Faculty Professional Activities

May 22, 2013

Upper School English teacher Michelle Miller will go on "A Literary and Historical Pilgrimage to Ireland" this summer.  The focus of the trip is Irish poet William Butler Yeats.

May 21, 2013

Lower School Reading Specialist Pat Cavanagh, Middle School Counselor Dr. Jay Glenn, Upper School Counselor Dr. Laura Lomax-Bream, Lower School Counselor Dr. Nancy Simpson, Upper School Learning Specialist Shannon Terrill, and Middle School Learning Specialist Dr. Jill, Vutpakdi, "attended" a webinar, “The Neuropsychology of Reading Disorders:  A Framework for Effective Interventions.”

May 20, 2013

Upper School Technology Coordinator Harlan Howe has completed a Coursera course (MOOC), “Computational Photography,” through Georgia Tech.

Middle School teachers Christina Bell, Roberta Feldman, Dara McLurkin, Liz Peterson, and Alexis Trevelise participated in a webinar, "Advisory Tips and Activities."

May 10, 2013

Middle School history teacher Diana Kokernot attended a lecture by archaeologist Douglas Mangum, "Canister and Grape:  Artillery Related Artifacts from the San Jacinto Battleground," hosted by the San Jacinto Battleground.

May 1, 2013

Upper School English and Creative Writing teacher Angélique Jamail will take part in the DFW Writers' Conference in Hurst, Texas.

Summer 2013

Assistant Athletic Director T. J. Bath and athletic trainers Jennifer Haynes and Jimmy Roton will attend the Southwest Athletic Trainers Meeting in Houston.

Third grade teachers Jennifer Beitler and CeCelia O'Connell, Middle School teachers Jeff Diedrich, Shari Hiltbrand, Kathy Howe, and Diana Kokernot, and Upper School teacher Carolyn McCarthy will attend the International Society for Technology in Education 2013 Annual Conference in San Antonio.

The second grade (Cindy Holubec, Susan Little, Margaret Newman, Kelsey Williams), third grade (Jennifer Beitler, Meredith Kottler, CeCelia O'Connell, Christine Papadakes), and fourth grade (Kaylan Caballero, Lisa Curry, Cindy Stanley, Clifton Walker) teams will spend time in collaborative curriculum planning.

Middle School English teacher Christina Bell will take an online course, "Literature for Youth," through the University of North Texas.

Lower School Reading Specialist Pat Cavanagh will begin coursework for an Educational Diagnostician Certification through Sam Houston State University.

Upper School teacher-administrators Sonia Clayton, Jennifer Kehler and Sheri Offenhauser will attend the NAIS School Leadership Institute at the Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia.

Strength and conditioning coach Everett Coleman will attend the National Strength and Conditioning Association's 2013 National Conference in Las Vegas.

Upper School history teachers Patrick Durning and Angela Wainright will attend the Advanced Placement Summer Institute for World History in Delaware.

Upper School history teacher Leslie Lovett will take part in the Advanced Placement Summer Institute for World History at the Woodward Academy site in Atlanta.

Upper School history teacher Beth Fayard will attend the Advanced Placement National Conference in Las Vegas.  

Lower School teachers Melissa Eggleston, Angie Gamez and Kathryn Leisz will attend the Texas Computer Education Association's Summer Conference in Galveston.

Upper School history teacher Tamasine Ellis will participate in the Asheville (NC) School's Project Connect. 

Middle School Latin teacher John Friday will attend the Cambridge Latin Teachers Workshop in Houston.

Middle School science teacher Jeff Gessel will participate in Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy at the National Robotics Engineering Center, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Athletic trainer Jennifer Haynes will attend the South Padre Athletic Training Seminar in South Padre Island.

Physical education teacher and coach Molly Higby will attend a workshop, "Dynamic Physical Education," at St. Francis Episcopal Day School.

Upper School chemistry teachers Dennis Kliza and Christina Zeigler will go to the ChemEd 2013 Conference the University of Waterloo (Canada).

Upper School art teacher Diane Marks will attend the MakingArtSafely Institute's summer workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Middle and Upper School French teacher Jane Murdock will attend the American Association of Teachers of French Annual Convention in Providence, Rhode Island.

