National Oilwell Varco Hosts Bookstore Field Trip

For some Spring Branch ISD elementary students, a recent field trip to Barnes & Noble was their first ever bookstore visit. For others, the trip was different than previous visits as all students were given a $30 gift card to spend on educational purchases of their own liking.

The bookstore visit and student buying were made possible thanks to an ongoing partnership between Spring Branch ISD and National Oilwell Varco (NOV), as well as a longtime Good Neighbor to the district, Barnes & Noble Town & Country.

NOV supplied each mentor and student mentee match with a $30 gift card, which students could spend at their personal discretion. Thanks to an extra 20 percent discount offered by Barnes & Noble and the guidance of their mentors, all SBISD students returned to school with gift bags filled with new books and educational games.

NOV, a global energy-related corporation based in Houston, first partnered with the district in 2013. The firm’s local office currently has 30 employees serving as mentors in SBISD’s SpringBoard Mentoring Program, with more NOV employees joining each semester.

The district’s program pairs students in third- through 12^th grades in a one-to-one relationship with an adult who serves as an advocate, friend and champion in the student’s life. NOV employees, along with nearly 500 other individuals who serve in the program throughout SBISD, give 45 minutes of their time each week to meet with their student on campus.

This year, with a wish to support SBISD’s focus on literacy and a goal to ensure all students are reading on grade level, NOV Director of Community Investment and Sponsorships Jason Bozic worked with SBISD’s Community Relations Department to develop the student field trip idea.

“We are very honored to partner with Spring Branch ISD, so together our company and dedicated employees that mentor students can be part of the solution to develop youth to their greatest potential,” Bozic says.

Houston-based NOV is a leading provider of equipment and components used in global oil and gas drilling and production operations, oilfield services and supply chain integration services. The company operates across six continents.

In February, 14 Westwood Elementary School students and their NOV mentors spent an hour at Barnes & Noble. The students moved through the store aisles with wide-eyed enthusiasm and their $30 gift cards in hand.

Barnes & Noble Manager Georgette Radford welcomed the students and their mentors. She spoke to them about the importance of reading and the love of learning.

“We appreciate all the opportunities with SBISD to encourage students to read,” says Radford. “It is important for students to visit a bookstore and experience all the knowledge available through books.”

Betsabeth Beyk, the Communities in Schools (CIS) project manager at Westwood Elementary, noted the impact this opportunity has to help reinforce the school’s focus on literacy.

“As a school, we are really empowering our students to have a passion for reading. All of them get to check out books from our school library, but not many get to call a book their own. With this opportunity, our students were able to choose a book about a topic they really enjoy and get to read it with their mentors.”

Research shows that students who have small, personal libraries of books, print magazines or related educational material are more likely than those who don’t to read at or above grade level, and to do well in school.

Fourteen middle and high school students from Westchester Academy for International Studies (WAIS) and Spring Woods High School had their own bookstore visit in February, too.

Anne Beck, the store’s teen literature specialist, walked students and their mentors through the genre’s latest selections, highlighting titles for individual students based on their interests.

Their adult mentors chimed in, noting books they remembered reading in high school, or books they had discovered and loved in their own lives.

“An opportunity such as this can be so rewarding for both the student and the mentor,” says Steve Schlabach, a middle school counselor at WAIS. “Giving our students the chance to have conversations over books with another adult stresses the importance of reading.”  

“Since reading is such a truly fundamental skill,” he says, “anytime we can have students and adults reading together and talking about their reading, it is a good thing! The experience of having a shared activity, such as picking out a book, will deepen the connection the students and mentors have with each other and be remembered for years to come.”

As the SBISD students returned to their campuses, new books and purchases in hand, their excitement was evident.

One Westwood Elementary student chose to spend a portion of his gift card on an educational board game he could play with his mentor during their visits, while another displayed a science book he planned to read alongside and discuss with his mentor.

