Points of Pride  2006-2007

Academics

• Eleven Lamar CISD seventh-grade students have been recognized by the Duke Talent Identification Program for their scores on either the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT). Briscoe Junior High’s Stephanie Tsai achieved Grand Recognition status.

• Two Terry HS students completed the final components of a series of six components of the Microsoft Office Specialists exam.  They are now given the distinction of being Master Microsoft Office Specialists.  Foster HS Junior, Cara Clark, became the first student to achieve a Microsoft Office Specialist Master Certification.

• Executive Director of Secondary Education, Erasmo Teran, was among 400 U.S. educators who traveled to China for a one-week educational tour to learn about the Chinese cultured and language in an effort to build and expand Chinese language programs in U.S. schools.

• Jackson elementary was selected as the Texas School of the Year by the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project Board.

• Foster HS graduate Matthew Madeiro who received a Merit Scholarship from the University of Oklahoma and was the 2006 Salutatorian is pursuing a career in screenplay writing. 

• Students Danielle Petrosweicz and Kelsey Whileyman from Austin Elementary and Briscoe Junior High student, Lauren Banowsky and Lamar Junior High student,  Keven Esswein are participating in Education in Action’s summer 2007 the Lone Star Leadership Academy Program.

• Twenty-two Lamar CISD campuses garnered 67 Gold Performance Acknowledgements from the Texas Education Agency for outstanding performance in the 2005-2006 school year.

• Dickinson Elementary, Lamar Junior High, George Junior High and Foster High School made the list of Texas Monthly’s “top public schools” published in the December edition of the magazine. 

• Ray Elementary received a $900 grant form the Houston CPA Society to implement a math facts program.

• Two Lamar CISD students have been named as National Merit Honor Scholarship semi-finalists.  

• Foster High Schools Mark Flanagan won a 2007 National Achievement Scholarship.  The scholarship honors high academic performance and outstanding scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

• Scholarship Totals for each graduating class of the three LCISD high schools are as follows: Lamar Consolidated HS- $ 2,033,979, Foster HS- $ 1,809,670, and Terry HS- $ 714,264

• Wessendorff Middle School was first place in the District UIL Academic Meet.

• Lamar CISD- Project Learn was one of the 25 programs to receive the second annual RIF (Reading is Fundamental) Program Excellence Honors 2007, sponsored by MetLife Foundation.

• Twelve fourth grade students and thirteen fifth grade students from Beasley Elementary School were Duke University qualifiers.

• The College Board has honored 16 current or former students at Terry High School and 11 students at Lamar Consolidated HS with 2006 Advanced Placement (AP) Awards.

• Five LCISD students have been selected by the 2006-2007 National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP) as Hispanic scholars.

• Both Foster HS and Lamar CHS yearbooks, The Talon and The Lamar received the Achievement award and Foster’s newspaper, The Flyer received the Distinguished Merit award by University Interscholastic League.

• Fifty students earned high school diplomas  at 1621 Place.

Faculty Staff

• Lamar CISD staff rose over $24,000 for the United Way of the Gulf Coast during their annual fundraising campaign.  This was a 29% increase from last year. 

• Lamar CISD Athletic Director, Fletcher Walker, was selected by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association for its 2007 Faculty

• Lamar CISD’s Sue Hand was elected to the Executive Board of the Texas Educational Support Staff Association (TESA).

• Gloria Garcia, a social worker at Smith Elementary has been named the Texas School Social Worker of the Year at the 2007 Texas School Social Work Conference.

• Terry High School head football coach and Campus Coordinator, Tim Teykl, was inducted into the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association’s “Ronnie Bell Hall of Honor”.   Teykl also received the Tom Landry Award for 2007 by the Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA).

• Lamar CISD Superintendent, Dr. Thomas Randle has been selected as President of the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA).

• Lamar Consolidated High School’s, Lydell Wilson was named as 2006 Coach of the Year by the Houston Touchdown Club.

• Lamar CISD’s Carolyn Meeks was sworn in as Vice –President for Member Benefits/Member Services for the Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education (TCASE).  Meeks was also chosen as president-elect for the Gulf Coast Administrators of Special Education. 

• Terry High School’s Patty Stupka was named as 2005-2006 Teacher of the Year by the Houston CPA Society’s Helping Schools Committee. 

• Jane Long Elementary teacher Debbie Hubenak, was honored by the Region IV Service Center as on of the five finalists for the Regional Teacher of the Year festivities at the Westin Oaks Galleria in Houston. 

• The awards given at the Lamar Classroom Teachers Association’s annual banquet were: Lamar CISD Elementary Paraprofessional of the Year Mindy Brown of Smith Elementary; Elementary Teacher of the Year Becky Davang of Frost Elementary; Secondary Paraprofessional of the Year Sandra Wagner of Wessendorff Middle School; and Secondary Teacher of the Year Robin Wilborn, also of Wessendorff Middle School.

• LCHS Head Swim Coach Toni Schramme was named District and Regional Coach of the Year for the 2006-2007 season for the Lamar Boys Swim Team.

• Lamar CISD’s Christy Willman was installed as the president of the Texas School Public Relations Association.

