Help us officially welcome Brenda Barnett to the swamp! She was a student teacher under Coach Maggie Wright this spring so she is familiar with our Gators. Coach Barnett will join the 7th grade Texas History team and be an additional girls coach next year for our Gators. Here is a little bit about Coach Barnett:
Where are you from? I am from Elkhart, Texas.
Family? My parents are Margaret and Greg Barnett and my sister Bridget Barnett.
Hobbies? My hobbies are spending time with my friends and family and playing with my sweet nephew Ryker.
Experience? My experience in education so far has been my student teaching at Jack Elementary and Three Lakes.
Favorite Middle School Memory? My favorite middle school memory is winning district champs in both 7th and 8th grade volleyball and track.
Anything else? I was on the UT Tyler Cheer and Stunt teams for 3 years while in college.
We are gearing up for a great 2023-2024 school year at AVID Summer Institute! 💜 🐊
"I’m always looking to improve. And every year I want to do better than the year before.”
-David Wright
Help us welcome Nikki Berryhill to the swamp! Mrs. Berryhill will join the special education team next year as a math inclusion teacher. We know a lot of former 🦅's that will be happy to see her again!
Where are you from? I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. After graduating from high school, I attended the University of Mississippi and graduated with my undergraduate degree in Special Education in 2006. I chose to continue my education at Ole Miss and completed my Master's degree with an emphasis in math and science education in 2007.
Experience in education? In August, shortly after graduation, I moved to Tyler, Texas with my husband, Tanner. I started my teaching career at Lindale High School as a Math resource Teacher. After 5 fun years coaching and teaching, I chose to move my career to Tyler to work as a kindergarten teacher at Oak Hill Montessori, now Leadership Academy for 3 years. I have been an educator with Tyler ISD for the past 8 years in the special education department at Hazel Owens Elementary.
Family? I've been married for 15 years, and we have two AMAZING children, Presleigh (13) and Jackson (12). Our kids keep us extremely busy. Presleigh loves to sing and act in theater plays and our son Jackson is obsessed with athletics of any kind. Family is everything to me and I am very thankful for the life we have created here in East Texas!
Favorite middle school memory? I am excited to further my career at Three Lakes Middle School. This is such a fun age to make memories, I will never forget when my 6th grade ELAR teacher Mrs. Walsh, nominated me for Student of the Month. She was such an inspiration and taught me so much.
Anything else? I am very happy to be here at Three Lakes and look forward to meeting all of the faculty and most importantly, my students!
Help us welcome Nate Holcomb to the swamp! Mr. Holcomb will join the 7th grade math team. Here is a little about Mr. Holcomb:
Where are you from? Lexington, Texas
Family: Mom/Dad, a younger and an older brother
Hobbies: Lord of the Rings, hiking, fishing, camping, COOKING!
Experience in education: 5 years: 3 HS / 2 MS
Favorite middle school memory: 6th grade math class, my teacher called me Gnat instead of Nate because I “picked at her like a gnat.”
Anything else you want to share: I’m a nerd, but also can play sports pretty well. Absolutely love people, enjoy the simple things and love all types of games!
Great opportunity for an exceptional educator!
Help us welcome Miss Kaila Ference to the swamp! Ms. Ference will join the 6th grade ELAR team next year.
Where are you from? Hi everyone! My name is Kaila Ference and I am from Arlington, TX.
Hobbies? I enjoy camping with my family, taking walks with my dog Elsa, and traveling to new places! I am excited to be returning to Tyler. I attended Tyler Junior College from 2016-2018 and danced as an Apache Belle!
Experience? In my hometown, I was a 6th grade RLA teacher and absolutely loved it. I am looking forward to continuing with 6th grade RLA this upcoming school year.
Favorite middle school memory? My favorite middle school memory would be attending pep rallies and school dances!
Help us officially welcome Ms. Hope Chandler to the swamp! Ms. Chandler will join the 7th grade math team next year. She will already know many of our Gators from when they were formally Peete Wildcats with her. We are so excited to have her move to middle school with our students!
Where are you from? I am born and raised in Tyler, Tx.
Hobbies? I love music, action movies, and relaxing with a good book.
