SBISD’s New Teachers inspired to be here

Kari Young chose Spring Branch ISD for her own children. Today, this University of Houston Student Teacher of the Year teaches eighth-grade science at Spring Oaks Middle School. “I chose SBISD both for my children’s education and for my employment because I love that Spring Branch has its own vision of student success which does not rely exclusively on high stakes, standardized tests for validation.

SBISD aims to educate the whole child – physically, socially, emotionally, and, of course, academically,” Kari says. Kari Young joins 322 other new teachers this year in choosing the SBISD classroom as their educational home. Their choice was based on a variety of reasons: education and research, a good work-life balance, and school and community relationships for those who grew up in Spring Branch and Memorial.

Kari grew up in Burleson, Texas, outside Fort Worth, and then earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Rice University. Three children and almost 17 years later, she earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Houston to help her re-enter the workforce as a teacher.

Over the decades, she was drawn to the classroom as a volunteer in the Berkeley Adult School where she taught English as a Second Language and U.S. Citizenship to recent immigrants. She observed classes in Malaysia and in the United States.

A student teacher last year at Spring Oaks Middle and Westwood Elementary, Kari was awarded the UH Student Teacher of the Year recognition. She completed her master’s program in May 2014. Teaching in SBISD, as well as teaching science, are intentional and thoughtful choices on her part. 

On SBISD, she says: “SBISD is on a mission to help each and every student reach his or her full potential by completing some form of higher education. Both the goal, and the methods the district is employing to reach that goal, are strongly supported by the research I studied in graduate school. It is such a pleasure to put all of my hard work in graduate school to immediate use in the classroom.”

On teaching science, she says: “I hope to guide my students to a successful path. I chose to teach science because it seems to me to be the most relevant topic for many students and it encompasses, or at least connects to, all of the other disciplines. The history of the world is the history of scientific discovery and technological advancement, especially in more recent years. Math is the language of science. Scientific knowledge is advanced through the medium of language and communication. The holistic nature of science appeals to students and to me!”

Kari hopes to find time to stay committed to running half marathons and seeing the world. Some of her favorite places in the world include Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Cocoa Island in the Maldives, and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, where she has lived. Her energy and sense of adventure are boundless.

She climbs high mountains and volcanoes, swims with dolphins, hikes glaciers, and likes to scuba dive and rock climb. “I hope that my students will get swept up in my enthusiasm for exploring and learning!” she exclaims.

Equally enthusiastic about SBISD is Lauren Roberts, a Memorial native who is a graduate of Frostwood Elementary, Memorial Middle and Memorial High schools. In May, Lauren graduated from Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. She’s now teaching prekindergarten at Sherwood Elementary School.

She student taught in Lubbock in a Title 1 campus where difficult situations brightened when students in her care made sudden academic connections. Lauren always felt that teaching called to her, but it wasn’t until she was a senior in high school that she was certain. Lauren participated in Future Teachers in high school and was placed at Bunker Hill Elementary.

There, she was supported and influenced by teachers Jenny Lewis and Amy Schendel. “They were two amazing teachers and I wanted to be just like them when I had my own classroom! I still have a close relationship with them and they continue to help me to this very day. I would suggest Future Teachers to every high school student who is interested in going into the education field,” Lauren says. Just for fun, Disney World is a favorite place, and Rockin’ Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror her favorite rides.

On weekends, she likes deer hunting with her dad, riding four-wheel vehicles, and being around a camp fire. Angelica Contreras was born and raised in Laredo, but she moved to Spring Branch as soon as she could. She is teaching seventh-grade math this year at Spring Woods Middle School.

After moving to Houston and then marrying in 2003, Angelica and her husband moved to Spring Branch. Her daughter attended the Lion Lane School for Early Learning and Housman Elementary. 

Angelica went back to school at Lone Star Community College, where she received an associates degree in teaching four years ago. In May, she received the bachelor’s degree in Teaching and Learning, Mathematics 4-8, from the University of Houston.

“When I was required to do my observations for my education courses, I immediately chose SBISD as my first choice because of how welcoming my daughters’ teachers had made me feel. I visited several schools in the district and the more I got to observe, the more I knew I wanted to one day work in SBISD,” Angelica says.

“When I was offered a position at Spring Woods Middle School I was beyond excited. I knew I was home!” Angelica’s mother, a cosmetology instructor, is her inspiration in teaching. Her mom taught a man who is legally blind to cut hair professionally. “I knew I wanted to teach and reach the lives of students when I saw the progression of a legally blind student obtain his cosmetology license. My mother dedicated all of her spare time and effort to teach him the cosmetology trade,” she says.

“She believed in him when others didn’t. She changed his life, and she helped him prove that anything is possible. I knew then that I wanted to do the same, and that I wanted to be a teacher.”

