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| Losie "Dee" Branch March 22, 1993 - Sept. 6, 2017 |
Sep 18, 2017
In Memory of Losie Branch Walker
Duryea Elementary School namesake visits campus to start classes
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| Dr. Peggy Bell Duryea (center) welcomes students on the first day of school to Duryea Elementary School. Dr. Duryea holds Dexter the Dolphin, which was presented to her at the naming of the school. |
Dr. Duryea brought the staff cookies while she welcomed students by greeting them at the school’s entrance with Dexter, a stuffed Dolphin presented to her at the naming of the school. She retired in 2002 following a career where she served as a teacher, team leader, counselor, assistant principal, principal, personnel manager, assistant to the superintendent and associate superintendent for school administration and human resources.
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| Dr. Peggy Bell Duryea (center with book) reads to students on the first day of school at Duryea Elementary School. The namesake of the school, which is now in its 14th year, Dr. Duryea welcomed students on the first day in addition to reading in classrooms. |
Duryea opened its doors in 2004.
Fifth-grade students Seth Gutierrez and Hailey Lawson served as tour guides for Dr. Duryea and campus principal Kenneth Henry. In welcoming the students, Dr. Duryea said she was glad to return as her recent travels both across the country and abroad have kept her busy and from visiting more frequently. She does plan on attending more events during the 2017-2018 school year.
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| Dr. Peggy Bell Duryea (right) spends time with Duryea Elementary School students on the first day of school, visiting the campus named after the longtime CISD educator and administrator. |
The staff presented Dr. Duryea with a campus t-shirt and a special key to the school with the inscription, “Dr. Peggy Duryea, the doors of Duryea Elementary are always open to you.”
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| Dr. Peggy Bell Duryea (left) welcomes students on the first day of school to Duryea Elementary School. She was given a school shirt by the staff in addition to a ceremonial key to the campus. |
Sep 11, 2017
Daughter follows mother’s footsteps at Copeland ES, where mom teaches
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| Brecklyn Wheeler (right) and daughter Delaney take a photo during “Meet the Teacher” night at Copeland Elementary School. Brecklyn is a former Copeland student and begins her 12th year teaching on campus, while Delaney follows her mother’s footsteps in beginning kindergarten at Copeland this school year. |
There was no being allowed to touch the walls either. Wheeler laughs about it now but at the time, the campus was brand new.
If her daughter Delaney isn’t allowed to touch the walls, it will be for another reason. But soon, the mother-daughter tandem will have another connection as Delaney begins kindergarten at Copeland, walking the same hallways Brecklyn did as a child.
Oh, and there’s this – Brecklyn is a second-grade math and science teacher at Copeland, starting her 12th year on campus.
“I have shown Delaney my old yearbooks and let her laugh at my early 90’s crimped hair,” said Brecklyn, who also attended Labay Middle School and graduated from Langham Creek High School. “So much has changed after almost 20 years, but we are both looking forward to this journey together.”
Brecklyn and husband Matthew are both CFISD products, leaving the area for college but returning after and embracing the family and community support
surrounding the two. Matthew’s mother Wendy Wheeler retired from CFISD in 2011 to help when Delaney was born and recently served as an Extended School Year Supervisor at Cypress Woods High School.
Entering Copeland as a teacher was strange for Brecklyn, as she was able to see the “other side” of the school. But dating back to her time as a student, friends she made – a number Brecklyn still speaks with to this day – has made Copeland like a second home for the Wheelers.
“The district is so big and so diverse, but it still maintains a sense of community,” Brecklyn said. “I think the fact that so many former students are returning to the district helps to further build that sense of community and family. To see the memories and bonds that my children have created with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and even neighbors makes moving back to Cy-Fair one of the best decisions we could have made.”