• Foster High School Principal Gene Thomas and Bowie Elementary Principal Rick Amick were chosen by their peers as the 2007 Principals of the Year for Lamar CISD.

• Steve Hickman of LCISD’s Technology Department was presented the Outstanding Commitment to TxDLA-Institution Award.

• Karen Mitchell was honored as the Gulf Coast Area 22 Coach of the Year.  She is the coach for the LCISD Renegades.

• Leigh Ann Blair, Wessendorff Science Teacher, was one of 10 teachers from the Houston area to be selected as the Houston Rocket’s Teacher of the Game sponsor by Devin Energy.

• Terry Lindsay, a Career and Technology teacher at Lamar Consolidated HS received a T.E.A.M. (Together Everyone Achieves More!) award at the Trade and Industrial Winter Conference.

• Three Lamar CISD teachers were named semi-finalists in the HEB Grocery Stores annual Excellence in Education Awards.

• BP, a global energy provider, recently announced Gloria Garcia of Smith Elementary as one of the winners of the 2007 A+ for Energy Program.

• Two Lamar CISD elementary teachers were honored by local Wal-Mart stores as their Teachers of the Year, Hutchison’s Ruth Gunnerson and Campbell’s Pam Brown.

• Taylor Ray Elementary Principal Diane Parks was named Texas’ 2007 National Distinguished Principal.

Community Service

• LEAF awarded more than $150,000 to 27 LCISD campuses to fund innovative learning projects and/or class materials.  LEAF has invested more than a half million dollars into LCISD schools. 

• Foster HS cheerleaders presented a check for $3,000 to the MD Anderson Caner Center given in honor of Foster HS and Foster tennis coach and English teacher, Benjie Major, who is in remission form Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. 

• Briscoe Jr. High rose over $900 for the Texas Gulf Coast Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. 

• 3,932 parents and community members volunteered in LCISD for total of 66,249.25 hours.

• Beasley Elementary students collected $3,760.50 for the American Heart Association during Jump Rope for Heart and collected $1,420.21 for a young cancer victim during their “Pennies for PJ” campaign.

• Frost Elementary’s Brownie Troop #3966 delivered hand-tied fleece blankets to the children at M. D. Anderson Caner Center.  The troop used their money from selling Girl Scout Cookies to purchase the materials for the blankets. 

• An automated performance review by the Texas Education Agency shows that project LEARN’s Adult English Literacy and Civics Education program is near perfect scoring it a 9 out of a possible 10. 

• Twelve members of the Ray Elementary staff took part in the Race for the Cure benefiting cancer research, treatment education and testing. 

• Dickinson staff members participated in “Passionately Pink for the Cure” raising $506 benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  The staff participated in the fund-raiser in honor of current and past faculty breast cancer survivors. 

• The YIP students at B.F Terry High School earned top honors by receiving The Excellence in Community Service Award.  In addition, Foster High School YIP students earned an Innovative Excellence Award for their work with the Fort Bend County Libraries.  And Lamar Consolidated High School YIP students received a Distinguished Community Service Award to help prevent child abuse.

• The Lamar Educational Awards Foundation awarded $3,500 in college scholarships to graduating senior and Lamar CISD employees.

• Meyer Elementary School raised $2,500 from their Diabetes Walk and $3,000 for Jump Rope for Heart.

• Dickinson Elementary participated and donated money to many organizations ranging from donating $654.65 to Heavenly Hats, $150 to American Cancer Society, raising $450 to purchase new books for the Texas Children’s Hospital Library, to donated toiletries to Common Threads and can goods to Fort Bend Food Pantry.

• Common Threads served 1,377 students in 2006-2007 and received $8,025.00 in donations.

• Frost Elementary raised $9,000 for Diabetes Awareness and $5,800 for Michael Payavla, a 2^nd grade cancer patient.

• Jackson Elementary successfully collected over 1,000 items to send to our soldiers in Iraq while participating in the “Support our Soldiers Care Package Drive”

• The Hutchison Elementary PTA dedicated new playground equipment helping the Hornets build strong bodies, as well as minds.  The PTA raised more than $28,000 for the new equipment.

• Melissa Gremmels’ 1^st-grade class at Meyer has read 100 books this year.  By tracking and reporting their results to the Scholastic Book Club, they donate 100 books to kids in need through literacy partners.

• Lamar Consolidated High School’s Kyle Esswein was recognized for serving his school and community at the Education in Action’s Texas Independence Day Recognition Ceremony at the League City Intermediate School for his project- The Bird Stop.

• The Community Relations Department of LCISD received one Best of Category, nine Gold Stars and five Silver Stars during the 2007 Star Awards Banquet at the TSPRA conference.  LCISD’s “A New View” was named best Internal Newsletter.

Extracurricular

• Five members of the Terry High School Future Farmers of America received the Lone Star Farmers Degree at the state FFA convention in Fort Worth. 

• Lamar Consolidated High School seniors, Levar Brown and Jarvis Jones were nominated to play in the Army All American Game in San Antonio. 

• Students at Foster High School brought home the top two prizes at this past year’s Fort Bend County Fair School Art Auction. 

