BISD Band and Choir Students Earn All-Sstate Recognition

On January 12, 2019, the Texas Music Educators Association held the Area G audition to select the 2019 All-State Band and Choir members. In order to earn a position in an All-State performing ensemble, students went through district, region, and area auditions where they competed against others from the Rio Grande Valley, Corpus Christi, Laredo, Del Rio, and San Antonio. The BISD Department of Fine Arts is proud to announce that 39 Brownsville fine arts music students earned chairs in these prestigious ensembles, ranking them in the top 2% of music students in Texas! These students will perform in an All-State Band, Orchestra, or Choir at the TMEA convention in San Antonio on February 16, 2019.

This year, BISD students earned nine first chairs at this level of competition and Joshua Tovar, Bass I from Veterans Memorial, earned the distinct honor of becoming a four-year All-State Choir member.

(In the list below, choir students and some instrumental students have already been placed in a specific performing ensemble. The remaining instrumental students will have one more competition at the convention to determine their rankings within one of the All-State Bands or Orchestras.)

Congratulations to the following magnificent, young adults who earned a place as one of the top high school musicians in Texas for the 2018-2019 school year!

HANNA BAND
Karla Flores — Oboe, 6A All-State (1st chair, 6A Area)
Rolando Cespedes — Bb Clarinet, 6A All-State (2nd chair, 6A Area)
Victor Sosa — Bb Clarinet, 6A All-State (3rd chair, 6A Area)
JonCarlo Picazo — Alto Saxophone, 6A All-State (2nd chair, 6A Area)
David Gonzalez — French Horn, 6A All-State (4th chair, 6A Area)

HANNA CHOIR
Rebekah Modesto — Soprano II, All-State Mixed Choir (2nd chair, Area)
Azaria Vasquez — Alto II, All-State Treble Choir (4th chair, Area)
Dominic Chavez — Tenor I, All-State Tenor-Bass Choir (6th chair, Area)
Justin Garza — Tenor II, All-State Tenor-Bass Choir (7th chair, Area)
Allen Pace — Bass II, All-State Mixed Choir (2nd chair, Area)
J. Robert Ruiz — Bass II, All-State Tenor-Bass Choir (7th chair, Area)

LOPEZ BAND
Angela Estrada — English Horn, Symphony Orchestra — 6th in the state
Leon Ramos — Tuba, 5A All-State (1st chair, 5A Area)

PACE BAND
Axel Ramirez — Bb Clarinet, 5A All-State (2nd chair, 5A Area)
Brandon Sanchez — Bb Clarinet, 5A All-State (4th chair, 5A Area)
Joshua Garcia — Baritone Saxophone, 5A All-State — 1st in the state

PACE CHOIR
Karla Rodriguez — Alto I, All-State Treble Choir (6th chair, Area)
Angela Saldivar — Alto II, All-State Mixed Choir (2nd chair, Area)

PORTER BAND
Christian Perez — Bb Clarinet, 5A All-State (1st chair, 5A Area)
Oziel Flores — Bass Clarinet, 6A All-State (1st chair, 6A Area)
Noe Loera — French Horn, 5A All-State (2nd chair, 5A Area)

RIVERA BAND
Diego Arias — Flute, 6A All-State (3rd chair, 6A Area)
Vianca Flores — Eb Clarinet, 6A All-State (1st chair, 6A Area)
Joshua Barron — Bb Clarinet, 6A All-State (7th chair, 6A Area)
Kevin Villela — Trumpet, 6A All-State (5th chair, 6A Area)

RIVERA CHOIR
Krystal Hernandez — Soprano I, All-State Treble Choir (5th chair, Area)
Diego Hurtado — Bass II, All-State Tenor-Bass Choir (5th chair, Area)

VETERANS MEMORIAL BAND
Edith Olivares — Piccolo, 5A All-State — 2nd in the state
Hanna Valle — Oboe, 5A All-State — 5th in the state
Michael Arizmendi — Trumpet, 5A All-State (2nd chair, 5A Area)
Orlando Perez — Trumpet, 5A All-State (4th chair, 5A Area)
Adolfo Peña — French Horn, 6A All-State (2nd chair, 6A Area)
Miguel Rodriguez — Euphonium, 5A All-State (1st chair, 5A Area)
Oscar Cantu — Percussion, 6A All-State (3rd chair, 6A Area)

VETERANS MEMORIAL CHOIR
Sabrina Rodriguez — Soprano I, All-State Treble Choir (8th chair, Area)
Joshua Tovar — Bass I, All-State Mixed Choir (1st chair, Area)
Allen Lopez — Bass I, All-State Tenor-Bass Choir (6th chair, Area)
Alex Cisneros — Bass II, All-State Mixed Choir (1st chair, Area)
Thomas Garcia — Bass II, All-State Mixed Choir (3rd chair, Area)

Grand Total: 39 students

Dr. William P. Foster Project Award of Excellence: Oliveira Middle School

The College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), Music for All (MFA), and National Band Association (NBA) are dedicated to the attainment of a high level of excellence for bands and band music at all levels of instruction. The Dr. William P. Foster Music Education Alliance “Award of Excellence” recognizes quality programs serving historically disadvantaged student populations. This exciting national initiative honors select educators, and their band programs, which are challenging students and reaching a high level of excellence.

