Friday, August 28, 2015

Ms. Windham Wins Classroom Makeover

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Cypress Creek High School teacher Sandra Windham, second from left, accepts her CFFCU Extreme Makeover – Classroom Edition contest winnings from (L-R) Alice Wimberly, CFFCU chairman of the board; Cameron Dickey, CFFCU president and CEO; and Valarie Brittain, CFFCU vice president of human resources.

Three CFISD teachers were recently named winners in the Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union (CFFCU) ninth annual Extreme Classroom Makeover Essay Contest.

In the contest, teachers from all grade levels submitted essays explaining why they were most deserving of the $500 grand prize to help them create an ideal learning environment for their students.
The winners are Elisa Rea from Jowell Elementary School, Joan Pearson from Hamilton Middle School and Sandra Windham from Cypress Creek High School.
The teachers received their prize money at the Cy-Fair FCU’s Jones Road Branch on Aug. 14. President and CEO Cameron Dickey, Chairman of the Board Alice Wimberly and Vice President of Human Resources Valarie Brittain, who oversees the Community Advisory Committee, were on hand to congratulate the winners.
Rea, a prekindergarten teacher at Jowell, used the funds to purchase a bright and inviting carpet with colorful squares for each student to sit in. She also installed a new carpet in her block center with neighborhood scenery, city roads and highways, and installed supply cubbies to hold literacy materials and other school supplies.
“I am so grateful to Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union for providing this award,” Rea said. “Their generosity has made the classroom a brighter place for our students.”
Pearson, a sixth-grade language arts and reading teacher, transformed her classroom into a “writing press club” with high-interest books in the classroom library, reading incentives, motivational posters, reading lamps and new book shelving and baskets, as well as a plentiful and organized toolbox of writing equipment and organizers.
“I was incredibly excited to learn I had won the middle school classroom makeover contest,” Pearson said. “I feel incredibly honored and appreciative knowing my classroom environment is enhancing learning, helping our students transition smoothly to middle school and afforded me an opportunity to give to future students as well. I am extremely grateful Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union has partnered with our community and values our teachers.”
Windham, a READ 180 and dyslexia teacher at Cypress Creek, is using the money to create an environment where her readers will feel comfortable sitting down with a good book. She purchased several high-interest books and filled bookshelves with novels, magazine and nonfiction reading material.
“My students love the many book choices they have and the comfortable, homey atmosphere,” Windham said. “There is nothing better than seeing students engaged and captivated by the feeling they get from a good book, especially those who have struggled with reading their whole lives. This brings to mind a favorite quote from Margaret Fuller, ‘Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.’

See the makeover on youtube

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

CY CREEK EARNS ACCOUNTABILITY DISTINCTIONS

Distinction designations are awarded to campuses based on achievement in performance indicators relative to a group of 40 campuses of similar type, size and student demographics. Distinction designations earned by Cy Creek High School were:
  • Academic Achievement in Reading/English Language Arts;
  • Academic Achievement in Mathematics;
  • Academic Achievement in Science;
  • Academic Achievement in Social Studies;
  • Top 25 Percent: Student Progress;
  • Top 25 Percent: Closing Performance Gaps



