Ceremony Photos | April 2008

Managing and Communicating District Finance

The following group of employees worked together to develop the district’s Budget Book: Mary Alex, Steve Bassett, Deb Caldwell, Jeff Coats, Jerry Comalander, Barbara Dielmann, Vincent Gardner, Stella Gonzales, Chyla Hernandez, Susie Lackorn, Cissy Morris, Brian Moy, Dee Parchman, Thomas Ramos, Shanna Ramzinski, Cynthia Salazar and Diana Schumacher. (Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4)

Through this group’s effort, the 2007-2008 Budget Book received the "Distinguished Budget Presentation Award" by the Government Financial Officers Association. Earning this award is another way we can demonstrate our efforts to manage the finances of the district, and to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. Our rating for this book are higher than they have ever been.

Event Planning

Events take extensive time, effort and planning to be successful. The next three groups to be recognized all worked hard to develop great events to enhance the education of our students.

Event Planning - Eagle Fest 2008

Julie Buchanan, Larry Chavez, Mona Churchwell, Anne Kadrie, Michael Morgan and Therese Santoro formed the Eagle Fest Committee and brought the dream of a community carnival alive. This event was a first of its kind for Ed White Middle School. The committee brought numerous community entities to Eagle Fest, including the fire department, blood mobile and a karate demonstration.

Event Planning - Relay For Life:

In attempt to raise money to fight against cancer, a group of volunteers and staff members joined the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, a 12-hour walk-a-thon, hosted at Harris Middle School.

With 27 teams and 26 survivors leading the opening lap, the committee was successful in hosting the event that raised more than $41,000.
(Photos: 1 | 2 | 3)

Event Planning - Tejeda’s annual History Faire

On Saturday, April 5, 2008, Tejeda Middle School hosted its Seventh Annual History Faire and Culture Fest, which was organized by Sandi Guenther, Randy Guzman and Lance Wittlif.

Randy started planning this event the week after last year’s faire. With the need of tremendous time and effort to plan, Sandi and Lance worked closely with Randy to develop this project.

The faire included hands-on activities for everyone, Buffalo Soldiers and even Medieval fighters.

Lending an extra hand

Often, staff members step beyond their day-to-day job to help a fellow employee, school or department complete a project. The following individuals were recognized: Cheryl Hiester, Jimmy O'Halligan, Victor Garcia and Eric Stevens.

In addition to being an instructional assistant at Hidden Forest Elementary School, Cheryl is also certified to teach. She often helps the kindergarten team by teaching their Reading Acceleration Program groups for them each day.

When the health conditions of a beloved teacher at Redland Oaks Elementary School suddenly reached the limits of medicine, the school honored her as Teacher of the Year. To help, Victor, Jimmy and Eric of Media Productions were recruited to develop a DVD to capture the deep appreciation of this teacher’s impact on the school.

A short time later, the school learned that the teacher’s condition worsened and there was not enough time to wait for a polished DVD presentation. In response, Media Productions staff members spent the evening finishing the presentation and delivered it the next day so that this teacher would have the opportunity to view the DVD.

Dedication

Dedication of our staff is what makes this district a success.

Cloma Harvey has always exemplified exceptional customer service, support and loyalty to the Finance Department and to North East as a whole. On her own initiative, Cloma is always ready and willing to take on additional tasks when other key staff are out of the office.

Belinda Horton, the Campus Network Coordinator for Bradley Middle School, works diligently to help teachers and students. In addition to teaching two Video Technology / Multimedia classes, Belinda spends hours helping students develop campus productions. She also assists teachers in planning and presenting lessons that include technology, and provides after school training.

Denise Bird serves as Department Chair at Harris Middle School and is one of two District Master Mentors to middle school social studies teachers. On February 7, Denise was named American History Teacher of the Year by the San Antonio de Bexar chapter of the Daughter’s of the American Revolution. Denise brings her love of American history and the ideals of the Founding Fathers to her students every day.

Shelby Bordelon, Lori Murach and Cheryl Mutz gave up a Saturday to help Harris Middle School students at the Math Survivor Day on February 9. In addition to helping set up, the three spent the day circulating among the student teams, coaching and questioning, and giving hints. They helped students work together to devise answers to difficult math questions.

