The Clear Brook Speech and debate team returned from Elkins High School this past weekend, February 25-27th where they took a total of seven competitors to compete in their annual National Forensics League District competition. At the end of the three day competition the team qualified two of the original seven students to the National tournament to be held in Kansas City, Missouri in mid-June. These students are Andrew Kocen, who qualified at the national level in Lincoln Douglas Debate as well as Kimberly Maima who will compete in Original Oratory.
The weekend of February 5th and 6th found the Clear Brook Speech & Debate team at one of its last tournaments of the competitive season before their state meet in March. Hoping to bring home more state qualifications, the team succeeded in this and much more. Coming home with additional TFA state qualifications were Kimberly Maima (1st place in Original Oratory) and Raveena Bhalara (3rd place in Championship Lincoln Douglas Debate). 
In addition to Raveena Bhalara, many of her other teammates were also successful in achieving recognition for debate events. Among these additional winners were Karl Schaefer and Kelly Hogg who walked away with a 3rd place trophy in Championship CX Debate, as well as the team of Daniel Hogg and Drake Pechous who achieved quarter-finalist status and 2 points toward their state goal. Schaefer also came away with a 2nd place speaking award for the event. Also flexing his debate skills was Michael Rocha, a new freshman to the team who made it to the quarter finalist ranks in Novice LD Debate. Jessica Cetrone also came away from the weekend with her second 1st place trophy of the season in Student Congress, giving her a total of 18 points for the state meet. Andrew Kocen was also a quarter finalist in Championship LD Debate.
Speaking events were also mastered this weekend by a number of students on the team. Kimberly Maima, winning her third trophy of the weekend came home with another 1st place trophy in Impromptu speaking, followed by Nhi Do who placed 7th. Kelly Hogg, now an accomplished 20 point speaker in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking, brought home a 3rd place trophy in this event, along with a 5th place finish by Kimberly Maima and an 8th place finish by Drake Pechous. Madhushree Zope also realized her first state point accumulation by placing 4th in Original Oratory, claiming 3 points.
The icing on the cake for the weekend came with a 3rd place Sweepstakes trophy which the team also brought home. Over the course of the competitive season the Clear Brook Speech and Debate team has realized a total of nine team members who have qualified for the year end state meet beginning on March 10th.
The Clear Brook Speech & Debate team returned from the weekend with the following awards from Houston Lamar High School as well as from the UIL Cross Examination Debate district meet.
From Houston Lamar:
Andrew Kocen - 2nd place LD Debate which now qualifies him for the TFA State meet in March to be held in El Paso
Kimberly Maima - 1st place Impromptu Speaking
Saurabh Limaye (Suh-Rob Luh-May) - 2nd place Impromptu Speaking
Saurabh Limaye - 8th place Foreign Extemp Speaking
Also making it to the out rounds of debate at Lamar were Raveena Bhalara and Neil Patel who each achieved more points toward their state TFA goal.
From the UIL district meet held at Clear Lake High School the CX debate team of Karl Schaefer and Kelly Hogg came away with the alternate position for the UIL State CX Meet which will be held later this year.
On Saturday, January 23rd, 29 Clear Brook students participated in the Business Professionals of America Regional Leadership Conference. Of the 28 students participating, 17 of them qualified for the State Leadership Conference which will be held in Ft. Worth, March 3 - 6th. Five of these 17 students qualified in both individual and team competitions.Click here for qualifying students>>
Senior Kirsti Roberts, a CBHS Girls' Student Trainer was chosen by the Greater Houston Athletic Trainers' Society as their Exemplary Student Trainer. The award is given every year to recognize a deserving graduating student athletic trainer for distinguished service to athletic training, and to their community as well excellent academic record. The award includes a $500 scholarship. The winner will be honored during the Annual GHATS Student Athletic Trainer Workshop at Manvel HS on January 9, 2010.
The Clear Brook Speech and Debate International Public Policy Forum team of Karl Schaefer, Elyssa Klann, Suarabh Limaye (suh-rob lim-aye), Kelly Hogg, and Skyler Schneider got an unexpected gift during the winter break. The debate students were notified of their advancement to the Sweet 16 round of competition in the Bickel & Brewer/New York University International Public Policy Forum (IPPF).
The Clear Brook students remain eligible to win the $10,000 grand prize and an all-expenses-paid trip to the finals competition in New York City in April 2010. The IPPF is the only international contest that gives high school students the opportunity to participate in written and oral debates on issues of public policy. More than 230 high schools – representing 40 states and 31 foreign countries – registered for the 2009-10 IPPF competition, writing on the topic, "Resolved: The United Nations should substantially increase humanitarian assistance for persons living in poverty."
