was important for healthy living. One of the other special activities that we did yearly was the dance unit. One year we were able to have a special PTA Meeting where the children brought their parents and taught them how to dance! It was the talk of the school the week following the event and the parents were very fast learners! The students felt so important being the "teachers" and being able to participant with their parents. We also did a PTA Meeting Dance and Sport presentation one year that the students really enjoyed doing for their parents entertainment!

The PTA Sponsored a Bike Rodeo every year and we used the gym facilities to do this competition. We had so many bikes around the gym that we went crazy trying to find a spot to store them. The children loved this activity and they learned so much about how to be safe on their bikes. The PTA always did such a wonderful job of conducting the event and the Physical Education Teachers just really enjoyed watching the event.

Teachers also enjoyed fitness activities. Anna Malacara, our head of the cafeteria, organized a Leon Springs Volleyball Team that competed yearly in the Northside Teachers League. We actually won the league several years! Any teacher that wanted to play could play on the team and we practiced after school in the gym. What fun we had, thanks to Anna for organizing it!

COMPUTER LAB

Two computer assistants manned the two computer labs, Linda Alexander and Marcia Merritt and later Susan Zavaleta. Instruction was on two basic programs. There was the Josten’s Lab for the first through fifth grades with sessions in math, and reading skills all adapted to the appropriate grade levels. Then the second lab, the Literacy Lab, served Kinder through 5th grades, acquainting students with basic computer functions, basic computer skills, and key boarding. The computer labs in a few years got a part-time Campus Instructional Technologist, the CIT, who was Sandra Arias.

The CIT introduced the integration of technology, using computers as a teaching tool for classroom subjects. The next year a full time CIT, Dana Bickley, was employed. Often this small computer staff met outside requests to design and develop special forms, special certificates for graduation or other honors, and awards such as those for report cards and attendance. In some years there were after-school tutorials that allowed further time for youngsters to use the computers.

ART PROGRAM

The first year the art teacher, Teddi Boyd, was serving two schools, Leon Springs for 3 days then Helotes for 3 days. Her room was well equipped with a large storage room and a separate room for a kiln. The goals Ms. Boyd set were to provide a multicultural approach to a variety of art forms and to give an overview of art history. The students learned about different centuries of history with their different styles and selected artists who exemplified these. “The students were very exuberant when working with clay and when painting with acrylic,” reported Ms. Boyd. During the year, Ms. Boyd kept a portfolio for each student. In the spring, each child selected his/her best work to be part of the art displays that Ms. Boyd put up on the walls throughout the school. Every pupil had a piece on display by the last PTA meeting in May.

The school system allotted $l.50 per student for supplies; the PTA supplemented this with $1,000 each year. Once a week the ART Club met, opened to fourth and fifth graders who could attend after school. They enjoyed extra art projects. The fifth grade class each year also had a field trip to a city art museum.

The staff benefited also from the art teacher’s skills. She conducted after school classes for them such as working with clay to make Christmas ornaments.

One year she entered some of her students in an International Art Contest and three students won! Their work was part of an exhibit shown around the world. Each year the district had an art show, allowing each school to select its samples and have the space of two display boards to fill. Probably the most trying art time, the most trying art form, was the time spent doing Gyotaku--making fish prints. The odor in the room during those lessons made a lasting impression. After the prints were completed, each child transferred his/her print to a T- Shirt. The art program indeed provided a tremendous range of experiences!

LIBRARY

The library became fully functional just after Christmas 1991. The Librarian, Joe Beth Nye, had begun work in the summer of 1991, ordering Audio Visuals while the district sent out the core library books. Designing the floor plan for the shelves was an intricate process with the key guideline that there be "Sight lines" from the checkout counter where the staff was. This allowed all students using the library to be visible to the staff. Planning included designating areas for story telling time (or adults reading stories to classes), a research and reference book area, a computer area to be accessible quickly to the staff so they could give help and also spacious enough for teaching a group around the computers.

By the time school started, the library was equipped. The checkout counter had been installed only to discover that it belonged to Stinson Middle School that was opening that August also. Stinson now had the elementary student counter (a low one) while Leon Springs got the higher counter. Students though never complained: they knew that they were growing taller. Books, mainly fiction this first year, were in place with the help of assistant librarian, Linda Straube, and some part-time employees. They got all the books stamped and all the covers taped on and shelved. Not until Thanksgiving could books be checked-out as there was no computer until mid November. The books had to be entered with their data; all the students and staff had to be entered. Then check out could begin.

