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Tuesday, September 25, 2012
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Memorial High English teacher Patti Nommensen flew to a creativity workshop in the sunny south of France, then toured colder, wetter Ireland to stand where writers and poets Oscar Wilde and W.B. Yeats created enduring works of literature.
Shanna Ciarella, a Memorial High colleague, at the same time was standing
awestruck in Athens on the Acropolis. Like Odysseus of old, her topic of study,
Shanna found her own travels around the Mediterranean beset by modern-day
setbacks.
Twin sisters and teachers Lillian and Linda Suchoff combined their love of
oral stories with a jointly funded trip to Mexico City and Colombia where they
heard from and studied with expert Latin American storytellers in their
countries of origin.
These Spring Branch ISD teachers and Northbrook High science teacher Bhavna
Rawal were among more than 60 Houston-area teachers who spent a portion of their
summer on self-designed learning odysseys as scholars, researchers and
adventurers after being named Fund for Teachers Fellows. Educators must apply to
be chosen for summer grants to travel and study. Individual grants of up to
$5,000 are awarded; team grants may total $10,000.
The Fund for Teachers has supported the professional and personal journeys
of educators since 2001. In that time, the Houston-based group has awarded about
$18 million in Fund for Teachers grants.
As different as their individual trips were, creativity and the quest to
understand the creative process are common threads in the summer journeys
undertaken by SBISD’s teachers. In their travels, all of the teachers combined
professional study with personal interests and vacation – an objective of the
Fund for Teachers grants.
Patti Nommensen began her summer trip at The Creative Workshop in Arles,
France, where she joined others using cameras, sketchbooks, personal memories,
interviews and visualization exercises to spur creative practices. The workshop
experience convinced her that “creativity is innate: not learned, but simply
forgotten.”
She has taught Pre-Advanced Placement (AP), AP and Dual Credit English
classes at Memorial High for 10 years. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the
University of Texas at Austin, she holds a master’s degree in education from the
University of St. Thomas and has done graduate work in literature at the
University of Houston. Her personal work in poetry and film writing has been
recognized at Houston Poetry Fest and Austin Film Festival competitions.
From the sunshine and warmth of the Provence region of France, Nommensen
flew to the leaden, chillier climate of Ireland. She toured Dublin, the home of
famous writers Wilde and others, and then traveled countrywide. Her trip
concluded in County Sligo where the great poet W.B. Yeats is buried.
The French workshop and all the ancient ruins, illuminated manuscripts,
museums, tours, lectures, guides and graveyard visits led Nommensen to several
conclusions about creativity and great artists:
- “We are all born with a kind of creative genius, and while some are certainly more gifted than others, those we remember – George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, Wilde, Joyce and Gerard Manley Hopkins – were persistent in their practice. They gave it their life. While we cannot, it does invite hope about potential and a comment on effort.”
- “Great ideas are often inspired by simple connections.”
- “All artists are thieves: they mine life and memory. We have both.”
- “We, too, should celebrate our native writers of poetry, story and song.”
Shanna Ciarella, who has taught English to ninth-graders at Memorial High
for seven years, traced the wanderings of Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s epic
tale, The Odyssey, across Greece and the Mediterranean. In ancient Latin,
Odysseus is known as Ulysses.
A communications graduate of Texas A&M University, Ciarella attended
South Texas College of Law and then practiced corporate litigation for several
years before entering the teaching profession.
“It was the best decision I have ever made,” she says. “I love teaching
English, and I am so grateful for each of my students.”
On her trip, she visited the Acropolis in Athens, as well as Turkey, the
islands of Capri and Santorini, and made other stops related to the mythological
story.
“I always tell my students that to really understand life we must step out
of ourselves and try to stand in other people’s shoes. I was able to apply that
to my journey across the Mediterranean. Just like Odysseus, I experienced
thrills visiting Turkey where Odysseus had the idea of building the famed Trojan
horse, but I also experienced setbacks. My ship was turned around from port in
Africa because of the unrest in Egypt,” she reports.
