Recently Ray Schufford was at Stafford Elementary pumping up the students for their upcoming STAAR tests. You could hear laughter and could see miles of smiles in the gymnasium that day.

Ray Schufford is a motivational speaker that came to Stafford Elementary to give the students tips on taking the STAAR tests and to let them know they can take these tests and pass it, he had faith in them. He also was validating what their teachers had been telling them throughout the year.

Schufford said, “You learned it, you know it, now show it.” He went on to say, “You can do it. I believe in you. Help your classmates by telling them you are rooting for them to pass the test. Let them know you believe they can do it.”

Ray Schufford told the students humorous stories about not giving up and demonstrated with his pal Jimmy that real life heroes aren’t wearing capes but are regular folks making good life decisions.

After Ray Schufford said goodbye and wished them well on their STAAR tests the students stayed seated for the STAAR test pep rally. They were entertained by the sixth grade band. Many of these band students had never played an instrument before starting band this year. But you sure couldn’t tell it by their spectacular performances throughout the pep rally.

The band was not the only star! The first grade classes wrote a song about the STAAR test and sang it beautifully with much enthusiasm. And the fourth grade class also sang about the STAAR test and their voices rang out in the gymnasium.

The Stafford teachers played a game with the students. Mrs. Janek held up a sign with a testing strategy (like “expository not a story”) written on it and the students had to guess which teacher said it. The gymnasium was filled with guesses being shouted by the students.

The student council came up with the idea of the pep rally. They wanted a pie in the face with the teachers. So, every student could buy a vote for fifty cents each for the teacher they wanted to have a pie thrown in their face. The teachers with the winning votes were: Mrs. Aguado (pre-k), Mrs. Dorazil (ppcd) and Mrs. Garcia (fourth grade). Talk about some real troopers! These teachers even had smiles on their faces as they shook off the whipped cream. Mr. Joffre (principal) was not left out. He also got a big pie in the face to everyone’s enjoyment!

Stafford Elementary’s new principal, Miss Thomas was introduced along with the new superintendent Mr. Velasco to the student body. Everyone cheered them on in Stafford Elementary style.

Another wonderful day of fun and learning at Stafford Elementary!