News and notes from and about our family of Humble ISD EmployeesVol. 9 No. 7 April-May 2011A Gold Star Award Winning Publication

Humble ISD honors 2010-11 Teachers of the YearHumble ISD honored 2010-11

Teachers of the Year at a luncheon at Raffa’s Waterfront Grill. Dr. Sconzo, Board President Keith Lapeze and Andrew Landry of Candlewood Suites welcomed guests.

Student speakers included Hum-ble High Junior Mario Bernal and Quest Junior Brandynne Cintado. Music was provided by Atascocita High School Orchestra, directed by Colin Catoe.

Raffa’s owner Tony Raffa opened the restaurant exclusively for the luncheon, and general manager Paul Griffin and executive chef David Welch, husband of BBE teacher Te-resa Welch, created a superb meal. With beautiful music and beautiful surroundings and scenery, it was a delightful experience.

Penny Graham, RELA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Timberwood Middle

Edna Preston, 8th Grade Math . . . . . . . . . Woodcreek Middle

Karri Bergeron, Math Coach . . . . . . . . . . Atascocita Springs

Matthew Vybiral, Instructional Tech. . . . . . . . . . Bear Branch

Kim Kijewski, 3rd Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Deerwood

Natalie Herron, 1st Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eagle Springs

Robin Robinson, Special Education . . . . . . . . . . . Elm Grove

Regina Eakin, 1st Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fall Creek

Leslie Leslie, Special Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Foster

Amanda Price, Pre-K Special Education . . . . . . . . Lakeshore

Donna Juarez, 3rd Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Greentree

Jane Tragesser, Speech Therapist . . . . . . . . . .Hidden Hollow

Carolina Moreno, 1st Grade Bilingual . . . . . . . . . . . .Humble

Kelly Atkins, 5th Grade Math/ Science . . . . . . . . . Jack Fields

Richarria Benton, 1st Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lakeland

Michelle Canlas, Science Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maplebrook

Mary Purdy, Academic Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . North Belt,

Tiffany Curtis, 5th Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oak Forest

Mary Kay Villarreal, PPCD/ STEPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oaks

Wrynn Homann, Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Park Lakes

Robbin Burger, Kindergarten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pine Forest

Lisa Rocha, 3rd Grade Bilingual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . River Pines

Heather Feagins, 4th Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shadow Forest

Catherine Olano, 5th Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summerwood

Kristi Campbell, 3rd Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Timbers

Ashley Bechtel, Special Education . . . . . . . Whispering Pines

Jeremy Traughber, Special Education . . . . . . . Willow Creek

Lorrie Ogletree, 4th Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Woodland Hills

Schools choose a Teacher of the Year for the campus. District Finalists and the District Teachers of the Year are chosen by a district selection committee based upon essays and interviews.

Congratulations to Humble ISD’s Teachers of the Year! Sally Wagner, an English and AVID teacher at Atascocita High School, will represent Humble ISD as the Secondary Teacher of the Year in 2011-2012. Robin Rob-inson, a special education teacher at Elm Grove Elementary School, will represent Humble ISD as the Elementary Teacher of the Year in 2011-2012.

Secondary Finalists:

Amy Martinez, Atascocita Middle, ESLEmily Bird, Creekwood Middle, RELAPamela Love, Humble Middle, ESLPenny Graham, Timberwood Middle, RELA Elementary Finalists

Karri Bergeron, Atascocita Springs, Math Instructional CoachJane Tragesser, Hidden Hollow, Speech TherapistKelly Atkins, Jack Fields Sr., Fifth Grade Math/ScienceHeather Feagins, Shadow Forest, Fourth GradeCatherine Olano, Summerwood, Fifth GradeMary Kay Villarreal, Oaks, PPCD/STEPSWrynn Homann, Park Lakes, Reading Teachers of the Year by Campus

Sally Wagner, English/AVID . . . . . . . . . . . . . Atascocita High

John O'Brien, English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Humble High

Pam Lard, Health Science Technology . . . . Kingwood High

James Park, Choir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kingwood Park

Kathy Moss, Algebra I/ Pre Calculus . . . . . . . . . Quest ECHS

Wendy Bethany, ESL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summer Creek

Roni Jo Frazier, MOSAIC Program . . . . . Cambridge School

Gail Burleson, CNA/ Pharmacy Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . CATE

Amy Martinez, ESL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Atascocita Middle

Emily Bird, RELA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Creekwood Middle

Pam Love, ESL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Humble Middle

Larkin LeSueur, Tech. Ed. . . . . . . . . . . . . Kingwood Middle

Matt Pearce, Social Studies/Coach . . . . . . Riverwood Middle

Pam Trahan, Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ross Sterling Middle

Teachers of the Year for 2011-2012The best teachers teach from the heart....

Stupendous!

Pine Forest fifth grade teacher Kellie Hemingway an-nounces the May 14 graduation of her twin daughters from The University of Oklahoma–Price College of Business . Both girls will earn a BA in Energy Management, and both were varsity athletes for OU . Sara Hemingway was on the women’s golf team for four years and was on the All Big 12: Academic Team for Women’s Golf; Lindsay Heming-way was on the women’s rowing team for two years . Sara and Lindsay are 2007 graduates of KHS .

Pine Forest and Lakeshore teachers Becky Nor-

ris, Janelle Wiggin, Duny Dominguez, Karen Nypaver, Kelly Cahill, Rachelle Hall, Sandra Longhofer, and family honored the memory of Karen Nypaver’s daughter, Kim Hansen, who lost her battle to colon cancer . The “Live Sassy” team completed the Get Your Rear in Gear 5k in San Antonio, Texas, on March 27 . This race is dedicated to research to find a cure for colon cancer.

The Humble ISD Pub-lic Information Office won nine awards—including two Best of Category Awards-- in a statewide communica-tions contest sponsored by the Texas School Public Re-lations Association . School districts from across Texas entered more than 1,000 en-tries in this year’s contest .

