Yale Educator Award

Stratford High School counselor Darrell Pickard has been named a 2014 Yale Educator Award recipient based on a nominating essay written by recent grad Nathaniel Barbour. Barbour was a campus co-valedictorian at Stratford last May.

Pickard, who has been at the high school since 1996, was one of 30 counselors and 53 teachers chosen nationally to receive the Yale University award. Award winners were chosen by committee.

Pickard and other winners were sent engraved desk sets and congratulatory letters by the Ivy League university, which consistently ranks as one the nation’s best.

Barbour transferred into Stratford High as a sophomore after his family moved to Houston. Pickard worked on his course schedule, and encouraged him every time that they met or saw each other.

“Over the following weeks, each time he saw me in the hallway, he smiled and asked how I was doing. During that transition period, it was a true blessing to know that even though I had no friends in the school, there was someone who was there to support me and who wanted me to succeed,” Barbour wrote.

Barbour also nominated Pickard for his dedication to preparing all students for post-secondary success, ranging from a 50-page student planning guide to a self-edited website and links, and hundreds of letters written on behalf of students. (Read Barbour’s nomination here)

Nathaniel Barbour’s nomination:

If someone were to ask me who has influenced my life the most, and I could not respond with the name of a family member, then I would without hesitation respond with “Mr. Darrell Pickard.”  When my family moved to Houston, Texas three years ago, Mr. Pickard warmly welcomed me into his office to assist me in crafting a course schedule.  After reviewing my transcript from my previous school, he confidently told me that he was certain that I would succeed at Stratford and that he would do his best to help me in that effort.  Over the following weeks, each time he saw me in the hallway, he smiled and asked how I was doing.  During that transition period, it was a true blessing to know that even though I had no friends in the school, there was someone who was there to support me and who wanted me to succeed.

Not only has Mr. Pickard welcomed new students like myself to the Stratford community, but he has also dedicated hundreds of hours to preparing students for life after high school.  He wrote a comprehensive post-secondary planning guide of over fifty pages in length that brought life beyond high school into focus for many of us.  He also manages a counseling website that holds a wealth of resources on both the college admissions process and employment opportunities.  This past year, as senior counselor, Mr. Pickard carefully composed hundreds of counselor evaluation letters to colleges on behalf of my class, compiled and emailed lists of pertinent scholarship opportunities, and resolved complicated scheduling conflicts, all while maintaining highly accessible office hours.  Without Mr. Pickard's key advice and information, both high school and the college application process would have been significantly more difficult.  I am forever grateful for his passionate efforts.

Speaking with Darrell Pickard:

He’s a U.S. Air Force veteran: Pickard has 20 years of classroom teaching and instruction in the Air Force and Spring Branch ISD. A master instructor, he taught Air Force ROTC at UT-Austin for several years. In 1994, he joined SBISD and two years later, he began teaching at Stratford, his campus home ever since. He joined the Stratford counseling team in 2008.

“Teaching was very rewarding to me, but many students would talk to me about all the stress in their lives. I realized over some time that I wanted do more than teach content in the classroom. I went from teaching young people to helping them. . . . Getting paid to help people be successful? What more can you ask for in life?”

Human psychology trumped marine biology. At Texas A&M University, Pickard thought that he might be a marine biologist until he took a psychology class. “That subject was amazing to me. I was fascinated by the brain and by psychology, and that has led to where I am today.”

On Stratford High: “The people here are family, and the people at Stratford are so dedicated to students. This is not just a job for the people who work here and that makes it special.”

The Yale Educator Award: “I’m so humbled by what Nathaniel wrote. In my mind, this is really a reflection of him. For a college freshman at Yale to take the time to nominate me for this award speaks to what a great Yale student he is, and he will be. Nathaniel will be a great individual and a great leader.”

On student counseling: “Every student has different dreams. It’s not my job to tell them what to do, but to help them get to where they want to go.”

On Texas colleges. “There is social pressure for students to say that they want to go to [Texas] A&M and UT. Students are often influenced by others, but we have many smaller colleges and universities in Texas, and they are often overlooked. We have Sam Houston State, Lamar, Navarro College, and West Texas A&M University to name a few. I want students to look beyond just the big schools. Smaller colleges can offer the same quality of education as the big universities.”

Career choices: “Students grasp where the most money is. My career choice does not pay a lot, but it is so very rewarding. Some students think that they will not be happy unless they make a certain amount of money, or are in a certain occupation. STEM careers are popular, but one strength for Stratford, I think, is the variety of people and groups that we have here. Being in fine arts or being in journalism at Stratford is considered cool. People are not afraid to be in what they like here.”

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Texas FFA Ford Leadership Scholar

A Spring Branch FFA senior is one of only 10 students statewide named recently to the Texas FFA Ford Leadership Scholars Program.  Ben Johnson, a senior at Stratford High, is working with the president and CEO of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Joel Cowley, on his Ford Leadership community service project, an open air learning pavilion at the district Agricultural Center and Barn. His project has a December deadline.

