Hello Badger Nation,

I apologize for the length of this communication; however, since this is my first opportunity to
address the Merkel ISD school community, I have several things to address. I have been the
Merkel ISD Superintendent for two months and am enjoying the opportunity greatly. Because I
began this job opportunity in the summer, I have spent almost all of my time with the Merkel ISD
Administrative team members. I am highly impressed with their work ethic and their knowledge
of running a school. Please be assured that every decision is and will remain Student Centered.

Recently, there has been much discussion about the Merkel High School Pep Rallies and
Merkel Elementary attendance at those pep rallies. There are many variables that go into this
discussion, such as: Badger Pride, school spirit, traditions, enjoyment, academic concerns
(specifically lost classroom time), transportation to activity, classroom management prior to and
after the activity, etc.

I was raised by a Coach, and I coached for 27 years myself before becoming an administrator. I
have been to several hundreds of pep rallies. I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly when
it comes to pep rallies. What I witnessed Thursday, at my first Merkel Badger pep rally, was
awesome. It truly was one of the best I have ever seen. The number one difference that I saw
actually happened during the 10 minutes prior to the official beginning of the rally before the
microphone was turned on. The band played music nonstop, and the cheerleaders were not
doing flip flops or pyramid building or any of those special activities you see during what I am
referring to as the official pep rally. They were standing by the rail in front of the elementary
interacting with them through dance and cheer. It lasted at least 10 minutes. It was obviously
designed to focus on the elementary students. It worked. I left the Pep Rally feeling like there
was a great value to what I was witnessing.

Because of this I have decided to change back to last year's policy of all elementary students
attending the High School Pep Rallies, at this time. The elementary will be attending the Pep
Rallies as a “school activity”. There is no need to check your child out of school to attend with
you. They need to be with their classmates and in the student section and to be a part of this
student activity.

I wrote earlier that all decisions will be Student Centered. Let me expand on that topic.
Extra-curricular activities are very important and even necessary for a quality education, but will
never be as important as academic achievement. In education we use the term RIGOR. Our
core classes must have educational rigor to be successful. This simply means that we need to
prioritize classroom time and classroom instruction over every other aspect of the school
schedule. We are not being Student Centered if this isn’t our top priority. We need parent and
community support and understanding on decisions concerning Academic Rigor. When we
make decisions to increase Academic Rigor it is not to diminish other activities. Sometimes we
have to decide what is most important. Please believe that the decisions are Student Centered.

When I said we were changing back to all elementary students attending pep rallies, I said “at
this time”. Merkel ISD Administration will continue to discuss the needs of our students, with
attention and value placed on extra-curricular activities, but prioritizing Academic needs. I
personally will be gathering information and collecting data and weighing in on scheduling
discussions prior to the building and approval process of the 2026-2027 calendar.

I intend to send some more communications to the entire Merkel ISD community in the near
future on ways each stakeholder (staff, parent, grandparent, community member) can assist us
in making our school the best it can be for the students.

Go Badgers,
Kelly W. West
Merkel ISD Superintendent