“My experience proved incomparable. I teach Gifted and Talented ninth-grade
students, and they are more than capable of reading and understanding The
Odyssey on their own. In fact, many have read it multiple times. My job is to
bring the epic to life. I blogged about my experience along the way, and my
students will be able to follow Odysseus’ journey through my eyes as they read
my blog and follow my adventures,” Shanna says.
She hopes that her trip and blog will inspire her students to write about
their own personal odysseys, such as their high school experiences.
As instructors of English language learners, twins Lillian and Linda
Suchoff won a team grant to travel and study Latin American storytelling in
Mexico City and Colombia.
Lillian, who teaches at Northbrook High, has taught for 20 years in SBISD
schools including bilingual and ESL classes at Woodview, Spring Shadows and Pine
Shadows elementary schools, and at Spring Woods High School.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a
master’s degree in reading from Corpus Christi State University (now Texas
A&M University-Corpus Christi), and recently completed the graduate program
in Library Science at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Her sister, Linda, teaches prekindergarten at Bear Blvd. School for Earl
Learning. A UT-Austin graduate like her sister, she has taught 17 years on SBISD
campuses including Spring Branch, Hollibrook and Treasure Forest elementary
schools.
The outgoing teacher twins began their Latin American journey in Mexico
City with award-winning storytellers Victor Arjona and Angel del Pilar who are
the directors of the Festival Internacional de Narració de “Cuentos Grandes,
Calcetines Pequeños,” or “Big Stories for Small Socks.” The festival attracts
famous storytellers who focus on stories for both younger and older
children.
Professional storytellers, or “cuenteros” as they are known in
Spanish-speaking countries, were part of the Columbian culture that the sisters
absorbed in Cartagena, Cali and Medellin. Summertime festivals in Colombia are
famous for traditional, oral folktales and stories that are shared and handed
down from generation to generation.
In Medellin, they attended the city’s oldest and largest festival, “La
Feria de Las Flores,” or Festival of the Flowers, an annual street party and
procession. The sisters were connected there with other storytellers. They also
learned about the use of puppets and storytelling props and devices. Back home,
they plan to collaborate and create digital lessons that include traditional
storytelling elements.
“It was an amazing adventure,” Linda says. “I was struck by the warmth that
the Colombians had for us, and the respect and pride that people of Mexico and
Colombia have for their own nations.”
“Before our trip, we were both skilled readers of stories, and fans of the
storytelling tradition. Now, we will be far better tellers of these stories,”
Lillian says.
“We are not master storytellers. Storytelling is one of the great arts. But
today, we both know so much more about the craft and tradition of storytelling,”
twin sister Linda adds.
Together, the teaching twins issued this statement on their Fund for Teachers experience: “We feel that these travels to Latin America have enriched our lives in many ways, and we expect that they will impact our teaching by helping us make literature accessible to all children through the art of oral narrative. During this summer-long investigation on storytelling, we increased our knowledge, skills, techniques and repertoire of stories while learning more about the Latin American culture and history.”
Elsewhere, Northbrook High science teacher Bhavna Rawal researched the
wealth of biodiversity in Costa Rica to help create a unit of study that helps
students grasp the concept of sustainability and better understand the impact of
human activity on the world environment.
For more information on the Fund for Teachers, please visit:
Another milestone moment in SBISD history will occur on that approaching Monday morning as more than 700 students enter the new, two-story Pine Shadows Elementary School, located at 9900 Neuens.
Link of Interest:
With the addition of this new elementary, SBISD has now rebuilt nine of 13
planned elementary schools under the $597.1 million Bond Plan. This ambitious
rebuilding and renovation program was approved by district voters in
2007.
The new Pine Shadows, built around the idea of the natural environment, is
stunning visually with its raised entry tower, a curvy front façade, open and
expansive student library with winding access stairway, and floor-to-ceiling
windowed, two-story inner atriums.
“Every time that I walk inside, I see something new,” Principal Alexia
Greiner says. “And I get all misty-eyed. Just last week, I walked into the new
building and I saw that the two words “Imagine” and “Explore” had been added. It
hit me that the reaction to our new school on the first day will be ‘Wow!’
That’s how it hits me.”