Humble ISD was awarded Best of Category in Pro-grams for the District Spelling Bee Program that was designed by staff member Robin McAdams. Humble ISD also received a Best of Category Award in Published News or Feature for the “Humble ISD Committed to Service Learning” article that was written by staff member Jamie Mount.

Additionally, Humble ISD received Gold Star Awards in the categories of External Newsletter for the “Your Schools” community newsletter; Electronic Newsletter for “Family Album News;” Internal Newsletter for the Humble ISD Education Foundation’s newsletter; Writing for the “10 Years, 10 Stories” campaign; Programs for the District Spelling Bee Program; and Published News or Feature for “Humble ISD Committed to Service Learning .” Humble ISD also received a Silver Star Award in the category of Computerized Presentation for “A Tour of Humble ISD .”

Humble ISD Public Information Office staff includes Karen Collier, executive director; Jamie Mount, assistant director; Robin McAdams, media coordinator; Charlotte Hoya, webmaster; and Michelle Cole, office professional. The awards were announced Feb . 24 during the associa-tion’s annual conference .

Seretha Augus-tine, assistant principal at Woodcreek Middle School, was honored re-cently by the Ivy League Educational & Charities Foundation (ILECF) as one of sixteen “Kings and Queens” of educa-tion . These educators can best be described as Dreamers . . .individuals with vision; Believers . . .leaders with faith; and Achievers . . .activists who take action .

Congratulations to our newly elected Board of Trustee members .

Position 1–Robert Sitton (will serve a one year term as he replaces Dan Huberty,

who was elected to the Texas House of Representatives)Position 6–Dave Martin (incumbent, unopposed)Position 7–Robert Scarfo (incumbent)

Sitton Martin Scarfo

Whispering Pines first grader Anh Pham and her art teacher Keri Pye show off artwork that was chosen for display at the Museum of Fine Art’s Glassel Junior School . The Texas Art Education Association also selected Anh’s work among 45 pieces that will travel to different locations around Houston for the next 12 months .

MORE Accomplishments and Honors

Humble High Student Council, under the direction of Courtney Solomon and Britany Wheeler, received three awards at the Texas Association of Student Councils state convention in Arlington, Texas . They were recognized for the hard work they have done this year leading the school and planning and executing events . The three awards were Pride and Patriotism, Community Service and Outstanding Student Council . Mary Sowell, sponsor of the HHS Pride and Patriotism organization, also accompanied the students to Arlington .

Humble High School International Baccalaureate science teacher Lauren Shapiro has been accepted into the Mi-chael J . Ahearn 25th Annual Summer Workshop for High School Science Educa-tors at MD Anderson Cancer Center .

The workshop happens during the final two weeks of The Carl B. & Florence E . King Foundation Program in Biomedi-cal Sciences for outstanding high school graduates . This allows educators to interact with King Foundation program participants involved in a wide spectrum of ongoing research projects at the labora-tory bench level . During the two weeks educators will be-come well-versed in the science and laboratory technology of these and other research projects .

Lauren is a Texas A&M honor graduate with a degree in biology . After graduation, she worked in cancer research labs at Baylor and MD Anderson .

The Summer Creek High School Combined Wom-en’s Choir and the Men’s Choir each earned a sweepstakes trophy at the annual UIL Concert and Sight Reading Con-test. This is the first such award for the recently opened Summer Creek High School, and this is the highest honor a choir can receive at this very rigorous competition . SCHS choir director Amanda Robison is very proud of her stu-dents and is impressed with their work ethic, drive, and heart . Robison says, “It was an amazing experience mak-ing music with these students . They were well prepared and gave everything they had on stage . It paid off!”

SCHS is in it’s second year, but it is showing that it can hold it’s own . The Women’s Choir also competed at the Alamo Showcase of Music Choral Festival in San Antonio . They received a Superior (I) rating and Best in Class . The choirs competed as non-varsity this year, but now that they have earned sweepstakes, they will be competing as var-sity next year . The 2011-2012 school year will be the first year that Summer Creek has seniors . At right, choir director Amanda Robison and princi-pal Trey Kraemer show off the UIL trophies .

A self portrait by Rebecca Reinhardt from Kingwood High School was chosen for display at the Museum of Fine Art’s Glassel Junior School . The Texas Art Edu-cation Association also selected Rebecca’s work among 45 pieces that will travel to different loca-tions around Houston for the next 12 months .

Timberwood Middle School students were winners in the George Bush Presidential Library Essay Contest. These seventh and eighth graders did research analyzing the historical or economic impact of American medical or scientific endeavors. There have been many pioneering in-novations with leaders in health fields helping to improve the lives of humankind.

The students analyzed how an American innovation has been beneficial to lives of people either locally, nation-ally, or globally. The students used their research to analyze the topic and then present their view point. All students used the technology in the computer lab.

First place winner Grant McFarland was given the opportunity to have a photograph taken with Mrs. Bar-bara Bush at the awards ceremony held at the George Bush Presidential Library. Second place winner Khale Hollomon placed first last year in the essay contest.

TMS essay winners are, from left, Albert Truong, An-esthesia’s Global Effect–Honorable Mention; Khale Hollo-man, Medical Pioneers –2nd Place; Darryl Schroeder, Jonathan’s Arm–3rd Place; Sean Castleman-Ames, CPR, Life Saving Every Day–3rd Place; Grant McFarland, MD Anderson: The Man Behind Hope–1st Place; Brandon Vaughn, The Artificial Heart–3rd Place; Jordan Lawrence, The Pacemaker–Honorable Mention; and Hannah McAlis-ter, Diabetes–Honorable Mention

Fields Elementary support team member Molly Machemehl will graduate from Houston Baptist Univer-sity on May 14 with a Master of Arts in Psychology degree with the goal of becoming licensed to work with students in education.

