News and notes from and about our family of Humble ISD Employees

Good stewards score big at conserving energy

Vol. 7 No. 3 Nov./Dec. 2008

From left are CenterPoint representative Cheryl Bowman,

energy manager John Conn, associate director of Maintenance and Opera-tions Tom Duffee and CLEAResult (SCORE) representative Fred Wu.

CenterPoint Energy awarded Humble ISD a check for more than $70,000 for energy efficiency projects imple-mented in 2008 through the Schools Conserving Resources (SCORE) Program. SCORE assists the district in focusing on using energy more efficiently.

Instrumental in getting the SCORE program imple-mented are director of Maintenance and Operations Kenny Kendrick, assistant director Tom Duffee, and energy man-ager John Conn.

Tom Duffee said that some of the goals of the district are to save money, improve energy efficiency and be good stewards to the environment.

“Humble ISD is blessed to have a dedicated energy management team that includes HVAC technicians and con-trols personnel that keeps all of our energy consuming equip-ment running and finely tuned. Through their effort we have seen a steady decline in energy consumption in our District and we know that this team will continue to do all that they can to keep the costs down while maintaining a comfortable learning environment. This team truly does live up to our Maintenance and Operations department’s motto of Support-ing Learning Through Service.”

The SCORE Program is a pilot program offered by CenterPoint Energy to select school districts. This program

January is School Board Recognition Month! Check page 2 for tips on honoring our Board of Trustees.

helps the district by facilitating a focused approach to using energy more efficiently. In order to earn SCORE incentives from CenterPoint, the program involved administrators at all levels in the decision-making process, from energy manage-ment and maintenance to finance and the superintendent’s office.

Humble ISD joined the SCORE Program in 2006. Since then, the district has increased its efforts to identify and implement energy saving measures. Thus far, Humble ISD has received more than $200,000 from CenterPoint for its efforts. High efficiency lighting, high efficiency chillers, pollution reducing boilers and temperature controls are just some of the measures that have been implemented in Humble ISD. CenterPoint Energy pays incentives at $185 per peak kilowatt of energy saved. The Public Utility Commission of Texas provides the mechanism for calculating energy savings achieved.

In recent years Humble ISD has added over one million square feet in new facilities, but has not increased the num-ber of maintenance employees, and will soon add more than 800,000 square feet in new facilities. It comes as no surprise, then, that Humble ISD has the highest ratio of square footage to number of maintenance employees of any Texas school district.

Think about how quickly our main-tenance staff responds when sent a report that, say, a room is cold, and you can begin to understand how efficiently our dedicated maintenance team operates!

Steve Winebaugh Marvin Watson

CelebrationsKingwood High School Special Education teacher Don

McAdoo and his wife, Arlene, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Nov. 1. They first met when Don was a very clever safety patrol guard in the ninth grade. At his school, girls and boys were separated during lunch, and he made sure that he pulled girls’ lunch duty as his station. He always stood patrol by the prettiest eighth grader in the school. They were married right after high school, during his freshman year in college.

KPHS AP secretary Teri Cooper announces that her daughter, Erin Cooper, was voted to the 2nd team All Conference Volleyball team and was named the KCAC Freshman of the Year. Erin is attending

Friends University in Wichita, Kansas on a volleyball schol-arship. She is a 2008 graduate of Kingwood High School.

Congratulations to Anne Blake, Maplebrook 4th grade teacher! She passed the National Board Certification for Teachers. We are all very proud of her. We have some very exciting news! Anne Blake has just been notified that she has passed the National Board Certification for Teachers!!! We are thrilled for her and very, very proud! She is one of very few in the United States that has passed this on the first attempt. Maplebrook is so proud of Anne!

Atascocita High School hosted the Region XIX High School Choir auditions on Nov. 10. Hundreds of high school students auditioned for a spot in All-Region Men’s Choir, All-Region Women’s Choir or All-Region Mixed Choir. At the end of the auditions, AHS students made up approxi-mately 25% of the All-Region Mixed Choir. Students in All-Region Mixed Choir will move on to the pre-area round of auditions. With the support and guidance of choir direc-tors Joe Weir, Carl Braden, and Kenneth Tice AHS Choir members are one step closer to STATE.

Kingwood High drama teacher Abbey McDonald announces her fa-ther, Lynn McDonald, will be inducted into the Hall of Honor at Texas State University. He is a coach at Clear

Lake HS, and has been a teacher of 33 years. He follows his father, Vernon “Motormouth” McDonald, who is also an inductee into the Hall of Honor. As a matter of fact, Abbey comes from a family of educators. Both of her parents, all four grandparents, and many of her cousins are following the family trade. Abbey says she tried to alter her course for about 6 months, but, ah, well…here she is!

Congratulations to Kingwood High science teacher Charles Bardwell, newly elected Huffman ISD School Board Member.

Congratulations to Timbers kindergarten teacher Marisa Maxey for completing the San Antonio Marathon in 4 hours 11 minutes.

