Friday Night Lights

Hundreds of Spring Branch ISD elementary students were exposed to two versions of “football” – the popular, Friday night contest over a leather ball held under stadium lights and the exciting, fast-moving competition over a soccer ball – through the district’s Advanced Movers program recently.

Students from four elementary schools attended a recent Friday evening football game between Stratford and Spring Woods high schools held at SBISD’s Tully Stadium.

For many students, the recent Oct. 17 game was their very first experience inside a Texas high school football stadium on a Friday night.

Walking onto the Tully Stadium artificial turf before the game were students from four campuses – Sherwood, Thornwood, Westwood and Woodview elementary schools.

The youngsters were exposed to high school bands, cheerleaders, dance and football teams in an up close, in-person game experience that literally earned them High Fives from high school student athletes.

This game experience was arranged by SBISD’s Health Fitness Dept. with special assistance from Samuel Karns, who is SBISD’s Advanced Movers coordinator.

Greeting the elementary students were SBISD’s Executive Athletic Director Paige Hershey and several assistant athletic directors.

One Woodview Elementary student joined the cheerleaders on the field when the student bumped into a cheerleader she had met several years ago in a dance camp.

On Friday, Oct. 24, meanwhile about 225 Advanced Movers students from Landrum Middle School and the KIPP Courage College Prep program also at Landrum Middle, as well as Pine Shadows, Ridgecrest and Cedar Brook elementary schools attended a soccer game at Houston Baptist University.

“The excitement was in the air, and could be felt even before the kids even got off the buses. Even though the [Houston Baptist] Huskies didn’t pull off a win, our students won in so many capacities on this night through T-2-4,” Karns said. A boy and girl student from each campus was selected at half time to take part on field in a soccer dribbling and shooting contest.

View the Advanced Movers Animoto on football night:

https://animoto.com/play/LO2X7zy6q7AdsjHd00usYg

View the Advanced Movers Animoto on soccer night:

https://animoto.com/play/LO2X7zy6q7AdsjHd00usYg

Learn more about Advanced Movers through these social media sites:

www.twitter.com/advancedmovers

www.facebook.com/sbisdadvancedmovers

www.twitter.com/futurecoachesac

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Lone Star Emmy Awards

Left to Right:  Keith Chapman, Paul Brastrom, Angelica Chavez and Travis Balleza.  (Not pictured:  Adrian Bourliot, Jose Cervantes, Caitlin Makin, Andrew Fowler, Raekwon Johnson, Daniel Rayon and Fernando Hernandez)  Photo credit:  Arturo Benitez

Eleven students active in the Digital Filmmaking and Guthrie Center Films programs have earned two Emmy Awards from the local Lone Star Emmy chapter of the National Television Arts and Sciences for excellence in TV and Broadcast productions.

Congratulations to Guthrie Center Films and to the following students for their excellent work and award winning productions in television:

For “Works in Progress,” a newscast talk show featuring programs at The Guthrie Center, the following students earned a Lone Star Emmy Award:

• Adrian Bourliot, Producer/Director
• Jose Cervantes, Producer/Asst. Director
• Travis Balleza, Producer/Writer
• Caitlin Makin, Producer
• Paul Brastrom, Producer/Editor
• Andrew Fowler, Producer/Editor
• Raekwon Johnson, Producer/Editor
• Daniel Rayon, Producer
• Fernando Hernandez, Producer
• Angelica Chavez, Producer

For “Simple Math,” a Public Service Announcement about the importance of energy conversation, a Lone Star Emmy went to Producer/Director Keith Chapman.

To learn more about the Lone Star Emmy Awards, please visit:

http://lonestaremmy.org/foundation/natas-awards/high-school-student-production/2014-awardees/

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Student Leaders Focus on Restorative Justice

Students in the Academy of Choice (AOC) Leadership Class trained 18 Community in Schools workers in restorative justice practices, including healing circles, during a training event held in Baytown, Texas, recently.

This year’s AOC leadership students are Julissa Alba, Brooke Cherry, Ashton Creekmoore, Kenia Marun Cruz, Tristen Day, Yancey Elguezabal, Michael Hendrickson, Skylin Lee, Brandie Massey, Ashley Monjares, Allizon Palma, Emili Torres, Chris Valera and Karina Vazquez.

One Community in Schools attendee praised the event highly. “I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the training. I look forward to working with you all further to gain a better understanding of how to facilitate, as well as how to guide my students to facilitate, a [healing] circle as well.”

Academy of Choice instructor Anita Wadhwa uses a practice called healing circles to address student or school conflict when it occurs. AOC students co-facilitate meetings between a person who has either caused harmed, a person who was harmed, or interested parties in order to find solutions and repair the harm done.

Academy of Choice uses this practice to build community, and to disrupt a troubling pattern known as the school to prison pipeline, a phenomenon in which students who are suspended or expelled have an increased chance or likelihood of entering the criminal justice system.

The AOC program, Wadhwa, and some of her students were featured last year in news stories broadcast locally and on National Public Radio (NPR) member stations.

Dignity in Schools, a national network dedicated to ending the pipeline, has sponsored a National Week of Action Against School Pushout. The national network calls for disciplinary alternatives such as restorative justice. As part of the week’s events, AOC helped its leadership students attend a forum at Texas Southern University on racial and economic disproportionality in the criminal justice system.

AOC students are led by instructors Udoro Gatewood, Nicole Harris and Wadhwa.

For more information on bringing restorative justice practice to your school, please email at Anita Wadhwa at anita.wadhwa@springbranchisd.com.

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Organic Garden and Outdoor Learning Space Opens

Wilchester Elementary School opened its new organic vegetable garden and outdoor learning space during an Oct. 24 ribbon-cutting ceremony. All second- and fifth-grade classes attended.

Both grades helped plant, maintain and then learn in the new garden area earlier this fall under the professional guidance of a garden educator. This program is funded in part by a Spring Branch Education Foundation grant, with help from the Wilchester Elementary PTA.

View more photos of Wilchester's organic garden area >>
 
Wilchester’s new garden is an initiative of parent volunteers, community members and teachers who dedicated time during the last two years to bring this project to realization. The garden opening ceremony coincided with the conclusion of the school’s observance of Red Ribbon Week, the district’s annual anti-drug and anti-alcohol awareness campaign.

“The new Wilchester Garden is a learning tool and space that expands on Spring Branch’s commitment to a Healthy Lifestyle campaign. Gardening programs extend learning outside the classroom, and offer greater sensory imput across a range of curriculums including science, math and language arts,” PTA Garden Co-chair Fae Cohen stated in a press release.

“Gardens also offer an opportunity for our students to work within their community, setting a strong foundation for the building blocks of citizenship,” the PTA statement also said.

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