Monday, August 24, 2015

EDUCATOR, STUDENT REFLECT ON LEARNING EXPERIENCE AS JASON ARGONAUTS


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Arnold Middle School teacher Adam Schmidtendorff, left, and Cypress Creek High School freshman Elaine Pham were among a select group of JASON Argonauts who traveled to the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) on the island of Eleuthera in The Bahamas in July 2015. (Photo courtesy Patrick Shea/JASON)
Aug. 10, 2015—A CFISD student and educator recently returned from the trip of a lifetime as Student and Educator Argonauts for a scientific expedition this summer through Chevron’s JASON Learning program.
Cypress Creek High School incoming freshman Elaine Pham and Arnold Middle School seventh- and eighth-grade science teacherAdam Schmidtendorff were among a select group of Argonauts who traveled to the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) on the island of Eleuthera in The Bahamas in July 2015.
While there, they participated in an intensive hands-on research experience with resident and visiting scientists engaged in a diversity of marine science projects. The Argonauts spent their days on exciting outdoor excursions such as cliff jumping into the Atlantic, joining interactive field educational lessons, exploring the wide range of the island’s scenic bodies of water and documenting their experience on blogs and social media for other students in the community to follow.
“My favorite experience was jumping into waist-deep water with sharks to hold the boat,” Schmidtendorff said. “With them at times in arm’s reach as they swam around was a rush and educational at the same time.”
Schmidtendorff said that he and Pham both gained a better understanding of who is conducting new research in the field.
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Arnold teacher Adam Schmidtendorff and Cypress Creek student Elaine Pham examine a sea creature during their Chevron-sponsored research trip to The Bahamas. (Photo courtesy Patrick Shea/JASON)
“The biggest thing both I and Elaine noticed about the researchers was their age, with most of them in their early 20s,” Schmidtendorff said. “Students think you have to be old, have a Ph.D. and work for a university. Seeing this brought home the reality to students that what they were doing for a week they could be doing in a few years as a job they love for a lifetime.”
Pham, who called the trip the “best time of [her] life,” said she gained new perspectives about STEM education.
“STEM does not mean just doctors or computer specialists—it describes every job, because everything involves science, technology, engineering and math in one way or another,” she said. “In the short week spent with my fellow JASON Argos, I’ve learned and experienced so much compared to an ordinary classroom—including sustainability, preservation and punctuality. The Argo group I traveled with was as close to me as family. I’ll definitely make sure to continue my practices and share the wealth of knowledge I’ve learned there with many others in the future!”
Eleven teams of student and teacher Argos from the Houston area joined JASON Learning as part of a collaborative public-private partnership underwritten by Chevron looking to help the metropolitan community develop a sustainable and systematic solution to the need for high-quality effective science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
The JASON curriculum was unveiled in CFISD beginning in 2013-2014, the result of a nearly $250,000 grant from Chevron.
“Chevron's partnership with the JASON Learning is an extension of our overall commitment to supporting STEM education in public schools,” said Joni Baird, Chevron public affairs manager. “A major focus of Chevron’s education initiative is getting students, parents and teachers excited about STEM by applying real-world applications, such as JASON’s National Argonaut program. A strong STEM education is critical to U.S. global competitiveness, to our ability to create good jobs and to our overall economic growth of our community.”
The Argonaut adventure will offer continued learning activities for the CFISD student and educator in the classroom.
“This experience brings home the fact that science is in reach for all students from small-scale aquaculture labs that can be set up in the classroom to touch tanks provided by our Science Resource Center,” Schmidtendorff said. “As I talk about my adventure, lessons are developed, and additional teachers and students will have the opportunity to become Jason Argo alumni. This could dynamically change how science is approached in Cy-Fair.”
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The Argonauts’ research trip to The Bahamas was both educational and fun, as evidenced by Elaine Pham’s leap into the water. (Photo courtesy Patrick Shea/JASON)

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

PACE Plus students particpate in LIFE program

Our Pace Plus kids were a part of a program called Ambassadors of Compassion which is a program brought to us by Nathan Allen, the leader of AOC in the Houston Area.   The program involved weekly coaches lessons from their journals given to students every Wednesday during 1st period by Mr. Fisher (AOC trained coach) and Mr. Buley (teacher).  The program taught the students about L.I.F.E.  which stands for Labor, Influence, Forgiveness, and Experiences.  Only two other campuses participated in this pilot program which were Jersey Village, and Cy Springs.  This program lasted four months with a service project at the end that resulted in the students fixing up the picnic area by the small commons.  The kids did a great job and were congratulated this last Friday by certificates of completion along with two local celebrities visiting who were Dennis Rodgers and Reggie Johnson.  Here you will find the pictures of Fridays events.  Two of the students also had their parents join in on the fun.

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VOTE!! Former Cy Creek Athlete in running for Texas Field Athlete of the Year.

Former student Meia Gordon is running for Texas Female Field Athlete of the year.   Please go to the following link and vote for Meia. Last year, as a senior, Meia won first place in both the shot put and discus events at the State Meet.

http://tx.milesplit.com/articles/160063-vote-now