Junior Achievement on TV

On Tuesday, April 16, students in Nottingham Elementary School teacher Stacey Perera’s first-grade class learned about values like home and community that are central to the nonprofit organization Junior Achievement (JA). At the same time, local Fox 26 reporter Thomas Zizka and a cameraperson filmed the students’ every move for a television report about young adults delaying their decision to leave home because of poor personal finances or employment issues.

Presenting his first Junior Achievement lesson to Nottingham Elementary students was ConocoPhillips volunteer Joshua Hanke, a highly personable young man who connected well with his young audience. Joshua, the son of two teachers, felt right at home in the classroom. As a part of this JA program, he will take the students through five, 30-minute lessons over the next few weeks that will focus on the importance of staying in school, and good family, business and community relations.

ConocoPhillips currently supports more than a dozen Junior Achievement classes in first-, second-, and third-grade classrooms at Nottingham Elementary. SBISD’s goal is to put JA volunteers in all its schools soon. A senior operations manager for JA of Southeast Texas, Thea Curry-Fuson, told Fox 26 reporter Zizka that teaching young people about money management and business values early in life really pays off.

“We need more opportunities like this to get students ready financially to take care of themselves so that they are not staying at home as young adults,” she said. “We need to talk to our children when they are young about family budgets, and how to handle a budget.”

In the earliest grades, improving student confidence and preparing them to do well and graduate on time may be the most important lessons. “If they are excited about school, that will help prepare them for the future,” she also said.

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Tommy Tune Awards Results

The Stratford High musical Crazy For You took home the award for Best Direction at the annual Theatre Under the Stars’ Tommy Tune Awards program on April 16, and a Spring Woods High student was awarded one of 10 special scholarships the same evening.

The gala awards event was held at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts downtown. The Stratford Playhouse production was nominated in nine separate categories, a remarkable achievement for a single musical production.

The Stratford Playhouse is led by CeCe Prudhomme. Spring Woods High student Jack Rodgers, meanwhile, was one of 10 students who won a $3,000 scholarship. To win the award, Jack met criteria and then submitted an application and essay.

TUTS awards its scholarships to encourage and promote future students’ development. Spring Woods High was nominated by TUTS in three separate categories for the production, Children of Eden.

 That program is co-led by Terry Hibbert and Anne Yancey. Nine-time Tony Award winner Tommy Tune made a special appearance Tuesday at the local awards program that carries his name.

TUTS President and CEO John Breckinridge extolled the 45 Houston-area high school productions chosen to be reviewed this year for awards. “The talent present in the high school musical theatre level impresses me more each year of the Tommy Tune awards,” he said. “The students from across our city are producing some truly amazing pieces of theatre, and TUTS could not be more proud to host this awards program to give a platform for these students and their work.”

Nominations for Spring Branch ISD:

Stratford High School: “Crazy For You”

• Best Leading Actor- Graham Baker (12th) for the role of Bobby Child
• Best Supporting Actor-McGregor Dalton (11th) for the role of Bela Zanglier
• Best Featured Performer- Caitlin Ehlinger (10th) for the role of Patsy
• Best Musical Best Musical Direction
• Best Direction
• Best Crew Best Lighting
• Design Best Ensemble/Chorus

Spring Woods High School: “The Children of Eden”

• Best Scenic Design Best Direction Best Lighting Design

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PTA State Reflections Winners

Twelve Spring Branch ISD students received recognition recently for their State PTA Reflections Contest submissions under this year’s theme, “The Magic of the Moment.” Across Texas, more than 107,000 student entries were submitted to district reflections contests; only 1,054 entries made it to the state level. SBISD had 32 separate student entries.

The PTA Reflections competition is a long-standing art competition sponsored by the National PTA. Students in preschool through grade 12 may create and submit original works of art in six different categories including dance choreography, literature, musical composition, photography, and visual arts. Student entries are judged in five separate categories: primary category (preschool-grade 2); intermediate category (grades 3-5); middle school category (grades 6-8); senior category (grades 9-12); and a special artist’s category (ungraded).

Students that earn recognition for their submissions are given one of three awards – Honorable Mention, Award of Merit, or the Overall Award of Excellence. Of the 12 state recognized students, three received the highest level of recognition, which qualifies their pieces for National PTA Reflections judging. 

One national qualifier, Stratford High senior Evan Moore, also earned the “Outstanding Interpretation” award for his submitted film, “The Magician.” The “Outstanding Interpretation,” award is given to one submitted film production around the state for their interpretation of this year’s theme. Moore told reporters, “My approach this year was to think outside of the box and go for a more comical perspective in order to portray the theme. I am glad it paid off.”  

Visit the Guthrie Center website for additional information.

The other two National qualifiers were Wilchester Elementary student Emma Dunwoody, who received the “Overall Award of Excellence” for a visual arts piece, and Stratford High student Joshua Goldsberry who received the top award for a musical composition entry.

All state award winners will be recognized at an awards ceremony in Austin later this summer.

PTA State Reflection Winners:

Primary Level:

Honorable Mention:
Maura Hoffman- Visual Arts, Nottingham Elementary

Award of Merit:
Kenneth Owen-Photography, Wilchester Elementary

Overall Award of Excellence:
Emma Dunwoody-Visual Arts, Wilchester Elementary

Intermediate Level:

Honorable Mention:
Alex Lasater-Photography, Wichester Elementary

Award of Merit:
Sara Duvall-Visual Arts, Nottingham Elementary
Tristan Smith-Literature, Nottingham Elementary

Senior Level:

Honorable Mention:
Emily Lindsey-Literature, Stratford High

Award of Merit:
Anna Lai-Visual Arts, Memorial High
Sami Palermo-Photography, Memorial High
Christopher Ramey-Musical Composition, Stratford High

Overall Award of Excellence:
Evan Moore-Film Production, Stratford High

Special Artists:

Overall Award of Excellence:
Joshua Goldberry-Musical Composition, Stratford High

-- Communications Dept. Intern Kali Venable compiled this report.

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Giving Back

A large group of Spring Branch ISD elementary students volunteered to give back to the community through the Houston Food Bank on April 6. Students who participate in the Kids School Health Advisory Council (K-SHAC) at Westwood and Edgewood elementary schools, along with students involved in the President’s Club at Westwood, headed to the Houston Food Bank to serve the less fortunate in our community.

The K-SHAC program was started in SBISD by Westwood Health Fitness Teacher Samuel Karns to promote healthy living and positive choices. Since then, student membership has increased. Students learn in the program that community service is a big part of leading a healthy, fulfilled lifestyle, too. At the Houston Food Bank, students prepared more than 25,000 meals by working in an assembly line where they packed cereal, pasta, milk, chili, vegetables, fruits and cookies into containers to be handed out.

Through working together, students learned that a village of people willing to give back can make a huge difference if they work together, event organizers reported. Teachers were delighted to see students getting excited about their volunteer work and embrace the empowerment giving back brings to individuals at such a young age. Karns and other school club leaders plan on looking into more ways to get students involved with the Houston Food Bank and Spring Branch area community through other service work, he said.

This report compiled by Communications Dept. intern Kali Venable.

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