News and notes from and about our family of Humble ISD EmployeesVol. 9 No. 5 Jan./Feb. 2010A Gold Star Award Winning Publication

H2JoJo team installs water cans in South AfricaThe H2JoJo team returned from the clean

water service learning initiative in South Af-rica. With the help of Humble ISD and com-munity partners, the team provided bases and JoJo cans for five primary schools.

More than 20 campuses were involved in this project. The team extends sincere thanks to all school district and community partners who made this life-changing project suc-cessful. You can follow the project from home on its Facebook page: H2JoJo-Quenching-the-Thirst-of-South-African-Youth.

Those who went include teachers Tara Bain and Shannon O’Brien, AHS; Gail Wright, KPHS; and Melissa Donnell, SES. Students were AHS seniors Nick Brooks and Paola Beltran, AHS sophomore Anthony Lewis; KPHS junior Austin Chandler, SCHS freshman Peyton Donnell, AMS 7th grader Stone Smith, and ESE 4th grader Scarlett Smith.

If you want teachers and student participants to come to your school to speak about the project, please contact Tara Bain at tara.bain@humble.k12.tx.us.

PFE 4th grade teacher Laura Duncan completed her first half marathon by par-ticipating in the Texas Marathon on Jan. 1.

PFE Counselor Jennifer Vandenbrook completed her

3,000 hours of counseling and has received her Licensed Professional Counselor certificate from the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors.

Gayle Sampley, elementary dis-cipline program teacher at the CLC, has been appointed to serve as the State Membership Chairman of he Associa-tion of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) by ATPE State President David de la Garza from San Antonio.

Sampley will lead a committee of representatives from each of the twenty ATPE regions in Texas to review and provide recommendations on the devel-opment and implementation of recruitment programs and materials.

ATPE is a member owned and governed professional association. With more than 115,000 members, ATPE is the leading educators’ association in the state and the largest independent association for public school educators in the nation.

Atascocita Springs P.E. para-educator Carey LaCour ran in the Leonard Hilton Invitational Track Meet at the University of Houston. His first place finish in 6.64 seconds in the 60 meter dash ranks him fifth overall in the world in this event. As he continues to compete in similar events, he may eventually represent the USA at the Summer Olympics in London in 2012.

Carey is the son of Atascocita High girls’ track coach Vanita LaCour, a 2003 graduate of Humble High School, and a 2008 graduate of the University of Houston. “A large representation of the ASE student body and their families as well as staff attended the track meet to support Carey be-cause he is such a positive role model and loved by all,” said ASE Assistant Principal Michael Bushnell.

Gayle Sampley

Stupendous!The RMS Science Olym-

piad Team, led by teacher Joe Watson, earned 1st Place in the Greenhill Invitational in Dal-las. This Invitational Meet hosts the best schools in three states. The RMS Science Olympiad (SO) Team won the team’s first ever 1st Place Finish at the Greenhill SO.

“Hey, we’ve never place higher than 3rd in the past...and we went to Nationals last year,” said Watson. “It was certainly a time to show what this team is made of. I think everyone had a great time at this very competitive and inter-esting SO.”

Fifth Place Winners included Mark Merola and McKenzie Chen in Storm the Castle, Hayes Beatherd and Ruby Liliedahl in Ecology, and Justin Lin and Mark Korompay in Dynamic Planet.

Fourth Place Winners included Susan Xu and Shane Davitt in Disease Detectives-Epidemiology, Susan Xu and Hayes Beat-hard in Anatomy, and Ruby Liliedahl and Colleen Averill in Road Scholar-Mapping.

Third Place Winners included Ben Hiatt and Ethan Stinson in Junkyard Challenge, and Ethan Stinson and Ryan Elo in Shock Value-Electrical Systems.

Second Place Winners included Mark Merola and Kenan Nerad in Fossils, Richard Luo and Abby Walters in Optics, Susan Xu and McKenzie Chen in Microbe Mission, and Susan Xu and Mark Merola in Shock Value-Electrical Systems.

