Thursday, February 12, 2015

Spring Branch ISD Spelling Bee

Spring Branch area residents and families are invited to the annual Spring Branch ISD Spelling Bee, which will be held beginning at 9:15 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 20, in the Spring Woods High School Mini-Theater, 2045 Gessner.

Spelling Bee guest pronouncer will be Mary Grace Landrum, a former SBISD Board of Trustees member. Winner and runner-up students from 16 elementary schools and six middle schools in SBISD will compete for the title of district Spelling Bee Champion.

Ten student participants took part in the 2013-14 Spelling Bee competition. The winner of this year’s Spelling Bee will go on to compete March 28 in the HoustonPBS Spelling Bee. That winner and runner-up will then compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee later this year in Washington, D.C.

The SBISD Advanced Academic Studies Dept. will host the public spelling event.

View SBISD Spelling Bee flyer invitation including list of student contestants by school >>

SBISD Scholastic Art & Writing Winners Announced

Carol, Cheryl Mai, Memorial HS
Forty-two teenage artists and four writers from Spring Branch ISD schools have earned Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in the annual regional competition sponsored through the Harris County Department of Education.

One student won a top level American Visions award, another received a $500 Trustees’ Incentive Award, and 13 other student artists won Gold Key awards, qualifying them to advance to national-level judging in New York City.

Fifteen students took home Silver Key art awards, and others earned Honorable Mention. In writing, two SBISD students won Silver Key awards and two earned Honorable Mentions.


The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, now 92 years old, provides middle and high school students with an opportunity to have their personal work judged and shown. Through the awards, outstanding visual art and writing created by American teens is showcased to a national audience, promoting creativity and career development.

Former Scholastic Art & Writing winners who received this award in high school include notables like writer Truman Capote, photographer Richard Avedon, artist Andy Warhol, poet Sylvia Plath, director Robert Redford and fashion designer Zac Posen.

Across Harris County, 1,346 students from 18 separate public school districts, and private, religious, charter and home schools received Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention awards, along with American Visions and American Voices nominations. National medalists will be announced March 16 in New York City.

Winning art and writing entries were selected from about 5,000 regional entries, HCDE Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Coordinator Melba Kent said.

“We celebrate the talent of these young artists and writers,” Kent said. “We are proud to sponsor this competition and look forward to showcasing the work of these amazing youth.”

Named as one of 10 American Visions art nominees from the region is Memorial High’s Cheryl Mai. As a “Best in Show” finalist, she has earned a national medal and a $250 scholarship from Texas Arts Supply.

Memorial High art student Michelle Moore received the $500 Trustees’ Incentive Award from Harris County Dept. of Education for her drawing and illustration titled “Valentine.” 

Harris County Dept. of Education will sponsor a regional Gold and Silver Key Awards ceremony at 7 p.m. on Feb. 24 for art winners and Feb. 25 for writing award recipients. The ceremony will be held at HCDE offices located at 6300  
Irvington in Houston.

A separate Gold Key artists and writers reception will be held 5:30-8 p.m. on Feb. 20 at the Glassell Junior School, 1001 Bissonnet.

SBISD Student Art Award Winners:

American Visions Awards

Memorial High
Cheryl Mai for her painting titled “Carol”

Gold Key Awards

Memorial High
Anna (Hee Won) Cho, Portfolio, “Reminiscence, Dream, and Me”
Macala Elliott, Photography, “Wall Flower”
Macala Elliott, Photography, “Tethered Truths”
Inchan Hwang, Mixed Media, “Seeding”
Inchan Hwang, Mixed Media, “Portrait of Neighbor”
Inchan Hwang, Art Portfolio, “People and Life”
Hee Jung (Jennifer) Kim, Mixed Media, “Patches of Me”
Seoyoung Kim, Portfolio, “Human Mind and Society”
Cheryl Mai, Art Portfolio, “Mai Portfolio”
Cheryl Mai, Painting, “Carol”
Michelle Moore, Drawing and Illustration, “Valentine”
Jihwan Park, Drawing and Illustration, “Choices”
Flora Thevoux-Chabuel, Mixed Media, “Desperate Souls”
Min Kyung Yun, Mixed Media, “Scattered Shoes”
Min Kyung Yun, Art Portfolio, “Friends and Family”

Pure Clarity, Julia Boyles, Spring Branch MS
Spring Branch Middle
Julia Boyles, Photography, “Pure Clarity”

