District Newsletter for Arp ISD

April/May 2022
Volume 8, Issue 7

What’s coming up AHS Top 10 Grads

May 12- FFA Banquet By: Haley Bryand
-Calculus Lunch Trip
On May 26th, the graduating class of 2022 will walk
May 13 - J unior High Fun Day across the stage, ready to embrace a new chapter of their
-Pancakes and Performances 5pm lives. These students have not only worked hard and
demonstrated excellence in academic performance, but
May 14–15 State Fishing Tournament have also served as leaders on the Arp High School
May 16 - 3rd Grade trip campus. Some students will go off to college, others will
May 17- Elementary School Musical head off into the job market. Whichever path is taken, may
God be with you and always and remember, Tiger Pride
-Band Spring Concert 6:30pm Never Dies!
May 18—Jr High Awards 9:00am
May 19– Senior Walk 8:30 Front Row: Ashley Lopez (Valedictor ian), Ar iana
Padron, Isaac Penney, Emma Duckworth and Alexia
-4th Grade Trip Ferguson
-Senior Trip Back Row: Fr edy Her nandez, Dalton Pr ather, Caleb
May 20 - Elementary Water Day McClure, AJ Arrington (Salutatorian) and Hayden Wright
May 23– Senior Finals
May 24 - HS Finals - Odd Periods Picture courtesy of Mike Alzamora
- Creative Hearts Musical 6:00pm
May 25– Graduation Practice 9AM
-HS Finals - Even Periods
May 26- End 4th 9 wks.
-Kindergarten graduation 8:30pm
-Early release 1 p.m.
-H.S. graduation 7:00 pm
May 27-28 - UIL State Solo and
Ensemble Contest
June 6-8 - Jr High Cheer Camp
Aug 12 – FB - Malakoff Scrimmage @
Malakoff
Aug 18 – FB - Hawkins Scr immage
Aug 26 - FB vs. J oaquin @ J oaquin

Page 2 Arp ISD Maroon Messenger

District Employee Spotlight

The District Employee Spotlight for April is Mr. Shannon
Arrington or Coach A. to most of us. Coach A. grew up in
Garrison, Texas and furthered his education at Stephen F. Austin
University. He has been working at Arp ISD for 25 years and he is
currently serving as the Superintendent of Arp ISD. Essentially, his job
is to oversee every aspect of our school district. This includes, finances
for the district, facilities, transportation, academics, extra-curricular
activities, and everything in between. Mr. Arrington’s hobbies include hunting, fishing,
and spending time with his family. If he could give one piece of advice to any student he
would say, “Work to be a good reliable person that others can always count on.”
Congratulations Coach A.!

Counselor Notes

We have a multitude of events going on these last few weeks of the school year.

Senior Walk, May 19th 8:30
Senior trip to iJump - May 19th
Deadline to order your yearbook is May 22nd
Senior Final Exams will be given on Monday, May 23rd
Final exams for underclassmen will be on May 24th and 25th
High School Graduation practice will be at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, May 25th. This
will be a regular school day.
Graduation is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM on Thursday, May 26th.
SAT testing dates

Saturday, June 4th - deadline for late registration is May 25
ACT testing dates

Saturday, June 11 - deadline for late registration is May 20
Saturday, July 16 - deadline for registration is June 17

By: Haley Bryand and Luke Allen

Volume 8, Issue 7 Arp High School Page 3

Arp FFA Celebrates Achievements

The Arp High School FFA Awards Banquet was held on May 12th at 6pm and
was catered by Rudy’s “Country Store” and Bar-B-Q. The banquet honored each
student’s success from the past year. This year our students have participated in
Career Development Events as well as various Public Speaking Contest and
numerous livestock shows. Arp FFA also announced the newly elected 2022 officers
at the banquet: President - Haley Bryand, Vice President - Landon Langenbau,
Secretary - Madelyne Eaton, Treasurer - Zachary Herring, Reporter - Brylee
Crawford, Sentinel - Landry Brady and Student Advisor- Marisa Vanover.

By: Haley Bryand

Page 4 Arp High School Maroon Messenger

AHS Employee of the Month

M rs. Forester is the AHS Employee of the Month for March.
Mrs. Forester grew up in Oregon and majored in Office
Education, Education and Human Resource Development. She
attended Oregon Institute of Technology, TJC, and UT-Tyler. Mrs.
Forester has been working at Arp ISD for 16 years. She teaches
Career and Technology courses at Arp High School. She is also the
yearbook advisor. Her favorite part of her job is her accounting
classes. In her free time, she likes to sew, exercise, and swim. Her advice to students
is, “Be the best that you can be and always be positive.” This is Mrs. Forester's last
year at AHS. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication! We are going to miss
you!