As sponsor of the Harris Middle School Spanish Club, Olga Candelaria and her students are actively involved in different activities to support the campus and community. Olga helped organize the Hispanic Heritage Month activities, Thanksgiving food drive, Holiday Mail Program, collection drive for the Children’s shelter and Valentine’s Mail Program. In addition to these activities, Olga also maintains an information display about Spanish events in San Antonio.

Lynne Balbert, a Gifted and Talented program teacher at Hidden Forest Elementary School, is truly dedicated to her school and fellow teachers. She provides staff development to teachers in differentiated instruction. In addition to sponsoring the Geography Bee, she is planning a Geography Club next year.

Diana Bennett has a long-standing history of excellence with the North East family. In her role as Human Resources Coordinator, she works with principals and representatives of more than 20 colleges to place student teachers. Through new employee orientations, she is the first person to welcome new employees to the district. Diana is also responsible for the Teacher of the Year reception, which becomes more spectacular every year.

Nelly Arreaga, a Bilingual Assistant at Jackson-Keller Elementary School, helps her school in many ways. She assists with afternoon traffic, which has improved morale among parents picking up their children. To help with the schools TAKS parent night, Nelly decorated the cafeteria with a rodeo theme. She created TAKS "Wanted" posters of all third, fourth and fifth grade teachers.

Lauren Saathoff is in her fourth year of teaching at Reagan High School, and continually goes above and beyond the call of duty. She helps with summer credit recovery and the Reagan Success Academy. She also tutors students every morning and afternoon and sponsors the Underclassmen Honor Society, which includes planning the annual induction ceremony.

Cindy Ford, the Family Specialist at Ridgeview Elementary School, has gone over and above her job. Recently, she planned and coordinated a community beautification day. For this event, she recruited the Airport Rotary Club and a landscaping company who donated plants and trees for the school’s front lawn. Cindy also devotes much of her time to the school’s Iranian families. She visits them at their homes to help their children, writes articles about them for North East publications, and conducts parenting meetings to better communicate with them.

Nancy Brischke has been supporting students in North East for the past 24 years. As the Assistant Director for School Improvement overseeing the reading program, Nancy visits classrooms across the district. She works to ensure that we maintain high expectations for students. Many teachers and administrators in the district value her knowledge and wisdom and consider her a mentor in regards to reading and literacy.

Bertha Ramirez, a Pre-Kinder Assistant at Serna Elementary School, helps with Core Night, Young Masters and Safety Patrol in addition to all of her other classroom duties. When faced with new projects, she always comes up with creative ideas, such as developing 35 pattern-specific shape mobiles to hang from the ceiling during Core Night.

As the UIL Academic Coordinator at Tejeda Middle School, Lynn Bodet works directly with nine other coaches and about 95 students in 10 different subject areas. This all starts in early fall to prepare for the competitions throughout the year. The morning, afternoon and Saturday practices paid off. On February 23, the UIL team brought home a first place Sweepstakes Trophy. On March 1 they brought home a third place Sweepstakes trophy.

Karen East, the Reagan High School nurse, recently received the distinction of Certified Pediatric Nurse. This certification comes after 30 years of experience in pediatric and adolescent nursing. Karen is always willing to accept any professional challenge. Her desire to complete this process is evident by her dedication to provide only the highest quality of nursing care.

Gilbert Contreras, a custodian at Wood Middle School, works hard to keep the campus well maintained. Recently, Wood was audited by TEA. The auditor requested prior year student discipline records. Assistant Principal James Barton along with Gilbert went to the storage to access the files. Gilbert took it upon himself to thoroughly go through the files to find four student folders the auditor requested. Gilbert never hesitates to work side-by-side with administration, assisting in every area.

(Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6)

Generosity

Through the generosity of others, great ideas and projects can be developed.

David Palacios, an H-E-B employee and his wife Diana Palacios, the Camelot Elementary School Reading Specialist, have donated food items for PTA meetings and the annual Fall Festival. Also, their yearly donations of more than 200 hotdogs have helped the fourth grade classes earn money for their annual trip to Austin. The money earned by selling the hotdogs and snacks enables the students to have a chartered bus, lunch and food provided to them for their Austin field trip.

Customer Service

All employees are ambassadors—voices—for North East. Whether in the classroom, the bus, the athletic field or the office … quality customer service from staff is greatly appreciated.

Mary Lampe, a Technology Specialist, exemplifies great pride in her work and exceptional customer service. She is always ready and willing to assist staff when needed, to take on new technology challenges, and learn new techniques.