The new Pine Shadows Elementary was rebuilt on the site of the old school,
which had faulty air conditioning and other age-related facility issues. The
new, two-story educational building of 118,000 square feet was built to house up
to 800 students.
Designed to be both a child- and community-friendly space, the large, open
building has four child-friendly areas, or habitats – ocean, rainforest,
mountains and sky. At the classroom level, wildlife ranging from ocean whales to
bears can be found on pixilated glass images placed near class doorways.
The library, cafeteria and other new spaces can be easily configured to
provide community or after-school meeting spaces. Outdoors, a walking trail has
been created and a new SPARK Park will soon be built. Site landscaping will
occur early this fall.
The new school opening caps more than a year of preliminary design work and
construction. For the past year, Pine Shadows students and staff were housed at
the old Westwood Elementary School transition site.
“We anticipate a renewed sense of pride, and we are thinking that the
people in the Pine Shadows community will see this wonderful new school building
as the hub of the neighborhood and community,” Assistant Principal Aida
Interiano says.
An Open House celebration with a ribbon cutting is planned at the new Pine
Shadows Elementary School at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2. The public is invited.
Tours of the new school will be provided for event visitors.
In addition to Pine Shadows Elementary, construction has been completed on
the district’s new Technology Training Center, which is located adjacent to
Meadow Wood Elementary and Spring Forest Middle schools, on Memorial
Drive.
The former site of the Kendall Public Library, the Technology Training
Center now houses four administrative offices and has been renovated to provide
a state-of-the-art learning center for up to 120 SBISD teachers or other
employees. The new center opened in July.
Construction is also under way on Housman Elementary School, 6705 Housman.
This two-story elementary school – the district’s 10th new elementary
– will be finished later this fall. Classes are scheduled to begin there by
January 2013. Also under construction is Frostwood Elementary School, which is
scheduled to be completed and re-open by or before January 2014.
In the design phase are two remaining new elementary schools, Valley Oaks
and Rummel Creek. In many cases, SBISD’s new elementary schools have opened
ahead of schedule and on budget or under budget. Rummel Creel Elementary was
added to the rebuilding plan due to such cost savings.
Voter approval of the 2007 Bond Plan, SBISD’s biggest bond program ever,
followed months of work by a 65-member Bond Advisory Committee that reviewed
present and future facility needs. The group included members of the business
community, retirees, educators and other district residents. In addition, work
by three other committees proposed Five-Year Educational, Technology Plan and
Long-Range Facilities plans.
SBISD has been able to accelerate its building timeline because of
historically low bond interest rates and lower than estimated project bids,
especially in the bond program’s initial years of construction.
By state law, bond funds must be applied to school construction, systems
upgrades or other permitted purposes. These funds cannot be used to meet
operating budget shortfalls, such as occurred when the Texas Legislature two
years ago reduced funding to schools by more than $4 billion due to the state’s
deficit and funding crisis.
In recent years, as many as 3,000 people have attended these popular sessions. Students are encouraged to attend on the night their high school is scheduled, but may check the list of participating universities for each evening to insure that they do attend the program that includes the colleges or universities they are most interested in. High school nights and schedules are: Tuesday, Oct. 2, 6-8 p.m. This session is recommended for Stratford and Spring Woods high schools and Westchester Academy for International Studies families. Wednesday, Oct.3, 6-8 p.m.
This session has been recommended for Memorial and Northbrook high schools families, as well as students who are enrolled at the Spring Branch Academy of Choice. Typical sessions attract as many as 200 representatives from regional, state and national colleges and universities, both public and private, as well as many technical and military-related institutions. Representatives share information with students and family members about college cost, size, undergraduate majors and the particular application process, plus other items of interest.
For more information on College Nights 2012, please visit the Spring Branch ISD Post-Secondary Planning website or please call 713-251-1992. Campus counselors may also provide additional details and information.
Online Registration - New! Students will now be able to register for College Nights online. This will save time standing in line and filling out information cards because students will get their barcode when they register.
College representatives can scan the student barcode and have the student information for future contact. Students will be asked to answer some questions for their profile. Schools may see the student profile and target scholarship offers.