This first year a number of activities were started and became routine in the following years. These were: Storybook Theatre, visiting authors, a book fair, the Birthday Book Club, and The Texas Bluebonnet Award Reading Program. Mrs. Patricia Allain became the volunteer story reader to many classes. The Collaborative Integrative Research Projects were begun the next year, as was the Accelerated Reader Program (AR). During the fall, the Storybook Theatrical group from Schertz, Texas, would come presenting a well-known children's story. Their props and costumes were simple, easily transportable, but very effective. Every year a well-known author was invited for a day's visit. Some of the authors who came during Ms. Allen's years were Keith Baker, Paul Epner, Steven Kellogg, Erick Kimmel, Rafe Martin, Naomi Nye, and Bill Wallace.

Yearly book fairs, usually in the fall, were set up by Scholastic Books, Inc. The book fair lasted a week. Parents would sign up for shifts to work the fair, including a night session. This was the source of funds for the many special speakers and groups invited by the Librarian.

Other special guests came, such as magicians, the Rescued Birds of Prey group who brought some birds, the Snake Lady with her favorite snakes, the storyteller, Kit Meyers, and Toby Texas Tales presented by Mr. and Mrs. Tucker and their dog. These people were the key performers at the yearly Birthday Book Club party in May. The Club was open to all whose families purchased a book for the library, dedicating it to their special birthday child. The child then read his/her book to the class, took it home to read to the family then placed it permanently in the library. The child's name went on the Birthday Club bulletin board in the library. Then in May was the big birthday party for all the Club members featuring one of the special guests mentioned above.

Naturally, the library staff, Ms. Nye and Ms. Straube, had very clear goals: help children know the love of reading and to experience the wide variety possible. The Texas Bluebonnet Award Reading Program was a good way to achieve these goals. The program began in 1979 and was sponsored by the Texas Library Association with the purpose of encouraging free and voluntary reading, exploring a variety of books, developing powers of discernment, and identifying one's own favorite books. The Librarian yearly paid a fee to register Leon Springs in this state program. Twenty books were on the list each year and made available to the third, fourth, and fifth graders. The collection included poetry, fiction, history, science, and biography. Students chose any five or more books to read. Then, in January, they voted for their favorite and helped pick the favorite for Texas elementary school children. Ms. Patricia Allain also selected five of these and read them to the classes. Ms. Nye selected each week the books that would be read to kindergarten and the books to read to the first and second grades every other week. She also ordered puppets for many of the stories. Ms. Allain and Ms. Nye were the readers.

The computer center in the library began with a few used computers donated by parents and staff. Mr. and Ms. Allen arranged to have them installed. A parent was available to come keep them all functioning. In a few years, the district supplied new ones. The main use of the computers was to activate the Accelerated Reader Program (AR program). As a child finished one of the AR books, he/she would take a computerized test on it and earn points. Several times a year the students could use their points to buy items at the AR Store set up by the PTA members.

Through the years, the librarian with the teachers and the computer technician, step by step, developed a program called Collaborative Integrative Research. It encouraged researching a topic selected from the grade level curriculum. Students used the library resources set out for them, used classroom lectures, texts, and the internet to gather data on their topic. The library paid for safe databases for children to use online, such as Worldbook Online, Facts on File, EBSCo which was a periodical data base and Thompson Gale, a research database. The fee she paid allowed children to use these resources at school and at home. Some topics chosen have been: kinder studying life cycle of the butterfly, first grade studying some aspect of Texas, second grade researching woodland animals, third grade doing a space unit, fourth grade researching adaptations by ocean animals, and fifth grade working on the topic endangered species. During the session of ACE, other topics were chosen, like dinosaurs! For first through second grade the research method was learning the Super Three steps of research; the upper grades learned the Big Six Research Style. Then students wrote their own report, edited it, then typed it into the computer to be printed out--their own finished research paper!

The job description for librarian included indirect services. Some of these were servicing the media equipment in the classroom, supplying and changing the light bulbs in the overhead projectors, supplying the belts holding the TVs onto their roll stands and providing the cassettes, tapes, and tape recorders for the classrooms. This also meant doing the inventory on all this equipment at the end of the school year.

The Library was the hub for big social events--like staff meetings, night events for parents and youths, and luncheons or receptions to honor various ones. All this meant the library staff frequently was “getting ready" for a special event or cleaning up after it so the staff would be ready for the next school day. They always did this cheerfully, and graciously. People came to notice certain traits about librarians. They read a lot; they knew what was in their books; they kept up with new publications; they were open to new ideas, and they usually said yes to any request for help from students or staff. What friends they have been!