First Place Winners include Jacob Walters and Kenan Nerad in Battery Buggy, Mark Merola and Garrett Gruss in Junkyard Chal-lenge, Cayley Kent and Colleen Averill in Awesome Aquifers, Shane Davitt and Richard Luo in Meteorology-Sever Storms, Cayley Kent and Colleen Averill in Ornithology, Susan Xu and Ruby Liliedahl in Crime Busters, Eric Rodriguez and Jacob Wal-ters in Mystery Architecture, McKenzie Chen and Susan Xu in Compute This, Shane Davitt and Richard Luo in Solar System, and Richard Luo and Shane Davitt in Dynamic Planet-Fresh Water Systems.

Greentree Elementary 4th grade teacher teacher Abby Youngblood finished the Chevron Houston Marathon.

Fall Creek Elementary 2nd grade teacher Jennifer Duplechain ran in the Houston Marathon this past weekend with a time of 3:52.

Sharing and Serving...

Parents and students from Atascocita Middle and Woodcreek Middle packed the WMS gym on Dec. 14 for the “Toy Slam,” with faculty from the two schools compet-ing against each other in a charity basketball game.

AMS and WMS enjoy a close relationship. WMS opened in August 2010 due to student enrollment growth. Many students, teachers and administrators now at WMS were at AMS last year. Admission to the game was $5 or a new toy.

“It was a hard fought, close game -- the kind of game that resembles two siblings battling at the neighborhood park over rights of passage,” AMS Assistant Principal Buford Jones said. In the end, AMS won 64-48. But most importantly, the event netted hundreds of toys and $1,400 for HAAM’s Empty Stocking program.

Nick Renteria, WMS journalism student, wrote an article about the game entitled Lions and Tigers, and Toys, OH MY! “The money was spent on bicycles, MP3 players with iTunes cards, watches, sports balls, and board games for needy families,” Nick wrote.

Last Christmas, people from Quest High School and the community went to Tegu-cigalpa, Honduras to deliver clothing and toys to children of the La Finca de los Ninos orphanage as part of a service learning project.

It was such a wonderful experience they repeated the project again this year.

This year the project was organized and funded by students and staff at Quest, the Structured Learning Center, and the community. They provided clothing and purchased school uniforms and computers. Ginger Noyes at QECHS and Aaryn Rick-ert at SLC led the project.

QECHS, SLCService in Honduras

AMS Tigers vs. WMS Lions benefits HAAM

Ginger Noyes

Ginger Noyes, Dylan Noyes, andAaryn Rickert

Aaryn Rickert

Pine Forest Elementary 5th grade Student Council volunteered Jan. 23 at Noah’s Kitchen. The students and co-leaders, 4th grade teacher Amanda Bice and 2nd grade teacher Kristie Felan, made peanut butter sandwiches for the homeless. The students watched the adults deliver healthy meals to the homeless at nearby inner city parks.

Pine Forest students feed homeless in Houston

Lakeland Kindergarten teacher Shannon Green an-nounces the Jan. 22 birth of her grandson, Dylan Michael Novi-er in Corpus Christi, TX. He

weighed 7 lbs., 6 oz. and is 20.5 inches long. Mom Katey is an ’05 KHS grad and Dad John is an ’04 KHS grad.

Hidden Hollow GT/ESL teacher Kathy Rosenbalm announces the Jan. 18 birth of her grandson, Patrick Gordon Thielen. He weighed 8 lbs., 11 oz.

AHS chemistry and physics teacher

Chris Mergell announces the Dec. 10 birth of his 15th grandchild, Victoria Elizabeth Kelly. She arrived earlier than expected, weighing 5 lbs, 6.9 oz and 18 inches long.

AHS Athletic Trainer’s assistant Caryn LeGros an-

nounces the Nov. 23 birth of her daughter, Cayla LeeAnn. She weighed 7 lbs., 12 oz. and was 18 inches long.

Jack Fields Pre-K teacher Melanie Lavachery announces the Dec. 13 birth of her granddaughter, Savannah Lynn La-vachery. She weighed 7.2 lbs. and was 20 inches long. Parents Robert and Samantha Lavachery are stationed in 29 Palms CA.

Melanie also announces the Oct. 23 birth of her grandson, Hayden James Moore.

