Student earns repeat spelling bee win
Correctly spelling “ineffable,” Pearland Junior High West’s Siddharth Krishnakumar—a Scripps National Spelling Bee finalist last year—claimed the 2016 Pearland Independent School District Spelling Bee championship Feb. 3.
In second place was Silvercrest Elementary’s Wende Wang. Pearland Junior High South’s Zoe Navy took third. Krishnakumar will compete in the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee in April.
Student dental lab opens at Turner
The Turner College and Career High School dentistry lab opened Jan. 2728 for its first dental clinic days.
Working with Smiles for Schools dentists and hygienists, dental students helped provide basic teeth cleaning and exam services to about 20 children from the community. Students assisted with examinations, cleanings, fluoride treatments, X-rays, sealants and oral health education.
Pearland ISD honors school counselors
During National School Counseling Week Feb. 1-5, Pearland Independent School District recognized 45 school counselors.
Eight of those recognized are licensed professional counselors, and four have a practice outside the district. All are trained in mental health awareness, hold a master’s degree and have at least two years of teaching experience.
Academic Decathlon teams bound for state
Pearland Independent School District is sending two teams to the Texas Academic Decathlon meet in late February.
Pearland High School and Turner College and Career High School teams are advancing to state after the Region 5 competition. PHS decathletes placed second in the large-school division and won first in the Super Quiz Relay, while TCCHS teammates placed fourth overall in the medium-school division and won fourth place in the
Super Quiz Relay.
Regional individual medalists from PHS include: Ericka Chang, Angela Circone, Anoushka Dasgupta, Mitchell Jackson, Sara Beth Matthews, Joshua Salas, Jimmy Thai and Ethan Tiu.
TCCHS medalists include: Savanna Chatman, Dylan Hashem, Samuel Hatfield, Kaylen Hayes, Rahul Paul and Jared Streeter,
Pearland ISD purchasing wins award
The Pearland Independent School District purchasing office recently landed a statewide award for its commitment to
professional standards in acquiring goods and services.
The team not only earned the Texas Association of School Business Officials Award of Merit for Purchasing and Operations but also met higher standards to receive Recognized status.
Pearland ISD will be honored along with other winners at the association’s 70th annual conference in Dallas this March.
20 PISD students make all-state ensembles
Pearland Independent School District recently celebrated its largest-ever number of students earning places in Texas Music Educators Association allstate performing groups.
Twenty Dawson and Pearland high school band and choir students proved practice makes perfect by reaching the highest level possible for Texas music students.
From DHS, Jadon Campos, Lea Judan, Anh-Mai Kearney, Benjamin McGee, Renee Shohet, Angelo Silva, Nathaniel Thompson and Kaytlin Withers were named to All-State Choir.
PHS All-State Band students include: Caleb Castro, David Jones, Benjamin Kauffman, Jacob Medina, Zachary Scruggs, Jason Steptoe and Daniel Venglar.
DHS All-State Band students from DHS include: Daniel Bao, Morgan Clark, Rosemary Iwuanyanwu, Han Kim and Kaitlin Zadow.
Band directors are DHS’s Ryan Agard and PHS’s Joe Munoz. Roxan Silva directs the DHS Choir.
Berry Miller JH claims Quiz Bowl triple
First, second and third times were a charm for Berry Miller Junior High, which claimed its third consecutive Quiz Bowl championship Jan. 22.
Pearland Independent School District’s 11th annual Quiz Bowl drew teams from all middle school and junior high campuses for general trivia and Super Quiz contests based on the 2016 Academic Decathlon theme, India.
Individual high scores were awarded to: Alex Bryan, Alexander Middle School; Brayden Anderson, Jamison Middle School; Jalen Nguyen, Rogers Middle School; Rishabh Dave, Sablatura Middle School; Daniel Lang, Berry Miller; Caleb Lira, Pearland Junior High East; Brennan Fraasch, Pearland Junior High South; and Terry Guo, Pearland Junior High West.
Quiz Bowl coaches include: Tracee Belton, Dawn Drew, Amy Etchberger, Jason Franks, Silvia Goodwyne, Ashley Hill, Kim Long, Tina Lorance, Marshella Maricle, Marsha Posey, Marcie Stenvall, Lindsey Stephens and Classie Wilson.
SJC concerts feature students, guest artists
A series of free concerts will showcase performances by music students and guest artists this spring at San Jacinto College Central Campus’ Dr. Monte Blue Music Building, 8060 Spencer Hwy.
Faculty members will perform the music of Brazilian composer, singer, pianist and guitarist Antonio Carlos Jobim at 7 p.m. Feb. 23.
The college’s student jazz ensemble will perform under the direction of music professor Jeffrey Adamsat 7 p.m. March1.
Guest artist at the concert will be Dr. Aric Schneller, Sam Houston State University director of jazz studies.
For information about San Jacinto College, call 281-998-6150 or visit www. sanjac.edu.