AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a school wide college and career readiness program that prepares students for post high school success. AVID uses WICOR (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, Reading) instructional strategies to increase rigor in the classroom. AVID strategies are best teaching practices that translate to all classrooms. AVID's mission statement is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society.  

For even more information, visit the Garland ISD AVID page.

AVID elective teachers:  Kristine Tran, Daniela Walker 

AVID coordinator:  Mindy Ayers

 

TEA has made many adjustments to our CTE program. While some classes were eliminated, many other exciting classes have been added. Most importantly, we have several 0.5 credit classes for our eighth grade students. Please feel free to contact Mrs. Karen Calhoun regarding these classes. We encourage you to look at the Career and Technology Education page on the GISD website for further details including information about high school classes.

 

The Junior Youth Government program is intended to introduce our middle school students to how the Youth and Government program works and prepare them to participate fully in the larger high school program when they enter the 9th grade. 

Sponsors: Kevin Thompson and Kristin Pershey

TMembership in the National Junior Honor Society at Austin Academy for Excellence chapter creates enthusiasm for scholarship, stimulates a desire to render service, promotes leadership, develops character, and encourages good citizenship in students. Requirements for NJHS include being an eighth-grade student, maintaining a cumulative average of 95% or better, and community service. Students that had a cumulative average of 95% or better for the first through third grading periods of their seventh-grade year will receive letters inviting them to complete an application.  Once inducted, NJHS members focus on service to both their school community and the wider community outside school walls. 

Sponsors Mindy Ayers and April Roell

 

Austin Academy is home to a nationally ranked Pentathlon program.  Students are nominated by their teachers at the end of each year to fill two Pentathlon teams who compete in during the springtime competitions at district, regional, and national levels.  

Sponsors:  Bridget Fox and Karen Lambright

 

Austin Academy is home to an award winning robotics team. Our students work together in teams to learn building, coding, problem-solving, and time-management. Our teams compete in regional tournaments through the year, and we have had teams qualify for state. 

Sponsors: Denise Toliver

The 2023 - 2024 spelling bee date has not been determined yet. Please contact the sponsors for more information about participation in the Spelling Bee.

Sponsor: Patricia Juarez and Daniela Walker

Austin Academy has several UIL competition teams for our students to participate. The district competition will be held on February 3rd. Team signups are currently closed. 

Art 

This contest involves the study of paintings from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and paintings or pictures from selected Texas museums. The Art Smart Bulletin, published every other year, is the source for study of history and art elements relative to the 30 art selections and is the final authority in the spelling of artists' names and titles of art works. As part of their study, students will demonstrate an understanding of art history and interpret ideas and moods in original artworks while making informed judgments about the artwork.

 

Impromptu Speaking

This contest provides opportunities for students in grades 6, 7, and 8 to evaluate speeches given by others to explore the use of the voice and body in speaking situations; to examine the different purposes for speaking; to organize ideas; to prepare and deliver various speeches; and to develop self-confidence. 

Contestants will draw three topics and have three minutes to  prepare a speech, which  must be presented without any notes. 

 

Social Studies

This comprehensive social studies competition covers topics from Texas history to world history. Students also explore a range of subdisciplines such as economics and geography and topics such as Civil War, Reconstruction, citizenship and culture. 

 

Maps, Graphs, & Charts 

The maps, graphs & charts contest is designed to help students learn to get information from a variety of maps, graphs and charts including world maps, pie charts, bar charts and local area maps. The objective test will measure skills such as using a reference book to locate information, making comparisons, estimating and approximating, using scale and interpreting grid systems, legends and keys.

 

Music Memory 

The focus of the Music Memory contest is an in-depth study of fine pieces of music literature taken from a wide spectrum of music genres to expose students to great composers, their lives and their music. In the course of preparing for the contest, students should be given the opportunity to describe and analyze the music, relate the music to history, to society and to culture, and to evaluate musical performance.

 

Chess Puzzle

The benefits of chess are well documented for players of all ages, and especially for young people. Chess teaches problem solving, hones concentration, and encourages analytical and strategic thinking. Chess can be a lifelong pursuit.

Chess puzzle competition is very different from tournament chess play. Contestants in a chess puzzle contest receive a paper-and-pencil test that includes a series of chess boards with pieces in particular positions. Questions are based on analysis of material or possible moves in each given diagram.