Recognize your School Board!Here are some suggestions you may want to consider

for School Board Recognition Month.1. Put a recognition message on your school’s marquee.2. Invite Board members for lunch at school. 3. Get kids to answer “What does a board member do?” or

“If I were a school board member, I would . . .” and put them online or in a booklet for Board members.

4. Invite Board members to meetings and other events to recognize them.

5. Email your board a note of appreciation, individually or as a class. Visit the school district’s website and find the Meet the Board page to access their e-mail addresses.

Kingwood Park cross country girls are going to Nationals! The girls cross country team, coached by Brittney Lanehart and Bran-don Faber, was selected to receive one of four at-large bids into the Nike National Championships Nov. 5-8 in Portland. The girls have a chance to race the 22 best teams in the country and spend four all-expense paid days at Nike headquarters with the best runners in the nation.

HAAM needs new toysHumble Area Assistance Ministries

needs your help! Once again we are ask-ing our generous families and businesses to dig deeper and help HAAM help Santa. Humble ISD is partnering with the Tribune, Homewood Suites, Memorial

NE Hospital, Kingwood Medical Center, the Humble Area Chamber of Commerce, Deerbrook Mall, and other business-es and organizations to conduct a first, and hopefully annual, community-wide HAAM Christmas Toy Drive. It will take 3,500 toys to bury the tree, so please consider participating in this effort!

Riverwood Middle math teacher Jennifer Carney an-nounces the May 7 birth of her daughter, Addison. She weighed 9 lbs., 13 oz. and was 20 inches long.

PFE diagnostician Lee Engelhardt announces the Nov. 4 birth of her granddaughter, Whitney Rebekah Baron in Dubai, UAE. She weighed over 6 lbs., and was 49 cm long. Mom Darcey Smith Baron is a KHS graduate. Lee is visiting her in Dubai this month.

Pine Forest life skills teacher Carla Hopkins and Oaks registrar Mary Jane Yeager announce the Nov. 11 birth

of their grandson, Dean Thomas Hopkins. He weighed 8 lbs., 4 oz. and was 21” long. Dad and Mom are Humble High alumni. Matt Hopkins and Lindsey Yeager Hopkins, both class of 1996, now live in Fort Worth.

Humble High teacher and coach Michelle Funderburk and HHS teacher and coach Cagney Funderburk announce the July 20, birth of their son Jordan Brooks. He weighed 9 lbs., 1 oz. and was 22 inches long. Jordan is the grandson to Humble Middle AP Secretary Diana Sanchez and Atascoci-ta Middle AP Secretary Kathy Funderburk. Dad Cagney is a ‘95 graduate of HHS.

River Pines first grade teacher Andrea Kirkwood an-nunces the Dec. 2 birth of her son, Kameron Kirkwood. He weighed 8 lbs., 6 oz. and was 21 inches long.

Kingwood High choir teacher Jason Watt announces the Nov. 18 birth of his daughter, Stacia Callais Cecelia Watt. She weighed 7 lbs., 8 oz.

Greentree second grade teacher Terisa Spencer announces the Dec. 1 birth of her daughter, Ansley Elle Spencer. She weighed 6 lbs., 14 oz. and was 19 inches long.

Addison Carney

Dean Thomas Hopkins

Greentree special ed teacher Jan Sherrill announces the Nov. 13 birth of her grandson, Max Ponder Sherrill. He weighed 8 lbs., 9 oz. and was 22 inches long.

Lakeland art teacher Natalie Ridley announces the Dec. 4 birth of their son, Lucas Ridley. He weighed 7 lbs., 11 oz. and was 20 inches long

Atascocita High math teacher Theresa Head and AHS English teacher Jason Head announce the Oct. 26 birth of their son, Jeremiah Thomas Head. He weighed 7 lbs., 12 oz. and was 20 inches long.

North Belt first grade teacher Shawna Crankshaw an-nounces the Nov. 26 birth of her son, Matthew. He weighed 6 lbs., 11 oz., and was 20 1/2 inches long.

North Belt librarian Patricia Sveda announces the Nov. 3 birth of her first grandchild, Layla Sveda. She weighed 7 lbs., 8 oz., and was 19 inches long.

Ansley Elle Spencer

MattPonder Sherrill

Timberwood Middle teacher/coach Jeremy O'Neill announces his engagement to Michelle Carpenter. Jeremy is the son of Ross Sterling Middle School secretary Sheila O'Neill and Michelle is the daughter of Whispering Pines Elementary aide Denise Carpenter. Both are HHS

alumni, Jeremy '99 and Michelle '03. Other family members in our Humble ISD “Family” include aunt Rhonda Colbert in Payroll, uncle Keith Colbert in Child Nutrition and future brother-in-law TMS teacher/coach Mike Tarver.

Atascocita High School engineering graphics teacher Deatrice McDaniel announces her Sept. 6 marriage to Ro-land Parsons.

Kingwood High cafeteria manager Carrie Laywell announces the Nov. 24 marriage of her son, Jess Laywell, to Yvette Espinosa.

