Happy Birthday, Eagles

Recognition of three former principals, dozens of former or longtime teachers, and unveiling of a large bronze eagle – a gift from the Memorial Middle School PTA – were a few of the highlights during a 50-year celebration held Oct. 7 at the middle school campus.

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Memorial Middle School’s 1,400 students and a number of guests gathered in the new gym for a program that included a student-led journey through the past five decades in school history. The Memorial Middle Band performed five songs representing the decades. The choir then led a packed auditorium in “Happy Birthday” during a fast-paced afternoon program. A reception was held later in the library for special guests.

The program was capped by the unveiling of a bronze eagle, the school’s mascot, which will be installed near the main entrance. School PTA President Rikki Graber said that the association had worked for many years to raise funds for the large, winged figure as a “wonderful and lasting” tribute to the golden moment. Current Principal Lisa Weir led the program and welcomed all the guests, which included several Board of Trustees members.

The middle school was dedicated as Memorial Junior High School on Sept. 24, 1963, with 1,490 students enrolled during a boom period in Spring Branch residential development. Within three years, 900 students were transferred to new Spring Forest Middle School as enrollment reached the 2,200 student mark. Current school enrollment is 1,411 students.

Special public remarks were made by former Principal Melvin Eldridge, who led the campus from 1978 to 1998. He hired Principal Weir as a teacher in 1990. “I think that I have been to this school before,” he quipped. “One of the best things about Memorial Middle School is the dedication of its students to learning and the great teachers that have served this school.

It has been my privilege to serve here.” Other former principals who attended were Bob Price, retired, and Sofia Petrou, who is a Spring Branch ISD administrator. Seventh-grade teacher Sally Griffin, who has taught 45 years at Memorial Middle, drew a good-natured laugh when she ended her remarks about the changes she has seen at the “wonderful place” that is Memorial Middle School by uncovering, then waving, a wooden paddle. “Bend over!” she admonished the gym crowd jokingly. She noted that the original families at Memorial Middle planted trees and installed the first running track.

For one, Mrs. Griffin has seen volleyball grow in popularity from two to 18 separate student teams. Courses popular five decades ago like drafting, wood shop, home economics and sewing have evolved into a dizzying array of computer interests.

“[Women teachers] had to wear a skirt or dresses, hose. Male teachers had to wear a tie, and many times wore suit coats. Pregnant teachers might work in the offices, but not in the classroom. Things have changed!” she reminded students and adults. Included among special guests were former teachers like Ina Schmidt, who helped open the school, taught science for 20 years, and then served as assistant principal for 13 more years.

What is her deepest memory of middle school back in 1963? No air conditioning. Ina and her husband moved to Spring Branch with three young boys for one reason: Good Schools. Her memories are happy ones. “I was so fortunate to be at that school. I loved the school dearly. I had really great kids, and I taught a subject that I enjoyed. I was happy!” she proclaims.

Former Principal Bob Price, now retired to the San Antonio area, noted that one of his goals had been for the middle school to gain a space big enough where students and staff might gather together. The new gym impressed him in that regard. “It’s really nice to stand in a place where you can gather all the students. It’s really nice to be back and to see this,” he said.

Special guests at the 50th Anniversary campus program included:

Memorial Middle Principals
Edgar Willhelm, 1963-1966
Jim Colquitt, 1966-1968
Jake Alexander, 1968-1969
Claude Blanchard, 1969-1978
Melvin Eldridge, 1978-1998
Sofia Petrou, 1998-2002
Bob Price, 2003-2006
Lisa Weir, 2007-Present

Former Teachers and Longtime Teachers
Sally Griffin, 45 years
Donna Dodson, 36 years
Denise Nygard, 36 years
Barbara Gibert, 25 years
Gloria Montalbano, 25 years
Lynn Greenhill, 23 years
Chris Thornton, 21 years
Bobbie Wheelan, 20 years
Meredith Picket, 19 years
Kim Moore, 18 years
Shanda Fraser, 15 years
Rebekah Ruiz, 14 years
Kim Tucker, 14 years
Cindy Balderach, 13 years
Paige Krekler, 13 years
Beverly Gore, 13 years
Mark Miller, 12 years
Lee Lemmons, 10 years