12th Grader of the Month

Congratulations to AJ Arrington! He is the AHS Senior of the
Month. AJ has attended Arp schools his whole life and has two
younger brothers who also attend. AJ's favorite subject in school is
math. He participates in band, football, basketball, fishing, and golf.
After high school, AJ plans on attending UT-Tyler to study computer
science. AJ looks up to both of his parents. He admires their work ethic
and Christian values. On the weekends, AJ studies and practices music
with different instruments. He plays the trombone, piano and guitar. His favorite movie
is Star Wars. His advice to lower classmen is, “Try hard and persevere.” Thank you for
being a role model for Arp High School! Congrats!

By: Ashley Lopez and Ariana Padron

Volume 8, Issue 7 Arp High School Page 5

11th Grader of the Month

Abby Carpenter is the AHS Junior of the Month! She has
attended AHS for three years now and has a younger sister who
also goes here. Abby’s favorite subject is history. She participates in
volleyball, softball, and cheer. Abby’s goal is to cheer in college.
After high school, Abby wants to attend East Texas Baptist
University. One person she looks up to is her Mom. Her advice to
lower classmen is, “Work hard and don’t worry about other things outside of school
and focus on your grades.” Thank you for being awesome! Congrats!

10th Grader of the Month

K aitlyn Williams is our Sophomore of the Month! She has
attended Arp schools for three years now and has a younger
brother who also goes here. Kaitlyn participates in Academic
Rodeo, one act play, and basketball. After high school, Kaitlyn
wants to further her education and major in criminal psychology or
finance. She says one person she looks up to is her Mom for her
appreciable character. Her dream vacation is to travel around Europe. Her advice to
lower classmen is, "Make as many memories as you can because high school does fly
by fast." Thanks for being authentic, responsible, and prepared. Congrats!

9th Grader of the Month

M adelyn Birdsong is our Freshman of the Month! She has been
attending Arp since kindergarten. Madelyn’s favorite subject in
school is geometry. She participates in volleyball, basketball, and
softball. Her dream vacation is to go to Hawaii. Madelyn’s favorite
television show is SpongeBob. Her favorite dessert is cheesecake.
Madelyn’s goal is to play college volleyball. Someone she looks up
to is her older brother Colton. Thank you for your hard work and dedication! Congrats!

By: Ashley Lopez and Ariana Padron

Page 6 Arp High School Maroon Messenger

Take Your Chance and Dance

Prom King and Queen
Gunner Bryant and Emma Ducksworth

By: Abigail Nichols

Volume 8, Issue 7 Arp High School Page 7

NHS Inducts New Members

Landry Brady-President
Kayleigh Shuttlesworth-Vice President

Abby Nichols-Secretary
Haley Bryand-Treasurer
Landon Langenbau-Historian

Luke Allen
Jacob Hooper
Kyia Horton
Molly Jane Mwamba
Kyleigh Pawlik
Jocelyn Rodriguez
Elizabeth Sellers

By: Ashley Lopez

Page 8 Arp High School Maroon Messenger

Students Compete at UIL Regionals and State

Regional Results:

Several Arp High School students competed at the UIL Regional Competition at Tyler Junior
College on Saturday, April 23.
Congratulations to our Accounting Team and their coach, Mrs. Forester. They were the 1st place
team and qualified for the State Meet which was held on May 7th in Austin.

Kyleigh Pawlik - placed 2nd
Kayleigh Shuttlesworth - placed 3rd
Jacob McMorries - placed 6th
Isaac Penney - placed 7th
Also competing were:
Maddie Poole - 8th in Spelling
Jared Swinney in Science
Dalton Prather in Literary Criticism
Congratulations to all of those that competed and thank you to their coaches: Mrs. Marshall, Coach
Johnson and Mrs. McClendon.

State Results:

The Accounting Team coached by Mrs.
Forester took 4th place in the UIL Academic
State Meet in Austin.

