Fall Tiger Sports Season

This video highlights the Fall Tiger sports season.

Click here to view the video!

Update: CONGRATULATIONS SPEECH AND DEBATE!

Congrats Vicki Beard for an outstanding job!

This past weekend at the CyCreek/Westfield Swing (2 tournaments rolled into one weekend) 51 schools attended and over 1100 students competed, Spring Woods Speech/Debate took 1st place Sweepstakes at CyCreek, 2nd place Sweepstakes at Westfield, & 1st place Sweepstakes Overall! Another student qualified for state and now we have 21 state qualifications which is the most in Spring Branch ISD!! Here is who made this happen:

At CyCreek-
In Novice Prose:
Dania Reames placed 2nd
Naomi Gutierrez placed 3rd
Jonathan Batagnan placed 5th
Valery Reyna placed 6th
Gabriel Vasquez placed 7th
Caroline Klussman placed 8th

In Prose Interpretation:
Bram Sebio-Brundage placed 8th

In Duo Interp:
Courtney Thompson/Josselyn Gomez placed 6th
Nicole Jackson/Karesha Bell placed 8th

In Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking:
Gilbert Fernandez placed 5th

In Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking:
Christine Vo placed 5th

In Original Oratory:
Avery Reinhart placed 3rd
Angel Ramirez placed 4th
Christine Vo placed 7th

In Congressional Debate:
Travis Boyd placed 7th
Avery Reinhart placed 9th
Duo Interp:
Courtney Thompson/Josselyn Gomez placed 5th
Karesha Bell/Nicole Jackson placed 6th

At Westfield:
In Original Oratory:
Avery Reinhart placed 5th

In Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking:
Avery Reinhart placed 1st

In Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking:
Travis Boyd placed 4th

In Novice Extemporaneous Speaking:
Jeremiah Menslage placed 1st

In Impromptu Speaking:
Avery Reinhart placed 2nd

In Congressional Debate:
Avery Reinhart placed 4th
Travis Boyd placed 5th

In Poetry:
Karesha Bell placed 4th
Bram Sebio-Brundage placed 6th

In Dramatic Interp:
Nicole Jackskon placed 3rd

In Duo Interp:
Nicole Jackson/Karesha Bell placed 6th

In Novice Prose:
Valery Reyna placed 4th
Julia Allison placed 6th
Caroline Klussmann placed 7th

Tigerette Weekend Wrap Up

Below are a couple of photos of the Tigerettes at the UofH & Texans games this weekend.

The Tigerettes with the University of Houston Cougar Dolls 

You might recognize Cougar Doll Gia Martinez, Tigerette Officer 2012 & 2013

The Tigerettes on the 45 yard line & our Cheer Squad on the 40 yard line.

The Tigerettes in the bright pink on the Texans Field

Group photo after a very long week of events & performances J

Congratulations SWHS Thespians!!

                                                                                                                             Congratulations SWHS Thespians!!

Terry Hibbert was inducted into the Thespians Hall of Fame for 2013! Congratulations Terry Hibbert!

Spring Woods was very successful at the Texas State Thespian Festival last weekend in Dallas Texas. The following students qualified for Nationals that will be held in June at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Celestina Macareno in Costume Design with her Designs for The Phantom of the Opera. Tony Mendez and Natalie Moran in Duet Acting with their scene from The Boor by Anton Chekhov. Jonathan Rochow and Annabelle Bellow in Duet Musical with All Er Nuthin from Oklahoma. Please congratulate these students when you see them. 

Congrats Tiger Girls Basketball!

Congratulations to the Lady Tigers. They defeated Northbrook Saturday to win the Bronze division of the SBISD Annual Tournament.  Congratulations Brittney Lopez  for being named to the ALL Tournament Team. Good job ladies!

SWHS FFA Winners!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to the SWHS FFA winners at 2 different shows. At the Harris County Fair Katie Edgely was the Harris County Fair Sweetheart, Makenzie Matecki won Reserve Grand Champion Broiler, and Jimmy Martinez won 3rd place in broilers.

At the Youth Expo Show Jimmy Martinez won 4th in broilers, Katie Edgely won 10th in her swine class, and Marybel Gomez won 10th in her swine class.  Way to go SWHS FFA students! 

National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists named from across SBISD

Eighteen seniors from three separate Spring Branch ISD high schools were recently named as Semifinalists in the annual National Merit Scholarship program.

In addition to 18 National Merit Semifinalists, SBISD is home this year to 15 National Hispanic Scholars, 1 National Achievement Scholar and 48 National Merit Commended Scholars.

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 next spring.

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 Scholars 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 Scholars:

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

Spring Woods High – Christian Rice

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

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

Debate Team Update!

This past weekend, 13 students from all over the country were invited to compete at the Florida Blue Key Round Robin in congressional debate.

Chris Rice was one of the 13 and placed 4^th. He was one of 2 Texas students and the only one from Houston to compete.

Go Tiger Debate!