...and MORE Accomplishments and Honors

Timberwood Middle School 8th graders in Michelle Neyrey’s US History class hone their research and writing skills by participating in many essay contests throughout the school year.

In the spring they worked on an essay for the United Daughters of the Confederacy Magnolia Rangers Chapter 2544. The students were able to choose between the two topics Jeb Stuart or the Day in the Life of Women and Chil-dren during the Civil War. These students were not only chosen as winners from the local chapter but they won at the state level as well. Chelsea Rea placed 1st, Spencer Qui placed 2nd and Robert Tripple placed 3rd. Pictured at the May 16 award ceremony are Chelsea Rea, Melissa Meaux, Spencer Qui, Darryl Schroeder, Mia Sosa and Mrs. Neyrey.

Students Brent McFar-land and Grant McFarland participated in the national John Stossel Essay Contest. These students were to use videos from John Stossel and their research to write their essay. They answered the following questions: What qualities make America a great nation. Are the criticisms of America discussed in the video valid? Does the video successfully counter these charges? They are sill awaiting contest results.

Riverwood Middle School was among just two middle schools in Texas that qualified to compete in National Science Olympiad competition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison fea-turing the top 60 teams from around

the country. The team of 21 RMS students brought home national medals in six categories. RMS students finish-ing in the Top 10 at national contest were Shane Davitt and Richard Luo, 1st place national champions in Solar Sys-tem; Susan Xu and Kenan Nerad, 3rd place in Can't Judge a Powder; Susan Xu and Colleen Averill, 4th place in Com-pute This; Mark Merola and McKenzie Chen, 7th place in Shock Value; Colleen Averill and Cayley Kent, 8th place in Bottle Rockets; Hayes Beathard and Susan Xu,10th place in Anatomy. The team is sponsored by RMS science teacher Joe Watson and won Texas State Science Olympiad Cham-pionship at Texas A&M earlier this month to advance to nationals.

...and MORE Accomplishments and Honors

Dawn Riggins, AP secretary at KHS, has recently been hospitalized and is recovering from surgery.

Michelle Walker, special education teacher at KHS,

fractured her ankle in a fall. Lindsey Norton, PFE third grade teacher, recently

had knee surgery. Maintenance office professional Chrissie Shideler’s

granddaughter, Adriana, arrived prematurely. She weighs only 2 lbs., 13 oz., but is breathing on her own.

Pine Forest Elementary math team took first place in the district Math Olympiad Tournament. Team mem-bers are, from left, coaches Amy Netardus, Erica Gru-ber, Kellie Hemingway and students Emily Bailey, Eliana Marchall, Hunter Trambaugh, Logan Angone and Harper Lallier.

Humble ISD is pleased to announce the winners of our Fourth Annual Elementary Math Tournament. The tournament was the culmination of over five months of preparation, as math clubs in 20 elementary schools around the district met weekly to learn important principles of mathematics, explore reasoning and creativity, and practice using their ingenuity.

Elementary math coordinator Wendy Gustafson explained that the top five scorers from each school quali-fied for the district tournament. “We are so proud of each student who made it to the Olympiad Tournament. They de-voted time each week, staying after school to learn and talk about math.” The tournament was sponsored by the Humble ISD Academics Department.

Dr. Donnita Rogers visited Kingwood High School to read, discuss and autograph her new novel, Faces In The Fire. Dr. Rog-ers taught at KHS, Univer-sity of Houston, Lone Star

College and the University of Minnesota before retiring in 2001. Pictured are Harpist Miriam Freiter, author Dee Rog-ers, KHS students Aerron Ellisor, Callum Kurkoski, Cory Wyborney, Alex King.

The Humble Child Nutrition Association’s 6th Annual Step-a-Thon was a success, allowing CNS to donate $298.71 to FamilyTime Crisis and Counseling Center in Humble.

Timbers Elementary, pictured with team captain Marisa Maxey, won the traveling trophy for “Most Steps Taken.” Their total combined steps for the four week period was 11,952,863 with 44 participants.

Willow Creek Elemen-tary team captain, Carol Casto and Cheryl Sloan won the traveling trophy for “Most Average Steps Tak-en.” Their total combined average steps for the four week period was 448,834 with only two participants.

These trophies remain on display at each winning school for one year. CNS congratulations and thanks both schools for a “steppin job well done.”

Atascocita Middle held a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 8 to celebrate refurbishment of the tennis courts. Har-ris County Municipal Utility District (MUD) 153 contrib-uted $14,850 to fund the project, which benefits both school and community. Tennis is taught in PE, and the community uses the courts when school is not in session. The courts were resurfaced and lines were repainted for tennis and bas-ketball, new backboards and additional fencing.

Wedding BellsMaplebrook 2nd grade teacher

Abbie James announces her March 19 marriage to Travis Setterbo.

Bear Branch 1st grade teacher Ashley Baker an-nounces her engagement to Roby Fitzhenry.

Susan Phillips, Special Education teacher at Foster,

announces the March 26 marriage of her son, Josh Phillips, to Amy Ginnett. Josh is a ‘99 graduate of Humble High School.

Humble ATPE’s newly elected officers include presi-dent Stacey Ward, Timbers Elementary; vice president Yvonne Waggoner, retired from Riverwood Middle School; secretary Gayle Sampley, Community Learning Center; treasurer Allan Griffin, Transportation Department; mem-bership chairman Gloria Reidlinger, Deerwood Elemen-tary; and parliamentarian Brenda Rider, Maplebrook Elementary. Humble ATPE’s Executive Committee was elected by membership to serve from August 1 to July 31.

With 113,000 members, the Association of Texas Professional Educators is the largest educators’ group in Texas and the largest non-union group nationwide. ATPE is a member-owner, member-governed professional associa-tion. Membership consists primarily of classroom teach-ers but also include para-educators, administrators, college students, and retired educators. ATPE is committed to advocating for better benefits for all educators, promoting a collaborative work environment, protecting the right of educators to choose the association they feel represents their interests, and providing the best education possible for all Texas children. Humble ATPE has 1,912 members.