Teachers who are Memorial Middle graduates
Katherine Cossey, 1983
Meredith Picket, 1985
Elisabeth Dains, 1993
Lauren Simpson, 1997
Hannah Borman, 2004

Five Decades of Songs as performed by the Memorial Middle Band
1960s – I Saw Her Standing There, The Beatles
1970s – 25 or 6 to 4, Chicago
1980s – Thriller, Michael Jackson
1990s – Smooth, Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas
2000s – I Gotta Feelin’, The Black Eyed Peas

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Jason Argonauts prepare for sea

Two Spring Branch ISD ninth-graders will join four other “Argonauts” from Oct. 17-21 as the students explore the Caribbean Sea during a research trip aboard the Exploration Vessel (EV) Nautilus, led by oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard.

Selected earlier this year as 2013 National JASON Argonaut team members are two high school freshmen, Chase Gonsoulin of Northbrook High School and Paloma June of Westchester Academy for International Studies. (Read announcement press release here.)

Paloma June of Westchester Academy for International Studies (Photo Center)

Jason Learning’s National Argonaut program provides hands-on activities aboard the Nautilus research ship with scientists, oceanographers and engineers involving geology, biology, archaeology and chemistry. 

At sea, students will learn basics of navigation and oceanographic sampling techniques. Since 1990, the Jason program has provided research and learning opportunities to more than 460 students and educators. They join the ship’s Corps of Exploration.

The adventures of Chase Gonsoulin, Paloma June and other student Argonauts can be followed on the Jason Facebook page from Oct. 17-21 as they visit Puerto Rico, Antigua and travel on the Nautilus.

They will sail from Puerto Rico to Antigua. At 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, a live event will be broadcast at http://www.jason.org/live.  They can be viewed in a public broadcast from the SBISD Board of Trustees Board Meeting Room, 955 Campbell Road. Visitors for the public viewing should use the south entrance doors to access the Board Meeting Room.

This year’s trip will be the second Jason research experience for SBISD students and teachers in as many years.

The 2013 Nautilus expedition season has included eight cruise segments that began in the Gulf of Mexico studying the undersea environment after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, as well as mapping hydrocarbons and studying a shipwreck.



Chase Gonsoulin of Spring Woods Middle School (Photo Right)

Caribbean Sea research this month will focus on the impact of volcanic eruptions on the sea floor, underwater tar seeps fed upon by local bacteria, and examination of earthquake faults that are the possible sources of tsunamis in 1867 and 1918. Dr. Ballard, who is widely known for locating the wreck of the Titanic, founded Jason Learning.

The program now reaches 1.5 million students annually, and provides both multimedia curriculum and experiences in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for students in kindergarten through 12th-grade. In separate but related news, the Jason Project earlier this year selected district Instructional Specialist Ro Luecken and Northbrook Middle School instructor Sheena Guevara as program lead trainers.

They attended a four-day training at George Washington University’s Virginia campus to help prepare them for the advanced training role. Jason Learning is a nonprofit organization operated in association with National Geographic Society and managed by the Sea Research Foundation.

For details, please visit www.jason.org.

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Panthers and Tigers Team Up for T-2-4

 



Spring Woods Middle School students learned about college and training opportunities through a recent pep rally coinciding with Spring Woods High School's Homecoming Week events and special activities. Spring Woods High's Homecoming Game against Tomball Memorial High is 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, at Tully Stadium on Dairy Ashford.

A Tailgating 50th Anniversary Party for alumni, friends and Tiger supporters of the high school will be held in the Tully parking lot from 5-7 p.m. Friday before the fall football game. The campus held a Homecoming Parade and its annual Tigerfest Celebration at the high school Wednesday.