Mentor of the Year for Auto TechAtascocita High Madrigal Singers

Veteran appreciates Pine Forest

Atascocita High School Madrigal Singers help open the holiday season at Hallmark’s annual Open House in King-wood. You too can enjoy the wonderful holiday evening featuring the AHS Madrigal Singers and Forte choir at the annual Carols of Christmas concert. The event will be held at Atascocita United Methodist Church at 7:00 pm Thursday, December 19. Come enjoy the sounds of the season and stay to enjoy wonderful refreshments afterwards. Tickets are $10.00 each and will sell out quickly so get your tickets soon. For ticket information contact Choir Director Joseph Weir at Joseph.Weir@humble.k12.tx.us or call 281-641-7606

Members of the Kingwood Park High School football teams gathered on Saturday, Nov. 22 at The Mission on Loop 494 for a service learning project. They spent the morn-ing visiting with homebound senior adults in the Porter and New Caney area, delivering Christmas presents to them and doing yard work. Many of the yards were in need of debris removal from Hurricane Ike. The teams also collected jars of peanut butter and grape jelly to re-stock the shelves at The Mission to help get ready for the busy holiday season. Coach Holley and The Mission commended the athletes for their hard work and dedication to their team and to their community.

Pine Forest honored local veterans on Veterans Day with a flag ceremony and patriotic songs performed by the PFE honor choir. Honoring veterans is appreciated, as indicated in this letter to the principal from one of the veterans who attended the program.

Dear Mrs. Morrison, Just a note to thank you, your staff and faculty...and the pupils and parents

for making a significant number of veterans very happy last Tuesday! I’ve NEVER been as moved as when the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders boldly and loudly sang, “I’m Proud to Be An American.” The Boy Scouts and audience helped make it an electric moment we’ll never forget. Patriotism will not fade here! Best Wishes, John Heimburger

Caring, Sharing, Serving

Pictured from left: dealer/owner Dale Early, AYES men-tor Marc McCracken , Chrysler corp. Mark Ward and service manager Allen Johnson.

AHS Madrigal Singers

KPHS Football players serve at The Mission

Marc McCracken, an AYES mentor technician at Deerbrook Forest Chrysler Jeep. Marc was selected as the AYES Mentor of the Year. There are over 5400 technicians in the Southwest Business Center and AYES selects the top ten mentors, then Chrysler determines the overall winner. Marc was the Mentor Technician for KHS Auto Technology student Jordan Serafini.

Grant for district police

Humble ISD CSTA diagnostician, LSSP, and Speech secretary Michelle Stroup passed away at her home Nov. 3 following a long battle with cancer. Mi-chelle, a single mom, leaves behind two sons–Perry, an Atascocita High senior and James, an AHS sophomore.

Michelle’s family and friends are thankful for the generous support of Humble ISD employees recently. As a district, we raised over $12,000 for the family during the most recent “jeans week” fundraiser. This money has and will continue to make an immense difference in the lives of Michelle’s two sons.

Sympathy to Janie Escontrias, special ed aide for many years at Humble 9th and now at Atascocita High School, on the loss of her son, Eric, age 28.

Condolences to Barb Campbell, Kingwood High School social studies teacher, on the loss of her father-in-law Oct. 30.

Sympathy go to Anne Mullins, Kingwood High School special education teacher, on the loss of her father Nov. 3.

Condolences to David Knight, Kingwood High School StuCo teacher, on the loss of his grandmother Oct. 31.

Sympathy to Tim Hurlbert, Atascocita High School world geography teacher and assistant coach, on the loss of his grandmother.

Condolences to Christine Stoltz, Atascocita High School math teacher, on the loss of her fiancé.

Sympatyhy to Joe Weir, Atascocita High School choir director, on the loss of his mother.

Greentree ELT Rachel Smith’s daughter, Carlie, has Optic Nerve Hyp-oplasia. It has left eight-year-old Carlie

with severe vision loss. Rachel is thankful for the generous help of the Humble ISD family. $7,500 was raised to help fund a procedure, not covered by insurance, that would help her see more clearly. For more information visit visionforcar-lie.com.

North Belt counselor Amy Thompson broke her leg while horse riding.

Atascocita High math teacher Diane Dean is home from the hospital recovering from surgery.

The JFE 4th and 5th graders will perform the "Nut-cracker" at 7 p.m. on December 18 in the Jack Fields, Sr. Elementary cafeteria. Please come and join us in this magi-cal performance!

JFE students perform Nutcracker

Solomon Cook and the Humble ISD Police Depart-ment received a $50,805 grant from Harris County District Attorney Kenneth Magidson's office. The funds will be used to purchase bullet-proof vests and mobile data terminals.

New Faces & PlacesAfter more than 14 years with

the Document Development-Records Department, Julianna Frahlman is retiring. Join us in wishing her a fond

farewell 3- 4:30 p.m., Dec. 16 at the ISC building.

From left, Interim Harris County DA Kenneth Magid-son, Officer Shannon Sharp, Sgt. James Hall, Officer Esperanza Blanco and Chief Cook.