Spring Branch ISD Featured News

A Cedar Brook Elementary School cafeteria manager was named recently by the Spring Branch ISD Council of PTAs as School Bell Award winner during the annual Founders Day Dinner. This year’s dinner and program event was held Feb. 21 at Wilchester Elementary School.

A shocked and happy Sharon Phillips, who has managed the elementary school’s cafeteria for two years, accepted the top PTA Council employee award. “I really tried not to cry and faint,” she said soon after being named.

“OMG! The award has been really, really nice,” she said several days later. “The day after the dinner, it was announced here at school and the kids all said that they were so proud of me. My family was just in shock, they did not know this kind of award was even possible. Friends, too.”

Sharon’s recent recognition was no surprise for Cedar Brook Elementary’s staff, teachers and administrators. In just two years on campus, Sharon and her cafeteria team have all joined as PTA members. She is a lifetime PTA member. 

She organized a Gingerbread House Challenge contest bringing together campus staff members and students. She also coordinated a highly praised Angel Tree project that delivered wrapped holiday gifts to dozens of deserving students. The gifts were purchased by Sharon and campus project members. She has high hopes that Angel Tree will expand to more schools next year.

“I love what I do,” Sharon said this week during a busy lunch period. “It is really my passion to make sure these kids are all well fed and also happy.”

“Most impressive to me is Ms. Phillips commitment to our students,” said school PTA President Shila Bustos. “Inspired by her own childhood circumstances, her Angel Tree Project provided 76 disadvantaged students with wrapped new gifts that she, her friends and colleagues had collected.”

“She is easily the most compassionate person I know – the kind of person who goes out of her way to help the less fortunate every day,” said Yessenia Vazquez, a multi-classroom leader at Cedar Brook. “When she is not serving as the cafeteria manager, she is thinking of ideas to serve others. Her job does not stop inside the school cafeteria.”

“Ms. Phillips not only manages our wonderful cafeteria, but also supports Cedar Brook with special gifts from the heart,” Cedar Brook Principal Alejandra Perez said. “Her joy, love and kindness have made Cedar Brook Elementary a better place.”

Sponsored by the Spring Branch ISD Council of PTAs, the annual Founders Day dinner honors and recognizes parent volunteers who serve on campus or district PTA organizations, parents who have served campus PTAs for many years, and local educators and staff nominated for a top-level School Bell Award.

Locally, the SBISD Council of PTAs represents thousands of parents and families. It is an active grassroots group supporting the ongoing vitality and strength of SBISD schools.

Founders Day is celebrated in memory of a February 1897 meeting in Washington, D.C., the first ever meeting of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) held in the United States.

The Feb. 21 dinner included remarks by SBISD Superintendent Scott R. Muri, Ed.D.  The program included remarks by SBISD Council of PTAs leaders Kelly Siblik, president; Karen Ross, event chair; and Tammy Hampton, awards chair. The Rev. Shawn Kang, co-pastor at Mosaic Village Church, delivered a blessing.

The Founders Day Dinner was made possible through support from campus and local business groups: Wilchester Elementary; Nothing Bundt Cakes; Hudella Real Estate; First Community Credit Union; Bunker Hill H-E-B Grocery Store; and Chick-fil-A located at Silber.

2018-2019 School Bell Nominees

School Bell Award nominees represent outstanding SBISD staff members who promote the purposes of the PTA and advocate for all children.

Bandy Monroe – Buffalo Creek Elementary
Brittany McLennan – Bunker Hill Elementary
Sharon Phillips – Cedar Brook Elementary
Julie Dougher – Cornerstone Academy
Tracy Muras – Frostwood Elementary
Amanda Badrak – Hunters Creek Elementary
Ami Rapp – Meadow Wood Elementary
Clarissa Sekimoto – Memorial Drive Elementary
Lennie Grimes – Memorial High School
Rosa Monge – Memorial Middle School
Lindsay Ripley – Nottingham Elementary
Kiera Ruck – Pine Shadows Elementary
Jenny Steane – Rummel Creek Elementary
Jermaine Hudson – Sherwood Elementary
Monica Guererro – Spring Branch Elementary
Jonathan Cook – Spring Branch Middle School
Jana Gwinn – Spring Forest Middle School
Jeremy Keisler – Spring Woods High School
CeCe Prudhomme – Stratford High School
Jared Braun – Terrace Elementary
Bruce Burgner – Valley Oaks Elementary
Daniel Robison – Westchester Academy for International Studies
Julie Carnett – Wilchester Elementary
Patricia Aguirre – Woodview Elementary

2017-2018 Texas PTA Lifetime Members

Lifetime Member Award recipients are selected by school PTAs and represent outstanding volunteers or educators who give generously of their time, expertise and enthusiasm.

Elementary Schools

Bunker Hill Elementary: Julie Bergen, Wendy Egger, Cassandra Hail, Abby Khatiblou, Ruth Odom, Brenda Pounds, Nancy Sciaraffa, Kristie Van Arsdel

Frostwood Elementary: Courtney Anderson, Heather Burkhart, Clayton Gring, Molly Holub, Sooyoung Hwang, Christina Morse, Nancy Musgrove, Anita Ramke

Hunters Creek Elementary: Denise Campbell, Delia Dunavin, Katrina Stephenson, Meredith Turner, Tonia Whiden

Meadow Wood Elementary: Donni Blair, Chris Fannin, Pam Ferworm, Laura Gunkle, Erika Wheeler

Memorial Drive Elementary: Wendy Blasi, Cristina Deboben, Martha Kiani, Kelly Miller

Nottingham Elementary: Rebecca Cruse, Kathleen LeClair, Ruth Parks, Kate Potter, Leslie Schoenfield, Karen Smith, Brooke Vescovo

Rummel Creek Elementary: Jennifer Buchert, Kate Cashin, Chris Holmes, Carrie Kohl, Melanie Lloyd, Susan Marks, Janet Spann, Han Wright

Valley Oaks Elementary: Jill Center, Julie Gambino, Amanda Kvinta, Stephanie Pancioli, Doan Pham, Jennifer Vajdos

Wilchester Elementary: Maida Long, Laura Minyard, Leslie Pine, Stacy Stepler

Secondary Schools

Cornerstone Academy: Maria Galvan, Betsy Humphrey, Shana O’Grady, Stephanie Pancioli, Margaret Sanders, Paige Wardell

Memorial High School: Kathy Bennett, Budd Booth, Yolanda Cruz, Kim Griffin, Lupe Huerta, Kristin Liggett, Pamela Wright, Marnie Zrike

Memorial Middle School: Ellen Green, Rosa Monge

Spring Branch Middle School: Carla Pace, Kelly Siblik, Bryan Williams, Ashley Zahn

Spring Forest Middle School: Lorraine Alvey, Pam Ferworn, James Garrett, April Tavilson

Stratford High School: Jennifer Bradshaw, Steven Bradshaw, Amy Harrington, Cindy McGinty, Ellie Pena, Sara Russo

SBISD Council of PTAs: Janet Spann, Francine Todes