At Spring Woods Middle, students attending the recent pep rally were encouraged by other students, faculty and Spring Woods High visitors to think about the opportunities in their future in high school, at colleges and universities, and in the careers that they will later work in. High School Principal Jennifer Parker joined Spring Woods High teachers, staff and students at the recently held pep rally. "

We are hoping to encourage our students to start thinking about the many opportunities in high school and beyond. Our goal is to make connections and a difference for our students," Spring Oaks Middle Principal Paul Seuss said. Congratulations to Spring Oaks Middle and Spring Woods High for creating a fun, inspirational and focused event!

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Best High Schools

Three Spring Branch ISD secondary campuses have been ranked among the nation’s top 1,000 high schools on this year’s Newsweek/Daily Beast 2013 Best High Schools rankings.

In the rankings, Memorial High School was ranked No. 254. Stratford High School ranked No. 774 overall, and Westchester Academy for International Studies was No. 924 in the annual online ranking system.

The ranking system highlights 2,000 U.S. public high schools for their academic effectiveness in producing college-ready graduates, based on a weighted formula.

The Best High Schools ranking is based on the following six-part formula:

• Graduation Rate (25 percent)
• College Acceptance Rate (25 percent)
• Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) or other high-level course tests taken per student (25 percent)
• Average SAT/ACT Scores (10 percent)
• Average Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) or other high-level course scores (10 percent)
• Percent of students enrolled in Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) or other high-level courses (5 percent)

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“Project Playhouse” Thinks Pink

Stratford High’s Playhouse Thespian Troupe will host its annual “Project Playhouse” from 9 a.m. until noon on Saturday, Nov. 2, in the high school auditorium. Stratford High School is located at 14555 Fern, near the intersection of Dairy Ashford and Fern.

This year’s event theme is based on the upcoming Playhouse musical Legally Blonde, which is based on a novel and movie of the same name. Students in prekindergarten through fifth grade can take part in the playhouse event.

Project Playhouse provides community outreach and helps raise funds to support student theater projects in the greater west Memorial area. Student thespians will teach children during the morning a dance number from the musical, and have them take part in songs, costume and prop making, and learn what musical theater is really all about. Students will perform for their parents and then attend an afternoon show matinee.

For more information and to download the signup form, please go to the Stratford Playhouse at this location: www.shsplayhouse.org

Photo by Claire Sharp. Pictured from left to right: Elsa Moen, Farah Nematpour, Caitlin Ehlinger, Katie Moore, Cameron Saims, Michaela Cherry, Ashley Karolys, Collins Rush, Kirby Morris, Alli Klasing, Anna Langlois and Dani Greene.

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Recipe for Success Teacher of the Year

A schoolyard garden and kitchen curriculum at Westwood Elementary School have earned Olga Miles the Golden Whisk Teacher of the Year Award from a Houston-based foundation that aims to improve childhood nutrition and combat youth obesity.

Olga has been selected for the Golden Whisk Award by the Recipe for Success Foundation as a shining example of an instructor with the Houston group’s trademarked Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education program.

At Westwood Elementary last year, students planted and grew green, leafy lettuce, carrots, red tomatoes, beans and big cantaloupe in a school garden. They later learned how to cook and eat the healthy vegetables that they grew with guidance and instruction from teachers.

Working with third-grade teacher Lisa Calloway, Olga introduced the Seed-to-Plate program to r third- and fourth-grade students at Westwood last year. She will be honored during a luncheon at the River Oaks Country Club on Nov. 19. Event tickets are still available.

“Olga has gone above and beyond to make the Recipe for Success Affiliate Partner Program come to life for her students,” says Sarah Tanner, Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education Program coordinator.

“By implementing fun and inspired lessons, tying in literature and science concepts with the culinary and gardening curriculum, and leveraging technology to further engage the kids, Olga has helped Westwood become all that we could hope for in an affiliate partner,” she also said.

Olga’s students used a student-friendly, Facebook-like social media application called Edmodo to document and talk about veggies and good health in online postings as the tiny planted seeds turned into leafy foods.