Teacher begins 40th year at Campbell, which celebrates its 40th year
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| Robert Marrs poses with a cake marking the start of Campbell Middle School’s 40th year. The Texas History teacher begins his 40th year – all at Campbell. |
In leading up to the first day of classes, Campbell faculty and staff celebrated the beginning of the school’s 40th year of existence. And there was Marrs, preparing as well, and receiving plenty of admiration after a photo of him posing with a 40th anniversary cake – for the school though it fits both in this case – was posted on Campbell’s Twitter feed.
“Mr. Marrs is amazing,” said one reply to the tweet. “Was there when I went to Campbell in 85-87 and when my daughter was there in 08-11.”
Said another: “(Marrs has) been teaching as long as rap has been a genre.”
Marrs, who teaches Texas History and serves as the social studies department chair emeritus at Campbell, did have opportunities to move and continue his career at other schools. But it just never happened.
“And to be honest, those who know me know that I really don’t like change,” Marrs said.
In 1978, then Campbell Junior High School was new but not without a few hitches. The floorplan was an open concept – Marrs taught in a four-room suite with two others teachers who taught Texas History and another who taught U.S. History. Grading work and issuing grades were done by hand.
“When asked what former Campbell Gator remember about their middle school years, many of them quickly reply, ‘Mr. Marrs!’” said Laura Perry, Campbell principal.
“Before ‘History Alive’ was alive, Mr. Marrs was bringing campfire stories, cattle drives and life on the missions alive in his Texas history classroom. Students remember his stories.”
And all the technology and social media that dominate the world today?
“For the most part did not exist,” Marrs said. “This has been the hardest thing for me to adapt to is the regular use of technology today. I’m kind of old fashioned when it comes to these things. It gives the younger teachers something to laugh about.”
Marrs doesn’t have any concrete plans but has thought about retiring after this school year. He estimates he’s taught between 4,000-4,500 students and coached another 500 in the 25 years he took on those duties as well. A number have reached out since his photo landed on Twitter, which included parents who were former Campbell students along with their children. It also included co-workers and fellow teachers who at one time sat in Marrs’ classroom.
“I am very proud and honored to have been a part of Campbell Middle School for all these years,” Marrs said. “I could have moved…but Campbell feels like my second home.”
Five employees win incentive prize for 2016-2017 perfect attendance
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| Justo Headlee (left) of Cy-Fair High School, Penny Grimmer of Post Elementary School and Dianne Suddeth of Watkins Middle School were three of the five Campus Attendance Incentive Program winners for who won a $5,000 perfect attendance award for the 2016-2017 school year. |
The five winners were Toni Weber (Bleyl Middle School), Cynthia Anderson (Matzke Elementary School), Justo Headle (Cy-Fair High School), Dianne Suddeth (Watkins Middle School) and Penny Grimmer (Post Elementary School). Each had his or her name drawn from the pool of eligible employees at the June 26 board meeting and won a $5,000 perfect attendance award.
“It is an honor to be with the students I get to teach and every absence is a loss to both of us,” Anderson said. “Furthermore, I am modeling that attendance is important – I am giving my all even when I am not feeling my best.”
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| Cynthia Anderson of Matzke Elementary School was one of the five Campus Attendance Incentive Program winners, qualifying by not having any absences for both semesters during the 2016-2017 school year. |
Staff members eligible for the attendance incentive are full-time classroom teachers and campus paraprofessionals with two or fewer absences during the fall or spring semesters. Three names are drawn from the list of eligible employees at high school campuses, two names from middle school campuses and one name from elementary and special program campuses, totaling 125 honorees that received an attendance incentive award of $1,600 each during the 2016-2017 school year.
In addition, all eligible full-time classroom teachers and campus paraprofessionals with perfect attendance (zero absences for both the first and second semesters) were pooled together for the $5,000 award drawing.
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| Toni Weber, who recently retired after teaching at Bleyl Middle School, was a Campus Attendance Incentive Program winner for the 2016-2017 school year. Winners qualified by not having any absences during either semester. |
“The main goal of the attendance incentive was to keep teachers and paraprofessionals in the classroom in order to provide the best instruction for our students,” Smith said.
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