Kayleigh Shuttlesworth - placed 8th
Kyleigh Pawlik - placed 12th
Jacob McMorries - placed 13th
Isaac Penney - placed 16th

Congratulations to the Accounting Team for
representing Arp High School at the UIL
Academic State Meet.

By: Luke Allen

Volume 8, Issue 7 Arp High School Page 9

2021-2022 Yearbook Staff

Backrow:
Rhialee Perzinski

Lexi Ferguson
Gunner Bryant
Mrs. Forester
Jacob McMorris
David Barocio

Crystal Kim
Front row:
Kencia Lee
Lindsey Johnson

Tyler Rotary Club

The Tyler Rotary Citizens Club selections were: A.J. Arrington, Ashley Lopez, Jaycee McCollum,
and Cornelius Pierce.
The Tyler Rotary Club Arp School Teachers of the Year selections were: Chris Johnson and Bobby
Parker

Pictures courtesy of Mike Alzamora

By: Ashley Lopez

Page 10 Arp High School Maroon Messenger

Award Winning Tiger Pride Band

Congratulations to the Arp Band! They competed at Carlisle High School in the Concert and
Sightreading Contest on April 28 and earned first division superior rating. This along with their
first division rating for marching earned them sweepstakes for the second year in a row.

Fishing Teams Heading to State

Ten Arp High School fishing teams competed at the Regional Tournament April 9th on
Lake Palestine. Together the teams had a combined weigh-in weight of 35.58 lbs earning
them the 2nd place trophy. Five teams qualified for State:

5th place– Madelyn and Zachary 13.95lbs
18th place– Zachary and Shawn 11.29lbs

24th place– Blake Archie 10.34lbs
31st place– Haley and Ty 8.62lbs
68th place– Landon and Lance 5.97lbs
Biggest Bass– Shawn Sawyer 7.50lbs

These teams will compete on Lake Belton May 14-15 at the State Tournament.

By: Luke Allen and Wyatt Ladd

Volume 8, Issue 7 Arp High School Page 11

Baseball Senior Night

#2 Gunner Bryant
#3 Kadaylon Williams
#4 David Barocio
#8 Tristan Robbins
#9 Colby Eschberger
#13 Hayden Wright
#15 Chase Rozell

Pictures Courtesy of
Sydney Hardin Photography

By: Hayden Wright

Page 12 Arp High School Maroon Messenger

Area and Regional Qualifiers

The UIL 3A Area 15-16 track meet was held on Wednesday April 20th at West Rusk High School.

Girls Track Advances to Area
4x100 placed 5th and 6th in 4x200
and 7th in 4x400 relays
Abby Nichols
Chloe Petty
Alana Benefield
Aubrey Poole

Molly Jane Mwamba - pole vault
Chloe Petty - long jump

Alternates: Alyssa Talamantes
Cyla Nelson-Rose
Skylar King

Boys Track Advances to Area
Hunter Nash - 4th in pole vault
advances to Regionals
Wyatt Ladd - 3rd in 300 hurdles
advances to Regionals

4x200 relay
Hunter Nash
Frank Smith
KJ Yarbrough
Jaydon Spradlin

Alternates: Fisher Arrington
Tyler Anderson

By: Abigail Nichols

Volume 8, Issue 7 Arp Jr. High School Page 13

Arp Jr High March Recognitions

Employee of the Month 6th Grader of the Month

The Arp Junior High C ongratulations to Ava
Employee of the Month is Hammerbacher for
Dr. Laura Dacus. Dr. Dacus has receiving Student of the
been working for Arp ISD for Month. She has been
25 years. She is currently attending Arp since Pre-K
serving the Junior High as the and has a brother and sister
technology teacher. She felt inspired to teach who both go to Arp. Her favorite subject is
this particular subject and thoroughly enjoys it. English and she is in the band where she plays
The most rewarding part of her job is getting the flute. In her free time, she enjoys watching
to interact with kids. Dr. Dacus has attended reaction and interview YouTube videos. She
TJC, Texas A&M Commerce and received her loves watching The Owl House and eating egg
Doctorate Degree at SFA. In her free time, she drop soup. Ava is very kind and helpful and
enjoys cycling with her sister because of the enjoys learning everyday. Her favorite time of
time they get to spend together. year is Christmas because she gets to spend
time with her family. Congratulations Ava!
Congratulations Dr. Dacus!

