CYPRESS CREEK EDUCATOR WINS TAJE’S INAUGURAL PATHFINDER AWARD

Hal Schmidt of Balfour Yearbooks congratulates Cypress Creek High School publications adviser Samantha Berry on winning the Pathfinder Award at the Texas Association of Journalism Educators (TAJE) Fall Fiesta on Oct. 18 in San Antonio.

Cypress Creek High School publications adviser Samantha Berry was named the winner of the Pathfinder Award at the Texas Association of Journalism Educators (TAJE) Fall Fiesta, held Oct. 17-18 at the Wyndham Riverwalk in San Antonio.

The award honors teachers who have taught no more than eight years and have shown a commitment to journalism education. The award is in its inaugural year and is presented to teachers who have continually tried to improve the publications/media they advise, and have shown enthusiasm for scholastic journalism and a willingness to improve it for the future. 

Berry, a 2014-2015 CFISD Spotlight Teacher, said she felt honored by the recognition.

“Texas is full of wonderful journalism teachers who mentor and inspire me daily, and I am truly honored to be recognized by this organization,” Berry said. “My greatest honor, however, is serving my students at Cy Creek. I share this award with them and my colleagues at CCHS and throughout CFISD as all motivate and encourage me to be the best educator I can be.”

ART STUDENT RECOGNIZED FOR CFPD ARTWORK

One of our Cypress Creek High School Students Jason Fischer was recognized for his CFPD artwork by Officers F. Brown, M. Levene & Chief Bragg!

CY CREEK BAND PLACES 3RD IN LOCAL CONTEST

Marching bands from all 10 Cypress–Fairbanks ISD schools competed with great success at band competitions Oct. 3. Bands competed throughout the greater Houston Area in various events in Katy ISD, Galena Park ISD, Spring ISD and Conroe ISD.

“Our high school bands continue to perform at high levels. Traveling to other districts to compete with the great bands from the area and state allows our band programs to continue to grow and improve their productions,” said John Morrison, coordinator of secondary music for CFISD.

CFISD bands at the “USBands” Contest in Spring ISD performed with great success:

• the Cypress Springs band finished third in its enrollment classification;
• the Cypress Creek band finished third in its classification; and
• the Cypress Ridge HS band took home a second-place award in its enrollment classification. The Cypress Ridge band also won awards for Outstanding Color Guard and Outstanding Visual program.

The Cypress Falls High School marching band competed at the Bands of America Contest at Woodforest Bank Stadium in Conroe on Oct. 3, placing fifth overall.

Bands from Cy-Fair, Jersey Village, Cypress Falls and Langham Creek high schools performed in Conroe at the Bands of America Regional Championships. Thirty-one bands from the Austin, San Antonio and Dallas areas joined the other schools in Houston at the event. The Cypress Falls band finished the evening with a fifth-place overall performance.

The Cypress Woods and Cypress Lakes high school bands performed at the Katy ISD Marching Festival, while the Cypress Ranch HS band performed at the Galena Park Marching Festival. 

Cypress Ranch earned a first-place finish at its event in Galena Park ISD.

“Our students have been working hard at every rehearsal!  We have only had great rehearsals and the leaders are absolutely leading by example,” said Russell Holcombe, Cypress Ranch band director. “It was a very solid performance and it was great to see the kids rewarded for their hard work and dedication.”

District bands will continue their march to UIL this weekend at contests held in Lamar-Consolidated ISD and at the “Battle at the Berry” at the Berry Center.

The Cypress Ranch marching band drum majors (L-R) Saydie French, junior; Alex Williamson, senior; Canyon Evenson, senior; and Courtney Coe, junior; display the first-place award from the Galena Park ISD Marching Festival on Oct. 3.

CYPRESS CREEK STUDENTS TO PERFORM PLAY TARGETING SUICIDE PREVENTION

Cypress Creek High School students (L-R) Ally Fleischhauer, Rose Lindauer, David Wells and Max Bryan hold lines from The Bright Blue Mailbox Suicide Note, a student-directed play about teens and suicide.

Sept. 30, 2015—Cypress Creek High School theatre students have partnered with local organizations to produce an upcoming production on suicide awareness for the community.

Seniors Kaci Jackson and Samantha Sandacz are directing The Bright Blue Mailbox Suicide Note, a play about teens and suicide. According to Cypress Creek theatre teacher Michelle Smith, the students set out to find a play that would make a positive impact in the community. They partnered with Crisis Intervention Houston and Kindness Matters to understand the topic and support their cause.

Cypress Creek students (L-R) Zuymar Bolivar, Cody Brockermeyer, Autumn Shelton and Joseph Concha display lines of dialogue fromThe Bright Blue Mailbox Suicide Note, a student-directed play about teens and suicide.
 

The student-directed show will take stage in the Cypress Creek High School theater (9815 Grant Road) on Oct. 7 at 3 p.m. and Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. with a presentation about suicide prevention and support from Cypress Creek counselors. Admission is $4, and proceeds will go toward suicide prevention. The play is also slated to appear at Texas State Thespians in December.

Varsity Tennis rolls over Cy Lakes

The Varsity Tennis Team rolled over Cy-Lakes Tuesday night winning 16-3.

Those who won matches include:

Hanna Flinn, Vy Tran, Rakelmarie Hernandez, Sarah Halpin, Sierra Steele, Claudia Medanic, Lydia Mireles, Mario Martinez, Mark Campbell, Roy Kim, Varun Prince, Christian Ngo and Raymond Garza.

The Varsity Tennis Team plays Langham Creek at home tomorrow (Friday) after school and Cy-Springs away next Tuesday after school.