COUNSELING SERVICES

Counseling services, led by Pat Karnes, truly met a wide-range of needs. Her office met the need for more storage space; many boxes belonging to other staff were in there, but none of her items! Since part of her job meant going to classrooms for her sessions, she quietly awaited the day her office was cleared and she could began to make it a welcoming, attractive place for individual students, groups, and parents.

Planning for the first day, Ms. Karnes organized a get together, called Kinder Moms’ Coffee. She wanted to allow these moms some comfort, some coffee and some kleenex as they separated from their babies--possibly for the first time. Tears, laughter, and sharing came easily then.

The counseling program included a great variety of standard services. Primary were visits to each classroom on a regular basis to provide guidance in many mental health skills. Some of these skills were problem solving, interpersonal relations, cooperation, character building, leadership, personal safety, communication skills, conflict resolution, respect for self and others, and coping with loss.

Individual needs were an important aspect of her services too--needs of students, of staff, and of parents. Extra sessions were built for small groups when individuals showed the same concerns. Parenting groups were set up each fall with six planned sessions. Often the parents chose to continue meeting for more weeks, usually meeting in the late afternoons or evenings. Teachers, facing observation and evaluation by an administrator, could attend "evalu-phobia” classes led by Ms. Karnes. New Pal Partners was a group for new students. Peers Assisting Others was a program offering help in conflict resolution. Ms. Karnes trained key peer helpers from each class in the basic skills for resolving conflicts of those in their classes. Discipline problems declined dramatically. Students could refer themselves for individual sessions and/or group sessions with students sharing similar worries. It was easy to self-refer for Ms. Karnes was very visible, often on the playground, cafeteria, or hallways. The monthly "Lunch Bunch" treat allowed the first 10 students to sign up to have lunch one day with Ms. Karnes in her office.

The yearly mandated state tests were the counselor’s responsibility. She was the building supervisor/trainer preparing the staff and the building for administering the tests. She was responsible for tight security with these tests.

A typical day might see Ms. Karnes counseling with a child hurting because of a divorce, a death of a loved one, even the death of a pet, the uncertainty of a parent leaving for armed service, adjustment to a new family member or feeling responsible for a sibling who was handicapped. She was there to help the students through the problems that occur and to help them learn coping skills for those times. She was always there for crisis intervention. The counselor served families with special needs to locate and use community resources. She followed up to see they got the services. As the student enrollment grew, the counseling needs did too. In a few years a second counselor was hired, Kathy Somody. She was a great asset and became the head counselor when Ms. Karnes retired.

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Classes for special needs children were held in two upstairs rooms, across the hall from each other. One served the Content Mastery Center (CMC). The other one served the Level 4 program for those children who needed more assistance and time. Both rooms were ready on the first day of school, with Level 4 room complete with a cooking stove, refrigerator and sink. The staff in there was one trained Special Education teacher and two instructional assistants; CMC also had one teacher and two assistants. The disseminator of the two programs was Annette Van Slambrouck.

The speech program was implemented by speech therapist (also called speech pathologist) Kathy Uvodic. She served two schools, spending 3 days at Leon Springs and two days at Helotes. This program offered detailed screening diagnostics to pinpoint the place for intervention needed by certain children. The need might be for articulation, or language delays as in vocabulary, or stuttering, or voice problems. Sometimes the disorder was in grammar and sentence processing. She would work with her students in groups or individually.

A part-time psychologist also served the school. When a child was having difficulties, academic or behavioral, that could not be helped through regular interventions, further evaluations by the psychologist could be requested. Her findings were shared with the appropriate staff and parents. The group would select various strategies to address the problem. Later there would be follow up meetings to re-evaluate, deciding what strategies were needed or could be discontinued.

On the work days before school started this small staff had organized and stored the supplies and texts to serve special needs youngsters of all grade levels and highlighted all the texts for the core elements. Their rooms also housed many boxes going to other classes when those classes were completed.

With two wheel chair bound students, they immediately learned the evacuation maneuvers to descend the stairs. Only later did they get the evacto-track wheel chair to facilitate leaving.

A regular duty, besides teaching was to keep precise records on each student and the number of minutes spent each week on each core subject--math, reading, and social studies. The two programs served from 30 to 40 students each year. Each child had several evaluations a year called Admission, Review, Dismissal meetings (ARD) so staff and parents would be very alert to the child's needs and to the time the regular classroom would be the most appropriate location.