For more inspirational stories about educators in SBISD, visit our I Am SBISD Video Playlist. Go there now >>

Read More

Broadway Star Will Mann visits Memphis, the Musical

Students from Memorial and G.W. Carver Magnet high schools were thrilled on Saturday, Sept. 6, by a surprise visit from Will Mann, who played the role of Bobby on Broadway and in the first national tour of Memphis, the Musical.

 The students from the two high schools in separate school districts collaborated on a rare joint production of the show last weekend. Mr. Mann flew in from New York City for the day to see the show, which is one of the few high school productions ever to be staged with white and African-American students cast in specific roles.

Show co-directors were Roshunda Jones of G.W. Carver Magnet High School and Nicole Morgan of Memorial High School. The Broadway star also met with the students before and after the show.

 “I’m so proud of what you’re doing,” he told the students at Memorial High. When he asked how many of the high school students were interested in pursuing theater as a professional career, many hands went up among the cast and technical crew.

 Mr. Mann advised them, “If you’re going to do it, do it all the way. Commit to it.” He warned that people would tell them they had to have a “backup plan,” but that he had purposely chosen to focus only on singing and acting in college. “If you have no choice but to succeed, then you will,” he told them.

Mann is currently playing Judah in the North American tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Read More

One goal. One family.

It’s often a small world in Spring Branch ISD. Just ask Shelby Zachary and Will Handlin. The two new Spring Woods High School teachers met years ago as babies: the two were cared for by the same babysitter.

At Spring Woods High this fall, the familiar phrase, “One Family,” has a vivid meaning for a handful of families. Six staff members have genetic ties that bind – mother and daughter, father and son, grandmother and granddaughter.

Like many SBISD campuses, Spring Woods High recruits and retains many of its own. At least 15 Spring Woods High graduates teach at the campus, and as many as 30 faculty and staff have graduated from the district’s high schools. Emma Slattery Knowles now teaches at Spring Woods, her former high school. Lisa Slattery, her mom, teaches business at the school.

It's all in the family for six staff members at Spring Woods High.  From left, Will and Bill
Handlin;  left middle, Emma and Lisa Slattery; and left bottom, Shelby and Belle Zachary.

“As my mom says, it’s a good thing that we like each other!” quips Emma, a Social Studies teacher and a swim coach. Bill Handlin, Will’s dad, has taught mathematics for 31 years at Spring Woods.

An authority in Algebra who has helped write national textbooks, Handlin has a reason for looking forward to the new school year – his son Will’s first year on campus as an Algebra teacher. This all-in-the-family history at Spring Woods runs deep. Will’s godfather was Coach Charlie Maiorana, for whom the campus baseball field was named.

Young Will “grew up” on the Spring Woods High campus and he knew famous baseball player Roger Clemens. Will later pitched for Kentucky’s Murray State University baseball team. Bill Handlin has coached baseball for many years, too. “It will be a thrill for me to teach with William,” he says. “William took his own path into teaching. He always had an affinity for helping others learn, but you never truly know what God’s plans are for a person.” Last year, the father-son Handlin team taught math class together.

“That was truly a dream come true,” Bill says. “SBISD is a great place to teach because it’s one big family,” Will says. A grad of Meadow Wood Elementary and Spring Forest Middle schools, Will served first on campus as an Academic Advisor before joining the math department. His babysitting companion, Shelby Zachary, teaches Special Education students this year.

Her grandmother, Belle Zachary, has worked 25 years for SBISD, many of them as a department support specialist at the high school. Shelby graduated from Katy High School and earned her bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State University, but Spring Woods High wasn’t a strange place to her. She’s been visiting Spring Woods High since she was 3 months old. Her father and uncle are Tiger grads, and her dad atteneded with Roger Clemens, too.

“I think that Spring Branch is a great place to teach because ‘they take care of their own.’ I have found so much support here from everyone I have met, and it feels to me like ‘One Family’ here,” she says. Shelby is certified in Social Studies.

“This spurs me on to be the best teacher that I can be. It makes a difference to students when the faculty is so supportive.” Emma and her mom both note that Lisa Slattery first taught at Emma’s elementary school. Lisa was an active middle school volunteer, and then began teaching in the business department while Emma was at Spring Woods High.

The history resulted in a family joke. “It became a running joke in our family, and at Spring Woods, that my mom was also going to follow me to college,” Emma says. “When I started applying for colleges, I even threatened to attend the University of Texas just because I was sure that she wouldn’t follow me there!”

Emma graduated from Texas A&M University in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences-Youth Development. She was certified in Social Studies and also coaching when a position at her old high school opened. “My mom did not go with me to college, but here we are five years later, and now I’ve followed her to Spring Woods!” Emma proclaims, adding that “once my husband and I found out we were moving back to Houston, working in Spring Branch was the only thing I would consider!”

Lisa Slattery couldn’t be happier with the turn of events. “I love that she is working alongside the same coach and teachers that she had when she was here as a student, and I love that – once again – we get to see each other at school every day,” she said.

Read More