 

Modern Oratory

In Modern Oratory, the sixth, seventh and eighth grade contestants will select one of the topics, determine the critical issues in the topic, and acknowledge both pro and con points citing support discovered in their research. Students will choose a side they will defend and support that side with additional evidence. Along with the skills of analysis, research, note-taking, documentation, evaluation and decision-making come those of delivery and the skill of memorization.

 

Dictionary skills

Thorough knowledge of the dictionary is a way to increase a student's ability to find the information that is needed for classwork as well as everyday living. Each Dictionary Skills test consists of 40 objective and short answer questions to be completed in 20 minutes. Contestants use dictionaries during the competition, which may be tabbed. Contest questions cover word origins and histories, parts of speech, pronunciation, variant spellings, plurals, alphabetizing and other such elements.

 

Oral Reading

Reading literature out loud provides opportunities for students to analyze the text, to grow and to develop as a performer, to communicate a message to an audience and to perform an artistic creation. The oral reading competition should be an extension of the classroom literary and language arts activities in poetry, short stories and children's fiction.

 

Mathematics

Learning to complete math problems quickly is a valuable skill in all facets of life including engineering, accounting, completing a tax return and even grocery shopping. This contest includes problems covering, but not limited to: numeration systems, arithmetic operations involving whole numbers, integers, fractions, decimals, exponents, order of operations, probability, statistics, number theory, simple interest, measurements and conversions. Geometry and algebra problems may be included as appropriate for the grade level.

 

Spelling

The spelling contest is designed to give students exposure to a wide variety of vocabulary words. It is ot a contest of memorization. Preparation for this contest should include instruction in the rules of the English language, meanings and definitions, and root words. In addition to learning to spell proficiently, contestants will learn to write clearly and to capitalize words properly. 

 

Fellowship of Christian Athletes is not just for athletes.  Please join the FCA to learn about being a good person and developing good character traits.  Throughout the year, the FCA volunteers to do service projects and in January/February they do an overnight event called Weekend of Champions.  

FCA meetings are weekly on Thursdays 4:15 to 5 p.m.

Sponsor:   Laura Thomas and Angelene Schultz

Our Austin Cheer Squad promotes school spirit on campus and at our athletic events. They are an athletic group of seventh and eighth graders that represent the Austin Academy community. 

Sponsors: Rashawnda Brown and Teryn Pierce

Our Austin Pep Squad promotes school spirit on campus and at our athletic events. They are an athletic group of seventh and eighth graders that represent the Austin Academy community. 

Sponsors: Dr. Bonita Woods

 

AAE runs an Any Book book Club that meets in room 15 once a month on Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. starting on October 5th.   The Book Club has students share with each other books they have recently read, librarian book talks, plays book games, learns about new and popular books, and are the first to pick from any shipment of new books for the library.  

Sponsor: Laura Thomas, Librarian

Austin Academy has two Jazz bands that meet outside the normal school day for two hours a week. The Jazz band auditions are open to any student that plays an instrument. 

Both bands compete at the TCU Jazz Festival and have won superior ratings. 

Sponsors: Margaret Wis and Alex Harrison

Coding at Austin Academy is a place and time to code and build robots/programs while having fun with friends. 

Coding club helps cultivate the future of technology and innovation. 

Students get to build and code robots, such as remote controlled cars and drones. 

Students become equipped to face a highly technological future and will be able to easily adapt. Students will be able to better prepare for jobs involving machinery and programming. 

Sponsor: Denise Toliver

AAE Ambassadors are a team of student leaders in grades 6 - 8 who reflect the IB Learner Profile attributes and champion IB's mission to make the world a better place through education. 

What we do:

• Fulfill various hospitality roles within the school community. 
• Service opportunities
• Promote international-mindedness and intercultural respect in our school community. 

Sponsors: Kristine Tran and Kelli Davis

The Library advisory committee consists of students in grades 6 - 8 who are interested in making a difference in our library program. 

What we do:

• Students help plan library events
• Suggest new book titles 
• Design book displays and bulletin boards that promote literacy 
• Help plan monthly challenges 

Sponsor: Laura Thomas

Chess Club is currently without a sponsor. Please check back in the future for new information.