Spring Woods High
Daniel Hernandez, Drawing and Illustration, “Cletus”

Stratford High
Grant Haralson, Photography, “The Truck”

Silver Key Awards

Memorial High
Ann (Hee Won) Cho, Mixed Media, “What I Am Made Of”
Ann (Hee Won) Cho, Mixed Media, “Inside My Dream”
Erica Kim, Drawing and Illustration, “Companionship”
Hee Jung (Jennifer) Kim, Mixed Media, “Splash of Color”
Hee Jung (Jennifer) Kim, Mixed Media, “Pieces of My Life”
Seoyoung Kim, Drawing and Illustration, “The Scream”
Eve Low, Photography, “Flight”
Joy Lu, Painting, “Golden Moment”
Ashley Park, Painting, “Touch of Reproach”

Memorial Middle
Kathryn Love, Drawing and Illustration, “Which Galaxy Are You From?”
Christina Ofori, Drawing and Illustration, “Self Portrait”

Spring Branch Middle
Mollie Macicek, Photography, “American Beauty”

Beauty.Is.Me, Selena Quintanilla, Spring Woods HS
Spring Woods High
Virginia Hernandez, Painting, “Summer Bloom”
Selena Quintanilla, Mixed Media, “Beauty.Is.Me”

Stratford High School
Ye-sol Han, Drawing and Illustration, “Reflection”
Savanna Kuhn, Ceramics & Glass, “Life in a Bubble”
Hyunjung (Victoria) Shin, Mixed Media, “Windows to Culture”

Honorable Mention

Memorial High
J.S. Burleson, Photography, “Untouched”
Hye Yeun (Angela) Cho, Painting, “24 Hours”
Seoyoung Kim, Painting, “Rendezvous”
David Salas, Drawing and Illustration, “Down to Sleep”
David Salas, Art Portfolio, “Me and My Animal Friends”
Flora Thevoux-Chabuel, Art Portfolio, “Wave”
Anna Zhuraveleva, Photography, “Leopard”

Memorial Middle
Lauren Dodds, Drawing and Illustration, “Raggedy Still Life”
Bokyung Jeon, Drawing and Illustration, “On Edge”
Hannah Khairandish, Drawing and Illustration, “Sisters”
Ashton McCain, Drawing and Illustration, “Self Panic”

Spring Woods High
Virginia Hernandez, Drawing and Illustration, “The Bright Path”
Elizabeth Limas, Mixed Media, “Dancing Skeletons”
Susana Resendiz, Mixed Media, “In My Father’s Hands”

Stratford High
Katelyn Balevic, Digital Art, “Beauty Is Toxic”
Maddie Dyer, Photography, “A Watchful Eye”
Zachary Harkins, Photography, “A Splash in the Rainbow”
Darian Julun, Digital Art, “Her Conscience”
Savanna Kuhn, Painting, “Uncle Jon”
Chayse Sampy, Drawing and Illustration, “Monarch”
Remy Velarde, Drawing and Illustration, “Mini Mirrors”

SBISD art and photography instructors include Marilyn Guerinot, Cathleen May, and Cameron Sands, all at Memorial High; Lynn Ludlam at Memorial Middle; Elisa Barry at Spring Branch Middle; Andres Bautista and Crystal Fiocchi at Spring Woods High; and Kim Lynch and Jennifer Clouse at Stratford High.

Scholastic Writing Awards:

Silver Key

Memorial High
Aria Herbst, Short Story, “Strings”

Spring Branch Middle
Ruhi Thapar, Poetry, “The Dying Moment”

Honorable Mention

Memorial High
Anneysa Gaille, Writing Portfolio

Spring Branch Middle
Isha Thapar, Poetry, “The Passing of Childhood”

SBISD instructors who supported student writing submissions include Cathleen May and Claire Kruse of Memorial High, and Brandee Smith of Spring Branch Middle School.

For more information about HCDE’s regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, please visit www.hcde-texas.org/scholasticartandwriting.

YES Prep Northbrook High School Director Readies For First Year

Bryan Reed, School Director, YES Prep Northbrook High School
By Rusty Graham
Senior Writer, SBISD

Bryan Reed could hardly contain himself as he sat down recently for an interview in the commons area at Northbrook High School.

“I’m really excited to be leading the YES Prep high school here,” he said, unprompted, while looking around the large open area, the walls and ramps leading to the second level adorned with motivational slogans – and the Northbrook Raider, astride a black steed, setting the tone.

