Episcopal High School eNewsLetter October 2011 Letter from the Dean of Arts: Our October issue of Windows features a letter from Dean of Arts Betsy Durning. >> Read Betsy Durning's Full Letter Parents: Billing Reminder Balance drafted on the 15th of each month. Click Here College Counseling Reminders & Important Dates The new Arts Leadership Council, which includes faculty and students, will meet Click Here throughout the year to strengthen the Arts Pillars programs and increase participation. Meet the New Faculty & Staff: Members of our new faculty and staff will be highlighted in the September, October, and November issues of Windows. Latest Student Achievements Click Here > Click here to read the second installment of this special feature. Performing Arts Events: Theatre October: In The News The Water Engine Click Here A play by David Mamet – October 14-16 Spring Musical March 2-4 Dance Dance Matters Fall Dance Concert – November 11-12 What Moves You Spring Dance Concert – April 20-21 2012 Auction News Click Here Music Hauntcert Fall Music Concert - October 25 Jazz Brunch March 24 Spring Music Concert May 2 -- Visual Arts Events Media | Publications | Studio: Art Retreat October 28-29 Visual Arts Department Exhibits November 28 – December 9 April 23 – May 4 Support EHS in 2011-2012 : Your generous support of EHS helps us provide remarkable opportunities and unlimited possibilities for our students. Click below to give to this year’s Annual Fund or the Capital Campaign. © 2011-2012 EHS Windows | Editor - Claire Fletcher | 713-470-5024 | email Forward this eNotice to a friend. View this eNotice in your web browser. Letter From the Dean of Arts - October 2011 Posted 10/04/2011 10:54AM Dear Episcopal High School Family: The 2011-2012 school year will bring to fruition a variety of new EHS Arts Pillar events, and I am excited to share the buzz with you! On October 12, the entire freshman class will head downtown with our arts faculty to experience Arts Day Houston. Our day will include workshops and a backstage tour at the Alley Theatre, a pas de deux performance at the Houston Ballet, tours of Houston’s Fine Arts and Contemporary Arts museums, and a “Jazz Lunch” at the House of Blues, where students will receive a music history lesson and participate in a harmonica workshop. I expect this new EHS tradition will give our freshmen a vitalizing opportunity to discover something new about our city, the arts, and each other. I am also pleased to announce that we have recently modified the structure of the Arts Pillar. We now have two departments. The Visual Arts Department, led by Kate Philbrick, includes three programs: Media Arts, Studio Arts, and Student Publications. The Performing Arts Department, led by Garmon Ashby, also includes three programs: Dance, Music and Theatre. While this organizational change has not had an impact on the extraordinary diversity of arts courses we continue to offer, the new structure allows us to recognize the unique strengths of six truly outstanding arts programs here at EHS. If you had a chance to read the first-ever August issue of The Knight Times, produced by the industrious staff in our Student Publications Program, you know that the Arts Pillar is also sponsoring a new group on campus. Composed of both arts faculty members and students who have demonstrated notable leadership in the arts (photo and list of members), the Arts Leadership Board hopes to generate innovative ideas, strengthen our pillar, and nourish awareness and understanding of the arts in all their forms in our school community. I am certain EHS will benefit from the group’s efforts in the near future. Along with our new initiatives, the arts pillar is proud to carry on with our traditional fall events. The Visual Arts Department recently inducted a talented group of students into the National Art Honor Society (photo and list of students). Many of them will be heading off to the Blackwood Land Institute for our annual Art Retreat on October 28. In the Performing Arts Department, theatre students are preparing for a production of David Mamet’s suspenseful radio play, The Water Engine. The production opens on October 14 and includes a delightful curtain-raiser entitled Mr. Happiness. Our musicians are getting ready for their spooktacular Hauntcert, scheduled to chill you on October 25, and our dancers are warming up to impress you with their vigor and grace: Dance Matters opens on November 11. Let me close with a plug for one last new event. On November 17, the Theatre Program will present five one-act plays by William Inge in the recently renovated Black Box Theatre. This is part of our new EHS Onstage Studio series, and like all of our EHS arts events, you won’t