4300 Mouse Creek Rd. NW
Cleveland, TN 37312
ph: 423.472.9571
fax: 423.472.3390

Dr. Martin Ringstaff, Director of Schools

Director’s Moment

posted on 4/1/2012

Welcome back from Spring Break. We have a couple of four day work weeks as we pause at the conclusion of this Thursday to take Friday and Monday off as we celebrate Good Friday and the Easter holiday. As we enter April, and then May, we begin to realize that these next two months are the end of the school year! We have EOC’s, TCAP’s, Banquets, Retirement Receptions, Awards Assemblies, Dances, and let’s not forget the Prom!

But, as we move toward that all special day known as the Class of 2012 Graduation and Commencement, I want to send out a special invitation to all faculty and staff this year. I want to invite every single teacher, administrator, and employee to graduation this year. You may ask why?

We spend 365 days a year, every year making thousands of decisions to get these students to and across that stage. The students spend thirteen years preparing for that moment when they go across that stage. Is there really a better day ever in the life of public schools than graduation day? I think it would be excellent if we could have as many teachers and administrators there as possible. So, please come and celebrate as every teacher plays a part in getting someone across that stage no matter if it is your first year or thirty-fifth year. If it takes a village, we should invite the whole village then! Let’s send the Class of 2012 out with a bang!

Graduation is May 19, 2012 at 9:30 AM. At Cleveland High School’s Raider Field!

CLASS OF 2012 DESTINATIONS!

Congratulations to the Class of 2012 as they continue to find their next destination!

  • Emily Arnold – University of Central Missouri, Go Mules/Jennies!
  • Jordan Guyton – Lee University, Go Flames!
  • Callie Swenson – Lee University, Go Flames!
  • David Malakhov – Lee University, Go Flames!
  • Savannah Ware – Vanderbilt University, Go Commodores!
  • Shivani Patel – East Tennessee State University, Go Bucs!
  • Alejandro Fernandez – U.S. Army, Army Strong!

DIRECTOR’S RECOGNITION

On March 20, Cleveland High School celebrated Raider Outreach Day. The entire student body participated in one way or the other by collecting food and clothes, learning about college, watching videos about service learning, taking the ACT, cleaning up their campus, participating in service learning training, and serving our churches, agencies, and health facilities with special projects. And at the end of the day, they filmed their 2012 Lip Dub. Great job to all students, faculty, and staff of Cleveland High School.

Rachel Lowe, Family Coordinator at CMS, has designed a project to send food boxes home with needy students over spring break. Many families rely on school breakfasts and lunches to feed their children and spring break causes a financial burden on these families. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated 804 items of food to this project. The food included boxes of macaroni & cheese, jars of applesauce, cans of green beans, tuna, vegetable soup and many other varieties. Thirty-three CMS families received food boxes over spring break.

Congratulations to the Cleveland Middle School Dance Team as they won the AmeriDance InterNational Dance Competition at Walt Disney World. There were 25 states and 8 countries represented in the competition including Ireland, Australia, England, and Columbia.

The CMS Dance Team won first place in junior pom, first place in junior hip hop, and first place in junior jazz. In addition, the talented young ladies won the High Point Jazz Award by having the highest score in jazz in the entire competition. The highlight of the day was when the CMS Jazz routine won the WOW Choreography Award by having the most eye catching and innovative choreography in the competition. The team also received a bid to the US Finals at the end of the season which is a prestigious competition by invitation only.

Cleveland Middle School competitive varsity dancers are Blaire Brooks, Joeli Poole, Madeline Hoops, Ashley Hamilton, Breanna Long, Emma Waddel, Taylar Hooker, Gabrielle Thornton, Tehya Dyer, Adria Smith, Chloe Baggett, Taylor Allison, Jessica Davis, and Josey McCluskey. The head coach is CMS Math teacher Kelly Ann Owens, a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Assistant coach is Tonya Cawood, a CMS Science teacher. Also assisting the team is CMS Dance Team alumni, Haleigh May. Choreographers of the competitive team are Will Linder of Chattanooga, TN and Susan Dyer of Cookeville, TN.

The CMS Dance Team dedicated their season to their teacher Ronna Mills, who is battling breast cancer.

Miss Owens said, “The experience at Disney World is priceless. The girls get to compete and interact with competitors from other countries. The dancers were so excited when they won their trophies, banners, medals, and InterNational Champion jackets. They could not wait to get back to share the news with the community and make Cleveland proud. They work extremely hard, are totally dedicated to the team, school, and community, and show impeccable character. They are top students at CMS and are role models at CMS. I am honored to coach such a group of fine young ladies. We are glad to be able to contribute to the CMS athletic tradition of excellence. The Disney World competition will be an experience that the girls will never forget!”

Congratulations to Aloha Buffington for winning the Ken Smith Memorial Award from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga for Creative Non-Fiction during their annual Meacham Writers’ Workshop. Ms. Huffington shared with me the following quote:

“I believe writing is an important art form, because it is “painting with words.” Both disciplines have the same goal – to communicate an idea or image without slapping the viewer/reader sideways. The goal is to evoke an emotion with which the viewer/reader can relate. I believe writing makes me a better painter, and painting makes me a better writer. I think it can do the same for children.”

Congratulations to Cleveland Middle School and Cleveland High School winterguards competed in the Southern Association for Performance Arts (SAPA) circuit championships at the UTC Arena this weekend. The competition started Friday and ended Saturday at 11 p.m. There were 109 teams from Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama competing throughout the weekend. Here are the results:

Cleveland Middle School Winterguard – Cadet A class SILVER Medal

Cleveland High School Winterguard – Scholastic Regional A class GOLD Medal

-We also won the Fan Favorite Award for Friday (out of 32 teams), and senior Aubrey Arrington won a SAPA scholarship!

And a little birdie (I cannot call out Jim Burton’s name without his permission) let us know that Andi Wendorf picked and edited the music, wrote the drill movement, wrote most of the equipment work, organized four competition trips to Atlanta for 35 performers plus chaperones and staff for both winterguard teams! Thank you Andi Wendorf for your dedication and love for what you do.