That YES Prep high school will be YES Prep Northbrook High School, and classes begin there this summer. The high school program represents the maturing SKY Partnership, an innovative collaboration between Spring Branch ISD, a traditional school system, with YES Prep Houston Public Schools and KIPP Houston Public Schools, the highly successful state charter schools.

The founding school director for YES Prep Northbrook High School, Reed has been splitting his time this spring between YES Prep Northbrook Middle and Northbrook High School. He’s spending much less time at his now-former school, YES Prep North Central, on Aldine-Westfield Road in Northeast Houston, where he spent 10 years as a teacher, then principal, then school director.

He didn’t grow up wanting to be a teacher – like so many, he really didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do. Changing majors several times at the University of Florida (UF), he graduated in 2003 with a degree in psychology.

But it was his work at a small Catholic school during high school and college that set him on his current path. By the time he graduated from UF, he was a counselor at the school, as well as serving at one point or another as athletic director and working after-school programs, security – even performing custodial functions.

“I was their utility infielder,” he said.

An apt analogy, because coaching is in his blood. Coaching has been the root of several of his teaching jobs, and serves at the core of his leadership philosophy.

“I consider myself a coach first,” said Reed. “It drives who I am as a leader. I’m someone who’s always looking to get the best out of folks.”

The Catholic school experience made Reed realize that he liked working with kids. And he was ready to leave Gainesville after spending most of his life there. He had a friend who worked with Teach For America (TFA) and the more he learned about TFA the more he thought about educational inequality in the United States.

He signed up for TFA and was assigned to teach social studies in a New Orleans high school. It was an eye-opening experience, he said.

“The students were phenomenal,” he said, “but not at any level ready for college.” He said that he had 11th graders there who were “pre-literate” – they could barely read and write at all. “They were kids with no resources, who could have been successful.”

In 2005, the school was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina. Reed had evacuated two days prior to landfall but watched the storm from afar and knew how bad it all was for New Orleans.

Legions of evacuees made their way to Houston, including many school-age children who were missing school. Reed said TFA called him and asked for help recruiting students from shelters to enroll in schools in Houston. “I slept on teachers’ couches across Houston for a month,” he said of that time here.

It was in Houston that he first learned about YES Prep, through a friend he met here. Reed was skeptical at first.

“I wasn’t sure I believed it,” Reed said. “He was so positive.”

But Reed checked it out anyway, stepping on the YES Prep North Central campus one day and teaching eighth-grade social studies the next, as well as coaching basketball and directing athletics.

Ten years later he finds himself the founding school director at YES Prep Northbrook High, leading what will be the transitioning and opening of a 140-student ninth-grade program. The school will add a grade each year as the ninth-grade class progresses.

He hopes to have his staff of seven teachers and five support persons hired by the end of this month. Space at Northbrook High School is currently being remodeled and is scheduled to be completed by the first of April.

He said the SKY Partnership is a big reason why he’s excited about his new role, considering his background at the large public high school in New Orleans and his 10 years at YES Prep.

“It’s an opportunity to be part of YES Prep but also be part of a larger school community,” said Reed. “It plays to my strengths, I think, to help partner these two worlds and make sure every student in the city is served.”

Reed is working with school leadership on the transition and has started integrating himself on campus, working the lunch area once a week. He has nothing but praise for Northbrook High School Principal Randolph Adami and his staff.

“Randolph’s team is awesome,” he said. “They’ve been so accommodating. I’ve been blown away so far at how receptive they are … I’m going to hire staff that are equally as gracious and eager to partner.”

And that certainly fits in with yet another part of Reed’s leadership philosophy.

“Relationships are the foundation of everything,” he said. “We’re in the people business – students, teachers, parents, community.”

For more information about the SKY Partnership and school choice in Spring Branch ISD, go to www.springbranchisd.com.

At a Glance

NAME:  Bryan Reed
AGE:  35
HOMETOWN:  Gainesville, Fla.
EDUCATION:  Master’s degree, Education Leadership, Sam Houston State University
Bachelor’s degree, Psychology, University of Florida
PLACES WORKED:  Sarah T. Reed Senior High School (New Orleans), YES Prep North Central (Houston)
INTERESTS AND HOBBIES:  Coaching basketball, college football (specifically Florida Gator football), mediocre golf