ASE Speech Pathologist Erin Nolan announces the Jan. 17 birth of her son, Henry Clark Nolan. He weighed 7 lbs., 15 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Elm Grove para-educator Kayla Cantwell announces the Dec. 2 birth of her first baby, Mercy Lynne Cantwell. She weighed 7 lbs., and 4 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Technology Services desktop support specialist Jessie Salgado announces the Jan. 31 birth of his daughter, Valeria Caro-lina Salgado Novoa. She weighed 7.92 lbs. and was 20 1/4 inches long.

January Your Schools TV show The January Your Schools

TV show is on our website, so be sure to check it out at www.humbleisd.net/YSnews.

See what powers our Science Fair, Board members on Legislative issues, Quest

ECHS, teachers abroad, and our Culinary Arts program. Thanks to Lone Star College-Kingwood’s LSC-TV

crew for the use of their equipment, expertise and air time, making this show possible for Humble ISD.

Your Schools TV

Dylan Michael Novier

Patrick Gordon Thielen

Henry Clark Nolan

Savannah LynnLavachery

Fran Mowrey, PFE Secretary, is re-covering from surgery in December.

KHS welcomes back Patti Sano, government teacher, after a lengthy recovery from surgery.

Jamie Watson, science teacher at KHS, recuperates at home from surgery on her leg.

HHS co-math teacher Larry Admire is battling cancer.HHS math teacher Kelli Lofton continues her battle

with cancer.

Hayden James Moore

Hidden Hollow Special Ed. para professional Valerie Timon announces the early arrival of her new grand-daughter, Audrey Breanne. Audrey came two months early on Jan. 20, weighing 4 lbs., 1 oz, and was 17 ¼ inches long.

Greentree and Deerwood diagnostician Ellyn Man-ning announces the Jan. 18 birth of her grandson, William Hudson Lehrer.

Technology Services Acquisi-tion Coordinator Brenda Murdock announces the Jan. 24 birth of her granddaughter Alyssa Nicole Ramke. She weighed 6 lbs., 13 oz. and was 19 inches long.

Elm Grove Elementary office profes-sional Tina Smith announces the Dec. 18 birth of her first granddaughter, Lauren Olivia Lipkin. She weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 18 1/4 inches. Mom Kelly Smith Lipkin is a ‘99 KHS graduate.

Valeria Carolina Salgado Novoa

Alyssa Nicole Ramke

Audrey Breanne

Condolences to Brandee Kwon, 1st grade teacher at Atascocita Springs Elemen-tary, on the loss of her grandfather.

Sympathy to Shanna Troost, Bear Branch 3rd grade teacher, on the recent loss of her father.

Condolences to Theresa Nevins, Hidden Hollow 3rd grade teacher, on the Jan. 2 loss of her grandmother, The-resa Koenig who was 83 years old.

Mariella Madden, a retired teacher who taught at Creekwood Middle School and at Kingwood High School, passed away Jan. 2 after battling pancreatic cancer.

Sympathy to Sylvia Smiths, bus aide, on the Dec. 13 loss of her mother, Josephine Gomez.

Condolences to Betty Leger, bus aide, on the Jan. 3 loss of her husband, James Leger.

Sympathy to former long-time employee Marilyn Morgan (RMS, HHS, KHS) on the Dec. 24 loss of her husband, Bob Holzhauer.

Condolences to Deyna Herrera, AP at Park Lakes, on the Dec. 2 loss of her younger brother, Diego, in a job-related accident in Can-

ada. Deyna and Diego’s mother is Betty Phillips Herrera, a long-time teacher in Houston ISD.

Condolences to Adam Hightower, choir teacher at KHS, on the recent loss of his father.

Sympathy to Julie Dyer, AP Secretary at KHS, on the loss of her maternal grandmother in December.

Sympathy to Gary Teneyck, chemistry teacher at KHS, on the Dec. 20 loss of his mother.

Condolences to Theresa Jones at Atascocita Middle on the loss of her brother in law following a battle with cancer.

Sympathy to Tina Schwab, attendance clerk at KHS, on the sudden death of her brother-in-law.

Condolences to Sanjuana Gar-cia, Kindergarten teacher at Oaks Elemen-

tary, on the loss of her mother.