ATPE elects new officers

CNA Step-a-Thon winners

KHS authorAMS tennis court facelift

Child Nutrition director Robin Young announces the March 26 birth of her first grandchild, Lillian

Eleanor Young. She weighed 5 lbs., 6 oz. and was 18 inches long.

Elm Grove 2nd grade teacher Ashley Kieffer an-nounces the March 23 birth of her son, Cole. He weighed 7 lbs., 7 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Elm Grove paraprofessional Whit-

ney Wright announces the March 17 birth of her daughter, Delilah Jayne. She weighed 7 lbs., 13 oz. and was 18 inches long.

Elm Grove 3rd grade teacher Meghan Robertson announces the May 1 birth of her daughter, Elaine Christine. She weighed 7 lbs., 15 oz. and was 19 1/4 inches long.

Elm Grove 1st grade teacher Kristen Miller announc-es the May 1 birth of her son, Miles Clayton. He arrived a month early, weighing 6 lbs., 19 oz.

Both Kristen and Meghan, at EGE, not only gave

birth on the same day but they were in rooms next to each other and the arrivals were an hour apart. The Elm Grove family had seven births this year.

River Pines 2nd grade teacher Eneida Elizondo an-nounces the March 24 birth of her son, Ben Iker Elizondo. He weighed 7 lbs., 14 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long.

General Counsel’s office professional Linda Cooney announces the April 6 birth of her fifth grandchild, Sophie Elizabeth Stepp. She weighed 8 lbs., 9 oz., and was 19.5 inches long. Her great-grandmother came for the birth,

bringing 4 generations together.

Quest ECHS library assistant Rosie Trevino announces the March 22 birth of her 4th grandchild, Ad-dison Rose McDaniel. She weighed 6 lbs., 9 oz.

KHS Latin teacher Emily Deben-ham announces the March 24 birth of her daughter, Seraphina Paige Deben-ham. She weighed 8 lbs., 1 oz. and was 20 inches long.

River Pines 3rd grade teacher Lisa Rocha announces the April 10 birth of her son, Connor Alexander Rocha. He weighed 6 lbs., 5 oz. and was 19 ½ inches long.

Hidden Hollow 5th Grade teach-er and literacy coach Casee Fetzer announces the April 18 birth of her daughter, Caroline Elizabeth Fetzer. She weighed 6 lbs., 10 oz.

KHS English teacher and cross country coach Christie Burleson an-nounces the April 22 birth of her son, Lucas Wade Burleson. He weighed 7 lbs., 3 oz. and is 20 inches long. Proud Grandpa is KHS coach and for-mer athletics director Zoe Simpson.

Humble Elementary applied skills teacher Jen West announces the April 3 birth of her son, Kayson Everett West. He weighed 7 lbs., 4 oz. and was 20 inches long.

PLE math coach Katie Smith announces the April 22 birth of her daughter, Caroline Jane Smith. She weighed 7 lbs., 12 oz. and was 19 inches long.

Maintenance office profes-sional Chrissie Shideler announces the May 23 birth of her granddaughter, Adriana Marie Shideler. She weighed 2 lbs., 13 oz., is 15 1/2 inches long, and is breathing on her own. Please keep Adriana and family in your thoughts and prayers.

Ben Elizondo

Jonlynn Blake Yager

Seraphina Paige Debenham

Caroline Elizabeth Fetzer

Lillian Eleanor Young

Lucas Wade Burleson

Kayson Everett West

Caroline Jane Smith

Delilah Jane Wright

Connor Alexander Rocha

Addison Rose McDaneilAdriana Marie Shideler

Pine Forest Elementary's Leadership Team per-formed a "TAKS Rappin' Pep Rally" for 3rd - 5th graders. Along with the AMS cheerleaders and mascot, the Leadership Team sang and danced to help motivate the students to do their very best on the test.

Humble ISD attendance offi-cer Ann Lund announces the May 25 birth of her seventh grandchild, Kirsten Sophia Lund. Dad, Josh Lund, is a ‘98 HHS graduate.

Summer Creek science teacher Tracy Samuel an-nounces the April 15 birth of her son, Kingston Howard Galo. He weighed 6 lbs., 11 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long.

Summer Creek criminal justice teacher and coach

Dwight Smith announces the May 5 birth of his grandson, Montrel Kayson Randolph. He weighed 6 lbs., 12 oz.

Summer Creek PE teacher and Golf Coach Mike

Tarver announces the May 20 birth of his daughter, Raynie Kay. She weighed 6 lbs., 10 oz. Proud grandma is Shelia O’Neill, secretary at Atascocita Springs Elementary.

Summer Creek math teacher Erica Tucker announc-

es the May 23 birth of her daughter, Alani Janese. She weighed 8 lbs., 1 oz. and was 21 inches long.

Six Humble ISD teachers were recently notified that they are recipients of a Fund for Teachers grant. Fund for Teachers awards summer fellow-ships for self-designed professional growth opportunities for teachers.

Amanda Dennard of AHS will travel to Paris to at-tend the International Business and Marketing Conference to enhance her knowledge of business trends and the influ-ence of the global marketplace.

Linda Swank of KPHS will travel to Spain and attend classes of Spanish Culture, Literature and Syntax at the University of Salamanca, Spain to enhance instruction.

Silas DuFrene and Caleb Cannon of ESE will travel to England, France and Poland to gain a richer understand-ing of the soldiers who battled in WWII.

Sara Williams of AHS and Lynn Williams of EGE will explore, research and photograph the South African wilderness in order to bring conservation, social action and photography to life for their students.

Congratulations to these teachers for putting forth the time and effort to pursue this fellowship. What an exciting summer awaits them!

Grants Awarded!

