Spring Branch ISD Featured News

 

Spring Branch roots run deep for Tristan Walton, a senior at Westchester Academy of International Studies (WAIS) in Spring Branch ISD (SBISD).

Two of his grandparents worked for the district in the past, his parents both attended and were part of the band at Northbrook High School, his mother, Stephanie Walton, now teaches art at Wilchester Elementary, and his brother is in the band at Stratford High School.

His home environment and SBISD have provided fertile ground for Tristan to explore and grow in several creative and personal directions. While attending schools in the district, Walton has worked hard to make a name for himself as a standout filmmaker at the Guthrie Center and as a member and president of the WAIS Choir.

The Guthrie Center is the district’s central facility for Career and Technology Education (CTE), where students have the opportunity to travel from their home campuses to participate in programs that open doors to hundreds of professional occupations.

Singing Began Early

Walton began choral singing in second grade at Terrace Elementary under the direction of Faith Heberd. In fourth grade, he became part of the SBISD Boys Choir, comprised of talented students from around the district. Walton continued his musical growth at the elementary level at Wilchester, also under Heberd’s leadership after she transferred to the school.

At WAIS, Tristan performs with the award-winning advanced choir led by teacher Lindsey Faleiro. He was also instrumental in the startup of the first-ever Men’s Chorus at Westchester.

He enjoys making music with his choir peers, and especially likes it when they get to compete and perform locally and out of state!

“I have been a sports fan, and have been playing sports all my life,” said Walton. “I think that competitive nature spreads and shows itself in how I view my work. In choir, that moment was earning the chance to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York, and eventually performing there in the spring of my sophomore year.”

A Wonderful Human Being

“Tristan’s vocal ability has grown over the years as expected, but more so his confidence in those abilities is what truly stands out,” said Faleiro. “He has stepped up and is not afraid to lead or, at times, be the only voice on his part. He does it with ease and confidence. He knows he is adding to the overall sound of the choir.”

She appreciates Tristan’s dedication, hard work, loyalty, creativity, problem-solving skills, honesty, and his encouraging nature.

“But the thing that stands out the most is that he is just a wonderful human being,” said Faleiro. “He brings so much joy to the room, and I am blessed to know him.”

The WAIS advanced choir is currently preparing to perform in Nashville later this school year. Walton is thrilled that this will be a “final hurrah” for his SBISD choir experience before graduation in May.

Filmmaking Career on the Horizon

Walton first got interested in filmmaking during a Principles of Arts class in his freshman year at WAIS. His teacher, Shaun Wegscheid, encouraged him to look into the Guthrie Center filmmaking program. Since joining the program, Tristan has soared into uncharted territories with award-winning film production techniques.

Last year, he and teammate Joaquin Veintimilla entered a filmmaking contest at the SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Conference. They were given a prompt on which to base a two-to-three-minute film, with only 48 hours to write, storyboard, film, and edit it. The duo won a Gold Award at the District 8 level for their collaboration and qualified to compete at the state level. Due to a scheduling conflict with a UIL choir event, Tristan was unable to participate in the state competition.

“Tristan has always experimented with the technology that makes digital film, from tweaking camera settings and experimenting with camera angles to pushing digital video editing as far as Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro will allow,” said Horacio Rodriguez, Guthrie Center filmmaking teacher. “He is constantly experimenting with more settings, filters, and effects in whichever editing platform he is using.”

Last year, Walton also progressed to the semi-final round in the UIL Film competition with a solo documentary called Making It Real. It focused on an emerging technology called Virtual Reality Filmmaking, which was something new to the judges.

“Tristan has a knack for the unusual when he chooses which stories to tell,” said Rodriguez. “Tristan is a successful filmmaker because he is genuinely curious about many things. When he researches a subject, he wants to know what’s at the core. When he collaborates with a colleague, he wants to know their perspective on the story and why that resonates with them. When he works with cast and crew, he wants to know that what they are doing in front of and behind the camera is genuine to the story at hand.”

After graduation this spring, Tristan plans to further develop his amazing talents honed in the Guthrie Center’s program by attending a film school. This is the season for college acceptances, and he is hoping for a positive “welcome” from one school in particular.

Art Car Building Inspires Documentary

Walton’s family has been involved in making art cars for the Houston Art Car Parade for years. Last spring, he captured footage of the process to create a documentary called Moving Art Movement. It was screened in front of a group of students at the end of the fall semester this school year. Only a few hands were raised when the audience was asked if they had ever heard of the parade before, but most hands went up when asked if they enjoyed the film and the information revealed.

“Once again, Tristan was on target with his documentary storytelling,” said Rodriguez.

The art car documentary will be submitted to the UIL Film competition this year. He and Veintimilla will also work together again for a SkillsUSA entry this spring.