The law firm of Bickel & Brewer, in cooperation with New York University, will invite the final eight advancing teams on an all-expense paid trip to the IPPF Finals to be held on the New York University Campus. If Clear Brook advances to the next round they will be in final contention for the $10,000 grand prize and the Bickel & Brewer Cup.
Brook debate students will be competing against Suncoast Community High School students from Riviera Beach, Florida in the next round of the competition.
Manpreet Kaur, Clear Brook High Senior, was named as a Regional semi-finalist in Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology competition for her work on her 2009 Science Fair Project. Well done!
To celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Clear Brook Girls' Sports Medicine Staff collected donations at CBHS Volleyball and Football games. The fund-raiser "Wrapping for a Cure", which student trainers wrapped wrists in pink for a donation, raised $742 for M. D. Anderson Cancer Hospital. The money was donated in honor of CBHS Head Football Coach Paul Lanier's wife, Mary, who has been a patient at M.D. Anderson.
Pictured making the presentation are:
front row L-R CBHS Head Principal Michele Staley, Mary Lanier, CBHS Athletic Trainer Cathy Supak
back row Nam Dinh, Taylor Cudworth, Kirsti Roberts, Catheryne Aguilar, not pictured Alax Mireles
The Clear Brook debate squad, with 18 members of the team present, had yet another outstanding weekend at James E. Taylor High School on November 20th and 21st. The team amassed a total of 15 awards, including six 1st place awards as well as many others.
Karl Schaefer and Kelly Hogg returned to Clear Brook with 1st place trophies in Championship CX Debate, which also resulted in their final points needed for TFA State qualification. Schaefer was also the recipient of a 1st place Impromptu Speaking award as was Kelly Hogg the recipient of an additional 2nd place CCX Speaking Award. Following Schaefer and Hogg, Nathan Tamburello and Dinusha Wijesinghe also achieved the remaining points they needed to secure their State qualification by winning 1st place in Public Forum Debate. Rishi Suresh, an up-and-coming novice member of the team continued his winning streak by bringing home the 1st place award in Novice LD Debate as well as a 3rd place Speaker Award in this same event. Not to be outdone, however, team Vice President Elyssa Klann placed 2nd in Student Congress which also achieved her needed points for State qualification.
Additional award winners for the weekend included Saurabh Limaye with a 4th place award in Impromptu Speaking, Nhi Do with a 6th place award in this same event as well as Elyssa Klann with a 6th place award in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking. The team was also very successful in bringing home speaking awards in both CX and LD Debate. In addition to Hogg and Suresh, Andrew Kocen also brought home a 2nd place Speaker Award for CLD.
This brings the team total of Texas Forensic Association State qualifiers to six – Karl Schaefer, Kelly Hogg, Andrew Kocen, Nathan Tamburello, Dinusha Wijesinghe and Elyssa Klann. Eric Chaney and Nhi Do also began their accumulation of Texas Forensic Association State points in Championship LD Debate.
The CBHS Speech and Debate team, under the direction of Michael Rutledge and Felicia Byrd returned from their latest competition hosted at Clear Lake High School this past weekend with two additional TFA state qualifiers - Andrew Kocen and Kelly Hogg. They join Karl Schaefer with his Domestic Extemporaneous qualification. The specific awards earned by the Wolverine Speech & Debate team include:
Andrew Kocen – 1st place Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking
Nathan Tamburello – 5th place Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking
Elyssa Klann – 5th place Student Congress
Jessica Cetrone – 8th place Student Congress
Kelly Hogg – 5th place Impromptu Speaking
Elyssa Klann – 2nd place Impromptu Speaking
Kelly Hogg – 4th place Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking
Rishi Suresh – 3rd place Novice LD Debate
Rishi Suresh – 1st place Novice LD Speaker Award
Madhushree Zope – 2nd place Novice CX Debate
Eric Stone – 2nd place Novice CX Debate
The team still has a number of students waiting in the wings who need only 1-2 points to reach their full qualification – Nathan Tamburello, Dinusha Wijesinghe, Jessica Cetrone. In addition, the team has an even longer list of those who have begun their march toward state and, with great certainty will join this group of scholars at their March meet.
Clear Brook Speech & Debate have entered for the second year in a row the National Public Policy Forum debate competition headed out of New York City through the law firm of Bickel & Brewer, in partnership with New York University. The team of Karl Schaefer, Kelly Hogg, Saurabh Limaye, Skyler Schneider, and Elyssa Klann have advanced to the first elimination round. This contest represents 40 states and 31 countries. They were selected as one of the top 32 teams of over 240 teams who entered.