“The Recipe for Success theory is that if students are growing their own vegetables, they will be more interested in eating vegetables and food that are good for them,” Olga says. As a part of the after-school programs, students gardened one week and then cooked the next, as weather and available produce allowed.

Principal Kay Kennard, Miles and Calloway piloted the program at Westwood with support from ACE Grant Coordinator Dinah Meischen. The Recipe for Success Foundation was established in 2005 by Houston resident and award-winning children’s author Gracie Cavnar.

The foundation seeks to combat youth obesity by changing the way that children view, appreciate and eat food, and mobilize communities to provide children with healthier diets. Cavnar is author of the children’s book, “Eat It! Food Adventures with Marco Polo,” which has won honors and awards in several categories.

Recipe for Success’ curriculum for children ages four through 11 years has been taught so far to 15,000 children. They have grown, cooked and eaten healthful food through school gardens and cooking classes.

The group's annual Blue Plate Special Cafe: A Harvest Market & Awards Luncheon will be held from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at The River Oaks Country Club on Nov. 19. Special rate tickets at $75 per person are available for teachers and students interested in this event. All proceeds benefit the Recipe for Success Foundation.

For details, please visit www.recipe4success.org or call 713-520-0443.

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A Gathering of Queens

Talk about Spartan spirit! Half of all Stratford High School homecoming queens stood together on Tully Stadium’s turf on Sept. 27 to relive their school days and to help mark Stratford High’s 40th anniversary with a public gathering and celebration.

In all, 19 homecoming queens stood on the stadium football field as new senior queen Katherine Kennedy was welcomed into their crowned field.

The high school gathering of royalty followed an online Facebook and yearbook search by teacher and Student Council advisor Mary Jackson and senior Katherine Kennedy, who was later named homecoming queen.

The teacher and student went through yearbooks and wrote down maiden names, then turned to Facebook to find former studentsand send homecoming game invites. They found all the former queens except for three graduates.

Dating from 1974 to 2012, the former queens came to the game from as far as Oklahoma. Most who did not attend now live out of state, or even overseas including Europe and Africa. One no-show was expecting a baby this month.

“It was so nice to see all the homecoming queens that came to the game. They all said that they loved seeing the changes made to Tully Stadium, and they loved seeing that so many Stratford traditions still stand,”

Mary Jackson said via email. “It was an honor to welcome them back home.” Stratford won its homecoming game triumphantly, 42-0, over Spring Woods High School.

Stratford High Homecoming queens in attendance Sept 27:

1974 Roxanne Sabosinski Sharrock (Stratford’s first Homecoming queen)
1980 Lisa Sims Thomas
1988 Liz Barrett Crosswell
1990 Jana Burns Bruce
1992 Clea Verven
1993 Alison Usher Rockwell
1997 Nikki Ogah Jousset
1999 Kelly Vanderploeg Aimone 2001 Jennifer Connatser Mullikan
2002 Katie Bartlett Osborn 2003 Rhonda Jackson
2004 Hayley Ball Hiller
2005 Jessica Dalton
2007 Thamer Favor
2009 Sarah Bowman
2010 Dina Bassari
2011 Mercedes Young
2012 Jamie Hewitt

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Memorial High Conductor will be honored

Memorial High School Orchestra Director Bingiee Shiu will be honored for his contributions as an educator by the American Festival for the Arts (AFA) in a benefit luncheon on Nov. 9 at the Houston Racquet Club. This community event begins at 11:30 a.m. on that day.

Orchestra Director Bingiee Shiu has taught 21 years at Memorial High.

He has guided, shaped and impacted the lives of hundreds of music students. “Bingiee is well known for his tremendous dedication to his students and we are thrilled to honor his leadership and commitment to the arts education community,” AFA’s Executive and Artistic Director Michael Remson, Ed.D., said in a news release.