Bright Idea at PFE

The Zach Jones Memorial Fund recently awarded $26,000 in college schol-arships to six Humble ISD se-

niors. D’Andre Lacy, Atascocita High; Mandi Houseworth, Kingwood Park High; Dawnchae Jiles, Humble High; Ben Parva, Kingwood High; Tori Gamage, Quest High, all re-ceived $5,000 scholarships. Congratulations also to Ryan Ward, Atascocita High, who received the $1,000 Zach Jones Fighting Heart Award. In addition to providing scholar-ships, the Zach Jones Memorial Fund gives monies to rabies education, awareness and research. The Zach Jones Memo-rial Fund was established to remember, celebrate, and give thanks for the extraordinary life of Zachary Ross Jones, an Atascocita High School honors student and athlete.

Zach Jones Scholarships

Kirsten Sophia Lund

Humble High School’s Top 10 Graduates of 2011 are (font row, from left) number nine Jennifer Montgom-ery, number seven Andrea Paez, number five Rachel Evans, number three Christina Ramsey and valedictorian Ayesha Mahmood, (back row, from left) number 10 Mario Bernal, number eight Kevin Ringeisen, number seven Natalie Mad-rigal - Perez, number four Albrenea Johnson and salutato-rian Reagan McCaffrey. Not pictured is number six Michael Baillio.

Honoring our Top Ten from across Humble ISD

Kingwood High School’s Top 10 Graduates of 2011 are (front row, from left, ranked 1-5) Xinran “Lilly” Liu, Weijie Lin, Trace David Russell, Valerie Ann Sorge, Caro-line Andrea Werlang, (back row, from left, ranked 6-10) Lisa Joyce Swank, Rachel Anne Redondo, Divya Unni, Ngoc-Anh Huynh and Sara Joy Walton.

Atascocita High School’s Top 10 Graduates of 2011 are (pictured in rank order, bottom row, from left) Adam Bowling, Anai Navarro, Shyam Bhakta, Kristie Garza, Jonathan Hastings (top row, from left) Alexander Ventura, Kevin Gregory, Mahvish Danka, Matthew Thompson and Ryan Zisman.

Kingwood Park High School’s Top 10 Graduates of 2011 are (front row, from left, ranked 1-5) Victoria Brooks, David Zinsitz, Angela Morisette, Thomas Warnack, John Easton III, (back row, from left, ranked 6-10) Nicola Loo-ney, Jacob Pekarek, Christina Watson, Caitlin Orman and Adam Vogt.

Fifth Grade Honor Choir

The talented voices of Humble ISD's fifth grade honor choir held their annual Spring Concert at Christ the King Lutheran Church on April 14. The choir is an auditioned group with students from throughout the district, rehearsing after school, that allows students to explore their interest in music. The choir is led by Amanda Robison, director, Deb-bie McKinney, ED. D., elementary music facilitator, and Camille Ditusa, accompanist.

Announcements of those who are leaving our family of educators

• Deanie Allen – Oaks Elementary, 5 years in Humble ISD, 26 years in education.

• Kendra Andrews – Lakeland Elementary, 11 years in Humble ISD, 34 years in education.

• Marilyn Ashby – Willow Creek Basic Skills/ESL, 29 years 3 months in district, previously at Greentree and Deerwood.

• Linda Avina – Humble Elementary Librarian, 42 years in district

• Donna Bell – Lakeland Elementary custodian, 31 years in Humble ISD.

• Pamela Black – Riverwood Middle School Assistant Prin-cipal, 18 years in district, previously worked at Humble and Lakeland Elementaries. 23 years in education.

• Vicki Y. Blair – Elm Grove 3rd Grade Teacher, 20 years in district, previously taught Special Ed., Self Contained K-3 at Foster. Taught in Dallas for 11 years for a total of 31 years.

• Mary Bohm – Willow Creek Elementary, 16 years in Humble ISD

• Marty Bragg – Oak Forest Elementary Principal, 39 years in district.

• Diana Broussard – Kingwood High School Instructional Coach for English. Taught at KHS 14 years, served 20 years in education.

• Lynette Busceme – Academics Department, 19 years in Humble ISD, 23 years in education.

• Pat Buttermore – Woodland Hills Elementary principal, 27 years in Humble ISD, 38 years in education.

• Lynn Byars – Bear Branch Elementary 4th Grade Teacher, 32 years in district, previously taught at Lakeland Elementary.

• Vickie Cargill – Benefits Department, 20 years in Humble ISD.

• Nancy Carrier – North Belt Elementary teacher, 36 years in district–ALL at North Belt! Taught grades 2, 3 and 4 as well as Basic Skills.

• Yvonne Centanni – Ross Sterling Middle School, 26 years in Humble ISD, 30 years in education.

• Ruth Clark – Woodland Hills Elementary, 16 years in Humble ISD, 19 years in education.

• Mark Conrad – Child Nutrition Services, 25 years in Humble ISD

• Jesse Copeland – Kingwood High School Building Trades Teacher, Taught at KHS 26 years.

• Patricia Corres – Kingwood High School French Teacher, taught at KHS 20 years.

• Malcom Cox – Humble High School, 19 years in Humble ISD, 26 years in education.

• Josephine Deal – Transportation, 8 years in Humble ISD

• Eileen Debo – Humble Elementary Kindergarten Teacher, 34 years in district.

• Jane Dudley – Human Resources Department, 30 years in Humble ISD

• Valerie Ellefson – Elm Grove Elementary, 28 years in Humble ISD

• Lee Smith Engelhardt – Pine Forest Educational Diagnosti-cian. Served 33 years in Humble ISD, 40 years total in educa-tion.

• Juanita Escontrias – Atascocita High School, 9 years in Humble ISD, 18 years in education.

• Norma Fawcette – North Belt Elementary Teacher, 11 years in district. Taught Reading Recovery and 1st grade, as well as Literacy Coach.

