Funky Beehives

Did you know that a “funky beehive” could bring laughter to two friends playing Jinga?

It does for Deborah Guttilla and her mentee, Jazmine from Northbrook Middle School! A funky beehive is a formation of the Jinga blocks just before it crashes to the table when one-too-many blocks is pulled from the stack. Playing Jinga is one of the activities that Mrs. Guttilla and Jazmine enjoy doing as they chat together each week during their mentoring meetings.

They like to keep their hands busy as they talk about music, friends, and the future. They also play cards and have made a soft, fleece blanket together in the past. Jazmine is an excellent seventh grade student, and Mrs. Guttilla is encouraging her to consider taking more Pre-AP classes and eventually AP classes to get a jump start on college credits.

As a former middle school Texas History teacher, Mrs. Guttilla is especially proud that Jazmine’s grade in that class is steadily rising! Jazmine is also interested in science and has a love for children. Her dream of going to college includes the goal of combining those interests into becoming a pediatrician. From personal experience, Mrs. Guttilla has great advice for her mentee about the need and ability to secure financial aid to obtain a college education. It is very do-able!!

Jazmine admires her mentor’s friendliness and kindness. Her family is very positive about her having a mentor. Mrs. Guttilla has met Jazmine’s parents at school events, and sees them as very positive influences in her life. She also has high praise for Jazmine’s talents on the volleyball court and playing trumpet in the band, having attended extracurricular events to watch her mentee perform!

She also admires Jazmine’s good listening abilities and as person who shares her thoughts with people she trusts. Jazmine mentioned having a mentor has helped her get along with people and make friends. Mrs. Guttilla wishes she had had a mentor as a child—an extra adult in her life to give her a smile, to talk with, to appreciate her, to follow her through the grades.

She encourages every adult to give mentoring a try as she feels there is a lot to gain from the experience. Where else would you learn about funky beehives??

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Student Art Honors

Talented students of all ages were honored April 22 by the Spring Branch ISD Board of Trustees during its regular monthly meeting. Forty young artists were honored for a variety of awards and scholarships won at the regional, state and national level.

Board Meeting Presentation of Student Work:

• Click here to view STUDENT ARTWORK.

Student awards include the following:

Elementary:

• Ally Reichel – Wilchester Elementary Livestock Show & Rodeo Best of Show; Reliant Energy “Power of Art” Finalist
• Mireya Ascencio – Edgewood Elementary Top of the TEAM
• Elijah Cano – Hunters Creek Elementary Top of the TEAM
• Marco Bernal – Spring Branch Elementary Top of the TEAM
• Alize Guardado – Edgewood Elementary Top of the TEAM
• Yerang Lee – Wilchester Elementary Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Gold Medal
• Emily Reed – Hunters Creek Elementary Top of the TEAM
• Tina Thai – Edgewood Elementary Top of the TEAM

Instructor(s): Shannon Benton, Maggi Dunwoody, Nancy Perkins and Michael Terlouw

Middle School:

Ashley Park – Memorial Middle School Scholastic Gold Key; Houston Live Stock & Rodeo Best of Show; Reserved Class Champion Middle School
Jun Yong Kim – Memorial Middle School Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Gold Medal

Instructor(s): Lynn Ludlam

High School:

Eloy Acuna – Spring Woods High School State Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) Award
Juliana Baik – Memorial High School Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Special Merit; two State Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) Awards, Gold Seal Award; Society of the Performing Arts (SPA) $1,000 Scholarship
Amanda Blount – Stratford High School Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Gold Medal
Michael Cabrera – Stratford High School Scholastic Gold Key
Itsel Casarin – Stratford High School Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Special Merit
Emily Castillo – Stratford High School State Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) Award
Amy Cho – Stratford High School Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Gold Medal
Anna Cho – Memorial High School Committee Choice Award Dog Show; Scholastic Gold Key; Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Best of Show; two State Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) Awards; two Gold Seal Awards; Society for the Performing Arts (SPA) Honorable Mention
Ryan Cowell – Memorial High School Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Special Merit
Kelly Cuevas – Stratford High School Scholastic Gold Key
Hayley Day – Stratford High School Area Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) Award
Halina Haider – Memorial High School PTA Reflections Award of Excellence
Kristen Heaton – Memorial High School Scholastic Gold Key, Area Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) Award, Quick Draw High School Grand Champion
Justin Heon – Stratford High School Scholastic Gold Key
Hyeyun Jeong – Memorial High School Committee Choice Dog Show Award
Michelle Jong – Memorial High School State Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) Award; Society of the Performing Arts (SPA) Honorable Mention
Erica Kim – Memorial High School Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Special Merit
Seoyoung Kim – Memorial High School Best in Grade Dog Show Award, Scholastic Gold Key; Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Special Merit; Area Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) Award; Society of the Performing Arts (SPA) 1st Place
Andrew Lee – Stratford High School Scholastic Gold Key
Hannah Mao – Memorial High School Area Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) Award
Rocco Mastroianni – Stratford High School State Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) Award
Judy Oh – Memorial High School Commemorative Art Award, Best in Grade Dog Show Award, Houston Livestock & Rodeo Gold Medal, 2 Area Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) Awards
Sami Palermo – Memorial High School PTA Reflections Award of Excellence
David Salas – Memorial High School Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Gold Medal
Lorelie Shannon – Spring Woods High School State Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) Award and Gold Seal Award
Catherine Shaw – Memorial High School Committee Choice Dog Show Award
Victoria Shin – Stratford High School Scholastic Gold Key
Evan Stone – Stratford High School Scholastic Gold Key
Flora Thevuox – Memorial High School Committee Choice Dog Show Award, Houston Livestock & Rodeo Special Merit
Kaijia Tian – Memorial High School Committee Choice Dog Show Award, Scholastic Gold Key