Mary Lopez, a bus driver with a Fox Run Elementary School route, works hard to instill great relationships with the students on her bus. She greets them with a smile and is always encouraging them to be the best they can be. Her students clearly understand her expectations of them on the bus. She has even appointed students to serve as VIPs. These students sit right behind her and assist other students getting on or off the bus.

Regardless of the time of day, the pre-existing work load in front of her, or the depth and complexity of the translating request, Elsie Timoskevich always has a "can-do" attitude. As the District Translator, Elise is faced with requests and tasks coming across the district. Whether the document must go out to a campus in two hours or needs detailed vocabulary work, Elsie always complies with the requests with a smile on her face.

Trinity Prize Nominees

The Trinity Prize for Excellence in Teaching is to recognize and honor outstanding teachers in the greater San Antonio area. North East developed a committee to review the applications of 49 teachers across the district.

Trinity Prize applicants:

It took the committee members several hours to review all applications and decide who would represent North East. With such outstanding quality from each teacher, the decision was difficult.

While North East nominated Stone Oak Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Sue Kuentz for the 2007-2008 Trinity Prize for Excellence in Teaching, today we recognize all of you for your exceptional teaching skills and accomplishments.

(Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6)

Beyond the Classroom

The next three groups from West Avenue Elementary School have worked hard to provide education opportunities to their students beyond the classroom.

Beyond the Classroom — Early Dismissal Extravaganza

The following group of individuals created the Early Dismissal Extravaganza, which was attended by a quarter of the school:

Students were given opportunities to further explore math and science, as well as technology resources. As a result, kids were excited about staying after school to learn more.

(Photos: 1 | 2)

Beyond the Classroom — Writing Intervention

To help students become passionate about writing, Jessica Castaneda and Tracy Germer invite their students to meet on Saturdays at Barnes and Noble. The two teachers and their students became regulars. In fact, one Saturday, they were invited to present their writing as authors. Patrons were pleased with the new fourth grade writers and proud of their exceptional teachers.

Beyond the Classroom — West Avenue Weekend Explorers

Together, Angel Hernandez, Barbara Hooper, Lupe Mora and Anne Peters established the West Avenue Weekend Explorers for fourth-graders. The goal of this group is to link the lessons of the classroom to the real world. Many Saturdays were offered for students to work with Southwest Craft Center, the Rodeo and more. VIA Transit became the mode of transport that helped the students explore new environments.

Health & Safety

The health and safety of our students at North East is a top priority. We work hard to both prevent and manage situations where a student’s health may be in jeopardy.

Earlier this month, Bobby Norwood, Assistant Principal at Ed White Middle School, came across a student who bit off more than he could chew—literally. In attempt to quickly eat a hamburger before the bell rang, Alexeis Perez, a sixth-grader, instead found himself choking and unable to breathe. When Bobby saw the student, he quickly jumped to action and performed the Heimlich Maneuver. It took three attempts, but Bobby was able to clear the student’s airway. Alexeis now views Bobby as his hero. (Photo)

While working at Lee High School one afternoon, two students approached Paul Ogonowski, a North East maintenance worker. The students were desperate for help and Paul was the first person they found. They led him to a student who was lying on the steps and having difficulty breathing. Paul calmed the student and assured him they would get help. After assessing the situation, Paul ran to find an administrator and contact 911.

Sometimes we are the lending hand in a crisis situation, and sometimes we are right in the middle of the situation. Due to Lydia Snyder’s quick instincts while driving a bus filled with Driscoll Middle School students, she was able to divert a serious accident. In the morning of January 8, Lydia observed a vehicle sliding toward the bus. She brought the bus to a complete stop to lessen the impact. Lydia then remained calm and ensured the safety of all the students on the bus.

At North East, we take steps to protect our students’ health by providing tools and information to prevent harmful situations. Leah Whetstone, the MacArthur High School Assistant Cafeteria Manager, attended the Shattered Dreams program in the Spring of 2006. This was the beginning of her process to get involved and tell her story publicly. Fourteen years ago, Leah was involved in a drunk driving accident. Her step daughter heard another woman tell the story of her own daughter’s accident in her school auditorium, and realized the driver was her mother. Now, Leah and this woman work together to tell their stories at MacArthur. On January 23, they shared this personal tragedy with a crowd of students in the auditorium. North East ISD appreciates this great courage to share such a personal story in the hope of motivating others to make healthy choices. (Photo)

And finally, Ronald Ressman, Rich Cantrell, Jeanna Kubik and Heather Bradshaw worked together to bring a shade structure to the Longs Creek Elementary School playground. The structure allows all children of the community to reap the benefits of exercise while being protected from the dangers of the sun. Funding for the structure was made possible through a grant from the Shade Structure Program of the American Academy of Dermatology. This is truly a great and healthy asset to the Longs Creek community.

