Touchet School District

It's GAME DAY! Your Redhawk athletes are back in action with home games today and tomorrow! Let's fill the stands to cheer them on! GO REDHAWKS!

Touchet School District is looking for Baseball Coaches for the upcoming Spring Sports season. If you have a passion for coaching, experience working with students, and are excited about the game of baseball, this could be a great opportunity for you. Here are our current openings and links to apply! High School Baseball Assistant Coach https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MarwXH7Rivg-_MsSn5OQfHNjoF2Cewn6Bt4pGEPev_k/edit?usp=sharing Middle School Baseball Head Coach: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pI1yfoZYxIFbzPCBfPeimUv5nFraccXDuLI_7BNgdbs/edit?usp=sharing Middle School Baseball Assistant Coach: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LTEpYZqyfGFtWamFcmIBND27T6CPHTvdDK_RSngHP4s/edit?usp=sharing Middle School Softball Assistant Coach: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LTEpYZqyfGFtWamFcmIBND27T6CPHTvdDK_RSngHP4s/edit?usp=sharing

Happy New Year Redhawk Fans! Let's get our young cheer fans pumped up to cheer on our Redhawk Athletes! Join the Touchet Redhawks Cheer Camp on Saturday, January 13th from 9 am-2 pm. The camp is open for students in grades 1-4 and a registration fee of $15 includes lunch, t-shirt, and pom poms. Registration is as simple as scanning the QR code and signing up! Call Brandi Zuger for more info! 509-629-0499

Dear Touchet School District Parents and Touchet Community The entire staff at the Touchet School District would like to wish everyone a safe and exciting new year. As a reminder, classes will resume its regular schedule on January 3, 2024. It is a Wednesday; therefore, the district will have an early release on that day. I am writing to share some important developments discussed during the December 19, 2023, school board meeting. First, it is with mixed emotions that Cathy Schaeffer has resigned from her position as a school board member after an impressive 10 years of dedicated service to the Touchet School District. Cathy will continue serving our Walla Walla County in other boards and capacities. Cathy's unwavering commitment and tireless efforts have had a profound impact on our community, and we extend our heartfelt gratitude for her invaluable contributions. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors. To achieve a complete five-member board for the district, the school board is tasked with appointing a member at large to fill the vacant position for the remaining duration of the term. The board has a 90-day timeframe to finalize this appointment. We will follow an application process for the consideration of potential board members, and applications will soon be accessible on our website. The application deadline is January 19, 2024, by 4:00 p.m. The new board member will be announced at the January 25, 2024, school board meeting. If you have any inquiries or require more information about this process, please don't hesitate to contact Mr. Elizondo, who will gladly provide additional details. You can reach him via email at relizondo@touchetsd.org. I am pleased to announce that Viviana Fowler has been elected to the position of board chair for a one-year term. Viviana brings experience and dedication to this role, and we look forward to her leadership in the coming year. Additionally, Jose Vidal Pedroza will be serving as the assistant chair for a one-year term, and we are confident that he will contribute significantly to the board's continued success. We extend our sincere gratitude to Lincoln Short for his dedicated service as school board chair over the past year. His invaluable contributions have made a lasting impact on our school district, and we genuinely appreciate his commitment to excellence. As a newly elected board member, Lincoln will serve for the next three years as a Touchet Board of Directors. Ashly Carlisle and Jose Vidal Pedroza will also serve a three-year term as board members. Thank you and congratulations on your elected positions. Please join me in thanking Cathy Schaeffer for her service and congratulating Viviana Fowler and Jose Vidal Pedroza on their new roles. As always, your support is crucial to the success of our school district, and we appreciate your ongoing dedication to our students and community. Thank you, Mr. Elizondo

This week's Touchet Teacher Spotlight is Mr. Maiden! Here are some fascinating facts about Mr. Maiden that you might find interesting! ~"This is my 16th year teaching. I started my career at Grandview High School and taught there for 8 years before coming to Touchet. My favorite thing about teaching is getting to see the kids make connections with the content we are teaching and potential future goals (careers or college majors). My favorite class to teach is Animal Science, but I am pretty excited to add an Agricultural Communications (Ag Comm) class and Animal Health and Vet Science (AHVS) for the 24-25 school year. My favorite class as a kid was…. Surprise surprise Ag Classes! In college, my favorite courses were animal science classes like Beef Production, Farm Animal Reproduction, and Feeds & Feeding. I went to Walla Walla Community College then transferred to Washington State University, majoring in General Agriculture with an Animal Science Production pathway. I then went to work for Simplot Growers Solution where I was a Crop Advisor and Precision Ag Specialist. I decided to go back to WSU to get my teaching degree in Agricultural Education." We asked Mr. Maiden if he had to pick one Farm animal to be superior to all others, which would you pick? "Without a doubt, I would choose cows as the best farm animal. If I could have any other job in the world, I would like to run cows and horses on a big ranch in Montana or Wyoming." Thank you, Mr. Maiden, for all you do for our students and the community!

Look who made the nice list! November's good behavior kiddos were rewarded with some ice cream courtesy of the Grinch (aka our principal Mrs. Tobin)! Good job kids and keep up the hard work!

Redhawk Happenings this week! Christmas Concert (with special guest), School Board Meeting, Some Basketball, and finishing off the week early on Wednesday! Enjoy the winter break! School resumes on January 3rd!