Leadership runs in the family for Johnson. His father, Ken Johnson, is Texas FFA Foundation Chair and a former Texas FFA president (1976-77) and national FFA president (1977-78).

Ben started locally in the Spring Branch FFA. He raised pigs and goats, followed by horticulture and non-livestock projects. Grand champion awards and honors followed.

But the skills that took this ambitious Johnson family member to Texas leadership ranks are based on professional learning. He placed second statewide in the FFA’s Prepared Public Speaking-Natural Resourcs category with a winning presentation on the recent state drought.

He then competed in the Job Interview-Leadership Development Event (LDE) and was the only Spring Branch member to place at the district level. He followed with a public speaking contest, placing at district. He was named a Star Chapter Farmer and advanced to area and state competitions in other areas of study.

As a sophomore, he attended Texas FFA Convention and Washington Leadership Conference. In his junior year, Ben focused on leadership development skills, and he competed in Job Interview, Senior Quiz and Prepared Public Speaking areas.

At year’s end, he was chosen for the 2014 Texas FFA Ford Leadership Scholars Program, which included a week of intense leadership training for the 10 chosen students. Ben’s also serving as Spring Branch FFA president this year.

“Ben came into FFA and was an officer quickly, but he was always searching for something that was more than animals and plants,” says FFA instructor Jane Primrose. “He’s really good. Ben is the special kid who masters something, then says, ‘What’s next? Throw me something else.’ He will master something, then do something else, learn the next project.”

Ben says he stumbled into a public speaking contest in ninth grade. “Before that, I was a quiet kid who did not like to speak to adults,” he says.

His dream is to be a CEO. For the immediate future, he’s focused on Texas A&M University’s bachelor’s degree program in agriculture leadership and development, or engineering.

He is driven to achieve. “Through FFA and Boys Scouts, I have been able to grow my leadership skills,” he says. “I like working my way up, but I don’t like coming in last place.”

One year, he taught himself golf from scratch. He earned a varsity letter less than a year later.

Ben Johnson:  History of Honors

FFA in the Family:  He is a third generation Texas FFA member. Both grandfathers and his dad, Ken Johnson, were FFA members. Their family has been connected with FFA since 1948. Ken Johnson is chairman of the Texas FFA Foundation Board of Directors.

Awards & Honors:  As a freshman, Ben’s awards include Grand Champion Goat, Pig and 2-D Art for local chapter. He was named local and district Star Greenhand, and won the district Goat Proficiency Award. As a sophomore, he won Grand Champion Horticulture, Reserve Champion Food and Non-Livestock High Point Winner. At District, he was sixth in Senior Prepared Public Speaking Contest. He was named Star Chapter Farmer, then elected chapter secretary. At state, he placed second in Agricultural Mechanics Design & Fabrication Proficiency. As a junior, he was elected chapter president, went to state in Senior Prepared Public Speaking and Star Lonestar Degree-Agribusiness. He became a 2014 Texas FFA Ford Leadership Scholar last spring.

 

Eagle Scout Project:  To earn Eagle Scout as a sophomore, Ben designed and built a new Lamb and Goat Exercise Track at the district Ag Center in 2012. More than 50 volunteers worked with Ben over more than 430 hours to build the special track. He also holds 103 Merit badges and 4 Eagle Palms. He was elected this year to the Order of the Arrow, the national honor society for Scouting. He is a member of Troop 993-Ashford United Methodist Church.

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Ana Medrano’s PreK Passion

Valley Oaks Elementary School’s Ana Medrano spoke to thousands in Houston on the importance of full-day prekindergarten when her own views were featured in a Houston Chronicle Outlook opinion section newspaper article on Sunday, Sept. 14.

Medrano is an instructional coach, or iCoach, at Valley Oaks Elementary. A Spring Branch ISD graduate, she worked as a PreK teaching assistant at Lion Lane School for Early Learning for many years while earning her bachelor’s degree.

“It was exciting,” she says of the newspaper article. “At the same time, I felt very honored to be chosen to write about the topic. I am passionate about literacy and early learning so it wasn’t difficult for me to express my concern. It’s easy to write about what you love.”

Medrano, who has now worked 11 years in Spring Branch ISD, is a 2002 graduate of Northbrook High. She attended Hollibrook Elementary and Northbrook Middle schools.

In 2007, she earned her bachelor’s degree through the University of Houston while working as a teacher assistant at the Lion Lane PreK. She hopes to now graduate in May 2015 from the University of St. Thomas with a master’s degree in educational leadership.

Medrano has been a Valley Oaks iCoach for two years. She was a PreK bilingual teacher for four years at Lion Lane.

She is the proud parent of two young children, Mariana and Xavier.

Listening to Ana Medrano

Growing Up: She was labeled at-risk growing up in Spring Branch. “We lived in a two-bedroom apartment that we shared with an uncle. We all felt a necessity to overcome our disadvantages and the English language barrier as children. This is one of the reasons I’m so passionate about education and early learning. I want all our students to know that they can succeed as well.”

