Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Spring Woods High Junior Wins Scholastic Art National Silver Medal

Spring Woods High School junior Daniel Hernandez was one of 39 Harris County students and among only 1,946 students nationwide to win top national honors in the 2015 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Hernandez won a national Silver Medal in the Drawing and Illustration category for his work titled Cletus.

Area winners in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards competed regionally through the Harris County Department of Education. Hernandez has been invited with other Gold and Silver Medal winners to attend workshops and receptions June 9-12 in New York City.

“Daniel works very hard to create personal works that he is passionate about just like this award winning work. We are thrilled that people from across the nation have now recognized his hard work and heart-felt desire to create great art,” his teacher Andres Bautista said.

The Scholastic Art & Writing competition, now 92 years old, has helped foster student talent and creativity through exhibitions, publications and scholarships that have given support and recognition to thousands of students.

A few famous Scholastic medalists include the artists and writers Andy Warhol, Lena Dunham, Truman Capote, and John Updike.

2015 Valedictorians and Salutatorians Announced

Spring Branch ISD’s five high schools announced valedictorians and salutatorians for the graduating Class of 2015 recently.

Four SBISD campuses will host their graduation ceremonies on Saturday, May 30, and one high school will conduct graduation on Monday, June 1, in the evening.

Memorial High names 14 co-valedictorians and 7 co-salutatorians

Memorial High School has named 14 co-valedictorians and seven co-salutatorians to represent the Class of 2015.

Graduating Memorial High seniors will receive their diplomas at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, at Don Coleman Coliseum.

The Class of 2015’s co-valedictorians are Blake Thomas Berry, Griffin Francis Doyle, Lauren Addison Greenwood, Rebecca Grekin, Madeleine Janes Hamilton, Rebekah Anne Koehn, Yuyan Cheryl Mai, William Paul McNulty, Margaret Claire O’Donnell, Preston David Quine, Samuel Paul Sobell, Hannah Elizabeth Susman, David Block Van Slyke and Joanna Yuan-shin Yang.

This year’s co-salutatorians at Memorial High are Taylor Clair Barnett, Amy Sue Houser, Tiffany Samantha Hu, Sehwa Kang, Mirae Kim, Skyler John Quine and Melissa Ashley Wong.

Northbrook High School names valedictorian and salutatorian

Northbrook High School has named a valedictorian and salutatorian to represent the Class of 2015.

Graduating Northbrook High seniors will receive their diplomas at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, at Don Coleman Coliseum.

The Class of 2015’s valedictorian is Heybi Roxana Torres. The salutatorian this year at Northbrook High is Maribel Paredes.

Spring Woods High names valedictorian and 2 co-salutatorians

Spring Woods High School has named a valedictorian and two co-salutatorians to represent the Class of 2015.

Seniors enrolled at this SBISD campus will receive their diplomas at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 30, at Don Coleman Coliseum.

The Class of 2015 valedictorian at Spring Woods High is Jaquelyn De La Garza.

Spring Woods co-salutatorians this year are Seokpil Kim and Jack Liu.

Stratford High names 25 co-valedictorians and 8 co-salutatorians

Stratford High School has named 25 co-valedictorians and eight co-salutatorians to represent the Class of 2015.

Graduating Stratford High seniors will receive their diplomas at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 30, at Don Coleman Coliseum.

The Class of 2015’s co-valedictorians are Kathryn Mary Arcy, Travis Walter Bostick, Charles Anthony Boyle, Morgan Elaine Brast, Kylen Alia Chen-Troester, Michaela Susan Cherry, Reese Matthew Davis, Emily Jane Fishman, Riley James Green, Alyssa Maren Hill Hauser, Katherine Nicole Hulbert, David Traver Humphrey and Shelby Celeste Kallus.

Also named co-valedictorians are William Quinn Lavercombe, Seungjun Lee, Javier Lehtinen, Matthew David Martin, Sarah Sutton Nash, Lauren Raquel Newman, Kristen Elizabeth Peck, Sarah Kaitlin Peterson, Timothy David Purvis, Austin Charles Richard, Harley Jo Rowland and Julia Louise Siegel.

This year’s co-salutatorians at Stratford High are Polina Golikova, John Mackenzie Goss, Jennifer Hall, Kyle Jefferson Mosby, Jacob Nicholson Peter, Anna Katherine Powell, Justin Andrew Todes and Keith Thomas Woodruff.

Westchester Academy names 2 co-valedictorians and salutatorian

Westchester Academy for International Studies has named two co-valedictorians and a salutatorian to represent the Class of 2015.

Graduating Westchester Academy seniors will receive their diplomas at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 1, at Don Coleman Coliseum.

The Class of 2015’s co-valedictorians at Westchester Academy are Caroline Marie Bik and Konnie Le.

Salutatorian this year at Westchester Academy is Cristhopher Edgardo Nunez.

Memorial High Student Earns Mayor’s Art Scholarship

(Left to right) Mayor Annise Parker, Memorial HS senior Anna Cho and Cathleen May
A Memorial High School senior has placed first in the Houston Arts Partners sponsored Mayor’s Art Scholarship competition. Anna Cho has won a $1,000 scholarship. She will attend the Studio Art Program in fine arts at New York University this fall.

Anna was among six students from four separate districts in the Houston area to be awarded scholarships to the college or university of their choice. These scholarship awards were presented April 15 during the Mayor’s Art Scholarship Reception that was held at City Hall. More than 100 student art entries were received.