Lower School teacher Betsy Thompson and assistant teacher Patti Patyk will attend the iPadpalooza workshop in Austin.

Middle School history teacher René Pérez will participate in a workshop, "Teaching Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome with Technology," at Harvard University.

Director of Dance Krissy Richmond will attend the World Dance Movement International Workshop in Bari, Italy.

Upper School English teacher Charlie Scott and Lower School art teacher Lauren Taylor will attend the E. E. Ford Summer Teachers' Colloquium at Santa Fe Prep School, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Middle School science teacher Laura Sinclair will take part in the workshop "Tools for Teaching" in Houston.

Middle School history teacher Alexis Sutherland and physical education teacher and coach Scott Zimmerman will attend the Student Leadership Course Curriculum Academy, sponsored by the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals and the Texas Association of Student Councils in Austin.

Lower School teachers Mary Buettner, Cordie Hayden, Cindy Holubec and Kathryn Leisz will attend the Comprehension X3 Workshop in Denver.

Middle School English teacher Priscilla Moore will attend the Middle School Institute at Rice University.

Upper School Spanish teacher Vanessa Zamudio-Lara will attend a workshop, "The Architecture of Wonder:  Literacies, Languages, and the Imagination," sponsored by the Habla Teacher Institute in Merida, Mexico.

April 12, 2013

Upper School Counselor Laura Lomax Bream, Upper School English teachers Jennifer Kehler, Angelique Jamail, and Casey Fleming, Upper School science teacher Sonia Clayton, and Middle School science teacher Jessica Zenker Nasseri, participated in a webinar, “Advisory Tips and Activities:  Useful Suggestions for Advisors New and Old.”

The following faculty and staff attended edcamp Houston at Kinkaid last weekend:  Kim Adkins, Craig Bowe, Ann Bowe, Renee Brownman, Chelsea Collins, Christa Forster, Shari Hiltbrand, Harlan Howe, Larry Kahn, Karen Metclaf, and Brenda Meyer.

March 28, 2013

Middle School Principal Barry Spiers and Middle School English Teacher and fifth grade Dean Christina Bell will be presenters at the Sixth Annual Symposium on Developing Student Leadership, sponsored by The Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education.  It will be held at the National Cathedral School in Washington, D. C.

Christina Bell also will attend two workshops, "Character Education:  What Really Works in 2013" and “Advisory Tips and Activities:  Useful Suggestions for Advisors New and Old."

Middle School science teacher Laura Sinclair, in preparation for a unit on nutrition, has “attended” three webinars, "Food, Farm, and Nutrition Curriculum Connections:  Developing Educational Experiences that Meet Teacher Needs"; "The Lunch Box:  Healthy Tools to Help All Schools"; and "Farm to School and Farm-Based Education."

Upper School Technology Coordinator Harlan Howe has completed a MOOC course (originating at Georgia Tech) in “Control of Mobile Robots.”

Director of Libraries and Archives Dorian Myers will participate in a technology source workshop sponsored by the American Libraries Association.

March 1, 2013

Middle School English teacher Hallie Antweil will attend the International Reading Association Conference in San Antonio.

Middle School drama and speech teacher Patty Edwards will participate in lyric writing and voice and breath courses offered by the Einhorn School of Performing Arts in New York City.

Upper School history teacher Tamasine Ellis is completing a five-week Coursera (MOOC) course, “E-learning and Digital Culture,” through the University of Edinburgh.

Upper School mathematics teacher Christina Kendrick is taking part in a webinar, "Evaluating Innovative Courses in Introductory Statistics:  Resources from the eATLAS Project."

February 15, 2013

Human Development teachers Cheryl Mitchell and Jennifer Haynes will take part in the Houston Eating Disorders Specialists 2013 Conference, "A Journey of Hope."

Middle School history teacher Diana Kokernot will continue participating in Apple's One-to-One Training opportunity over the next year.

Upper School mathematics teacher Christina Kendrick will attend the United States Conference on Teaching Statistics and its pre-conference workshops in North Carolina.

February 1, 2013

Band director Fred Angerstein and Lower School music teacher Myron Karner will attend the Texas Music Educator Association Conference and the Technology for Music Educators Conference in San Antonio.

Varsity football coaches Nathan Larned and John Friday will attend the Lone Star Coaching Clinic in College Station.