7th Grader of the Month 8th Grader of the Month

Congrats to Wyatt Calley The 8th Grade Student of
for receiving Student of the Month is De Asia
the Month. He has been at Green. De Asia has been
Arp since the first grade. attending Arp her whole life
Wyatt has three sisters. Wyatt and is involved in numerous
participates in many school extracurricular activities.
activities such as football and track. When She participates in volleyball, softball,
Wyatt graduates, he wants to become a welder. basketball, track, and band, in which she plays
His favorite subject is history. Wyatt enjoys the clarinet. De Asia has two older siblings as
fishing and hunting in his free time. He has two well as three dogs and one cat. When she
dogs and his favorite food is Italian. If he could grows up, she hopes to be a science or math
travel anywhere in the world he would like to teacher. De Asia really enjoys seafood as well
go to the Bahamas. His favorite holiday is as chocolate cake. One day, De Asia hopes to
Christmas. Congratulations Wyatt! travel to the Bahamas because of the beach
and the pretty views. Congratulations De
Asia!

By: Abby Nichols and Haley Bryand

Page 14 Arp Jr. High School Maroon Messenger

Arp Jr High April Recognitions

Employee of the Month 6th Grader of the Month

Mrs. Reeves is the Arp C ongratulations to Jayden
Junior High Employee of Todd for receiving 6th
the Month for April. She is Grade Student of the Month!
married and has three grown kids. Jayden has been attending Arp
She graduated from Whitehouse since he was in Pre-K. Jayden has
and then went to TJC and SFA. one dog at home who he
Mrs. Reeves has worked for Arp for 9 years as a considers his sibling. Jayden enjoys school and his
paraprofessional, substitute, and has coached UIL favorite subject is Reading. His goal for this school
teams. Throughout the day Mrs. Reeves travels year is to be smart and make good grades. He is
from class to class with her students and helps part of the Junior High Robotics team. In his free
them one on one with their work. In her free time, time, Jayden likes to play games on his iPad and
she enjoys watching Grey’s Anatomy, Friends and watches Bob’s Burgers. His favorite food is beef
loves making logic puzzles. Her favorite book is stroganoff. Jayden’s dream vacation would be a trip
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. Mrs. Reeves to Disney World with his family. If he could have
piece of advice is, “Stay in school, listen to any superpower, he said he would choose to be
parents, and to be respectful.” Congratulations! invisible so he could sneak up and scare people.
Congratulations Jayden!

7th Grader of the Month 8th Grader of the Month

C ongrats to Hailey Charles for C ongrats to Brandi Jones
being the 7th Grade Student for receiving 8th Grade
of the Month! Hailey moved to Arp Student of the Month. She has
in 1st grade and has been at Arp for attended Arp her whole life and
7 years. Hailey has two siblings she has two older brothers and
that attend Arp and two that don’t. one sister. Brandi participates
She has many pets including a dog and 5 kittens. She in track and volleyball. She
is part of the Arp Junior High Track team and runs the plans to attend SFA or UT to pursue her track
4x200 relay and the 200m dash. Hailey’s favorite part goals. Brandi wants to become an Interior
of school is robotics. In school, Hailey strives to reach Designer. In her free time, she enjoys baking with
her goals of being the best person she can be and to be her family. She loves going to the beach and
successful. Her dream job when she graduates would would like to travel to Paris someday. She has
be a masseuse or a doctor. In her free time, Hailey three dogs and a couple cows. Brandi is a little
enjoys reading books about dragons or watching nervous about entertaining high school, but she is
Shameless. If she could travel anywhere it would be excited for the next chapter in her life. Her
to New York to see all the beautiful sights. Hailey said favorite food is chicken spaghetti. If she could
if she could have any superpower it would be to time have one super power it would be invisibility.
travel so she could go back in time. Congratulations! Congratulations Brandi!

By: Kayleigh Shuttlesworth and Abigail Nichols

Volume 8, Issue 7 Arp Jr. High School Page 15

Junior High Robotics Results

Fifty-four Arp Junior High's robotics students had the opportunity to put their skills
to the test at the Region 7 Robotics Challenge Competition in Kilgore on April 21-22
and they passed with flying colors. The Tiger team "Nifty Shifty Bits" comprised of
eighth graders Brooke Abbott, Journey Hawkins, and seventh grader Hailey Charles
came away with the third place trophy out of 110 teams. Another one of our teams,
"The 4 Big Guys" finished in 11th place. Seventh-graders Cale Bedard, David Black,
Alex Nguyen, and J.T. Benefield were the members of that group. The participants
were given 45 minutes to program their respective robots and to practice. Then they
would each have 90 seconds to show their stuff in front of the judges. Congratulations
to these students and to their coaches, Brittany Anderson and Arethra Garrett.