Instructor(s): Cathleen May, Jana Stiffel, Crystal Fiocchi, Jennifer Clouse, Ashley Niemi, Marilyn Guerinot

Scholarship and Auction Winners:

Eloy Acuna – Spring Woods High School $250 New Spring Art Auction 2012
Julian Baik – Memorial High School $2,000 Rodeo Art Auction; $1,00 Society of the Performing Arts (SPA) Scholarship; $750 Culture Shapers
Amy Cho – Stratford High School $13,000 Rodeo Art Auction; $250 Culture Shapers
Anna Cho – Memorial High School $500 Culture Shapers; $500 Scholastic Art; $100 Quick Draw Competition; $50 Houston Dog Show; $2,000 Rodeo Art Auction
Ryan Cowell – Memorial High School $2,000 Rodeo Art Auction
SeoYoung Kim – Memorial High School $1500 Culture Shapers; $500 Society for the Performing Arts (SPA)
Hyeyun Jeong – Memorial High School $250 Culture Shapers
Judy Oh – Memorial High School $2,000 Rodeo Art Auction; $600 Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE)
Lrelei Shannon – Spring Woods High School $1250 New Spring art Auction 2012, I-pad EZ Comic Religious Tolerance Contest
Flo Theveoux – Memorial High School $50 Houston Dog Show

Guide to contests and winning categories:

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo® School Art Program

This annual springtime program currently hosts competitions in about 100 public school districts and 60 private schools located within 120 miles of Houston. Each year, about 300,000 students from prekindergarten through 12th grade take part in this area art program, which showcases the culture, history and heritage of the West. In each school district, event entries are chosen from each category (elementary, middle and high school) to go on to the Hayloft Gallery at the Rodeo.

These categories include Best of Show, Gold Medal and Special Merit. At the Rodeo, all Best of Show and Gold Medal entries are judged again to be a part of the Grand Prix judging where approximately 50 pieces receiving the highest score will be considered for auction.

The UIL Visual Art Scholastic Event (VASE)

This annual event is sponsored by Texas Art Education Association (TAEA). The VASE, Junior VASE and TEAM (elementary) are the only art events of their kind in the nation. Students are provided the opportunity to bring artworks created in their art classes to a regional event where they are interviewed and/or juried.

Other highlights of this program:

• VASE area winners are selected at the regional events to go on to compete at the state level.
• State VASE medal winners are selected as the best in the state. From these state winners, the top 100 pieces are awarded a Gold Seal and the art work will travel the state as an exhibition.
• Top of the Junior VASE and Top of the TEAM winners are chosen at each regional event from all the top rated medal winners. These winners are then placed on the TAEA website.

Other Programs and Exhibits:

The Reliant Center Dog show event sponsors the Mari Jon Filla Student Art Exhibit, where students may enter their visual art work to be judged. Several levels of awards are given.

The State and National PTA Reflections program is PTA’s cornerstone arts program. The Reflections Program was developed to encourage students to explore their talents and express themselves. Since then, this program has inspired millions of students to reflect on an annually chosen theme and create original artwork.

Each year, students in Grades PreK through grade 12 are recognized for bringing the program’s annual theme to life through dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual arts. Students in each school district submit art work, which can be chosen for area, state and national level competition.

The Scholastic Art Awards is a nation-wide contest in which schools and school districts submit students’ best artwork and writing at the regional level. Regional entries are judged by panels of highly qualified professionals who select Gold Key (state winners), Silver Key (regional winners) and Honorable Mention recipients.

Gold Key student winners compete at the national level, where more than 1,500 awards are handed out each year.

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National Debaters

Six members of the Spring Woods High School Debate Team have qualified for an upcoming national tournament where the group’s Top 10 Texas standing will get a workout from other trained speakers.

To represent Houston, the six students competed in eight preliminary rounds at the recent Space City National Forensic League to win and then advance. The national tournament will be held in Birmingham, Ala., in early June.

National debate qualifiers at Spring Woods High are:

• Christian Rice, 11th grade, was named Space City Champion and will compete in Congressional Debate in the House of Representatives.
• Max Rombado, 12th grade, will compete in House Congressional Debate.
• Waaris Mohammad, 12th grade, was named Space City Champion and he will compete in Senate Congressional Debate.
• Brianna Bonilla, 12th grade, was Space City Champion for two years and will compete in the Original Oratory division at Nationals.
• Lizeth Urdiales, 12th grade, will compete in House Congressional Debate.
• Avery Reinhart, 11th grade, will compete in Original Oratory. Spring Woods High’s award-winning debate team is coached by Vicky Beard.

In February, debaters Christian Rice and Waaris Mohammad made it to finals in the tough Harvard Speech/Debate Tournament, one of the large student competitions held each year.

Christian and Waaris advanced at the Harvard meet to the Top 30 out of about 450 students, which gives them standing on the national debate and speech circuit.

This year, more than 3,000 students competed in all events at Harvard; about 450 took part in Congressional Debate like the Spring Woods students.

“Students who advance and win at Harvard usually do well or win at the National Speech-Debate Tournament of the National Forensic League in Birmingham,” Ms. Beard told the high school newspaper recently. Spring Woods High Debate is making a name for itself – in the region, state and nationally, she added.

The Texas Forensic Association rates Spring Woods High School as No. 8 in the state. “Eight years ago, no one even knew Spring Woods High locally!” she proclaims. And look at them now!

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