Parent Power: “We lived at a poverty level, but our parents were motivators. They believed that everything was possible for all of us. They motivated and they pushed me to get to a place where I am today.”

Learning Gap: Medrano feels that most struggling students in SBISD are from low income and minority background families. “Too often, our struggling students have minimal exposure to a quality, literacy-rich, early childhood setting beginning from birth to 5 years old. The gap between low income and other families really starts at the beginning, in the early years, and it just keeps widening from there.”

Queen for a Day: “I think I would exchange having a 12^th grade year in high school for a required  high quality, literacy rich, full day education for all young children if I was queen.”

Best Book Bets: For prekindergarten ages, Medrano recommends former Sesame Street writer Mo Willems and his “pigeon” series of books like Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! “They are very interactive. There are speech bubbles that children do like, and you can reference test using them at a student’s level.” She is also a fan of Eric Carle picture-and-word books. “I feel that his books can be linked to different lessons, and I grew up with these books, too. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is still a favorite in our house.”

Future Dreaming: Medrano’s interests range from starting up her own school to becoming a district principal, or opening an early-education school designed with at-risk children in mind. If her past predicts the future, this SBISD educator will be managing her own school – one way or another.

Newspaper subscribers can read Medrano’s opinion article at this location, or see posting below:

http://www.chron.com/default/article/Medrano-Reading-readiness-gap-in-pre-K-needs-5756634.php

Medrano: Reading readiness gap in pre-K needs urgent attention

By Ana Medrano | September 15, 2014 Houston Chronicle Opinion/Outlook section

My heart filled with pride as my oldest daughter's pre-K teacher reported that she was already reading at the first grade level. She might even be "too advanced" for kindergarten, the teacher said, recommending I consider enrolling her in the first grade. Although it was a huge compliment and brought tears of joy to my eyes, as an educator, I knew that my daughter's academic success was due, in part, to my own awareness of the importance of a quality early childhood education. My daughter is 6 years old now and maintains a deep love for learning. She wakes up every day with a priceless excitement for going to school.

How I wish this was the norm throughout our community.

I have been in education for 12 years now and have had the opportunity to teach students from different backgrounds and observe how students progress through the elementary school years. The differences are stark between students who have had access to quality early childhood education and those who have not, and are pretty good predictors of how well the children will fare in their later school years.

I began teaching full-day pre-K in an at-risk community where many students came from large, low-income families, often with parents lacking basic literacy skills. Many of the children had never held nor even seen a book, crayon or paintbrush in their lives. There were children who started school not speaking a word and others with serious behavior and emotional problems. Not only were they behind academically, but some children also carried the baggage of a dysfunctional, and sometimes abusive, home life. Nevertheless, my colleagues and I would help them keep their heads held high and make sure we had a positive impact on their lives through their education. As a former at-risk student myself, I understood that a successful school experience would be their only hope of breaking the cycle in which they were trapped.

Later, when I taught pre-K at a more affluent school, I could immediately see the difference in the readiness level when my students started the year. It was obvious that a majority of these children had been exposed to the basic building blocks, including letters and numbers, either from their families or through more formal early education programs. As an educator, I didn't have to start at the very beginning and teach them how to be ready to learn.

Importantly though, regardless of where I taught or my students' socioeconomic status, 90 percent or more would leave their pre-K year as emergent readers and writers. Spending a year in a quality pre-K program allows kids from all backgrounds to start kindergarten on the same playing field.

I am now an instructional coach for an elementary school campus. The vantage point allows me to see the range of abilities, but especially the range of readiness between those with adequate early childhood education and those without. That gap can be heartbreaking and incredibly challenging to surmount. While the rest of their kindergarten classmates are engaged in guided reading instruction, children who have not been exposed to reading at home or through a high-quality early-education program are just learning their letters and how to write their names. This struggle continues at home, where parents who may be working multiple jobs, or have limited literacy skills themselves, are not able to provide the support that the children need.

From the moment they enter school and realize they cannot read like their friends, they begin to lose their confidence. Although our teachers are trained to differentiate instruction, it is oftentimes too difficult a task to make up for a whole year of absent instruction. It is not until children fail to pass their third-grade STAAR test that we, as a system, begin to intervene. By that time, it is often too late and the money spent on tutoring and intervention is less effective.

Like many things, fixing this is no easy task. Quality professional development, support for special-needs students and lower teacher-to-student ratios are musts. Most important, we need to provide support for the parents of these young children who want what is best for their children, but don't know what to do. Parental involvement in the education of their children is paramount to our success. My experience as an at-risk student, and now as an educator and mother, tells me that, as a community, we cannot stand idly by. The readiness gap needs our urgent attention. This is a resource-rich city. Properly galvanized, we can address this problem together. Access to a quality early childhood education is the bridge to academic success and life readiness. Wouldn't it be amazing if every parent was told their child was too advanced?

Medrano is an interdisciplinary instructional coach at Valley Oaks Elementary in Spring Branch ISD.

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