Cedar Brook Elementary Promotes Wellness

Cedar Brook Elementary School marks the end of the current school year with a long list of activities and actions promoting campus wellness among its campus staff and faculty.

Highlights of health promoting activities and awards at Cedar Brook include:

• In October 2014, faculty and families were involved in the Great Pumpkin Fun Run.
• Last December, Shape Up Houston named the campus as the leader in the SBISD Employee Wellness Challenge. The school was also highlighted on Shape Up Houston’s Facebook page.
• Recipes for Success, a 10-year-old health-based initiative to promote good habits and healthy eating, featured campus staff and parent volunteers on its group website.
• The Recipe for Success partnership widened when the school took part in the citywide Veg Out Challenge for 30 Days, which resulted in the school finishing second in Houston for the most participants; the school was also named Veg Out Super Veg Promoter Champions. Several family members and faculty won prizes through this contest.
• In April, Health Fitness Coach Courtney Roberts arranged for students at Cedar Brook to be part of Houston’s Run for the Rose 5K.
• Cedar Brook supports the Spring Branch Education Foundation (SBEF) by promoting and participating in the Running for the Arts 5K annually.

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VASE Student Art Results

"Reflections of Youth" by Memorial High School's Julia Delaney

Spring Branch ISD art students advanced 25 separate works of art to the annual State Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE).

View SBISD student artwork in the VASE competition >>

Nineteen student works received a top rating of 4, and a student drawing titled “Reflections of Youth,” by Memorial High’s Julia Delaney earned the coveted Gold Seal as one of the best student art works in all Texas.

View the full gallery of 2015 VASE State Results >>

For her high achievement, Delaney’s drawing will be displayed in venues across the state in the year ahead.

Other SBISD student works with 4 Ratings in State VASE competition include:

Memorial High School
Anna Cho, “Waiting,” Mixed Media
Inchan Hwang, “Transition,” Mixed Media
Grace Lee, “Grace,” Painting
Flora Thevoux-Chabuel, “Reluctance,” Painting
Phrut Yimmongkol, “Mentor’s Point of View,” Drawing
Min Kyung Yun, “Last Summer,” Mixed Media
Anna Zhuravleva, “Embrace of the Mother Hen,” Painting

Spring Woods High School
Susana Resendiz, “In My Father’s Hands,” Mixed Media
Kira Slentz, “Reincarnation,” Mixed Media

Stratford High School
Suzannah Frazelle, “Looking Back,’ Fibers
Savanna Kuhn, “Thoughts Intertwined,” Mixed Media
Claire Pena, “The Power of the Cube,” Sculpture
Chayse Sampy, “The Blues,” Drawing
Juliana Parody Sanchez, “Contained Storm,” Drawing
Macy Tinkler, “For Logan,” Mixed Media
Juwon Yoo, “Beneath the Surface,” Painting
Juwon Yoo, “Dissection,” Drawing
Husain Poonawala, “Child at Heart,” Photography

Student art teachers include Cathleen May at Memorial High; Crystal Fiocchi at Spring Woods High; and Jennifer Clouse, Melane Hyche and Suzan Lynch, all of Stratford High School.

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Fund for Teachers Award

A Spring Woods High School history teacher has been named a Fund for Teachers award winner and will travel this summer to pursue both professional and personal interest in the impact of World War II on California and Hawaii.

Lora Clay teaches Advanced Placement U.S. History and other history classes at the Spring Branch ISD high school campus. She will join 38 other Houston area teachers from 33 schools who will embark on self-designed odysseys in the days ahead.

The grant will support Clay’s interest to “explore through a historical lens the impact of World War II on California and Hawaii to create a more engaging classroom in which students can better comprehend the effects of Pearl Harbor and Japanese Internment Camps.”

The grant proposal was written by Clay and former Spring Woods Middle teaching colleague Erica Robinson, an intervention specialist. The two teachers are planning a mid-July trip with stops at the Manzanar Internment Camp north of Los Angeles, and then at the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The two teachers resubmitted the education proposal after trying once before, and were selected this time around. “I believe that I may have screamed out in class, ‘I’m going to Hawaii!’ Then I texted Erica with the good news,” Clay said.  

The Fund for Teachers supports educators’ efforts to develop new skills, learning and confidence in teaching that will impact student achievement. The fund trusts teachers to design their own unique summer fellowships, and it uses its grants to deepen both the professionalism and leadership of the chosen educators.

Since 2001, the Fund for Teachers has invested almost $22 million in nearly 6,000 teacher grants. Once issued only to Houston area teachers, the grants are given out today to educators across the nation.

The Fund for Teachers believes that after pursuing scientific data, participating in seminars, volunteering with community organizations and observing best practices, these teachers will return to their classrooms as lead learners to inspire their students and campus communities.

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Spartan Star Mosaic Dedication

By Ellie Herrmann of Stratford High School’s Oracle student newspaper

Stratford HS Principal Danny Gex (left) and former Principal Christopher Juntti

Former Principal Christopher Juntti dedicated eight years of his career to improving the quality of life and learning for the students of Stratford High School. This service was commemorated
on May 29 with a large, star-shaped mosaic outside of the school’s front doors, depicting a red, white, and blue Spartan head at its center.

This piece of art is a product of the collaboration between the current Principal Danny Gex, the campus Parent Teacher Student Association President Debby Slack, and artist Rose Toro.

Toro has worked on many mosaic art projects at several different Spring Branch ISD schools. Through her expertise and Gex’s creativity, Stratford’s campus has been brightened by a beautiful and intricate work of art.

“We wanted to send the message that we are a great community, that we are America, and that we are proud and honored to be Spartans,” Toro said.

The green star and red, white and blue mosaic Spartan head at the center all scream, ‘Stratford America,’ the phrase written in colorfully oxidized metal above the masterpiece—a phrase
coined during Juntti’s years as principal.

The dedication to Juntti was a small, yet memorable event, complete with short performances from Stratford’s drum line and cheerleaders. Speeches were given honoring Mr. Juntti’s service
from Principal Gex, the artist Rose Toro, Student Body President Abigail Jackson, and PTSA’s Debby Slack.

After the presentation of the official plaque, Juntti gave a humble speech of thanks. “No one worked for me,” Juntti said, “they worked with me. We were a team.”

The plaque, soon to be adorned below the star, reads, “In honor of Christopher Juntti for his eight years of service as Principal of Stratford High School. Once a Spartan, always a Spartan.”

This small dedication panel took months of behind-the-scenes work. The process, beginning in February, was lengthy, but unsurprisingly went unchallenged. Principal Gex proposed the idea of commemorating Juntti’s years at Stratford High to the SBISD Board of Trustees, and not a single person disagreed.

At the end of it all, Juntti was touched by the effort given on his behalf. “It’s nice to see that how hard you worked and how dedicated you were to making something special is being acknowledged. It means a lot,” he said.

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