• Sharon Finley – Atascocita High School, 23 years in Humble ISD

• Karen Fitzsimmons – Timberwood Middle-6th Grade Math, 32 years in district. Previously taught at Kingwood High School, Creekwood, Humble and Timberwood middle schools.

Announcements of those who are leaving our family of educators

More

• JaneMarvin – Hidden Hollow Elementary, 20 years in Humble ISD

• ChristineMasters – Kingwood High School Instructional Coach for Social Studies, 25 years in district. 20 years at KHS, previously taught at HHS for 5 years.

• MichaelMasters – Kingwood Park High School, 31 years in Humble ISD, 35 years in education.

• CathyMeave – Oaks Elementary Pre K teacher, 16 years in the district, previously taught at Woodland Hills, and Timbers elementaries.

• SharonMeurer – Jack Fields, Sr. Elementary Reading Re-covery coach. 24 years in district, 6 years at JFE, previously a classroom teacher at the Oaks Elementary for 18 years.

• KimberlyMiller – Eagle Springs Elementary, 22 years in Humble ISD, 28 years in education.

• EuniceMunoz – Humble Middle School, 9 years in Humble ISD.

• CynthiaNix – Humble Elementary 1st grade teacher, 19 1/2 years in district.

• KarenNypaver – Pine Forest Elementary speech therapist, 22 years in Humble ISD, 33 years total in education.

• RobbieO'Brien – Whispering Pines Elementary, 4 years in Humble ISD, 23 years in education.

• GladysOten – Transportation, 13 years in Humble ISD

• MaudiePallan – Community Learning Center-PACE Pro-gram teacher, 6 years in District, 41 years total teaching.

• ClarePerkins – Oaks Elementary, 21 years in Humble ISD, 31 years in education.

• CarolPoe – Eagle Springs Elementary, 5 years in Humble ISD, 30 years in education.

• ChrisFox – Timberwood Middle School principal, 20 years in district, at Whispering Pines Elementary, Atascocita, Humble, and Timberwood middle schools. Previously taught 9 years in Oklahoma at all levels, and 5 years in Iowa at middle, high and university level.

• BeverlyGermann – Elm Grove Extended Learning teacher for 25 years, taught G/T for 23 of those years.

• LindaHerring – Community Learning Center Pregnancy Related Services Specialist, 17 years in Humble ISD, 34 years in education.

• MarthaHendricks – Jack Fields Sr. Elementary Reading Recovery/Literacy Coach K-1, 20 years in district, 5 years at HHS as physical science teacher and Wildcatdettes drill team director. Previously, taught at C.E. King and Huffman high schools.

• SusanHinson – Lakeshore Elementary Principal's Secretary, 20 years in district, previously worked at Pine Forest Elemen-tary.

• CharlotteHoya – Public Information Department, 26 years in Humble ISD

• MaureenHumes – Oaks Elementary nurse for 16 years.

• KimberlyHuseman – Quest High School, 26 years in Humble ISD, 31 years in education.

• JudyJanak – Educational Support Services, 32 years in Humble ISD

• SusanKamenoff – Elm Grove Elementary, 24 years in Humble ISD, 29 years in education.

• KatyeKole – CLC-DAEP Math Teacher, 14 years at CLC, 24 years total teaching.

• RonnyLandrum – Whispering Pines Elementary, 7 years in Humble ISD

• AnnLund – District Police Department, 23 years in Humble ISD

• KayPruitt – Bear Branch Elementary Principal, 31 years in district, previously worked at Foster Elementary.

• NolaPruitt – Creekwood Middle School, 32 years in Humble ISD, 35 years in education.

• CherylReid – Kingwood Middle School, 18 years in Humble ISD, 26 years in education.

• AriostoReyes – Custodial Department, 16 years in Humble ISD

• ShelleyRicks – Riverwood Middle teacher, 25 years teaching: 5 years at RMS, 10 years PTA at WHE and KMS, 12 years teaching resource English and Reading/LA at Aldine ISD, 8 years Pre-K teacher at Holy Comforter Lutheran Preschool.

• MaryAnnSandstrum – Lakeshore Elementary Intervention-

ist, 30 years in district, previously worked at Pine Forest and North Belt.

• NancySandstrum – Oaks Elementary Assistant Principal, 18 years in the district, previously taught at Deerwood. 26 years in education.

• PamShoultz – Atascocita High School Secretary, 21 years in district, previously at Oaks Elementary and Oak Forest Elementary.

• LibbySievertson – Timbers Elementary, 20 years in district.

• SaraSlamp – Woodcreek Middle School, 5 years in Humble ISD, 13 years in education.

• GregorySolether – Atascocita High School, 20 years in Humble ISD.

• LethaSolether – Timberwood Middle School-6th Grade Math, 20 years in district. Previously taught at Northbelt and Oaks Elementary. Also taught at Columbus Jr. High in Colum-bus, Texas and Marion Middle School and Krueger Elemen-tary in Marion, Texas. 31 years in public education.

• JudySpears – Special Education Department, 23 years in Humble ISD

• JudyStuckey – Humble Middle School PE/Girl's Athletics, 11 years in district.

Announcements of those who are leaving our family of educators

Still more

• GaryTeneyck – Kingwood High School Science Teacher, taught at KHS for 30 years. Served a total of 37 years in edu-cation.

• BuddTodd – Community Learning Center-DAEP Director of Camp 180, 21 years in district, 40 years total in education.

• TheresaThompson – Humble Middle School Science/Health teacher, 40 years teaching, 26 years in district.

• JanWillis – GTE School Nurse, 20 years in district

• MargaretWyatt – Maplebrook Elementary, 19 years in Humble ISD, 29 years in education.

• MaryZelnick – Community Learning Center, 19 years in Humble ISD, 29 years in education.

Moving On

• JoanParker – Community Learning Center School Nurse , 7 years. Leaving to be full-time daughter, wife and grandmother.

