2009 Notices:
2009 Notices:
Chairman’s Fitness Challenge
I am excited to announce the kick-off of the FY 2010 Chairman’s
Fitness Challenge for TDCJ and WSD employees. This year’s activities
will include four different fitness challenges designed to encourage employees
of all fitness levels to incorporate daily physical activity and healthy
choices into their personal lives. Each of the four-part challenges will
be a competition for a 6 to 8 week period with the top participants from
each challenge being recognized by the Texas Board of Criminal Justice.
The kick-off event for the first quarter will be a challenge called Walk
the Perimeter of TDCJ. It will be patterned after the Walk-Across-Texas
activity, but will figuratively "walk" by prison units, parole
offices, and administrative offices. Physical exercise is not limited to
walking; team members can choose any physical activity that can be monitored
with mileage equivalents such as running, biking, swimming, gardening, and
housework.
The kick-off for the Chairman’s Fitness Challenge will begin Tuesday,
September 8, and will cover a 6-week period beginning September 14.
Details on the event and instructions for reporting will be distributed
later this week through your Wellness Coordinator.
The second quarter activity will emphasize overall wellness during the busy
holiday season. Employees will be challenged to continue a regular exercise
program and healthy lifestyle, despite the rush and food temptations at
this time of year. The Annual Texas Round Up will be the highlight of the
third quarter of the fitness challenge, culminating with the 5K run/walk,
10K run/walk, a family mile, a health fitness expo and a fitness festival.
As the year’s final activity of the Chairman’s Fitness Challenge
will be just in time for summer, participating employees will figuratively
“walk” the beautiful beaches of Texas. This challenge will feature
a designated route of 624 miles, the length of the Texas coast.
Last year’s Texas Round Up was a great motivator to me and I really
enjoyed participating with staff in the event’s 5K run/walk in Austin.
As consistency makes all the difference in promoting and maintaining a positive
well-being, the Chairman’s Fitness Challenge will provide us an opportunity
to stay motivated throughout the year, making it a life-changing experience.
Oliver J. Bell, Chairman
** Note: In addition to physical activity performed during your personal
time, normal activity throughout the business day can be counted as well.
Windham Educators:
Excellent teachers making winners from ordinary people
It is a privilege during the week of May 3-9 to commend the professional educators of the Windham School District. Thanks to the efforts of teachers and college instructors on 90 prison school sites in Texas, the lives of thousands of offenders are being changed.
While training tomorrow's work force, our teachers are also vital in interrupting criminal thinking and building a foundation of literacy for incarcerated adults. Correctional educators open the minds of offenders, serve as role models for their students, and are daily motivators and mentors to men and women who have never experienced academic success. Each day WSD educators are making winners from the ordinary people in their classrooms.
The dedication, enthusiasm, and energy of these instructors are contagious; the importance of their work is undeniable. It is a privilege to work with these educators; it is an honor to recognize and thank them!
In Appreciation of Administrative Professionals
Administrative Professionals from WSD's South Texas region take a break during staff development training in San Antonio
This week we recognize the outstanding work and support of Windham School District's administrative professionals. Our administrative assistants and secretaries support success statewide in Windham classrooms, offices, and every school program. They keep pace with changing job requirements, expanding responsibilities, and the unique challenges of working in a correctional environment. We appreciate their willingness to help staff and students succeed each day.
Administrative professionals are crucial in WSD’s efforts to provide the education needed by incarcerated men and women who are changing lives for the better. Keep up the great work! We appreciate all you do!
Support of librarians is vital to correctional education.
During National Library Week (April 13-17, 2009), it is a privilege to recognize the specialized work of the librarians of Windham School District.
These trained professionals promote literacy and learning, making school libraries in TDCJ centers for opportunity, education, self-help and lifelong learning. Windham librarians positively affect student and general population offenders by promoting reading and writing contests, encouraging offenders to take advantage of reading and learning opportunities, and providing a system of support for correctional educators. In WSD's Huntsville offices, WSD's Library Services works to support the daily accomplishments of this outstanding team of librarians.
We appreciate the hard work and efforts of Windham's library staff!