In addition to the $1,000 Mayor’s Art Scholarship, Anna has earned several other significant scholarships. These include a $700 Best in Show prize at the Houston World Series of Dog Shows, $250 from the Society for the Performing Arts, and $1,000 professional award as a National Sister Cities Art Competition winner.

Another Memorial High student, Rachel Yun, placed artwork in the Mayor’s event. Rachel’s work is now hanging in City Hall.

The annual Mayor’s Art Scholarship Houston competition is designed to foster and bring together Houston-area fine arts departments and help honor students for great work which expresses cultural identity and features life in Houston neighborhoods.

Six students each year are awarded college scholarships from the fund.

To learn more, please visit:
http://www.houstonartspartners.org/#!mayors-scholarship/ca41

SBISD Student Art Honors

The Spring Branch ISD Board of Trustees honored district art students on Monday evening during its April 27 regular monthly meeting.

In all, 59 young artists were honored for winning a variety of regional, state and national awards and scholarships. At the Board Meeting, the students received district medals and were photographed in special award groups.

These students are being honored for awards that range from Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to regional and national Scholastic awards.

District art students who are graduating this year have won college and university scholarships valued at more than $105,000.


Elementary and middle school student artists
Elementary Excellence

Sherwood Elementary – Audrey Bermack
Frostwood Elementary – Kush Mireles
Hunters Creek Elementary – Eliza Mitchell
Woodview Elementary – Alanis Ochoa
Edgewood Elementary – Andrea Valericia
Elementary teachers are Dana Wade, Jane Salinas, Maggi Dunwoody and Kathy Frith

High school student artists
Middle School Excellence

Spring Branch Middle – Julia Broyles, Alina Khan, Caroline Kroger, Mollie Macicek
Memorial Middle – Kathryn Love, Christina Ofori
Middle school art instructors include Elissa Barry, Kelly Clewis, Lynn Ludlam

High School Excellence

Memorial High – Folra Theroux-Chabuel, Anna Cho, Faith Deans, Julia Delaney, Macala Elliott, Ben Gold, Inshan Hwang, Marie Joubert, Erica Kim, Jennifer Kim, Samantha Kim, Grace Lee, Ruiyang Liu, Eve Low, Joy Lu, Cheryl Ma, Michelle Moore, Ashley Park, Jihwan Park, David Salas, Ashley Womack, Phrul Yimmongkol, Rachel Yun, Anna Zhuravleva
Spring Woods High – Areli Ahuatzin, Jackie Gallardo, Michelle Gim, Daniel Hernandez, Virginia Hernandez, Idally Navarro, Selena Quintanilla, Susana Resendiz, Kira Slentz
Stratford High – Susanna Frazelle, Yesol Han, Grant Harolson, Alexis Hyde, Hyo-Jung Jeon, Savannah Kuhn, Joyce Park, Claire Pena, Husain Poonawala, Chayse Samey, Julianna Parody-Sanchez, Victoria Shin, Macy Tinkler, Juwon Yoo
High school art instructors include Crystal Fiocchi, Cathleen May, Marilyn Guerinot, Jennifer Clouse, Andres Bautista, Bess Garrison, Melanie Hyche

Klussmanns Honored at CIS Annual “Stay in School” Gala

Spring Branch ISD’s Superintendent of Schools Duncan Klussmann and his wife, Marissa, were honored April 17 by Communities in Schools during the nonprofit group’s annual “Stay in School” fund-raising gala.

The Klussmanns received the organization’s Community Advocate Award for their combined efforts. Marissa is an active board member with Communities in School (CIS), and Dr. Klussmann has supported the group’s work in public school systems like SBISD.

The gala evening’s gathering of 300 at the Houston Country Club raised more than $600,000 for the local organization, which has staff members today working on 32 separate SBISD campuses. CIS boasts a high success rate with dropout prevention programs supported by the child-focused group.

Honored with the Klussmanns at the gala were two iconic Houston education and literacy advocates, Barbara Bush and former President H.W. Bush.

CIS program highlights included these statements about the Klussmanns:

There is a saying in Spanish, ‘A buen entendedor, pocas palabras bastan,’ or to someone with good understanding, only a few words are necessary. Such is definitely the case with Marissa Klussmann, a beautiful and gracious lady who truly CARES about ALL children. Her enthusiasm radiates to our CIS students. Marissa is a longtime CIS Board member, an avid volunteer, and a caring mentor alongside of CIS in several Spring Branch schools.

“Duncan Klussmann is a remarkable man, always thoughtful of his students, keeping them in the forefront of his tireless efforts. A true friend of CIS, Duncan has helped CIS to grow from serving in 12 schools in Spring Branch to serving 32 schools today. So thanks to Dr. Klusssmann, CIS is now serving over 23,450 students in Spring Branch ISD. As a recognized leader in education in our great state of Texas and as tremendous Superintendent of Spring Branch ISD, Duncan Klussmann has always been a great supporter of CIS, but more importantly, a tremendous supporter of ALL kids!”

CultureMap Houston society reporter Shelby Hodge reports that the gala event had no problem raising $600,000. Three couples helped chair the gala evening – Gervaise and Gary Petersen, Lucinda and Javier Loya, and Janet Gurwitch and Ron Franklin. Read the CultureMap story and view event photos >>

Among other local Gala attendees were Roy Reyes and Ana Padron, Communities in Schools (CIS) Project Managers at SBISD schools, a CIS “Mom” Maria Odom, and Mia, a CIS student at Housman Elementary School.

Chapelwood United Methodist Church’s the Rev. John Stephens delivered the gala blessing.

To learn more about CIS Houston and its programs, please visit:
http://cishouston.org/