The Brownsville Independent School District is extremely proud to announce that not only was the Oliveira Middle School band named as one of the three winners from the Southwestern Division of the nation, but it was also selected as the 2018-2019 Dr. William P. Foster Project - Award of Excellence / National Winner! Sincere congratulations go out to the Oliveira Middle School band members, Principal, Cynthia Castro, Head Band Director, Gaspar Garcia, and Assistant Directors Michael Kuntz, Robert Barron, and Jose Manzano.

RESCHEDULED Town Hall Meeting

In order to have time to gather more information and explore additional options, the BISD Board of Trustees decided to reschedule the Town Hall Meeting on boundaries which was set for Wednesday, January 9, 2019 at 6:00 pm at Manzano Middle School. BISD regrets any inconvenience this may cause. Additional time may provide opportunities for everyone involved to reach successful results. The town hall meeting will be rescheduled for May 2019.

2018 - 2019 Middle School District Science Fair Winners

The C&I department would like to congratulate all the students and sponsors that participated at the 2018 - 2019 Middle School District Science Fair. We had 305 projects with a total of 343 students competing in 22 categories. Attached is the list of the students that placed first through fifth in their respective categories. The top three projects in each category advance to the Regional competition on Feb. 01 - 02, 2019 at the UTRGV Brownsville Campus pending IRB/SRC approval.

A special thank you to Mr. Joel Wood, Principal at Vela MS, for allowing us to use his campus for this event.

We would like to recognize Ms. Cynthia Castro, Hosting Principal at Oliveira MS, Administrative Team, Science Dept., and staff for a phenomenal job. View the list of winners.

Middle School Bands Shine at All-Region Auditions

The BISD middle school bands recently competed for a spot in the Texas Music Educators Association - Region 28 All-Region Bands and we are delighted to recognize their success! BISD Band Directors have coached students in anticipation of this event since the beginning of summer. The students, some of which have only been playing for one year, must be able to play through three etudes for a blind panel of judges to determine who is the “best of the best” among the 32 middle schools!

Vela Middle School surpassed its own record for BISD and Region 28. Previously held at 40 musicians, the school set a new record of 41 students selected for this important honor! Also, Manzano Middle School garnered SIX first chairs (tying the school’s own previous record) and Vela, FOUR! Amazing!

The TMEA Region 28 Middle School All-Region Bands will perform at the Donna CISD Performing Arts Center on January 19, 2019.

Congratulations to these young, amazing musicians and their fantastic directors! When it comes to music, Brownsville ISD is the place to be! View the results.

Project Rise:

Project Rise: The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Region One and UTRGV took place this morning for the establishment of a Masters in Teacher Leadership degree. This development falls under Region One's initiative known as Project Rise. BISD is proud to announce that Porter ECHS and Faulk Middle School are part of the program's first cohort. Attending this morning's event were Dr. Esperanza Zendejas and Porter ECHS principal Mary Solis. With them is Project Rise specialist Felicia Salinas.

Achievement in STAAR - Science at Canales Elementary

J.T. Canales Elementary was among several BISD schools recognized recently by the Chief Executive Officer of Summit K12, Mr. John Kresky. The recognition was earned due to the campus having the highest gains last year in 5th grade STAAR Science - not only among BISD schools but among the more than 100 elementary schools across the Rio Grande Valley that use Summit K12. Principal Dr. Edward Ude stated that Mr. Jose Peña and Ms. Enelda Brown, 5th Grade Science Teachers, as well as the rest of the 5th Grade Team of Ms. Michelle Gardner-Vidal, Ms. Elsa Gonzalez and former 5th Grade Teacher from last school year, Ms. Elizabeth Lopez all had roles in the gain. He also acknowledged Mr. Roman Gomez, Elementary Science Specialist, for his support of the school’s instructional program.

CEO Kresky said that he views the relationship with the BISD schools as a partnership.  He added that “We will continue to work with the administrators and teachers to align our support of the campus with their goals – to make sure the training goes well, and that teachers use best practices as they implement the Summit K12 program to improve their scores.”