Pictures and information courtesy of Mike Alzamora
By: Annika Allred

Page 16 Arp Jr. High School Maroon Messenger

Creative Learning at Arp Junior High

By: Annika Allred

Volume 8, Issue 7 Arp Elementary Page 17

Elementary Staff of the Month - March

B eth Hines is the Assistant Principal at Arp Elementary. She
started out as a paraprofessional in a head-start class at
Chapel Hill and then became a teacher. She is married and
although she doesn't have any children, she and her husband are
foster parents. Besides working in Arp, she also teaches an
education class at the University of Texas at Tyler on Monday
nights. She is very active at her church where she sings in the choir. She grew up and
graduated in Whitehouse. She attended UT-Tyler where she studied education. She has
been at Arp for 10 years and loves working with the kids every day. She wants to go
back to Belize where she has been two times already for educational mission trips to
teach. Her favorite movie is The Little Mermaid and she loves any book that has to do
with how to grow as a teacher or educator. Her message to the students is “Don’t ever
give up it doesn’t matter if it is hard just keep trying because usually the thing that is
the hardest for you becomes your passion for life.”
Congratulations Mrs. Hines on being Staff Member of the Month!

Elementary Student of the Month

Anna Schminkey is a 5th grade student at Arp Elementary. Her
favorite subject in school is science because she loves the
experiments. She plays volleyball and loves to play outside. Her
favorite dessert is brownies and she loves the color yellow. She has five
chickens, a cat and a dog that she loves to play with. She is excited to
be moving up to the Junior High for 6th grade next year. She is hoping
to become a meteorologist when she grows up. Congratulations to Anna on being
Student of the Month!

By: Hayden Wright

Page 18 Arp Elementary Maroon Messenger

Elementary April Staff of the Month

C ongratulations to our April Staff of the Month Mrs. Whistler. Mrs.
Whistler has been teaching at Arp for 10 years. This is her second year
teaching first grade. Mrs. Whistler grew up in Tyler and went to Robert E.
Lee High School. She then attended UT-Tyler and majored in education. Mrs.
Whistlers favorite part about her job is when her kids get excited when they
learn something new or it finally clicks with them and they understand it. She
was inspired to teach first grade because of their love for learning and how creative they are.
Mrs. Whistler would love to go snow skiing on vacation. She likes to relax and hang out with
her family and friends in her free time. If she could have any superpower in the world she
would want to be invisible. Her advice to the students is, “You are smart, you are talented, and
you are loved.” Congratulations Mrs. Whistler!

Elementary April Student of the Month

D amaris L. is a kindergarten student at Arp Elementary. She has a 10
year old brother and a 2 year old sister. She loves doing her school
work and is eager to learn new things. When she gets home from school,
she loves to play with her brother. Damaris loves to play Roblox when she
isn’t playing with her brother. She loves to eat spaghetti with ice cream for
dessert. She has two dogs that she enjoys playing with. She wishes she
could play with her brother for the rest of her life. Congratulations to Damaris!

Elementary Employee Spotlight

Mrs. Amy Wilson has worked at Arp for 13 years. She has 2 kids, 4 dogs
and a newborn grandbaby. She grew up all over the southwest in
Arizona, Texas and New Mexico and then moved to Washington state where she
had her kids. Mrs. Wilson graduated from high school in Arizona. She then went
to cosmetology school in Plano, Texas. Mrs. Wilson switched jobs when her
kids started school to have the same schedule as them. Mrs. Wilson has done a
little bit of everything. She started out as a kindergarten aide, then switched to
attendance and then switched to registrar, where she answers phone calls, enrolls and withdrawals
students. The kids are her favorite part of the job. Mrs. Wilsons favorite place to go on vacation is
to the mountains in Colorado or the beach. She loves to watch mystery movies. If she could have
any super power she would want to be invisible. Her advice to the students is, “Don’t go to school
looking to make money, life is short, enjoy your life.” Congratulations Mrs. Wilson!

By: Frank Smith and Hayden Wright

Volume 8, Issue 7 Arp Elementary School Page 19

Learning and Laughing

By: Ashley Lopez