want to miss it! Close Meet the New Faculty and Staff - Part 2 Posted 10/03/2011 01:00AM Several new faces grace the halls of EHS this year. The September and October issues of Windows will feature introductions of the newest members of our community. EHS’s Executive Director of Advancement, Ryan Dolibois, is pleased to be joining the Episcopal High School family after spending the past decade at YES Prep Public Schools. Originally from northern Virginia, he is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and came to Houston in 1998 as a member of Teach for America. He taught fifth grade for three years in an inner-city elementary school and in 1999 was recognized as the first-year Teacher of the Year for the state of Texas. During his time as YES Prep’s Vice President of Institutional Advancement, he helped the organization raise more than $85 million for its operations, facilities, and expansion. Working with the board, senior leadership, and the broader community, he has helped the school system grow from one campus with 350 students to a network of 10 schools serving more than 5,400 students across the city. Ryan currently serves on the board of Yellowstone Academy and is on the session at Christ the King Presbyterian Church. He and his wife, Kim, have three young children: Lucas, Jonah, and Sophia. "I am excited to join the EHS family,” he says, “and look forward to continuing the legacy of success." The newest member of the Religion Department is Crystal Eldringhoff, who will teach World Religions, New Testament, and chair the SOS Steering Committee. Crystal received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Loyola University of New Orleans and taught for more than 20 years at private schools in Louisiana. At St. Joseph’s Academy she also coordinated the service program and led as campus minister, liturgy choir moderator, and the Amnesty International moderator. Episcopal appealed to her because she observed the care and attention that is given to each student. “Great attention is paid so that no student falls through the cracks; inclusion is very important to me,” she emphasizes. Karrie Everett says that teaching in a high school is fun because of the excitement and energy the students bring each day. “They have big plans, and that is contagious,” she explains. Karrie received both her bachelor’s and master’s in math at Sam Houston State and has worked as a math tutor at Blinn and a graduate instructor at Sam Houston State. EHS’s laptop program and small class sizes drew her to the school. She has been married to her husband, Justin, for four years, and on weekends, they enjoy relaxing with their dachshund, Zoey. Kary Kemble is a staunch “Hook’em Horns” fan who has been teaching since he graduated from the University of Texas 32 years ago. Throughout his career, he has taught at Goliad High School, Stratford, Memorial, and Georgetown High School, where he grew up. Kary is pleased to have landed at EHS where he says the facilities and lunches are great and he knows he is teaching future leaders of the country. His daughter Lauren is a graduate of TCU and recently married an EHS graduate, and his son is following in his dad’s footsteps, majoring in education at Sam Houston State. Kary will teach history and coach football and softball. Amanda Robertson graduated from Mississippi State and moved to Mobile, Alabama, where she taught for five years. When her husband, Matt, was transferred to Houston in January they moved their family here and are still busy learning the ins and outs of the fourth-largest city in the U.S. Amanda has a daughter Shelby who is 9 and a son Ryan who is 3. They are all huge football fans, and fall is a lively time at their house. Amanda is substituting for Dorota Veldkamp while she is on maternity leave. Amanda enjoys the connections that teaching brings. “Each year I meet new students and yet I also hear from past students who contact me to share news about their work, families, and other accomplishments.” Sarah Swanberg joins the Math Department to teach Algebra I and II. She chose a career in teaching because “I’m doing something that makes a difference and impacts the youth of our city.” Before joining EHS she worked at Woodlands Prep. She loves the feel of community at Episcopal and the emphasis on a well-rounded education via the Four Pillars. When she isn’t teaching, she loves to run and play soccer. Sarah describes herself as a college basketball fanatic and a zealous fan of the University of Kentucky Wildcats. “Most of my family is from Kentucky, so I was sort of born into being a Wildcats fan!” A Texas A&M graduate, Rachel Thomas joins the Math Department where she will teach and also serve as a Math Club sponsor.