Tamika Dees, Head of Middle School

March 1, 2024

Greetings, Middle School Families, 

In Middle School, we truly believe in students being well-balanced. This week, several students participated in events incorporating the arts, STEM, and public speaking. 

The Texas Private School Music Educators Association (TPSMEA) organizes events for private music school students throughout the year. The events include:

• All-state groups.
• All region groups.
• Solo and ensemble contests.
• Concert and sight-reading contests.

This year, Oakridge was honored to host the TPSMEA North High School Region Orchestra and Middle School Honor Orchestra on our campus. To participate in the event, students had to be selected by audition as among the best in the North Texas region. Students from 19 different schools came together for a day full of rehearsals with expert guest clinicians/conductors, concluding with a fantastic concert in our Fine Arts Performance Hall. Oakridge 8th grade students Zoey Krajcirovic and MJ Singleton grandly represented Oakridge.

In addition, each year, over 150 private, parochial, and homeschool students in grades 1 through 8 participate in a range of contests with their peers across the state of Texas. These contests are designed to support basic curricula and consist of 18 different categories. These contests have been found to motivate students to find a new excitement in learning, achieve a higher mastery level, and receive recognition and awards for academic excellence. 

This year, we had over 30 students participate in grades 5 - 8. Our middle school scholars competed in several categories, including mathematics, on-site drawing, oral interpretation, and number sense, to name a few. We are so excited that 18 of our students will be advancing to the state level, which will be held on April 13, in Houston, TX. We are so grateful for our PSIA sponsors and volunteers who helped to make this an amazing experience for our students. 

• Alainna Miller and Parker Neeley- Impromptu Speaking
• Coen Anders and Landon Holland- Maps, Graphs, and Charts
• Andrew Van Buren- Mathematics
• Audrey Warminski- Music Memory
• Lucas Wong- Number Sense
• Celine Ozkaya and Camila Jaramillo-Davila- On-Site Drawing
• Whitney Williams, Maggie Robinson, and Lea Martel- Oral Interpretation
• Noah Yakub, Lucus Wong and Amon Ross- Science
• Mantaaj Sandhu, Alainna Miller and Landon Holland- Spelling

With profound gratitude, 

Tamika Dees