Proceeds from ticket sales for the luncheon at the Racquet Club, 10709 Memorial Drive, benefit the AFA Scholarship Enrichment Fund, which gives qualified students the opportunity to attend AFA programs regardless of their ability to pay. Tickets begin at $50.

For more information, call 713-522-9699 or visit AFA online at www.afatexas.org
 

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National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists named

Eighteen seniors from Spring Branch ISD high schools were recently named as Semifinalists in the annual National Merit Scholarship Program, one of the nation’s highest student honors.

In all, 84 SBISD seniors won recognition this year in the following categories: 18 National Merit Semifinalists; 17 National Hispanic Recognition Program Finalists; one National Achievement Scholar; and 48 National Merit Commended Scholars.

Many of these students will be honored Oct. 28 at the SBISD Board of Trustees regular monthly meeting. All National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalists may qualify for more than 8,000 National Merit Scholarships based on their performance last year on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

The national scholarships are valued at more than $35 million. More than 1.5 million U.S. students in 22,000 high schools took the PSAT/NMSQT qualifying test last year. About 16,000 Semifinalists were named nationwide.

These students reflect the highest scoring test takers across Texas and other states. Final winners of the 2013 National Merit Scholarship will be announced in Spring 2014.

To qualify for these business and corporate scholarships, semifinalists must have an outstanding academic high school record, write an essay, be endorsed and recommended by school officials, and earn qualifying high SAT scores.

In other recognition areas, National Hispanic Recognition Program Finalists are identified for their high test scores and self-reported Hispanic heritage. There are about 1,600 of these scholars nationwide this year.

National Achievement Scholars have been identified and named for their high test scores and for their African-American heritage. National Commended Scholars represent the group of highest scoring students after the National Merit Semifinalists.

This year, about 34,000 students nationwide qualified for this recognition.

National Merit Semifinalists:

Memorial High – Kendra Andersen, Brenna Black, George Chen, Yae Jee Hong, Grant Kirchhofer, Nam Hoon Lee, Rajat Mehndiratta, Matthew Nguyen, Mary Margaret Rotan, Stephen Snow, Jonnathan Sullins, Wan Seo Park

Spring Woods High – Nicolas Turnbough

Stratford High – Nathaniel Barbour, John Ryan Hormell, Katherine Kennedy, Hannah Lindsey, Reason Russell

National Hispanic Recognition Program Finalists:

Memorial High – Briana Burns, Benjamin de Alvarez, Marcus De Ayala, Anna Economos, David Hartmann, Romelia Herrera Valle, Vitoria Moreno-Costa

Spring Woods High – Christian Rice

Stratford High – Abril Brugo, Leila Wahab, Axel Garcia, Hernan Cepeda, Abigail Brown, Diana Ruiz, Emily Crawford

Westchester Academy for International Studies – Adam Kassir, Jacob Saenz

National Achievement Scholars:

Stratford High – Nathaniel Barbour

National Merit Commended Scholars:

Memorial High – Jessica Anderson, Callie Beard, Holden Brown, Madison Chambers, Christopher Chou, Jonathan Chung, Ryan Cowell, David Cremins, Daniel Gawerc, Joseph Guerrant, Carroll Herring, Neik Khansari, Yae Eun Kim, Nikhil Kumar, Haley Kurisky, Anna Lai, Justin Lee, James Livingston, Yoseph Maguire, Vitoria Moreno-Costa, John Pruitt, Erin Roberts, Byoung Ryu, Alison Strealy, Sophie Wilczynski, Tiffany Wu, Winnie Wu, Xiayu Xu, Stephen Young

Spring Woods High – Marissa Clark

Stratford High – Abigail Brown, Ahmed Butt, Weijie Cheng, Sarah Davis, Alexis Frederick, Mary K. Goss, Leah Hunt, Caroline Kelly, Stephen Krueger, Katherine Leggett, Eila Motley, Elaine Parizot, Benjamin Riedel, Anye Ye, Christy Zhang

Westchester Academy for International Studies – Keeli Armitage, Connor June, Adam Kassir, David Pham

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