The Special Education staff not only completed their daily tasks but also conducted pre -school sessions and after-school sessions to give additional academic help to their students and others who needed extra help in fulfilling requirements. Regular classroom teachers also were assigned to this early morning assistance time. The early morning sessions were each day. The after school sessions were on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Other duties were supervising the waiting areas used by students before and after school.

In the 1995-96 schoolyear, the special education programs changed to the inclusion model. That meant special needs students were in regular classroom for longer periods each day, so it was a less self-contained program for them. Often the Special Ed. staff was assigned one-on one to be with a child the whole day.

THE OFFICE

The hub of all the action to open the school on schedule was a small room (later the counselor's room) with one desk, chairs, one telephone and two secretaries and the principal. This was in effect the central command. During the first weeks of school, with the office group in the small room, they expanded to use the even smaller room across the hall (later the psychologist's office) for the clinic, with a small cot and a small refrigerator for medicines. The room held the bottles of drinking water, the coffee pot and the copier. With no intercom system yet and no teacher boxes, the secretaries spent much time delivering messages, collecting attendance slips from teachers, answering the one phone and returning calls and greeting the public cheerily. Many was the time the staff took home the paper work as it would be quiet there and more likely to be done correctly.

The central office area was one of the last areas to be completed. It would have the workstations for the secretaries, the clinic and the conference room up front. There also would be the teachers’ lounge, restrooms, and two storage rooms, two phone rooms, the workroom, and two administrators’ offices. Finally, at the end of October, the HUB moved to its own quarters, the Central Office. Life really did get better then.

GIFTED AND TALENTED PROGRAM

Leona Springsley, the large cloth doll student greeting everyone in the foyer, was well known by the students and was very real to them. One day Ms. Sandra Vinson, creator of Leona and teacher of the Gifted and Talented Program, carried Leona to her room to change her outfit. She noticed how dusty Leona was. So Ms. Vinson slapped Leona several places, shaking out dust. Several students saw this and were horrified to see Leona hit!

The GT program had the section called Promise, serving third through fifth grades and another section serving first and second grades called PEP. Each year exciting themes were chosen for both groups. One year it was "History of My Family". Another year it was "Story Teller", following the Indian practice of orally teaching their history. One of the activities was to create one's own clay Indian figure and to write a story for the Teller to give orally. These Indian figures then told their stories on Literary Night that year. Another year the big project was to make paper. The new paper was formed then into ocean shapes and put on display.

Once a year, the fifth grade PROMISE group visited another school for "Challenge Days". This was like an intellectual marathon with students from many elementary schools. Indeed, it was an event everyone found challenging and Leon Springs students always enjoyed it.

MUSIC PROGRAM

“From being housed in portable buildings at other schools to coming to Leon Springs and having the most fully equipped music room in the whole district was quite an ecstatic event,” said the new music director, Brad Hughes. Within a few days of school, he was requested to compose a school song which he did promptly.

One of the first musical programs that year was the kindergarteners’ Christmas program performed for the student body and then for PTA that night. Quickly it became a tradition to have the student choirs sing at PTA. Next he had the older students form a choir and go caroling to the nearby eateries, doing this in the evenings before Christmas.

During the year, Mr. Hughes taught a curriculum outlined in a McMIllan textbook that he had helped select. Many unique duties came to the Music director. One frequent job was providing a functional public address system for big events, indoors and outdoors. The ACE parade for the Fourth of July necessitated the volume be LOUD enough to be heard two blocks away at the corner where the parade ended.

The music program, in addition to those activities described above, included after school opportunities. Thanks to a grant that Mr. Hughes wrote, the school was awarded funds to purchase fifty guitars. After school, lessons were available to the students. Other musicians came after school also to give lessons. Violin lessons were quite popular. Often Mr. Hughes was asked to be the solo guest performer for a variety of school events. He never said no.

MAINTENANCE

Maintenance of any facility is clear: maintain the building, maintain the grounds, fix anything that breaks or stops working, do security and any other labor no one else is responsible to cover. Leon Springs School had five custodians with Earl Johnson the head custodian. In addition to the daily duties (clean all rooms and all other areas of the building, keep the grounds clear of litter), the custodians were on duty to serve the after school activities of the staff and the community groups. Some of these groups were Girl and Boy Scouts, Indian Guides, some sports teams, and recitals. On weekends, some church groups used the school on Sundays for several years. On Saturday, an Indian Cultural Dance group held classes and recitals several years. The YMCA had the after-school children’s care program in the gym. The school and PTA had after-school activities, such as parenting classes led by the counselor and after school tutorials. CMC had its after school homework sessions some days.