A WAIS ninth-grader examined the cover of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, a book his mentor recommended, saying that it changed his perspective on reading. And one WAIS student tucked away the bag that not only had her new books in it, but also one book for her younger sister so she could take this gift and pass it on.

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Meadow Wood Writers Ask Questions

Local writer Gloria Alvarez, who spent time at Meadow Wood Elementary School recently, was surprised when a question-and-answer format student lesson became an extended lesson in student writing and discover.

Ms. Alvarez visited the elementary school with Writers in the Schools (WITS), an innovative partnership between professional writers and educators that dates back in Houston to 1983. WITS works hand-in-hand with teachers and writers to teach students the craft of writing.

WITS believes that creativity prepares students for the future. The group estimates that about 28,000 children each year are exposed to writing lessons and write their own stories in up to 350 classroom visits across Houston.

The Meadow Wood Elementary visit planted a seed that later resulted in a teacher-student writing experience with remarkable, creative results! Read Ms. Alvarez:

Mischievians Invade Meadow Wood Elementary!

By Writer-in-Residence Gloria Alvarez

My cooperating teachers at Meadow Wood Elementary, Tabitha Peña and Hali House, are the best a Writer In The Schools (WITS) writer could ask for: enthusiastic, supportive, and eager to extend WITS lessons to their own teaching.

We exchange book suggestions, ideas for revision, and strategies for reaching underperforming students. They open their classrooms to me and work alongside the kids during WITS.

One recent effort so inspired Ms. House that she made it her own. I’d brought in William Joyce’s The Mischievians, a book about those mysterious creatures who swipe TV remotes and cell phones, mislay or devour homework, and generally cause embarrassment and trouble.

We both love Joyce’s work, including Rolie Polie Olie and the Christmas tale Santa Calls. I’d chosen The Mischievians because it’s so funny: everyone relates to the misplaced iPad or mismatched socks. The illustrations are just as clever.

The story follows a Q & A format: the questions in a child’s voice and the answer like a formal encyclopedia entry. We read sections of the book, the students brainstormed new Mischievians, and finally they wrote their own questions and answers.

The students completed their drafts and read some aloud. We will revisit the stories in several weeks to select and revise pieces for our class anthology. For now, for me, the lesson was over.

But not for Ms. House. She promptly purchased her own copy of The Mischievians for the classroom and displayed it on an easel at her desk. Ms. House read students pieces, providing feedback and editing advice. After allotting class time to revise and recopy their work with illustrations, she created a bulletin board to display all the finished pieces.

“They turned out great,” House said. “Everyone had fun with it.”

I think so, too. I was beyond thrilled that a lesson – a new, untested lesson at that – had struck such a chord with both students and teacher.

Students with examples of their work
	The TalkeyMer TalkyPants Mischievian by Jonathan Q: Whenever I’m supposed to be quiet, I whisper to my neighbor. Then my voice gets louder until I get into trouble. Why does this happen? A: There is a Mischievian on the loose called TalkeyMer, TalkeyPants. Q: Where are they? A: There are four of them in your mouth: Down, Up, Right and Left. Q: How do they make you talk? A: They jump up and down and make your mouth talk. Once your mouth is moving, your voice wants to talk. They jump harder and harder until your voice gets louder.
	The Allowance Thief by Elyse Q: Whenever I earn two dollars from my mom for doing chores, I put it in my room. Next thing I know it is not there. Why is this? A: Well, there are Mischievians that are called Allowance Thieves. They like to steal your allowance. They hide your allowance under your bed or in the attic. Q: What do they look like? A: They are the color purple, and they have fluffy bright green hair. They wear a yellow shirt with orange pants.
	The Sickevens by Madeline Q: Every week I am getting sick with some kind of virus. Why am I sick? I can’t believe I am going to say this: I miss school! A: Well, they’re called Sickevens. They give you a virus so they can get stronger and healthier. Q: What can I do to stop them? A: Try this formula if you’re that desperate. But you might explode into one million pieces! Q: Are there different types of Sickevens? A: Yes. There are Coldevens,

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