Valley Oaks Principal Will Serve As TEPSA Region 4 President-Elect

Gary Henry, principal at Valley Oaks Elementary School in Spring Branch ISD, will serve this school year as Region 4 President-Elect for the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA).

He was installed along with several other TEPSA officers during the association’s July Leadership Conference. TEPSA, which has operated since 1917, helps school leaders learn along with and from each other. Member owned and operated, it has over 5,800 members who oversee the activities of 3 million Texas school children in prekindergarten through eighth grade.

“Regional officers like Principal Henry are committed to building membership, leadership capacity and supporting TEPSA members at the local level. They all play a critical role in TEPSA’s continued success,” reports TEPSA’s Executive Director, Harley Eckhart.

Principal Henry has previously served on TEPSA’s Membership, Marketing and Public Relations Committee. He’s also president of the UH College of Education Alumni Association.

A University of Houston graduate, Mr. Henry has served 22 years in education, including 14 years as Valley Oaks Elementary principal. He taught and was an assistant principal in Alvin ISD before joining SBISD as the assistant principal with Rummel Creek Elementary.

Valley Oaks Elementary reflects his education heart and soul. “My most rewarding accomplishment is seeing 13 groups of fifth-graders move on to middle school,” he said. “I’m very proud of the great staff we have assembled at Valley Oaks to meet the needs of students and our community. Here, we focus on preparing children for tomorrow.” 

He earned his master’s degree in education from UH-Clear Lake, and he currently is working on his doctorate, also through UH. As principal at Valley Oaks, he was among 100 educators selected in 2007 to attend the Leadership Forum at Harvard University.

In addition, he’s earned a business certificate through the popular Rice University REEP program for educators, and he holds a Superintendent’s Certification. He is also president of the UH College of Education Alumni Association.

When not at Valley Oaks Elementary, Mr. Henry and his wife are the busy parents of two boys, three dogs and a parakeet. “They keep all of us on our toes,” he quips.

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Spring Branch Education Foundation: Same Great Mission, Cool New Look

As parents and students were updating back-to-school wardrobes, Spring Branch Education Foundation was also rolling out a new look. To celebrate its third successful decade of partnering with Spring Branch ISD, the Foundation unveiled a new logo.

“Same mission, new look,” says Lisa Schwartz, chair, SBEF Board of Directors. “The Foundation is committed to funding programs and scholarships that lead to the success of every SBISD student. Since 1993, we have donated almost $9 million to the district. That’s a lot of grants and scholarships. Our new logo reflects our progress.”

Debra Aitken, marketing chair for SBEF’s board describes the new design as “fresher and cleaner. The logo is reminiscent of a bar graph that demonstrates our continued growth. Thanks to dedicated board members, community volunteers and staff, every year we award more grants and scholarships than the year before. We’re not slowing down. We continue to move forward, providing new opportunities and programs to support our students and teachers.”

In the last school year, SBEF awarded $916,049 in campus and district-wide grants for education-enhancing programs and $118,000 in scholarships to 89 graduates. Every dollar donated to the Foundation remains in the district. This year, SBEF will raise funds in five signature events: Style Show and Luncheon, Oct. 9; Masquerade Ball, Nov. 21; Sporting Clay Tournament, Feb. 16; Golf Classic, Apr. 3; and Running for the Arts, Apr. 30. All donations are tax-deductible and can be designated for specific district-wide or campus projects. Donations may be made online at springbranchisd.com/sbef.

The Foundation collaborated with Random Sky, a Houston-based branding and design firm, to create the logo (above).

About Spring Branch Education Foundation:
Spring Branch Education Foundation is committed to supporting SBISD students and educators. It partners with the district and community to fund programs that enhance education and prepare students for the future. Since 1993, the Foundation has donated almost $9 million to the district and received the Houston Business Promise Award from the Greater Houston Partnership. SBEF is a 501(c)3 organization; all donations are tax deductible.

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Metro Revamps Local Bus Routes

Guest blog from Metro:

The back-to-school commute for students who take METRO has just gotten better.

METRO’s New Bus Network has revamped local bus routes to give our riders straighter, simpler routes that connect students to more places, more often.

METRO has three color-coded routes: the red routes, blue route and orange routes. On the frequent red routes, there are 22 routes that offer buses scheduled to arrive every 15 minutes or less, seven days a week.

On the blue routes, buses are scheduled to arrive every 30 minutes are less, seven days a week. On the coverage green routes, buses come every 60 minutes. Click here for bus route schedules.

And we have a cool tool that will tell you when the next two buses are arriving – in real time. Every bus stop has a unique bus stop ID number. You’ll find that ID number on the plastic infopost strapped to the bus stop pole. Text that ID number to a short code: 697 433. You’ll get a text back with the real-time arrival of the next two buses.

Students taking METRO will find a New Bus System that gets them where they want to go – from schools to movies to shopping centers. And remember, students travel for half price.

Check out this video, and learn more about METRO’s New Bus Network.

Metro's New Bus Network flyer >>

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Stratford High Teacher-Librarian Co-Authors Professional Article

Stratford High School librarian and teacher Lisa Stultz has co-written a professional article about updating secondary school libraries to attract modern teens and promote personal reading.

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Talk about summer development and growth! Teacher-Librarian Lisa Stultz of Stratford High School became a professional library journal writer during the past few months.

A three-page article co-written by Ms. Stultz and librarian Charla Hollingsworth of Alief ISD was published recently in VOYA, a leading journal in the youth services librarianship field.

The article, titled “Ten Ways to Transform 21st Century Libraries,” appears in the August 2015 edition of Voya, recognized as one of the top library publications in the nation. It includes photographs from the TeenBookCon 2015 gathering, which Stultz co-chairs, and an author book signing event held at Blue Willow Bookshop, a longtime district and high school partner on Memorial Drive.

Stultz begins her second year at Stratford High this month. She earned her masters of library and information science degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in English through the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, La.

Charla Hollingsworth has worked in Alief ISD for 17 years, and currently works at the Hastings Ninth-Grade Center.

Voya editors made the librarians’ day when they learned that their article idea had won approval. “I was thrilled to hear that they were interested in the ideas we had submitted, and that we had gained permission to write the article,” Stultz said.

“Students in the twenty-first century don’t frequent libraries unless the libraries are inviting and cater to the needs of the community,” Stultz and Hollingsworth assert in their opening sentence and paragraph.

“This predicament occurs even more in urban environments where many readers struggle with comprehension, see reading as a task they are forced to do for tests, and rarely, if ever, do on their own. After inheriting little used libraries, we saw a need for transformation. By using the strategies outlined below, we have seen marked increases in the numbers of students who frequent the library on a daily basis and the numbers of books checked out,” the opening article also states.

The article goes on to highlight key points that include the following headlines:

• Be a Book Whisperer
• Read and Purchase Current Young Adult Books
• Eliminate the SHHH! Library Mentality
• Entice Teens in the Door With Carrots
• Bring Teens in the Door With Displays
• Promote Books in the Library
• Provide an Engaging Social Media Presence
• Keep Those Library Events Happening
• Be High Tech
• Extend Your Hours Beyond the School Day
• Be Fully Versed in the Young Adult Culture
• Keep Booklists
• Supplement the Budget
• Talk With Your Students

Read the entire VOYA magazine article >>

To follow Librarian Lisa Stultz:
@StratfordLearns
https://www.goodreads.com/libraryink

To follow Librarian Charla Hollingsworth:
@HNGCLibrary
https://www.goodreads.com/hngclibrary

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