Please note that most of the colleges registered will have scanners but not all. Students can register at the following site. www.texascollegefairs.org Check the Post Secondary site for names of colleges and universities registered for the 2012 College Nights.
While Spring Branch ISD students have jumped into another school year, volunteers with campus PTAs and SBISD Council of PTAs have been hard at work preparing for the months to come.
PTA members are planning fund-raisers, creating newsletters and completing a number of other tasks to insure a successful year.
Being a member of the PTA is all about getting involved in your child’s education. PTA brings together our community to improve SBISD schools and provide the best for our students.
Joining the PTA allows you to work together with other parents and help build an important bond with teachers while improving the future for all children.
To join PTA, contact the campus PTA president or your child’s school office for more information. At the district level, the SBISD Council of PTAs first meeting of the year will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept.5, in the SBISD Administration Building’s Board of Trustees Meeting Room, 955 Campbell Road. For more information, visit the PTA section of this site. Looking ahead, the 83rd Legislative Session of the Texas Legislature will begin in January 2013.
The Board’s Legislative Priorities are posted on the district website. To learn more about the Legislative session and parent-related issues, please visit the local Spring Branch Speaks group at www.springbranchspeaks.com.
Spring Branch ISD Council of PTAs 2012-2013
Officers and Chairs
Executive Board President-Susan Griffin, 713-412-9691 or griffinfamilytx@comcast.net 1st VP Programs-intern-Michelle Airola, gmairola@comcast.net 2nd VP Programs Leadership-Camille Tarics, camilletarics@gmail.com 3rd VP Membership-Caroline Bennett, carolinebennet@hotmail.com Secretary-Laura Casanover, lauracasanover@hotmail.com Treasurer-Bonnie Tresch, treschtexas@att.net Historian-Lisa Lundquist, lisamwlundquist@gmail.com Parliamentarian-Misty Ellis, misty.ellis@hotmail.com Committee Chairs Arts in Education and Reflections-Rebecca Ziegenhorn, rziegenhoorn@gmail.com Awards-Carrie Goolsby, carriegoolsby@comcast.net Communication-Newsletter-Jenny Rice, jennyrice@sbcglobal.net Communication-Directory-Kim Wood, kimwood714@yahoo.com Communication-Website- Pamela Kersey, pskersey@att.net Creativity and Odyssey of the Mind Director-Iris Story, omers5@aol.com Diversity Committee Lydia Junek, ljunek@piqe.org Dmel Tatum, dmeltatum@yahoo.com Founder’s Day Veronica Herrmann, vweronica.herrmann@gmail.com Melissa DeAyala, melissadeayala@att.net Legislative Chair-Karen Peck, kbpeck@att.net Mentoring Committee Scott LeMaire, txvoltar@sbcglobal.net David Davenport, Hodad1969@aol.com Kay Kursky, kkurskiy@sbcglobal.net SBEF Liaison-Laura Tingleaf, tingleaf4@att.net Scholarship Awards Chair- Warren Matthews, warren.matthews@wellsfargo.com School Board Liaison-Wayne F. Schaper, Sr., schaperwr@sbcglobal.net Sister School Solutions Director-Becky Funderburk, be-fun@att.net SBISD Communications Dept. Intern Kali Venable compiled this Back to School report.
To join PTA, contact the campus PTA president or your child’s school office for more information. At the district level, the SBISD Council of PTAs first meeting of the year will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept.5, in the SBISD Administration Building’s Board of Trustees Meeting Room, 955 Campbell Road. For more information, visit the PTA section of this site. Looking ahead, the 83rd Legislative Session of the Texas Legislature will begin in January 2013.
The Board’s Legislative Priorities are posted on the district website. To learn more about the Legislative session and parent-related issues, please visit the local Spring Branch Speaks group at www.springbranchspeaks.com.