Educator in the Spotlight: Paul Ramsay, Flipped & Blended Learning

Spring Wood High School educator Paul Ramsay talks about how he's using a flipped and blended model for instruction in his classroom.  How is this approaching shaping the classroom experience, the effectiveness of instruction and what do his students think about it? Thank you Mr. Ramsay for sharing sharing your story!

New school year heralds 50-year celebrations in Spring Branch ISD

Fiftieth anniversaries will be celebrated at three Spring Branch ISD campuses in the months ahead. Now marking 50 years are Spring Woods High School, Memorial Middle School and Westwood Elementary.

Students, staff and alumni at Spring Woods High School began preparing early for a great 50^th year with a student poster contest and calendar planning that includes at least one theme event every nine weeks. Proceeds from ticketed events and activities will fund scholarships for Class of 2014 Tiger graduates.

Senior Lorelei Shannon credits her winning 50^th anniversary poster submission on a failed effort years ago to sign up for volleyball. Instead, she enrolled in a digital graphics class, and from that moment her budding interest in art as a career has buoyed her on and carried her forward.

“I was definitely surprised to hear that I had won,” Lorelei said. “It’s exciting, and something I’m proud to be a part of. I did not know before this contest that the school was as old as it is.” Lorelei received a $75 Amazon gift card for her winning poster idea.

In her poster, a green-eyed tiger pops through an orange numeral 50. Below it states, “Spring Woods High School: Celebrating 50 Years of Tiger Pride.”

The poster’s top headline, “R.O.A.R. to Excellence,” reflects the school’s four main points of Tiger pride – Respectful/Responsible; On-Time/On-Task; Accountable; and Ready for Post-Secondary Success. The high school’s new principal this year is Jennifer Parker.

A cartoonist like her older brother for the school newspaper, The Regit, Lorelei hopes to attend Savannah College of Art and Design. Her interests run from “art painting to graphic designs to comics.” She hand paints white canvas shoes through an online hobby site, charging up to $90 per shoe order. She fills worldwide orders for her painted shoes.

Spring Woods High’s 50^th anniversary plan will include at least one major event every grading period. Momentum will build this fall with pre-game tailgating activities at Tully Stadium. The parade’s floats will reflect each decade. Alumni and Tiger supporters are encouraged to join in.

Other 50^th activities include a ticketed Performing Arts Alumni Cabaret Show in December, an alumni “Golden Apple” Luncheon in February 2014 with U.S. Congressman Ted Poe, a Spring Woods High graduate, and a school-wide 50^th Birthday Party and Picnic next May.

Organizers hope to set a new Guinness World Record during the end-of-year party and picnic by collecting in one spot the most stuffed tigers ever. All the stuffed animals will be donated to Texas Children’s Hospital, says organizer and school theater department chair Anne Yancey.

“We hope to set a world record. We are asking people to bring us their stuffed tigers. We’ll find a place to store them between now and then,” she said.

Event planners worked hard last spring to develop a plan that includes open and ticketed events, highlights separate groups in the Spring Woods High family with each event, and directs dollars donated and ticket funds raised to a scholarship fund for the Class of 2014.

At Memorial Middle, meanwhile, organizers are still finalizing plans for the school anniversary. At this time, a special event or activity may highlight past principals and staff members. A time capsule from a previous class buried on the school grounds might be located and dug up, too.

Memorial Middle’s PTA plans to present the school with a bronze eagle for permanent display. A separate assembly may be conducted. Memorial Middle’s principal is Lisa Weir.

At Westwood Elementary, staff proudly wears t-shirts that proclaim: “Celebrating 50 Years of Learning.”

Westwood’s anniversary t-shirts and posters also state the following: “The past 50 years has taught us that our WWE family is built on the foundation that every minute is an excellent opportunity to learn about, with, and from each other.” School principal is Kay Kennard.

-- Read more top stories from SBISD in The School Zone

SWHS Debate Team Makes History at National Competition

At the National Debate Tournament of the National Forensic League held in Birmingham, Alabama, June 17th-21st, 2013. Spring Woods High School’s Debate team made history. Senior Waaris Mohammad placed 5th in Congressional Debate out of 270 in the nation. Spring Woods also qualified to be one of the top 20 schools in debate receiving School of Excellence Award. (source: www.nflonline.org)

A New Blog for Spring Woods High

Spring Woods High School is excited to launch a new blog featuring news and information for SWHS families.

We believe it's critical for you to be informed and up-to-date on important policies, upcoming events, campus information, and drivers of change within our district. Because of this belief, we're launching this news blog.

Our goal is to present you with the information you need to make informed decisions that benefit your student(s), and ensure he/she receives the best possible educational experience in Spring Branch.

We value your support and participation!

Our contributors are:

SWHS Webmaster, Candice Graham

SWHS Principal, Jennifer Parker

 

Reminder: Make sure to visit the SBISD Back to School website for information on the 2013-14 Academic Year. The first day of class in SBISD is Monday, Aug. 26.