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West Tennessee School for the Deaf wrapped up the first half of the '19-'20 school year with a "WTSD Gives Back" themed Holiday Program. For several years, WTSD has used the holiday spirit to participate in giving back to the community. This year, they chose to take it a step further and honor our nation's military personnel by simply saying "thank you". They did this by participating in "100,000 Thank Yous". Nashville's "The Ty Bentli Radio Show" partnered with Operation Gratitude (a 501(c)(3) organization that provides tangible ways to strengthen communities and bring together grateful civilians with the men and women in uniform who serve and protect them) to collect and send 100,000 "thank yous" to our troops. Each class at WTSD joined in the effort of providing 100,000 Thank Yous by creating their own thank you cards and sending them to the radio show. The Holiday Program highlighted the gratitude for our troops through a PowerPoint showcasing each student's effort in the push for 100,000 Thank Yous, as well as recognizing our own military "hero", Chad Blalock. The program also featured each class in a performance of a song that was originally performed and/or written by artists native to Tennessee. WTSD looks forward to continuing the tradition of giving back.

As part of WTSD’s ongoing Positive Behavior program, students with “Upper Crust” behavior were invited to participate in a pizza party. Each nine weeks, good behavior resulting in no office discipline referrals is celebrated. The most recent celebration included creating and enjoying their own pizzas. A huge shout out to those with Upper Crust behaviors as well as to our fabulous cafeteria crew for taking time out of their busy day to make this happen.

On Saturday, December 14th, Sara Miller walked the stage at the University of Tennessee at Martin's commencement ceremony. Sara was officially recognized for earning a Master's of Science in Education with a major in Educational Leadership. While she completed her grad school program in the middle of August (during the late summer semester), there is no summer commencement held at UTM. So, summer graduate students must wait to walk during the Fall commencement ceremony which was held this past Saturday. Sara completed her degree in three years (taking classes every Fall/Winter/Summer semester) while teaching full time at the West Tennessee School for the Deaf. She maintained a 4.0 GPA and was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, last April. To receive an invitation to be inducted into Phi Kappa Phi as a graduate student, one must be in the top 10 percent of the class. It is an honor to be recognized. Currently in her 12th year of teaching, Sara enjoys working with her fabulous group of 5th and 6th grade students, every day. While Sara loves being in the classroom and has no plans to leave any time soon, this new degree allows her to have the option to apply for administrative positions in the future should the opportunity arise. Sara is incredibly grateful to all family, friends, and coworkers who have supported and encouraged her over the last three years. None of it would have been possible without all of the support!

The Parent/Family Bilingual Information Meeting was held on Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at the TSD Knoxville campus. The video archive is available for viewing.