January 25, 2013

Lower School teacher Melissa Eggleston will attend the Annual Conference of the Houston Branch of the International Dyslexia Association.

Band teacher Sarah Bunk will take part in the 2013 Texas Music Educators Association Convention and the Technical Institute for Music Educators Conference in San Antonio.

Middle School Assistant Librarian Judann Luening will go to the Texas Library Association Conference in Fort Worth.

Upper School History teacher Leslie Lovett will take an online course about the history of the Silk Road.  In addition, she and Upper School history teacher Beth Fayard will attend a Modern China seminar at Rice, sponsored by the East Asia Institute.

Beth Fayard and Upper School English teachers Kate Lambert and Jeanne Alsup will participate in a Rice University School of Continuing Education couse, "Life in Downton Abbey:  The Fiction and the Reality.”

Sheri Offenhouser, Math Department Chair and Upper School Math teacher, will attend the Annual Conference of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development in Chicago.

January 18, 2013

Lower School Academic Technology Coordinator Peter Pickett attended the Independent Curriculum Group Conference 2013 at the Episcopal School of Dallas.

Lower School Reading Specialist Pat Cavanagh, Lower School teachers Mary Margaret Greer and Christine Papadakes, and Middle School English and Reading teacher Ruth Stubbs will attend the 2013 Houston Branch of the International Dyslexia Association Annual Conference.

Lower School teacher Mary Margaret Greer will participate in workshops at The Neuhaus Center on developing metacognitive skills and multisensory grammar.

Lower School Librarians Elizabeth Holloway and Crystal Walker will attend the Bureau of Education and Research's seminar, "What's New in Children's Literature" in Houston.

Middle School English teacher and Sixth Grade Dean Andrew Herman is taking courses at the University of Houston toward an M.Ed. in Administration and Supervision.

Middle School mathematics teacher Karen Metclaf will go to the Creative Problem Solving in Math Workshop hosted by Region 4 in Houston.

Middle School Librarian Judy Baldwin will take part in the Texas Library Association's Annual Conference in Fort Worth.

Upper School Spanish teacher Shari Harris will attend a lecture series, "The Road to Santiago de Compostela.”

Upper School history teacher Beth Fayard will participate in a lecture series, "Life in Downton Abbey:  The Fiction and the Reality," at Rice University.

Upper School Spanish teacher Yolanda Soliz attended “Portrait of Spain:  Masterpieces from the Prado,” at the MFAH.

December 21, 2012

Lower School assistant teacher Margaret Newman will attend a workshop sponsored by the Neuhaus Education Center, "Accurate and Automatic Decoding."

Middle School history teachers Diana Kokernot and Roberta Feldman will attend the Region 4-sponsored Leadership Fusion Summit in Houston.

Upper School Technology Coordinator Harlan Howe took a MOOC, "Machine Learning," from Stanford via Coursera this fall. 

Varsity Softball Coach Beth Rodriguez will attend the Gulf Coast Softball Coaches Clinic in Houston.

December 7, 2012

Middle School mathematics teacher Karen Metclaf will attend Edcamp, which will take place at Kinkaid in April.

November 30, 2012

Prekindergarten teacher Audrey Alexander will attend Rice University's School Literacy and Culture Conference.

Athletic Trainer Jimmy Roton is pursuing a Master’s of Athletic Administration through Ohio University.

November 16, 2012

Middle School history teacher Diana Kokernot attended “The Best Little Workshop in Texas,” a workshop sponsored by the Heritage Society and designed specifically for middle school history teachers.

Middle and Upper School art teacher Jane DiPaolo took a workshop on "Botanical Jewelry and Embellishment " with Emilie Lapham of the Wissahicken (Philadelphia) Garden Club.

Upper School history teacher Beth Fayard attended a World Affairs Council workshop on the European debt crisis.

Upper School English teacher Christa Forster is auditing four weeks of a University of Pennsylvania course, “Greek and Roman Mythology” (offered via Coursera).  Those four weeks are on Homer's Odyssey.  As with all Coursera courses, this one is free.  She also participated in (and prepared a graphic for) an interactive webinar, hosted by Steve Hargadon and The Future of Education.

Upper School Filmmaking teacher and cross country and track coach Ryan Gillentine will attend the American Distance Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina in January.

