Tommy Tune Award Nominations

Westside Story photo by Stratford High junior, Keeley Reagan Flynn.

Two Spring Branch ISD high schools have received a total of 10 nominations for the 12th Annual Tommy Tune Awards. Stratford High’s Westside Story musical is nominated in seven separate categories, while Memorial High’s Shrek, The Musical is nominated in three categories.

Forty-five musical productions from Houston-area high schools competed during the 2013-2014 school year. A panel of 29 regional theater professionals made 152 nominations in 15 categories.

In addition, a separate committee is considering potential scholarship recipients.

The well-known Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) Tommy Tunes Awards are designed to acknowledge outstanding musical theater talent at the high school level and encourage future theatrical development.

TUTS will present scholarships to outstanding participating students of the Tommy Tune Awards at an upcoming award ceremony. The Tommy Tune Award Show will be held at the Hobby Centre on April 16 at 7:30 p.m. The ceremony is open to the general public, and tickets will be available April 2.

For more information on all nominations, or for 2014 Tommy Tune Awards event tickets, call (713) 558-2600 or visit www.tuts.com/TTA.

SBISD’s Tommy Tune Nominations this year are:

 Stratford High School: Westside Story 

 • Best Direction
 • Best Musical Direction
 • Best Scenic Design
 • Best Costume Design
 • Best Lighting Design
 • Best Crew/ Technical Execution
 • Best Ensemble/Chorus

Memorial High School: Shrek, The Musical
 • Best Orchestra
 • Best Supporting Actor – Laurent Chenet
 • Best Featured Performer – Maddie Calais

Communications Dept. intern Kali Venable compiled this report.

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SBISD T-2-4 Spotlight

District leaders have launched a new Special Presentation recognition for teachers that will be awarded on a regular basis during monthly SBISD Board of Trustees meetings. Click here to see student testimonials in our T-2-4 Teacher Spotlight video playlist.

Known as the SBISD T-2-4 Teacher Spotlight, this honor will shine a light on educators who embrace the district’s T-2-4 goal to double the number of students completing a technical certificate, military training, or a two-year or a four-year degree, and actively go above and beyond to demonstrate commitment and actions in support of the T-2-4 goal and belief statements.

This recognition’s first-ever honoree is Landrum Middle School art and photography instructor Andres Bautista. A 23-year district employee, this highly valued “educator leader” has earned many personal and professional awards, but his highly deserved recognitions describe only a small portion of what Andres has accomplished over the past two decades with Landrum students.

A veteran volunteer and mentor, Andres has worked with local groups ranging from the NewSpring art organization to Collegiate Challenge at Northbrook High School, and he has helped propel many Landrum Middle students into state colleges and universities.

During the March 24 Board of Trustees meeting, two Landrum Middle graduates now enrolled in state universities – Adrianna Guillen, a Texas A&M-Kingsville art student, and Gustavo Piña, a UH-Downtown junior majoring in education and art – spoke from their hearts about Mr. Bautista’s dedication and ability to help them and other Landrum students achieve much more than they ever thought possible.

Among other recent accomplishments, Mr. Bautista’s “circle” of friends and colleagues within the school’s Landrum Lions Scholarship Committee hosted a fall festival that raised about $7,000 for student scholarships.

A McAllen, Texas, native who is a 1990 Texas A&M-Kingsville graduate, he joined the Landrum Middle School faculty 23 years ago. His many awards included 2006 SBISD Teacher of the Year and Texas Landman Association Award; and the Council of PTAs School Bell Award in 2013. He was a Featured Artist in the Via Colori Street Painting Festival, where many of his students have displayed their works, too.

In addition to these and other distinctions, Andres was a soccer coach at Landrum for eight years, and he has been yearbook sponsor for the last two years.

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