• Terry High School Choir made school history with their UIL State performances bringing home 22 medals and an outstanding performance award. 

• Both Lamar CHS and Foster HS sent 2 athletes to the State Tennis Tournament.  Lamar’s CJ Esquivel and Chan Rutherford went in Mixed Doubles and Foster’s Theodore Case and Matt Allen went in Boys Doubles.

• Pink Elementary’s Carol Green organized and developed an after school Intramural Football Program in cooperation with the director of the T.W. Davis YMCA.

• Foster High School’s DECA Chapter was named as Superstar Chapter for the year.

• The U.S Department of Education has named Stephen F. Austin Elementary School a 2006 No Child Left Behind- Blue Ribbon School for its continuing excellence in education.

• Six Lamar CISD HS students brought in a total of $185,000 at the 2007 Houston Livestock and Rodeo Art Show auction. 

• The Lamar CISD Renegades three-peated as State Softball Champions

• Three LCISD students made All State Band

• Three LCISD students made All State Choir

• Velasquez received “The Creative Communication’s Poetic Achievement Award”.  This award is given to schools that have over 50% of their entries selected to be published.  Only 10% of the schools who enter receive this honor.

• All three Lamar CISD volleyball teams earned District, Regional and State honors.  The three squad’s efforts ended in a full slate of post-season honors including Coach of the Year, Foster HS and Foster Senior, Blair Gerken was given Most Valuable Player honors by the District.   Elizabeth Ives of Terry HS was District Newcomer of the Year and teammate Mandie Moore was Offensive Player of the Year.  A total of 16 Terry volleyball players and 7 Lamar Consolidated players made the Academic All-District team.

• Three Lamar Consolidated HS students swept the top three spots in the local Voice of Democracy Audio Essay Contest.  A combined total of $1200 in scholarship money was given to the three winners. 

• Ten Lamar CISD campuses receive Gold Performance recognitions for attendance by the Texas Education Agency. 

• The Lamar Mustangs football team was ranked 5^th in the AP State rankings and 1^st in the Greater Houston Area 4A rankings.  They were the undefeated district champions of 24-4A, Regional champions and moved to the state semi-finals in the UIL playoffs.

• The Lamar Junior High Honors Band performed the world premiere of “Battle Cry of Freedom” which was dedicated and written especially for this band by Composer Elliott Del Borgo.  With the help of grants from Lamar Educations Awards Foundation, this was all possible.

• Taylor Ray’s student council raised $1,500 for playground equipment.

• Velasquez Elementary School was recognized as Rookie School of the year by Jump Rope for Heart.

• Lamar Consolidated High School had three students advance to state for Speech and Debate, with Abbey Niezgoda placing 3^rd at state.

• Bowie Elementary School has been named a Distinguished Performance School by the Texas Education Agency’s No Child Left Behind Coordination Program. 

• Football players honored by being selected to the TSWA Class 4A All-State Team were Jarvis Jones- LCHS: First Team Offense, Jacquizz Rodgers- LCHS: 2^nd Team Offense, Anthony Brown- THS: 2^nd Team Defense, and Sule Osadiede- LCHS: 3^rd Team Defense.

• The Wessendorff Band achieved a 1^st place trophy at the Katy Klassic.

• Lamar Junior High’s Chukwuemeka Iguh has been chosen to participate in the Texas Choral Directors Association’s All State Middle School and Junior High Classic.

• Williams Elementary was awarded the Lowe’s Toolbox for Education Grant in the amount of $5000 to be used toward new playground equipment.

• Lamar CISD swim programs did outstanding this year with Lamar having 10 state qualifiers.  Lamar boys won District and Regional Championships and placed 5^th at the State Meet to come home with another pennant. The boys swim team is ranked Top 25 Nationally in Dual.  Lamar girls placed 17^th at the state meet.  Foster girls had 5 state qualifiers and placed 12^th at the state meet.

• Christine Tucker of Terry High School was selected as an Outstanding Performer at the 2007 Texas State Solo-Ensemble Vocal Solo Contest by the University Interscholastic League.

• A team from Lamar Junior High School took first place at the University of Houston with their robot designed to explore the surface of Mars.

• The Help One Student to Succeed (H.O.S.T.S) program at Austin Elementary has been recognized as one of the 50 premier programs in the nation by H.O.S.T.S Learning with the Mentoring and Intervention Best Practices Award.

• Foster student Christine Tsai performed at Carnegie Hall in New York.  The concert was a Winner’s Recital of the 7^th Sonatina and Sonata International Youth Piano Competition.

• Lamar CHS Speech and Debated team won 1^st place sweepstakes at the Katy Taylor Invitational Tournament. 

• Navarro Middle School became LCISD’s first No Place for Hate School.

• Foster HS placed 8^th and Terry HS placed 18^th at state for Academic Decathlon.

• Terry High School’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) had seven students advance to state.

• Lamar Consolidated HS student Abbey Niezgoda finished second overall in the National Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament, the largest event in the nation.  She was the only Texan to make it to the national tournament.

• Grant Hruzek, a Junior FFA member from Meyer Elementary, was the Grand Champion in Pullets and Reserve Champion of the Show in Houston.