October 26, 2012

Lower School art teacher Lauren Taylor will attend a Museum of Fine Arts Houston workshop, "Portrait of Spain—Masterpieces from the Prado."

Upper School science teacher Maggie Honig will attend the National Science Teacher Association's 2012 Area Conference in Phoenix.

Men's varsity track and field coach John Beckwith will attend Rice University's Speed Symposium.

Softball coaches Beth Rodriguez and Terry Harper will attend the 2013 ASA/USA Softball National Coaching School in Houston.

October 19, 2012

Lower School teachers and assistants Audrey Alexander, Catherine Baker, Molly Burns, Lindsay Durr, Melissa Eggleston, Angie Gamez. Marysia Gillan, Mary Margaret Greer, Rhnee Hicks, Lillie Hutcheson, Cordie Hayden, Kathryn Leisz, Dorothy Simons, and Annie Wheless participated in an Everyday Math workshop.

Kindergarten teacher Mary Margaret Greer will take part in a Dyslexia Therapist Preparation Program through The Neuhaus Education Center.

Lower School art teacher Lauren Taylor will attend two workshops sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts Houston:  "Visual Expressions:  Illustrating Prose" and "Learning Through Art at the MFAH—A Window on the World.”

Middle and Upper School art teacher Jane DiPaolo attended a two-day porcelain workshop in Houston, sponsored by 18 Hands Gallery.

October 12, 2012

Lower School Reading Specialist Pat Cavanagh will attend the Region 4 Dyslexia Conference in Houston.

Lower School Librarian Elizabeth Holloway and Assistant Librarian Crystal Walker will attend a seminar at The Neuhaus Center, "The Future of Reading Using Smart Devices.”

History Department Chair Ed Harris, Upper School Technology Coordinator Harlan Howe, English Department Chair Kate Lambert, and Mathematics Department Chair Sheri Offenhauser will attend the EduCon 2013 Conference in Philadelphia.

Director of Libraries and Archives Dorian Myers will attend the Second Annual Discovery Day Camp at the University of Houston, which focuses on new and developing trends in library discovery systems.

English Department Chair Kate Lambert and Upper School Dean Scott Lambert will participate in the Houston Grand Opera's Workshops for Teachers.

October 5, 2012

Lower School faculty members Audrey Alexander, Lindsay Durr, Melissa Eggleston, Cordie Hayden, Kathryn Leisz, Catherine Baker and Lillie Hutcheson will attend the Region 4 K-12 Technology Applications Conference.

Upper School Math teacher Christina Kendrick will take an online course, "Using Blended Learning to Flip the Classroom.”

Upper School Science teacher Lara Cross will take part in a Rubicon/Atlas Workshop, "Beyond Curriculum Documentation:  Reflect, Review and Revise," in Dallas.

Upper School teachers Ann Bowe, Craig Bowe, Sonia Clayton, and Marie O'Donnell attended “The Brain on Trial:  Science, Faith and the Criminal Justice System,” a talk on the nature of free will and a panel discussion featuring Dr. David Eagleman, who spoke to our entire faculty in August.

September 28, 2012

Lower School teachers Cordie Hayden and Marysia Gillan will attend the annual Region 4 Reading and Writing Conference in Houston.

Middle School Spanish teacher Patricia Chadwick will take part in the Texas Foreign Language Association's Fall Conference in Austin.

Director of Drama Michelle Ludwig will attend a Teachers' Workshop sponsored by the Houston Grand Opera.

Director of Libraries and Archives Dorian Myers will go to Baltimore for the AISL Baltimore 2013 Conference at The Boys' Latin School of Maryland.

Girls varsity basketball coaches Stacey Marshall and Alex Gibbs and boys varsity basketball coaches Scott Zimmerman, Michael Vischak, and Herb Ledee will attend the SMU Basketball Coaches Clinic in Dallas.

September 21, 2012

Lower School assistant teachers Catherine Baker and Margaret Newman are at the ISAS Beginning Teacher Institute in Albuquerque this week.

Lower School assistant teacher Patti Patyk will attend the Texas Computer Education Association Convention in Austin.

Middle School debate teacher Stacy Thomas will participate in the Texas Speech Communication Association Convention in San Antonio.