Most special activities meant the custodians had to take down, then set-up the chairs and tables, to prepare for the unique needs of the group meeting. Then they had to return the furnishings and set up for the next day plus the basic cleaning of the used area.

Additional duties were supervising the dumpster service, keeping the outdoor school sign notices on schedule and supervising the recycling bins so paper wasn’t all over the grounds. Then there were the late night calls, as when the power went off. The head custodian had to go reset the water pump, the chlorinator and other systems. Once, while on vacation, Mr. Johnson was called by the principal. He talked the custodian on duty through the steps to re-start the water pump. Another duty was that of security for the staff. A special code was used to notify Mr. Johnson to come when there was a threatening situation. The staff was very glad Mr. Johnson was a large man with years of military experience.

CAFETERIA

“A walkie-talkie or cell phones would have been great the first month of school," reported the Food Service Manager, Ana Malacaa. She was running back and forth from the kitchen to the serving carts out in the hallways by the elevators. This was the only way to keep the food supplied to the carts. The carts were necessary for although the kitchen cooking area was equipped and operational by the first day of school, the dining area was not.

Cafeteria service through these years stayed very consistent with its staff of five. There was very little staff turnover. The workers reported that their boss was always right with them, out front serving the CUSTOMERS. There were some internal changes such as no longer making the pizzas, but having them ordered from and brought by a supplier. Another change was relieving the director of being cashier so she could circulate and oversee all. Ms. Malacara said she missed not being cashier as doing that job she came to know the children well.

A major internal change was in ordering the food supplies. It ceased to be a paper work and telephone operation. It was computerized. Less time was consumed in this activity; it was more accurate and more precise in delivery. The mandate was always the stock/supplies "first in were first out". With prompt ordering and delivery, large surpluses were not necessary, freeing up space, and making "first in, first out" easier and more certain.

Extra activities were assigned this staff. They provided the Grandparent Day breakfast in September, the Dads' Breakfast in February, and the Moms' Breakfast in May. These special events meant the staff arrived early, BUT they always managed to serve the crowd and finish on time by 8 a.m. The Mentor Dinner in May, held late in the afternoon, was served by the cafeteria staff followed by clean up with the help of other staff. Then in May 1998, they helped prepare and serve the refreshments at Ms. Allen's Retirement Reception. The cafeteria was always a cheery place because the workers kept smiles on their faces as they served the CUSTOMERS.

CLINIC NURSE

During the first month of Leon Springs School’s opening, the clinic was located outside the unfinished office area in the tiny room later to be the psychologist’s office. Ms. Shirley Hill, registration secretary, served the clinic when the part-time nurse, Cheryl Tanneberger R.N., was at her other school. When Ms. Paula Green, R.N., began in 1995, she too alternated between Leon Springs and Helotes with an LVN, Laura Wheeler, taking care of the clinic on the days the RN was at the other school.

Health Services had four main areas: the clinic, state -required vision and hearing testing, health education, and emergency records and Immunization records to be maintained (and obtained if lacking). The nurse served students and staff who got sick or hurt while on campus and gave the routine medications for those children needing such. The nurse met the emergencies, and even non-emergencies such as a child getting wet and muddy and needing clothing. (The nurse said she never figured out how mud became a medical issue but she always had a solution!) She took parent referrals and requests for her to check-up on a child and let the parent know how the child was feeling. Some years, the clinic services included very intense, special medical procedures for multi-handicapped children during their school days.

Hearing and vision screening usually was scheduled in the fall as was finalizing the emergency and immunization records. These processes became more efficiently handled when the records were entered on computer; reports could be generated to ensure greater accuracy and ensure compliance to state laws regarding immunizations.

Health Education classes were scheduled in the spring. "Growth and Development” lessons were presented to fifth graders but separately to the boys and then to the girls and only if students provided written parent permission. Dental health lessons were given in kinder and first grade. Personal safety, using puppets and videos, was presented to all students.

Through the years health education programs changed as the state mandated more instructional time for academics and as nursing functions and clinic referral numbers grew. All this was accomplished with a part-time R.N.! Not until 2001 was the school large enough to gain a full-time nurse on campus every day. Ms. Green, the full--time nurse, notes that as of this writing in 2007, the NISD health services budget is still fifty cents per student. It is a good thing that TLC is freely given!