Spring Branch ISD Council of PTAs 2012-2013
Officers and Chairs
Executive Board President-Susan Griffin, 713-412-9691 or griffinfamilytx@comcast.net 1st VP Programs-intern-Michelle Airola, gmairola@comcast.net 2nd VP Programs Leadership-Camille Tarics, camilletarics@gmail.com 3rd VP Membership-Caroline Bennett, carolinebennet@hotmail.com Secretary-Laura Casanover, lauracasanover@hotmail.com Treasurer-Bonnie Tresch, treschtexas@att.net Historian-Lisa Lundquist, lisamwlundquist@gmail.com Parliamentarian-Misty Ellis, misty.ellis@hotmail.com Committee Chairs Arts in Education and Reflections-Rebecca Ziegenhorn, rziegenhoorn@gmail.com Awards-Carrie Goolsby, carriegoolsby@comcast.net Communication-Newsletter-Jenny Rice, jennyrice@sbcglobal.net Communication-Directory-Kim Wood, kimwood714@yahoo.com Communication-Website- Pamela Kersey, pskersey@att.net Creativity and Odyssey of the Mind Director-Iris Story, omers5@aol.com Diversity Committee Lydia Junek, ljunek@piqe.org Dmel Tatum, dmeltatum@yahoo.com Founder’s Day Veronica Herrmann, vweronica.herrmann@gmail.com Melissa DeAyala, melissadeayala@att.net Legislative Chair-Karen Peck, kbpeck@att.net Mentoring Committee Scott LeMaire, txvoltar@sbcglobal.net David Davenport, Hodad1969@aol.com Kay Kursky, kkurskiy@sbcglobal.net SBEF Liaison-Laura Tingleaf, tingleaf4@att.net Scholarship Awards Chair- Warren Matthews, warren.matthews@wellsfargo.com School Board Liaison-Wayne F. Schaper, Sr., schaperwr@sbcglobal.net Sister School Solutions Director-Becky Funderburk, be-fun@att.net SBISD Communications Dept. Intern Kali Venable compiled this Back to School report.
Five district elementary teachers were chosen for the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy recently.
Five teachers from several elementary schools in Spring Branch ISD headed to the Woodlands Resort for the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy earlier this summer.
The district-chosen math and science teachers from grades three to five spent June 17-22 learning new ways to maximize the futures for their students. The five teachers selected for the academy included: Courtney Noonan, Shadow Oaks Elementary (team leader) Meredith Duffey-Dixon, Meadow Wood Elementary Malissa Downham, Frostwood Elementary Tiera Pennix, Ridgecrest Elementary Christine Englund, Terrace Elementary The Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy focuses on increasing student interest in both the science and mathematical fields as possible future career paths. Academy teachers developed a better understanding of how their students transfer information learned in the classroom to everyday life.
The Academy also aids in creating new ideas for teaching methods and strategies that will help students understand science and math material better while continuing to enjoy their learning experiences. Math and science experts from the National Science Teachers Association and the group Math Solutions instruct the teachers at the Academy. Pro golfer Phil Mickelson and his wife, Amy, started the Academy.
The Mickelsons worked with ExxonMobil to create a special learning environment for teachers. To learn more about this one-of-a-kind summer program, please visit http://www.sendmyteacher.com/index.html. Stratford High student intern Kali Venable compiled this report.
The district-chosen math and science teachers from grades three to five spent June 17-22 learning new ways to maximize the futures for their students. The five teachers selected for the academy included: Courtney Noonan, Shadow Oaks Elementary (team leader) Meredith Duffey-Dixon, Meadow Wood Elementary Malissa Downham, Frostwood Elementary Tiera Pennix, Ridgecrest Elementary Christine Englund, Terrace Elementary The Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy focuses on increasing student interest in both the science and mathematical fields as possible future career paths. Academy teachers developed a better understanding of how their students transfer information learned in the classroom to everyday life.
The Academy also aids in creating new ideas for teaching methods and strategies that will help students understand science and math material better while continuing to enjoy their learning experiences. Math and science experts from the National Science Teachers Association and the group Math Solutions instruct the teachers at the Academy. Pro golfer Phil Mickelson and his wife, Amy, started the Academy.
The Mickelsons worked with ExxonMobil to create a special learning environment for teachers. To learn more about this one-of-a-kind summer program, please visit http://www.sendmyteacher.com/index.html. Stratford High student intern Kali Venable compiled this report.
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