• MeghanWoodRobertson – Elm Grove Elementary teacher for 7 years. Meghan is staying at home with her newborn!

• BeckySwerdloff – Hidden Hollow Elementary teacher for 4 years. Becky is moving out of state.

New Faces and Places• KenBuck will be the new principal at Timberwood. He is cur-

rently the AP at that campus.

• HenryPhipps will the new principal at Oak Forest. He is cur-rently the AP there.

• CherylFennell will be the new principal at Oaks. She is cur-rently the AP at Woodcreek Middle.

• DeborahBeard will be the principal at Woodland Hills. She is currently the AP at WHE.

• KathrynPalmer will be the new principal at Bear Branch. She is currently the AP at BBE.

Condolences to the KHS and KMS families on the April 5 loss of KarenJohnson, who worked as principal’s secre-tary at Kingwood High School and King-

wood Middle School for many years.

Sympathy to ShannaJames, instructional tech-nologist in the Technology Department on the loss of her Mother.

Condolences to VickieRodriguez, Child Nutrition specialist at AHS, on the loss of her husband.

Sympathy to PACE Program teacher and former HHS teacher TinaEwing on the loss of her mother, Barbara Jones. Barbara was also the grandmother of TMS student Jacob Thorp.

Condolences to AliceWinn, PFE second grade teacher, on the loss of her grandmother, Ima Cook.

Sympathy to the HumbleHigh family on the loss of CynthiaJohnson-Oliver, Life Skills aide, due to an aneurysm.

Condolences to MonicaBrown, Maplebrook 3rd grade teacher, on the loss of her sister, Robbie, following a lengthy illness.

Sympathy to the StructuredLearningCenter family on the loss of BobPearce, who worked in the Long Term Discipline Program for many years.

Condolences to CindyBarker, ELAR intervention

facilitator at ISC, on the loss of her grandmother in March and her father in April.

Sympathy to MonicaBrown, third grade teacher at Maplebrook, on the May 2 loss of her sister, Robbie Bishop.

Condolences to LisFrye, teacher at Pine Forest, KarenFrye, AHS teacher,

andMelissaFrye, AHS teacher, on the loss of Donny Frye III. Donny was the husband of Liz, the son of Karen and the brother of Melissa.

Sympathy to MatthewVybiral,computer teacher at Bear Branch, on the loss of his grandmother.

Condolences to GretchenLyons,Child Nutrition supervisor, on the loss of her father.

Sympathy to DollySmith, Timbers Elementary coun-selor, on the May 14 loss of her mother following a brief battle with cancer.

Condolences to AutumnJackson,Atascocita Springs 1st grade teacher, on the loss of her grandmother.

Sympathy to AnnieCastle, Whispering Pines PE

teacher, on the May 10 loss of her mother. Condolences to LaylaMorrone, Whisper-

ing Pines 5th grade teacher, on the May 11 loss of her mother.

Sympathy to FredMcGrew, KHS special ed teacher, and CourtneyMcGrew, ISC, on the unexpected April 7 loss of Fred’s sister, Suzy Lo-raine McGrew Gregory.

Condolences to ReneSlade,Humble Middle School nurse, on the loss of her mother-in-law, Montanez Slade.

Condolences to RobinMcAdams, Humble ISD media coordinator, on the May 11 loss of her mother, Syble Simon. She was 91 years old.

Sympathy to SabrinaTarver, bus aide, on the May 4 loss of her father, Henry Lewis. He was 67 years old.

Condolences to RayYoung, bus driver, on the May

24 loss of his grandson, Brandon Colosko. He was 16 years old.

Sympathy to TanyaCook, Timberwood Special Ed. para educator, on the loss of her mother following a long battle with cancer.

By dayLindaCurrieworks as a Technology Ser-vices network administrator, by night she is a Texas Master NaturalistwhospecializesinMonarchbutterfliesandtheirannual migration through Texas. The Monarch migration is threatened due to habitat destruction, pesticides and drought alongtheflyway.Lindaisworkingtoraiseawarenessandrestore Monarch habitats.

I met Linda in 2009 when she invited my class at Woodland Hills to join the Monarchs in Space Program. She came to our classroom with Monarch caterpillars and we watched their development as well as the developing caterpil-lars on the space station. The students learned about the life cycle of Monarchs, and Linda and I became fast friends.

Last summer Linda was invited to the North American Monarch Institute at the Uni-versity of Minnesota, sponsored by Monarchs in the Classroom and the U.S. Forestry Depart-ment. She asked me to come along and I quickly accepted. We spent three intense days studying monarchs, learned about outdoor education including other insects and conducting experiments with students. Included in our Houston group was Dr. Nancy Grieg, director of the CockrellButterflyMuseum.

We came back and planted a but-terflygardenatWoodlandHillstoac-commodate the southern migration of the Monarch. We found several cater-pillars in our garden and every child at WHE got to watch the wonder of metamorphosis. Linda and I sponsored afieldtripfortheGifted/Talentedstu-dentstotheCockrellButterflyMuseum.Dr. Grieg provided a behind-the-scenes tour.Thestudentswatchedbutterflies

emerge from their pupas and also met many species of in-sects from around the world.

As the garden went dormant and the Monarchs were wintering in Mexico, Linda and I wrote a grant to Mon-archs in The Classroom and won $600 to continue work in thegardensandpurchasetoolstokeeptheflowersgrowingand the Monarchs glowing.

My students kept me busy in the gardens. We had enough caterpillars last spring for each fourth grade class toraiseonetoadulthood.Butterflymetamorphosisisinthescience TEKS for fourth grade.

Linda volunteers at least 40 hours yearly to teach others in the Houston area about nature topics and Monarchbutterflies.Shecontinuesto work on Monarch science projects, experimenting on growing Texas native milkweed in addition to commercially grown tropical milkweed. She not only helps at WHE, but

offers her expertise in several nature centers and school gardens. She also keeps the ISC buildingbeautifulwithabutterflygarden.

