Kimberly Bain has been named Highland Park ISD's Talented and Gifted and English Language Arts Coordinator.
 
Bain comes to HPISD from Lewisville ISD where she served as a Strategic Design Coach since 2013. She also served for six years as a Talented and Gifted Facilitator for grades K-5. Bain was an elementary classroom teacher from 1990-1997 in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD and in Jenks, Okla. public schools.

"We are excited to welcome Kim Bain to the HPISD family," said Gena Gardiner, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Special Programs. "Kim has a strong reputation as an instructional leader, and her expertise is well-known among her colleagues. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and she clearly puts students first in her decision making. We know that Kim will be a valuable addition to our district."

Bain received her bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University. She earned her master's degree from The University of Texas - Arlington, and she also holds a Principal Certification.

"It is a privilege to join Highland Park ISD," Bain said. "During the transition into my new position, I will begin serving our K-6 ELA teachers and leading our TAG program for grades K-12. I look forward to partnering with teachers as we build students' capacity for critical, creative, and innovative thinking so that our Scots will succeed in the future they create."

Bain lives in Highland Village with her husband Darryl. They have two children - Macy is a freshman at Baylor University, and Sawyer attends Marcus High School.

On August 20, Ann Batenburg  delivered an excellent presentation to the PC-TAG Board about Your Mindset Matters.  Click HERE to view the presentation.

Ann Batenburg, Ph.D., serves as a clinical assistant professor in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Dr. Batenburg earned her doctorate in Teaching and Learning with a focus in Gifted Education from the University of Iowa in 2011. She also holds two master’'s degrees: one in Special Education from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, and one in Teacher Leadership from North Park College in Chicago. She teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate teacher education courses with a focus on gifted education.

Dr. Batenburg has several years of elementary teaching experience in the Chicago area. She taught fifth grade for nine years and students with special needs for five years. At the college level, she has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Iowa, Cornell College, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Salem College. Her passion is working with children who are gifted and talented, as they are often the children who are left without services in our schools. Her research interests center on examining factors that contribute to talent development, other issues in the education of the gifted, and Constructivist philosophy and teaching methods.
 

On August 21, PC-TAG hosted the annual HPHS Teacher & Staff Appreciation Breakfast.  We are so fortunate to have such wonderful people educating and supporting our students every day!

Thank you to Carolyn Greaves, Natalie Davis, and Letty Spicer for organizing the event.

Click Read More to see lots of pictures from the event.

PCTAG generously funded a unique, engaging learning opportunity for Mrs. Janik's TAG students on May 20.  Her students heard two actors from the Shakespeare Company of Dallas through an educational program called Shakespeare on the Go: Speak the Speech: Shakespeare and the Spoken Word.  During the performance in our HPMS auditorium, students participated by playing a word game with Shakespeare's invented words, listening to many partial, famous Shakespearean speeches from various plays (and the actors changed characters and costumes for each scene), practicing iambic pentameter, hurling Shakespearean insults, and practicing Shakespearean dialogue. This interactive learning experience connected well to the introduction to Shakespeare's language, plays, and patterns that Mrs. Janik taught in her TAG English classes.

Congratulations to MIS Math Teacher Sarah Beth Haigler, the 2015 recipient of the PCTAG Teacher of the Year Award.  

Ms. Haigler was nominated by students, parents and teachers who praised her encouraging and inspiring manner, as well as the significant extra time and energy she spends coaching the MIS/HPMS Math Team.  

Ms. Haigler received her award on May 14 before a classroom of cheering students and Dr. Hitzelberger.


Through its Teacher of the Year nomination process, PC-TAG received numerous nominations for the entire English department at Highland Park High School.  Although the English department was not selected as "Teacher of the Year," it did receive a special presentation from the PC-TAG Teacher of the Year selection committee to acknowledge this group's work and dedication throughout this past year.

On April 23, Ashley McCarrick and Scott Simons from KD College Prep talking about the New SAT Format.

Ashley McCarrick is a summa cum laude graduate of Flager College.  She has worked for KD College Prep since 2001 and currently serves as the company’s Executive Director of Client Development.  As the driving force behind the Colleyville KD College Prep campus, Ashley frequently counsels students on the structure and importance of the PSAT/NMSQT®, SAT® and ACT® exams as part of a well-rounded college application.   Her passion is helping teenagers discover their dreams.
 
Scott Simons is an honors graduate of The Pennsylvania State University who has worked in the test prep industry for almost 25 years.  He has tutored and taught prep classes for the SAT®, PSAT/NMSQT®, ACT®, LSAT®, GRE® and GMAT® exams, and he has developed entire math, verbal and science curricula for each of those exams.  He has given hundreds of live presentations to both high schools and colleges on preparing for admissions tests and how to successfully navigate the admissions process.  For the past six years, he has focused exclusively on the college entrance exams/college admissions, and he is currently the Senior Director of Math and Science Curriculum Development at KD College Prep. 

KD College Prep Presentation

4th grade Explorations at Bradfield with Carol Lanning

The students worked in groups to create a fictitious "enigma" creature, tunnel to Atlantis, sea monster, etc.  They present it to the parents as a scientific fact with artifacts, blurry pictures (ex. Bigfoot), then are questioned by the parents and other students.  The student answers are creative and thoughtful.
Each group also made an Animoto video about their "discovery."

Congratulations to the following students (all in TAG), who earned the top ten scores in the MIS/HPMS School MATHCOUNTS Competition on January 14 and 16:
 
Matthew Healy, Enayat Kapadia, Parker Lake, Amy Li, Justin Liang, Richard Luo, Ben Olness, Calder Sinak, Stacy Wang, Michael Zhan
 
These ten students will represent HPMS at the January 31 MATHCOUNTS Dallas Chapter Competition at SMU.  Top scorers in the Chapter competition will move on to MATHCOUNTS State in Austin on March 28.
 
Thirty students in grades 5 through 8 participated in the two-day, after-school meet.  Competition was extremely tight this year for those top ten spots.  After the individual testing on Day One, Henry Wang and Justin Liang were tied for 10th place and had to battle it out in Day Two’s Countdown Round, a one-on-one head-to-head competition.
 
In the Countdown Round, two students at a time sit at the front of the room, armed with buzzer switches, competing to see who can correctly answer three questions first.  Meanwhile, the other students watch the fast-paced action and try to work the problems themselves.
 
Justin Liang won the 10th place spot, while Parker Lake was the overall victor of the Countdown Round, defeating all his opponents, including our two tied-for-1st-place individual test scorers, Amy Li and Michael Zhan.
 
Our top 5th grader was Justin Li, who actually tied 8th graders Henry and Justin Liang for 10th place, but he is ineligible to compete at Chapter because he’s not yet in 6th grade!  Parth Nandekar came in first of all 6th graders.
 
Thanks to Greenhill School for providing the buzzer-and-light indicator system, as well as to parent volunteers Angie Nouanesengsy, Lisa Sinak and Jennifer Lake for helping to run this event.  The Math Team is coached by Sarah Beth Haigler and Randi Summer.
 
We wish our team the best of luck at the January 31 MATHCOUNTS Meet at SMU!

MIS TAG students in Ms. Turet's 5th grade Explorations class dissected a sheep brain.