Upper School Spanish teacher Yolanda Soliz will go to the Texas Foreign Language Association's Fall Conference in Austin.

Head varsity baseball coach Steve Maas and assistant coaches Mike Horn, Jeremy Knox, and Matt Pierce will attend the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Convention and the Baylor University Baseball Clinic in Waco.

September 14, 2012

Lower School teachers Marysia Gillan, Mary Margaret Greer, Cordie Hayden, Mary Buettner, Cindy Stanley, and Lisa Curry will attend a symposium, "Reading, Literacy & Learning!," sponsored by the Houston Branch of the International Dyslexia Association.

Lower School teachers Audrey Alexander, Jennifer Beitler, Susan Little, Betsy Thompson, and Kelsey Williams will attend a local seminar, "Guided Math:  Practical Strategies to Differentiate Your Math Instruction Using Small Groups, Centers and Whole Group Instruction.”

Kindergarten assistant Catherine Baker will attend a Reading Readiness seminar at the Neuhaus Education Center.

Lower and Middle School music teacher Ashley McCann-Hermis will attend the American Orff-Schulwerk Association's Professional Development Conference 2012 in St. Louis.

Middle School science teachers Jessica Zenker Nasseri, Katie Wagner, and Dara Bourne-McLurkin and Upper School science teacher Maggie Honig will attend the Wetlands and Galveston Bay Education Workshop in Webster.

Middle School English teacher Christina Bell will take an online course in educational technology through the University of North Texas.

Upper School English teacher Christa Forster will take a meditation class at Rice's Glasscock School of Continuing Studies.

Director of Libraries and Archives Dorian Myers will attend the Texas Library Association's District 8 Fall Conference at the Lone Star College, Cy-Fair campus.

The following teachers will participate in the 2012-13 Powerful Learning Practice workshops:  Lower School teacher Kaylan Caballero, Lower School Librarian Elizabeth Holloway, Middle School English teacher Priscilla Moore, Middle School Spanish teacher Mily Perez, Upper School history teacher Leslie Lovett, and Mathematics Department Head and Upper School teacher Sheri Offenhauser.  Both fall and spring PLP workshops will be hosted on Kinkaid's campus.

September 7, 2012

Lower School teacher Lisa Curry will attend a symposium, "Reading, Literacy & Learning!," sponsored by the Houston Branch of the International Dyslexia Association.

Lower School teacher Clifton Walker will attend a seminar, "Guided Math:  Practical Strategies to Differentiate Your Math Instruction Using Small Groups, Centers and Whole Group Instruction.”

August 31, 2012

Upper School science teacher Maggie Honig will participate in two Wetlands Educator Workshops in Galveston and Texas City.

Upper School Math teacher (and China trip leader) Tom Wey is enrolled in a seminar, "Perspectives on Confucianism in East Asia, Past and Present,” at Rice University.

Counseling Psychologists Jay Glynn (Middle School) and Laura Lomax-Bream (Upper School) will attend a seminar, "Bullying in the Digital Age."

August 27, 2012

Lower School Reading Specialist Pat Cavanagh will attend a symposium hosted by the Houston Branch of the International Dyslexia Association.

Lower School science teacher Louise Sayuk will take part in the Steve Spangler Science Boot Camp in Houston.

Middle School Librarian Judy Baldwin will go to a workshop, "What's New in Young Adult Literature," in Houston.

Middle School history teacher Diana Kokernot and Upper School history teacher Angela Wainright will participate in a Rice Continuing Studies course, "Maya 2012:  Prophecy Becomes History,” this fall.  Diana Kokernot also will attend "The Best Little Workshop in Texas,’ sponsored by The Heritage Society.

Upper School Archivist Fiona de Young will attend the Digital Frontiers 2012 conference and THATCamp at the University of North Texas.

Upper School English teacher Angelique Jamail will take part in the Writer's Digest Conference West in Los Angeles.

Upper School English teacher Carolyn McCarthy is enrolled in a MOOC (massive open online course), "Gamification," on applying video game elements in areas such as education and business.  The course is offered through the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Upper School English teacher Warren Rawson will participate in Inprint's Poetry Workshop series in Houston this fall.

May 11, 2012

Middle School science teacher Shari Hiltbrand’s application has been accepted for the 2012 Plasma Camp workshop at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory this summer.