Twain, Pershing await construction

Principal Joyce Dauber remains at Mark Twain, an elementary school that offers two magnet programs — extended school and gifted and talented. She has been principal at Twain for 14 years.

At nearby Pershing Middle School, new Principal Bryce Amos will face the complexities of managing the 1,650 students enrolled there and begin the planning process for another new school building. HISD plans to spend $28 million to rebuild Pershing Middle School in the 2005 school year.

Both principals' jobs are made easier by strong support from the schools' communities in an area of Houston that has seen dramatic economic revitalization.

HISD's 2002 Rebuild Houston bond program, an $800 million bond issue approved by voters, is financing the construction of both new schools.

Twain's temporary quarters

First-grade teacher Jann Badawi and gifted and talented teacher Freida Carter of Twain Elementary know one design secret the decorating pros don't.

It's not what's on the walls that matters. It's how a room "feels."

Said Badawi, who has been teaching since 1985, "You can teach a class under a tree."

Added Carter, a 20-year veteran whose own children attended Twain, "Give me a pencil and a piece of paper and I can get the job done."

With HISD students returning to class Monday, the staff and teachers at Mark Twain Elementary faced the task of making several temporary buildings feel like home to more than 650 pupils.

The teachers worked in the sweltering August heat, unloading boxes into their temporary classrooms.

Both teachers, surrounded by carefully labeled boxes of school supplies and learning materials, also know that a classroom has to feel a little like home for their pupils.

On the first day that Twain's faculty and staff were allowed into their temporary quarters, Badawi was surrounded by stacks of unpacked boxes.

A "reading center," featuring bookshelves filled with children's favorites, was rapidly taking shape.

A beloved leather armchair, which belonged to Badawi's father, was already centered in the classroom. It is known as "the top dog"chair — reserved each day for the pupil in Badawi's class who does an exceptional job. That pupil gets to share the chair with a friend, where they can curl up and read.

"It's always tricky to put together your room. It's especially interesting this year," Badawi said. "I always work first on the reading area, and then I put things up that make it my classroom — posters, plants and the hamster or whoever it is who's likely to wind up living in here."

The former actress of stage and the small screen (TV commercials, mostly) grew up in Houston, where she attended Poe Elementary School. She studied acting in New York City and acted in New York and Los Angeles.

The mother of three teenage boys and a resident of the Heights, Badawi said she never planned to become a public school teacher.

"It was the last thing I was ever going to do," Badawi said. "Now I get to be on stage all day."

Design elements

Carter's temporary classroom contains an essential design element — a big closet.

She already had shoved boxes inside the closet to make way for a grouping of four tables and small chairs for the gifted and talented first- and third-graders in her class this year.

Carter said she always tries to bring her philosophy of teaching into the elements that decorate her classroom.

"I always stress balance," Carter said. "But surroundings are important to everybody. You want your room to reflect your curriculum. It's got to always be stimulating."

Carter's two children, Texas Ranger Drew Carter and architect Jewels Carter, graduated from Twain Elementary. Her granddaughter will enroll in the school this year.

While HISD builds the new school, Dauber and the school's teachers are optimistic about the new school year.

"There are going to be a few obstacles that we are going to have to overcome, but when you are going into a brand-new school, it's worth it," Dauber said.

Outside the temporary school office, Dauber hung flowering hanging baskets as soon as the certificate of occupancy was issued last Monday. Parents sent a dozen red roses and blooming potted plants.

As a piercing fire alarm demonstrated last Monday, everything will be in fine working order when school opens Monday on the temporary Twain Elementary campus.

Construction of the new school is scheduled to be completed in 14-15 months, Dauber said. Weather permitting, the pupils might move into the new building early in the 2005 school year, she added.

In the meantime, pupils will have plenty of room for recess on the grounds of the nearby Weekley Family YMCA. Under an agreement between HISD and the YMCA, Twain students will be allowed to use the YMCA's playing fields for play and organized sports activities during the 2004-05 school year, Dauber said.

For the current school year, the address of Twain Elementary School will be 7500 Braes Blvd., just around the corner from the new school construction on Underwood.

Pershing's changes

Big changes are also in store for 1,600 students at nearby Pershing Middle School, 7000 Braes Blvd. Amos is one of 27 new principals in HISD this year. A native of a small town in Iowa, Amos is starting his ninth year in HISD.

"I am very excited about being at Pershing. It's one of the top middle schools in the district," Amos said. "I've been here only about 2 1/2 weeks, and I've already had overwhelming support from teachers, support staff and parents."

One thing that makes Pershing "feel like a small town in the middle of a huge urban area" is that parents who graduated from the school now have children enrolled here, Amos said.

"One of the unique things about Pershing is the community support, not usually seen in a big, urban district," Amos said. "It's a family atmosphere — my students also have aunts and uncles who went here."

Training program

Amos taught middle school for four years, and was an assistant principal at Lamar High School in an HISD training program for new principals. He also served two years as dean of students at Westbriar Middle School .

"You immediately sense the tradition and the respect that Pershing has in this community," Amos said.

Amos said he really enjoys being around middle-school pupils. This concept is sometimes hard for parents of children in that age group — 11- to 12-year-olds in the sixth grade to 13- to 14-year-olds in the eighth grade — to believe.

"It is hard to explain and describe," Amos said, conceding, "Some people think I am crazy."

His best explanation?

"There's never a boring day at middle school," he said.

Amos said that middle-school students are "still an open book — they're ready to try anything."

Finding their niche

By the time his pupils reach high school, Amos said they will already have found their niche — they want to participate in band, or athletics, for example.

Middle-school pupils are still open to new things, he said.

"Middle school sets up the kids for being successful in high school," Amos said. "I really think middle school sets the kids up for success throughout the rest of their education."

Amos said that teachers at Pershing "love the age group and have the skills to do whatever it takes to get the kids to be successful. They also understand the importance these years have on students.

"We have so many different groups and activities," Amos added. "And everybody loves that feeling of being successful.

"If you are in a club, or group or activity you really enjoy, then you take that success back into the classroom. And in middle school, you still get to choose," Amos added.

The key is to help middle-schoolers find their niche, Amos said.

"We are getting kids to try as many things as possible," Amos said. "In the middle school years, they aren't afraid to try things," he said.

"Middle-school students are still excited if the principal comes to the basketball game," Amos said. "That's a cool environment to be in. They are just fun to be around."

Amos' wife, Sherry, is an assistant principal at Garcia Elementary.

Amos is also looking forward to being involved in decision-making as HISD prepares to build a new school to replace Pershing, Amos said.

Construction could start as soon as the 2005 school year, Amos said.