Counseling

Our Student Teacher Assistance Network, or STAN, Counselors provide an exceptional level of support to members of the North East Family.

STAN Counselors: Karla Bolton, Rolla Bradley, Leanne Burge, Elizabeth Fox, Jim Gabbard, Melissa Gonzalez and Cynthia Suarez.

These counselors respond to crises throughout the district. They serve a significant role by assisting all campuses with critical incidents that impact the entire school community. Some of their other services include: suicide prevention, drug and violence prevention services, Healthy Relationship development, parent outreach, and more.

STAN is celebrating its 20th year in North East, with a rich history of providing proactive counseling services.

Initiative

Initiative is the spark that ignites the many great projects and programs at North East.

Jennifer Bazajou and Anna Cardenas worked together to develop a service organization at Oak Grove Elementary School. Their result was the formation of Oak Grove’s Student Council. The council has been very involved in the school and is raising money by selling spirit items on Fridays. The council also participated in the MacArthur High School parade in October and won the spirit award at the pep rally.

Also at Oak Grove, Caroline Moody started an organization called the O Ambassadors Club. This club is affiliated with the Oprah Angel Network Organization. After Caroline submitted a proposal to the organization, she was then selected to begin the club. The purpose of the group is to raise funds for students in poverty-stricken countries. On March 1, the club hosted a community rummage sale, and raised $1,200 for children in East Asia.

Joseph Dungan organized an Engineering Day for all high schools. He recruited six professors from the University of Texas at Austin Engineering School to come to Madison High School and present to the participating students.

Lori Grimes took the district initiative with collegiate awareness and worked it into everyday life at Stone Oak Elementary School. She has petitioned hundreds of Universities for pennants, posters and paraphernalia to display around the school. Both computer labs are wallpapered with college pennants.

(Photo)

Kiz Mannheimer teaches Accounting and Business Leadership at Reagan High School. In addition, she sponsors the Future Business Leaders Association, the largest chapter in San Antonio. She established a scholarship fund by partnering with the Stone Oak Business Association. Kiz also coaches the UIL Accounting team, and has won district four out of the last five years. Kiz also organized and directed Reaganfest 2008, a community fun day that has become a Stone Oak tradition.

Innovation

North East welcomes innovative planning and developing to benefit the quality of education for students.

Christie Englisbee and Tiffany Zimmerman teamed to create an interdisciplinary unit where their students created a political calculator for general public use. The calculator takes your opinion on various topics and issues and match you with a candidate most compatible with your views. The project was completed in time for the Texas Primary.

Russell Claughton consistently strives to provide real world experiences for KSAT students. One example is the Team America Rocketry Challenge. Students have the opportunity to apply their knowledge of rocketry at a competition with students from across the nation. At last year’s challenge, NASA awarded funds and an invitation to participate in the Student Launch Initiative. Students will design and build a rocket that will carry an ozone sensor one mile high to measure ozone levels outside San Antonio and Huntsville, Alabama.

Making Connections

Making connections and building relationships with students and families greatly improves the quality of education.

These teachers from Longs Creek Elementary School are giving their time to go the extra mile with their students.

They all lead various clubs and groups at the school, providing opportunities to increase student pride and confidence. By making these connections and relationships, they have an impact: attendance, grades, classroom behavior and attitude.
(Photos: 1 | 2 | 3)

Reagan Beres, an AVID teacher at MacArthur High School, takes time to connect with each of her students. One parent recently sought Reagan out to help her son after hearing about her teaching style. This particular student had little or no motivation in his academics. After one afternoon with Reagan, this student transformed—he was inspired to better himself.

Crossing Borders

When developing curriculum and planning lessons, teachers pull information from various sources. For instance, they may refer to a colleague, workshop, university, or even another country.