Sympathy to Kati Delfine, Life Skills paraeducator at Fall Creek Elementary, on the Dec. 14 loss of her mother, Wilma Christian, in Lebanon, Ohio. Kati has also worked at Lakeland, Northbelt, Deerwood, Pine Forest, and Summerwood.

Condolences to Debbie Davis, Assistant Director of Technology Services, on the Jan. 13 loss of her stepson, Darwin Davis.

Sympathy to Anna Fields, Speech Therapist at Bear Branch, on the recent loss of her father-in-law.

Condolences to Kathleen Goerner, science teacher at KPHS, on the Dec. 31 loss of her grand-father, Harry Clotfelter. He was 92 and a WWI veteran.

Sympathy to Jayne Phillips, second grade teacher at Greentree Elementary, on the Jan. 5 loss of her mother.

Condolences to Maggie Poblete, pre-kinder-garten paraeducator at Fields Elementary, on the Jan. 15 loss of her mother.

Condolences to HHS athletic director Walt Beasley and to elementary math specialist Meredith Beasley on the Jan. 18 loss of his mother and her mother-in-law, Marva Beasley.

Sympathy to Karen Hardy, former AP at Lakeland and Academic Coach at WCE, on the loss of her mother, Martha Turner.

Condolences to the Kingwood High School family on the loss of KHS junior Max Keevill due to an auto ac-cident. Max was a member of National Honor Society and KHS orchestra. He was en-route to a Boy Scout camping activity when the accident occurred.

Sympathy to Mike Drachenberg, executive director of Technology Services, on the Jan. 14 loss of his brother, Tim Drachenberg.

Condolences to Carol Smith, math teacher at KHS, on the Jan. 21 loss of her father, Dr. Herbert Colvin Jr., 87.

Long-time HHS/H9 speech therapist Diane Freder-ick passed away recently after complications caused by her battle with cancer.

Sympathy to Gracia Rile, Maplebrook para, on the loss of her mother.

Condolences to Hannah Velghe, Greentree 3rd grade teacher, on the loss of her grandmother.

Sympathy to Cathy Smith, Green-tree 1st grade teacher, on the loss of her grandmother.

Condolences to Diane Zelezinski, Instructional Coach at Summerwood Elementary, on the Jan. 16 loss of her father-in-law Francis L. Zelezinski.

Deborah Alford, former HHS math teacher and Stu. Co. sponsor, passed away Jan. 29.

Sympathy to Shelby McPherson, AP at KPHS, on the Jan. 30 loss of her grandmother, Margaret Sipple Bailey.

Humble ISD CNS receives $750.00 St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church, Dr. Raymond

Little of the Houston Heart & Vascular Associates and Jack and Jill of America, Humble-Kingwood division sponsored a 5-K Walk-A-Thon to Obliterate Obesity. They chose Humble ISD Child Nutrition Services to receive the pro-ceeds from the event.

CNS will use the proceeds to implement “Make Your Own Sub Lines” in our middle schools. These lines offer students healthy fresh made sandwiches. The students may add their own vegetable toppings. The student may also pick up fresh fruit, baked chips, juice and milk. Together we are taking steps to stamp out childhood obesity!

Grant Awarded!Transportation assistant director

Allan Griffin is happy to announce that, according to Steven Murchison

of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Clean Vehicles Program, we have been selected to receive a grant of approximately $2.1 million to fund the purchase of 25 propane-powered buses.

This will require a commitment of around $800,000 local dollars but will remove the need for bus purchases for the next 2 or 3 years.

The grant will also be supported by additional fund-ing to provide infrastructure for fueling and with the recent passage of the alternative fuel tax rebate we will get $0.50 per gallon refunded from the federal government for every gallon of propane used as transportation fuel.

Each week at Maplebrook Elementary, science instructional coach Michelle Canlas conducts Wizard Wednesday.

One of the activities for first graders was to build ice sculptures. Through this hands-on activ-ity first graders re-enforced the science TEKS: weather and changes, and connected the their learning to the math TEK: Measurement/Ups and Downs on a thermometer.

Bright Idea at MBE

New Board of Ed. member

At the Dec. 14 Board meeting, Lynn Fields was sworn in to finish the term of Dan Huberty, who won a seat in the Texas Legislature.