NEW YEAR, NEW BEGINNING — Spirit sticks, foam fingers, and noisemakers filled the H.M. King Auditorium Monday morning during the Kingsville ISD convocation. Pictured are H.M. King High School teachers and staff who were full of Brahma pride during the roll call. (Photo by Erika Hernandez) Over 600 teachers, administrators, and staff members from Kingsville ISD met on Monday morning at the H.M. King auditorium for their annual convocation ceremony kicking off the 2010-2011 school year.

The event, which had a rock star theme, featured musical and dance performances by the Bay Area Fellowship band, the H.M. King Brahma Band, and the H.M. King cheerleading squads.

Kingsville ISD Superintendent Emilio Castro laid out the goals for the new school year and asked the KISD staff for one thing — to believe.

“This year more than any other year, we are asking you to believe,” Castro said to the entire KISD staff. “To believe that we will be the greatest school district in the country.”

Castro also laid out the new mission of the Kingsville Independent School District, which is to graduate responsible and productive citizens who are college and career ready.

“We intend for 100 percent of our students to graduate, and when they graduate they will leave as responsible and valuable citizens who contribute to our society,” Castro said.

He also laid out a goal for all elementary schools to reach Texas Education Agency (TEA) exemplary status and for all secondary schools to reach TEA exemplary or recognized status.

H.M. King Junior Andre Ortiz and Gillett Intermediate School 5th grader Raquel Longoria served as the keynote speakers.

Ortiz spoke about his experiences in different KISD schools and mentioned his favorite teachers along the way. He also thanked all the teachers in the audience and asked them to have faith in their abilities and to be aware of the influence they have on their students.

“My hats off to all the teachers here because I believe you all have the most important job,” Ortiz said. “Remember that you must all believe in yourselves and together with that belief we can become the best school district in the United States.”

Longoria, who is the daughter of a KISD teacher, attended a conference this summer with her mother and shared some of the techniques she learned with the teachers about how to keep students like herself engaged in the classroom.

“Take the time to know your students and also let your students know you,” Longoria said. “If they feel comfortable then the learning environment becomes comfortable.”

She also jokingly informed the audience that students who are sitting down for 17 to 20 minutes at a time began to feel sleepy because the blood is flowing down from the brain so really if they fell asleep it is not their fault.

The audience erupted in laughter and Longoria received a standing ovation.

H.M. King head football coach Robert Wilcox spoke to the crowd about enthusiasm and encouraged everyone involved in the district to have enthusiasm and spread it around.

“We need to have enthusiasm at all levels because it is contagious,” Wilcox said. “It has to be in everything that we do here at Kingsville ISD.”

Teachers and staff will be preparing for the new school year all week long, and all Kingsville ISD students return to school on Monday, August 23.