Thank you, Diagnosticians, for supporting correctional education in Texas
Every March it is our privilege to recognize WSD's Educational Diagnosticians. These employees are essential to WSD's Special Education program. Educational diagnosticians use various types of assessment and evaluation procedures to identify students with disabilities and determine eligibility for Special Education services. The assessment results, along with information from teachers, other professionals, the student and/or the student's parents guide their recommendations for intervention, instruction, and transition planning.
WSD currently employs 13 educational diagnosticians, and they travel frequently to cover multiple units. This makes their job even more challenging as they strive to meet specific regulatory timelines and reporting requirements, communicate and collaborate effectively with others, organize information and schedules, and maintain eligibility folders.
We appreciate the dedication and professionalism of the Windham Diagnosticians, who are helping change lives each day within Texas prison walls. They are an important part of our efforts to "fight crime through education."
Building Blocks for a Successful Career
Guiding Texas prisoners toward productive, industry-certified free world employment is the challenge of Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers in the Windham School District. During February, Windham CTE teachers statewide are being recognized for efforts to help offenders learn valuable job skills - and avoid returning to prison. WSD correctional educators are certified by the Texas Education Agency and also hold appropriate industry certification for their trade, making them some of the most highly certified vocational instructors in Texas.
Last school year, Windham's CTE teachers in 34 vocational trade areas provided training for 12,182 offenders. CTE programs are the building blocks for a successful career. They are offered in specialized areas such as automotive specialization, bricklaying/stone masonry, plant maintenance, business computer information systems, and landscaping. Other courses include computer maintenance technician, computer-aided drafting, mill and cabinetmaking, piping trades, construction carpentry, and many others.
Windham CTE instructors and their colleagues, college vocational instructors also working in state prisons, are to be commended for their valuable contribution to education. These instructors encourage students to master individual skills, learn vocational trades, seek employment after release, and become assets to their communities. We appreciate all of their work and dedication!
Windham School District Honoring Counselors 2009:
It is our privilege to recognize the Windham School District Counseling Staff each February. Our counselors are an integral part of each successful campus, and we thank them for their contributions. Each day they change lives for the better!
Windham counselors guide some of the most challenging students in Texas. We thank them for helping place offenders in appropriate education programs, working to help teachers resolve student behavioral problems, coordinating unit testing programs, and providing group and classroom counseling. They support the Texas correctional education system at every level, and we thank them for doing this with pride and excellence.
Keep up the great work!
Great Teachers Make Great Schools!
"In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less." ---Lee Iacocca
It is a privilege to commend the professional educators
of the Windham School District. Thanks to the efforts of teachers and college
instructors on 89 prison sites in Texas, the lives of thousands of offenders
are being changed. Correctional educators open the minds of offenders to
new ideas, knowledge and dreams; they serve as role models for their students;
and they are daily motivators and mentors to men and women who have never
experienced academic accomplishments. Teachers are the foundation of Windham's
success.
Professional educators are being commended this May during Teacher
Appreciation Week (May 4-10), and we would like to say "Thank you!" to our correctional
educators. While training tomorrow's work force, our teachers are also instrumental in
interrupting criminal thinking and building a legacy of literacy for incarcerated adults.
The dedication, enthusiasm, and energy of these instructors are contagious; the value of their
work is unquestionable.
"Having made the choice to educate has afforded me the opportunity
to touch eternity with every right decision my students make for themselves
and their families," WSD Teacher of the Year 2007 Pamela K. Patterson said.
She also stressed the importance of WSD teachers and other employees working
together to fight crime through education: "Today there is absolutely no
way one person can embody and represent the Windham School District because
there are so many people who do so many diverse things for WSD," Patterson
said. "Without team work, without all of us bringing our gifts together,
there's no way we can touch and improve these. . . people's lives."
Last year the National Education Association polled teachers to find out what gift would make them feel most
appreciated. The answer? A simple "thank you," according to nearly half of the respondents. Please be sure
this week to tell our WSD and college teachers "thanks" for the inspiring job they do!
"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."
---William Arthur Ward