The Clear Brook Speech and Debate team performed exceptionally this past weekend at Lamar Consolidated High School, bringing home a total of 11 accolades. The wins include two 3rd place awards in LD Debate by Saurabh Limaye and Raveena Bhalara, who both earned 4 state points . Continuing the winning streak were Kelly Hogg and K
arl Schaefer who placed 3rd and 8th respectively in Impromptu Speaking. Not to be outdone, however, Jessica Cetrone placed 1st in Student Congress, for which she earned 8 points toward her 10 point goal for state qualification.
Other winners include Hogg with 6 points, Bhalara with 4 points and Cetrone with 2 points in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking after placing 3rd, 5th and 7th respectively. Andrew Kocen and Nathan Tamburello also accumulated 6 and 2 points in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking as a result of their 4th and 7th respective placings.
Karl Schaefer was the biggest winner of the weekend by bringing home a 2nd place award in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking which earned 8 points, bringing him close to a double state qualification in this event. Karl will be the first of his teammates who will be competing at the yearly state meet in Ysleta, Texas in March. Five additional teammates remain in the wings who hope to qualify in the next few weeks.
The Clear Brook Speech and Debate team returned from Alief Hastings this past weekend with a 3rd place ranking in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking by Karl Schaefer. This earned Karl a total of 7 out of 10 needed state points for Extemporaneous Speaking. Dinusha Wijesinghe and Nathan Tamburello also returned with an additional 2 points needed toward their state goal for Public Forum debate. The team heads to Lamar Consolidated High School this weekend to continue their march toward state qualification.
Virtual Dance Class
On Thursday, October 15, from 4:00-5:30 p.m. Clear Creek ISD dance students will participate in a unique experience at Clear Brook High School located at 4607 FM 2351 in Friendswood, TX 77546. With the help of a “virtual connection” students will take a college level class from Richard Alston, a well known modern choreographer from Britain.
When Alston offered to teach a class at the Rice University dance department, he wanted a way to engage with a high school program as well. A virtual dance class will be held at the Clear Brook High School dance department with 60 students. The two dance classes will connect through video conferencing technology. This unusual fine arts opportunity was made possible through the Society of Performing Arts and Nicole Pruitt. Richard Alston’s company will perform at the Wortham Center Theatre in Houston on Friday evening.
Click here to view photos >>
CLEAR BROOK FFA brings home honors from state convention!
Andy Christensen was recognized as the top ambassador in the program. He also received his Lone Star Farmer Degree.
Dianne Neff received her Lone Star Farmer Degree
Sarah Seylar received her Lone Star Farmer Degree
Chris DeLaCruz received his Lone Star Farmer Degree
Megan Garrett received her Lone Star Farmer Degree
Ashley Cates received her Lone Star Farmer Degree
The Chapter received the Golden Horizon Award and a Gold rating on the National Chapter Award.
Chris Stinson will receive his American Farmer Award at the National FFA Convention in October.
The Clear Brook Best Buddies Chapter was recognized as Outstanding Chapter of the Year for the 08-09 school year. They were presented the honor on July 25, 2009 at the 20th Annual Best Buddies Leadership Conference. Click here to read more about CBHS Best Buddies >>
CBHS Yearbook Wins Award The CBHS Yearbook Team won best graphic design and also best overall project for our plans for the 09-10 yearbook. Congratulations to the following students:
Landon Peoples
Elizabeth Clark
Victoria Garces
Elizabeth Scott
Nikaele Simien
The 08-09 Yearbook critiqued by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association at Columbia University, and we were Silver Medalists! This is a huge accomplishment, as we got 895 out of a possible 1000 points!
Project Lead the Way Group Honored
Last spring a team of students from Clear Brook entered a nationwide contest hosted by NASA called “Life and Work on the Moon”. Students were challenged to think about what a human presence on the moon might look like, then develop a two dimensional drawing or three dimensional model.
Clear Brook students Sami Khaleeq, Kenny Lam, Brian Lemke, Karl Schaefer, and Mason Tang worked for several weeks on their design, and used software from the Project Lead The Way laboratory to create a 3D model. Their entry won first place in the 3D category, and earned $750 for Clear Brook High School’s Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) club.
Sami Khaleeq receives a plaque recognizing Clear Brook High School’s entry as the winner in the 3D model category.
In addition, Sami Khaleeq got to go to Washington D.C. this past summer for the 40th anniversary of the lunar landing. Sami got to meet Neil Armstrong, and the chief administrator of NASA, Charles Bolden.