It's Game Day! Come cheer on our Touchet Redhawks as they take on the Sunnyside Christian Knights today, with games starting at 3 pm! And don't forget you can get your picture with Thunder today! Mrs. Frenzel will be taking pictures at no cost sending them right to your inbox for you to enjoy! GO REDHAWKS

We know basketball is just getting started, but we are searching for our new head baseball coach. We'd like to invite you to join our team. If you have a passion for coaching and a love for baseball, we would be delighted to have you on board. Apply now and let's collaborate to build a winning team! https://docs.google.com/document/d/168IGvPdBnENECN7YNcsdQSrsdrCqc7T-uvGP9U__nVA/edit

Who's ready to have their pictures taken with our new mascot Thunder? Mrs. Frenzel will be taking pictures of families and kids with our mascot during halftime of the basketball games this Saturday! She will then email you this picture at no cost for you to enjoy!

Redhawk Happenings this week! Last week to catch some boys middle school basketball action with 8th-grade recognition on Wednesday before the game @ 4:50 pm. Middle School Girls Basketball is just around the corner! The schedule is up on the app and website, but make sure to get those athletic packets with physicals turned in if you haven't already and plan on playing! Athletic Packets https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/689242/AthleticPacket22-23.pdf And Seniors, make sure your orders are in to Josten's by Friday as this is the last day to submit your order!

Come Join us tonight as the Redhawk Basketball Players take on the Waitsburg Cardinals in the first league match-up of the season! JV Boys will tip off at 3:00 pm with 2 quarters of play, followed by the Lady Redhawks, then Boys Varsity in the Redhawk Gym! Booster Club will be set up with some nice Christmas gift options, and the concession stand will be warm and stocked with all your favorites!

We are thrilled to invite you to our Winter concert "Under the Winter Sky", which will take place on Monday, December 18th at 6 pm in the multipurpose room. The kids have been working hard on a special performance just for you, and we are excited to announce there may be a special guest joining us for the evening! We sincerely hope you can join us for this wonderful event.

The Touchet School District would like to remind you that you have an opportunity to join Mr. Elizondo for "Coffee with the Superintendent" on Friday, December 8th at 7:30 am. During this event, Mr. Elizondo will share current school district updates and answer any questions you may have! Thank You!

This week's Touchet Teacher Spotlight is Mrs. Hilda Morales! Mrs. Morales is a 2009 Touchet Graduate! She teaches Spanish 1, 2, and Elementary dual language PE. Her favorite subject to teach is Spanish where she enjoys seeing students grasp the language and engage with it creatively. For college, she attended the University of Washington and graduated in 2014. Her favorite class in college was Understanding Early Childhood and Family Studies Research, where she enjoyed learning about early childhood development, early learning, and family studies from a variety of perspectives across a range of disciplines. As a Touchet Alum, Mrs. Morales has many fond memories of attending school here, but her favorite memories include the fun Touchet traditions including Homecoming and Mayday. It makes it extra special that her daughter now gets to experience them too! Her favorite hobbies outside of teaching include crafting, planning and decorating for parties, and taking photos! If she had the chance to live anywhere in the world, she would live somewhere on a beach! Thank you, Mrs. Morales, for returning to educate the students of Touchet, where the school had such a positive impact on your education while growing up!

🌱🌧️ Last week Touchet High School students had the chance to explore the fascinating world of erosion with Mr. Maiden's CASE NRE course. 🏫 Ever wondered why construction sites get muddy after rain or why rivers turn brown post-heavy rainfall? During Mr. Maiden's lab, the students uncovered the secrets behind erosion, a natural process accelerated by human activities like deforestation and construction. 🌍 The students designed an experiment with their group, testing the erosion potential of soil under different conditions, made predictions, and developed a data collection plan. 🌿🔍 It was a great chance for the students to work together to protect our environment and preserve the essential role soil plays in supporting diverse ecosystems. 🌎💚 #ToucehtHighSchool #CASENRE #ErosionExploration #SoilHealth #EnvironmentalEducation

Redhawk Happenings this week! Both Middle School and High School Basketball action and our first Lego League Regional Qualifiers trip! Join Mr. Elizondo for Coffee with the Superintendent this Friday at 7:30 am. Get updates and answers to your questions!

Redhawk Fans, are you ready for an exciting evening? Redhawk Basketball season opener tonight in the Redhawk Gym! Girls' action tips off at 5:30 pm. During the game, seniors will be selling coffee for both drinking and taking home. It would make an excellent Christmas gift for your loved ones. Additionally, TEF will be selling senior raffle tickets, with the big drawing taking place during halftime of the boy's game. AND JUST ANNOUNCED! We have a SPECIAL GUEST TONIGHT! Our new mascot "THUNDER" is going to be at the game tonight! GO REDHAWKS!

This week's Touchet Teacher Spotlight shines on Mrs. Cathy Plucker, who has been teaching for an impressive 43 years! Mrs. Plucker finds it fulfilling to see her students discover new authors, build confidence, and develop a love for learning. She graduated from Eastern Washington State College in Cheney. If she hadn't become a teacher, she would have enjoyed working as a librarian. Mrs. Plucker enjoys cooking Italian dishes like lasagna, salad, and garlic bread. She also loves traveling and has fond memories of her trip to Ireland. She hopes to revisit Ireland one day, and she also dreams of visiting Athens, Greece, and Rome, Italy. Touchet School District is fortunate to have such an amazing teacher who has taught so many Touchet kids!

Redhawk Happenings this week! Welcome Back from Thanksgiving Break! We have both Middle School and High School Basketball action this week, as well as Lego Robotics! Don't forget the See's candy orders are due tomorrow, so if you haven't ordered your See's candy yet contact Mrs. Crenshaw and she will send an FBLA student your way!