Linda credits Technology Services director MikeDrachenberg for introducing her to the Monarch as a teaching tool. Mike shared stories about his wife using the Mon-archbutterflytoteachthelifecycletoherkin-dergarten students. As Linda went through the TexasMasterNaturalistcertificationtraining,shedeterminedtheMonarchbutterflywouldbe her subject of interest to teach others about protecting nature.

ThereisonecertifiedMonarchwaysta-tion in Humble ISD. Linda envisions having

all elementary schools house Monarch way stations. No other school district is doing this. She is working toward her dream one school at a time, starting with WHE. Chip Taylor of Monarch Watch said that at least 10,000 Monarch way stations are needed to support the continuation of the Monarch migration.

For more information about Monarchs check out these websites:www.txmm.org – Texas Master Naturalistwww.journeynorth.com – report Monarch sightingswww.monarch.org – Monarch way stations and Bring Back the

Monarchswww.mlmp.org – Monarch Larva and Monitoring ProjectTwitter: TexasMonarch for tweets and web links

ByJaniceJohnson,WoodlandHills4thgradeteacher

Linda Currie shares her passion for butterflies

LindaCurrie

JaniceJohnsonandclassattheirbutterflygarden

Bringing history to life at Summer Creek High School

Summer Creek High School sophomore Pre-AP classes engaged in a Socratic seminar on the French Revolution in the setting of a French salon. Students read The Declaration of Independence, The Declaration of the Right of Man, the textbook and some of John Locke’s work in prepa-ration for comparing and contrasting the American and French Revolu-tions. Historic discussion of the En-lightenment and revolution occurred in many French Salons.

This setting was the brainchild of history teachers SamPollard and LeslieSproat.

At left, Seymour Simon, called the dean of children’s science writers by the New York Times, signs a book for Eagle Springs third grader Natalie Pereira. Simon, who is the author of more than 250 highly acclaimed science books for chil-dren, spoke at several Humble ISD elementary schools recently.

Famous science author Seymore Simon visits Humble ISD

Fourth graders at Elm Grove experienced arriving in a brave new world via Ellis Island in the 1890’s. Teachers MarciaCraig,CarolEmbrey,ValSammonand JaneWillard provided this awesome adventure to teach stu-dents about the immigration process.

At the return of Christmas break students were askedtofindoutabouttheirfamilyheritage.Foramonththey wrote journals of how they would to come to Amer-ica and why. The day of their voyage, students dressed in period and cultural costumes and brought necessary sup-plies for traveling to a new country. The items varied from snacks and boat tickets to money and passports.

Once aboard the boat (the fourth grade hallway) they could see the water and Lady Liberty as they approached America.Onarrivaltheyweretakenthroughverificationsto enter America, including a wellness check, passport check, math check and a detention center to prevent the spread of disease.

Thanks to the EGE fourth grade team for bringing history to life and making it relevant.

Elm Grove 4th graders explore 1890’s Ellis Island

THANKS, Key Communicators, for sharing campus newsAdministration Karen Collier ext. 8200

Administration Robin McAdamsext. 8203

AHS Mimi Buchman ext. 7501

AMS Laura Buchheitext. 4601

Bear Branch Debbie Warren ext. 1603

CATE Judy Browder ext. 7951

Child Nutrition Pat Ferguson ext. 8464

CMS Kathy Joseph ext. 4413

Deerwood Carla Threadgill ext. 2212

Eagle Springs Sharon Shepard ext. 3100

Elm Grove Tina Smithext. 1700

Fields Lynda Miller ext. 2700

Fall Creek Yvonne Stroud ext. 3412

Greentree Pam Baker ext. 1901

Hidden Hollow Muriel Bebel ext. 2403

HMS Natahia Dawkins ext. 4010

Humble Elem. Anne Parker ext. 1101

Humble High Vera Pearson ext. 6301

ISC Bianca Hadjioannou ext. 8320

Kingwood High Betty Wolfext. 6901

Kingwood Park Shelby McPherson ext. 6614

Kingwood Park Irene Pounds ext. 6697

KMS Lisa Bollig ext. 4212

Lakeland Beth Davidson ext. 1201

Lake Shore Misti Ferguson ext. 3506

Maintenance Chrissie Shidelerext. 8700

Maplebrook Jean Philpot ext. 2910

North Belt Barbara Perrott ext. 1301

Oak Forest Allison Wolf ext. 2833

Oaks Kathy Kargel ext. 1801

PACE Karen Cullum ext. 7487

Park Lakes Mariaelena Gutierrez ext. 3205

Pine Forest Jennifer Vandenbrook ext. 2107

Operations/Grounds Cristina Navaext. 8750

Police Dept. Angela Kimmonsext. 7900

Quest Gwen Geiser 7304

River PinesAngela Garciaext. 3300

RMS Nancy West ext. 4801

Shadow Forest Mary Brooks ext. 2603

Structured Learning Tina Webb ext. 7376

Summerwood Tracy Bidwellext. 3000

Summer CreekHigh SchoolBrenda Protheext. 5401

Timbers Candy Zachary ext. 2003

TMSDiane Henley ext. 3800

TransportationConnie Robertsext. 8731

Whispering PinesChar Easterwood ext. 2501

Willow CreekLaurie Curtis ext. 2307

Woodland HillsCheryl Poris ext. 1503

Foster Sherri Sandvick ext. 1478

Atascocita SpringsSheila O’Neill ext. 3601

Sterling MS Jenny Kilpatrick ext. 6001

Woodcreek MS Marcia Sinitiereext. 5201

Cambridge SchoolRoni Jo Frazierext. 7284

Thanks so much, Key Communicators, for making this news-letter possible. You’ve kept us in touch across the district by shar-ing news we might not otherwise hear about.