Experience in education? I am a mentor with the Mentoring Alliance of Tyler and a current student at Texas A&M University–Commerce, where I am pursuing my master's in education. I have been teaching in Tyler ISD for two years at Peete Elementary.
Favorite middle school memory? My favorite middle school memories are attending the after-school dances and being voted “Most Compassionate” by my peers.
My daily motto: “Tough times don't last; only tough people do.”
Selene and Harrison performed their first Suzuki recital last weekend, under the instruction of our Orchestra Director, Mr. Pasqualetto. Their hard work and dedication are inspiring! The Suzuki Pedagogy offers an education based on love that aligns perfectly with our mission to achieve successful students outcomes. If you are interested in music lessons on violin, viola, cello, or bass for your child, contact Mr. Pasqualetto at samuel.pasqualetto@tylerisd.org.
We had a GREAT year with our Gator Beginner Band...We look forward to continuing the journey!!
Help us officially welcome Mrs. Jennie Ables to the swamp! Mrs. Ables will join our ELAR department next year as our ESL teacher. Mrs. Ables also helped out as a long-term sub this year in P.E. with Coach Wright. Here is a little bit about Mrs. Ables:
Where are you from? I was born and raised in Tyler, TX.
Family? I am married to Chris; we have been together 23 years. We have two children, Owen (11), and Will (8). Betsy is our 3 year old golden doodle.
Hobbies? I enjoy hunting and fishing at our family ranch with my boys. We love TCU football and going to the beach with family. We love watching our kids play sports. Owen plays baseball and basketball, and Will plays football and baseball.
Experience in education? Education runs in my family. My mom was an elementary teacher and librarian along with several other family members. I have always worked in Tyler ISD. I taught ESL starting at Hogg MS and then at Hubbard MS, then was an ESL case manager for Tyler ISD. This is my 12th year in ESL and am excited to be a part of The Swamp.
Favorite middle school memory? I was a competitive gymnast growing up and got to compete as an eighth grader with the Varsity cheerleading squad.
Anything else you want to share...Middle school can be hard and working with teenage kids is something I’ve always been passionate about.
We aren't sure if there is a National Master Teacher day, but there should be! Mrs. McHann and Ms. Autrey have brought the PD, coaching, modeling, instruction, encouragement, fun, and so much more this year! "Let's hear it for the girls" 🎶 👏
We celebrated, we collaborated, and we're motivated for an even bigger and better 2023-2024 school year! We are never satisfied with where we are when it comes to successful student outcomes! 🐊 💜
Our Gators got to tour Tyler Legacy High School with the help of Mr. Sherman! It's so exciting to see where our Gator Raiders will end up🐊❤️🖤
Let’s hear it for our Algebra 1 8th Gators and their teacher Mrs. Young 📣
Preliminary EOC results are in…
💜98% passed ALG 1 EOC
💛95% scored ‘meets,’ a higher level of achievement
💚77% scored ‘masters,’ the highest level of achievement
Let’s goooooooo! 🐊
Tyler Legacy our super smart Gator Raiders are headed your way! ❤️🖤
Hey Gators! Follow us this summer to keep up with the happenings in the swamp. We will post new hires, save the dates, and so much more! Help us officially welcome Tomas Vences to the swamp! He was a student teacher this spring and helped coach our boys in soccer. Mr. V will join the 8th grade social studies team next year. Here is a little about Mr. V:
Where are you from? I was born in Mexico City, and moved to America when I was 15 years old.
Family? I grew up with a single mom and two brothers. I'm now married to my wife Karina.
Hobbies? My hobbies are cooking, reading, playing soccer, enjoying outdoor activities as well as traveling when I can.
Experience in education? I have spent three semesters as a student teacher working with middle school and high school students.
Favorite middle school memory? My favorite middle school memory was attending my first soccer match during my 7th grade school year.
Anything else? I am very excited for this new adventure as a middle school social studies teacher.
They say "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." What a fun group to work with every day! Apparently Sherman look alike getup is a bright dress, cool kicks and a high pony! *also highly caffeinated*
Field day shenanigans with these cool 8th graders! #orangethunder
Field day fun! ❤️
Enjoying these last few days with our 8th graders🐊
8th grade Gators are out for the win!