The following individuals recently hosted mentor English teachers from Korea as part of the Fulbright Exchange Program sponsored by the East Asian Studies Program at Trinity University: Valerie Felger, Thomas Gates, Peggy Kondoff, Devon Lee, Sylvia Mendez, Roberta Saldana, Daniel Whitaker, Teresa Whitaker and Robert Langston

This intensive language program is designed to enhance English language studies in Korea, providing teachers exposure to Texas schools and methodology for teaching English as a second language.

PTA

PTA members devote countless volunteer hours to improving the lives of North East students. They work to provide school supplies, parties, teacher appreciation gifts, community events and more.

The North East Council of PTAs Officers: Susan Achterberg, Sandra Grist, Amanda Quintana, Pam Rivas, Joan Abbott, Sheri Doss, Lisa Kulgen, Colleen Moore, Angela Beierle and Dianna Major.

The Council officers display an exceptional performance on a daily basis to the local units of North East. They show leadership skills, provide training, solve problems and are dedicated to the betterment of each PTA.

Now, will the following North East PTA Presidents please come forward?

The PTA is the foundation of the North East volunteer program, and no community member affects the campus climate more than the PTA President. Through their support of the administration, teachers and other parents, our students prosper. These leaders generously give their time to assure that all North East students have the resources to succeed.

(Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5)

Volunteers

Alfred Alaniz, Professor of Astronomy at San Antonio College, has volunteered on numerous occasions to help with the Wetmore Elementary School Young Astronaut Club. Alfred has come to speak to the students, bringing slides, pictures and a wealth of knowledge to peak the students’ interest. Alfred also brought his telescope to the school for the campus’ Star Watch Party.

Terri Blackmon volunteers at Stahl Elementary School and can be found almost every day helping in the workroom. She also organizes parties and is always available to help when something is needed for the classrooms.

Vicky Colorado and Sol Santiago volunteer at Wilshire Elementary School and help the teachers on a daily basis with workroom projects. They both strive toward helping the students receive every opportunity to be a success.

Lou Corbitt, a local What-A-Burger manager, has made tremendous donations to Tejeda Middle School’s Honor Roll, Perfect Attendance and What-A-Job programs. On February 21, Lou worked with the PTA to conduct an appreciation luncheon for the faculty and staff. Everyone enjoyed the special treat.

Ricky Fink, a senior at Reagan High School, built an Oriental Garden as part of his Eagle Scout project for Tejeda’s History Hill. Ricky is a former T-Wolf who wanted to add to the Hill that he spent so much time working on throughout his middle school years.

Katy Gawlik also supports Tejeda. Katy chairs the PTA fundraising committee, which includes organizing the school’s Green Back Night, as well as the band enchilada dinner. Katy also managed the promotion and ticket sales of a January Spurs Game, assisted in the Winter Ball and coordinated the Spirit Committee.

Veronica Gamez, Aldelfa Munguia and Irma Trevino are all parent volunteers for Dellview Elementary School. For the past two years, they have all been PTA representatives, classroom volunteers and field trip chaperones. In addition, they are also project organizers. They help the family specialist organize a variety of events to promote college readiness, reading and academic achievement.

Mira Ginsburg brings art to Oak Meadow Elementary School. She developed a parent-led art program at the school, which gives each student the opportunity to delve into art on a bi-monthly basis. Mira recruited more than 20 parents to help lead the program.

Pat Wallis and Heather King tutor at Jackson-Keller Elementary School. Heather also organized the Community Wellness night at Hidden Forest Elementary School. For this night, she prepared healthy stir-fry recipes for those attending.

Also at Hidden Forest, Kathryn Kiyokawa tutors a non-English speaking student in French. The student has made such fantastic progress that she is now passing practice TAKS tests and benchmarks.

Dee Mendez devotes her time to Stahl Elementary School. She has assisted in various capacities and committees for the PTA, ad helps teachers with workroom projects, and organizes parties.

Chad and Rebecca Nissen volunteer at the Oak Grove Elementary School Attendance Store. They assist students in managing their money—from counting to make sure they have enough to buy items at the store, to calculating change, to saving money.

Dr. Paul Wiegand has been coming to Encino Park Elementary School for third grade dental screenings for the past 18 years. In addition, he is also the volunteer screening dentist at two other North East schools. He is a great success with the students due to his rapport and gentleness, as well as frequently singing to the children.

(Photos: 1 | 2 | 3)