Mission Moments

Comal Education Foundation

Enrich.Expand.Excel!

The 2022-2023 school year has been an exciting time of operational development and program impact for Comal Education Foundation. This special edition newsletter is an overview of how our mission has come to life in classrooms and campuses across Comal ISD. Please take a moment to read the great work you have helped CEF accomplish and how much we've grown over the last five years.

These achievements are a celebration of YOU! Our grants program and vision toward innovation in education would not be possible without your support. You enable CEF the opportunity to support the needs of educators who go above and beyond to creatively fill the gaps in learning.

Thank you for your continued commitment to share our mission to enrich learning and expand educational opportunities so all students in Comal ISD can excel!

Have a safe and memorable summer!

2021-2022 Annual Report

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Grants In Action

Check out a few of our featured grants making an impact in the classroom!

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Progressive Projects

Students in Ms. Jennifer Fey's class at Hill Country College Prep High School are utilizing the resources provided with her Innovation Grant to transform every day project-based learning into a lesson that's an immersive production. Their Industrial Revolution and Imperialism Project, showcased in the photo, was a collaborative student effort that used microphones, stages, green screens, and technology to make the curriculum come to life! This learning concept has been applied within English, Social Studies, Engineering/Physics, and AVID courses as well at HCCPHS.

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Math Stackers

Christine Hall at Oak Creek Elementary showcases the Math Stackers manipulatives provided for her "Nifty Number Sense" Innovation Grant. Her first grade students will partner with a second grade math buddy to practice number sense and word problems giving them an authentic audience connection and build school community. The classroom set will help conceptualize value of numbers, addition, subtraction, composing 10, subitizing, and word problems.

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ALTA Conference

Laura Beaman from Morningside Elementary, and a team of Comal ISD Dyslexia Support Teachers, attended the Academic Language Therapist Association national conference in Houston. The conference supports the district's strategic goals by providing leadership skills and resources that promote quality practices and guidance in the field of dyslexia. The conference also provides instructional credit hours towards the Academic Language Therapist Certification.

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Ron Clark Academy

Lacy Alvarado from Specht Elementary attended Ron Clark Academy. The Ron Clark Academy House System is a dynamic, exciting, and proven way to create a positive climate and culture for students and staff. RCA’s methods implements processes that build character, relationships, and school spirit.

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Joe on the Go!

Andrea Stephens and her Life Bridges students have their "Joe on the Go" mobile coffee business up and running.They stopped by Support Services offering freshly brewed coffee, herbal tea, and hot cocoa.This grant has created a self-sustaining coffee business allowing students the opportunity to gain on-the-job training in a safe environment, learn customer service and social-emotional skills. Students are responsible to run the business from start to finish including inventory, product prep, order taking, and cash handling. Look for Joe on the Go on campuses next year!

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Original Music Composition

Under the direction of Mr. Austin Vogelman and Mr. Cody Richardson, Spring Branch Middle School band students were able to experience the creative process and collaboration of having an original piece composed. Students worked with Texas State University Professor Richard D. Hall to write and perform "Spirit of the Ghost Wolf".

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Ciencia de Lectura!

First grade Spanish Immersion students at Oak Creek Elementary are using Ms. Hall's "Dazzling Decodables" Innovation Grant to learn the science of reading. The dry erase sets with magnetic chips and wands are used for phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, encoding, and decoding practice. These resources build deep conceptual knowledge of letter sounds and phonological awareness as students discover letters, sounds, and word relationships.

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Librarians Unite

Pieper High Librarian, Mindy Perez (far right), joined a team of Comal ISD librarians at the Texas Librarians Association annual conference. TLA provides professional learning and innovative methods within literacy, reading, digital learning, and digital literacy.

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Living Library Now Under Construction

Brittany Fenrich at Memorial Early College High School received an innovation grant to bring an engaging and modern take on a campus library. Having a library on wheels throughout the campus, students will be able to access books and text for research or leisure at their fingertips - just as easily as technology. The physical presence of books stimulates engagement with these texts which are essential for student access and crucial for practicing research skills needed for class, group projects, or leisure reading for a mental health break.

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LEGO Pinball

Fourth grade students in Mrs. Tina Flores's GT class at Indian Springs Elementary loved building and coding this SPIKE Essential pinball machine made with Legos. Watch the pinball machine here.

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Future Engineers

Students in Ms. Jennifer Waltermyer's Tech Apps class at Indian Springs Elementary are using magnetic tiles to grow understanding of concepts in engineering. In a world where children have technology at their fingertips, Ms. Waltermyer's Innovation Grant uses hands-on tools allowing students to find new freedom in intellectual expression and build their analytical minds.

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Talking Robots

Third grade students in Mrs. Anita Carrera's GT class at Freiheit Elementary recycled old remote controls to transform them into robots. The students then used circuitry and coding to program their creative robots to talk! Listen here.

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Human DNA Study

Davenport High School Juniors in Ms. Christianna Galen's Biology and AP Biology classes are working with her Gel Electrophoresis Innovation Grant! Students had the opportunity to explore a huntington's disease family case study. Students used a problem based scenario to design a family tree/pedigree then used segments of DNA to analyze individuals in a family with huntington's disease. From there, students were able to diagnose individuals using the results of the gel electrophoresis.

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Projection Mapping

Students in Mr. Bryan Stanton's Technical Theater class at Pieper High School collaborated with the Theater Production class to provide projection mapping for the play "Silent Sky". Students worked with projection mapping software, graphic design, and digital programming to create 3-dimensional environments reminiscent of the pop-up Van Gogh experience.

With this program, students are able to create animations to enhance theatrical set design with scenes, atmospheres, and transitions to provide an immersive experience. This advanced training and experience allow students to stay competitive, relevant and ready for post graduation in an ever-evolving technical society.

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Outdoor Learning System

Students in Mrs. A'ndrea Fisher's class at Pieper Ranch Middle School have used the grant money they received to budget, shop, and put together wagons for teachers to check out and use as a "classroom to-go".

Every wagon is equipped with clipboards, white boards, expo markers, and picnic blankets. The students behind this idea ventured outside to display different ways teachers can use these wagons for various types of assignments and activities.

They’ve had a few teachers check out these wagons, and Mrs. Fisher is excited to implement it as a routine thing next year! Read more about this amazing grant below.

INCubator Final Pitch Night

INCubator Final Pitch Night was an incredible showcase of student entrepreneurs and community leadership. Students from Canyon and Smithson Valley High Schools competed in a Shark Tank-style event, wrapping up a year-long course working with local entrepreneurs, business coaches, and mentors to develop an actual product or service start-up. CEF is partners with INCubator by providing every team investment funds up to $200 during MVP Pitch in February.

The top 3 teams were awarded an opportunity to take their idea to the next level by partnering with SPARK Small Business Center over the summer.

1st Place: WTF - Where's That From App; Abbey Alcoser and Haley Ferro, SVHS

2nd Place: Scan & Plan - Digital Student Organizer; Trey Mcleod, Bailey Felpel, Ava O'Neal, CHS

3rd Place: E-Boba - Popping Hydration; Brady Belden, Cole Freund, Ryan Prudell, SVHS

Night of Stars

Comal ISD rolled out the red carpet celebrating an unforgettable "Night of Stars" banquet honoring the district's outstanding Campus Teachers of the Year. The evening ended with a surprise announcement of the 2022-2023 District Teachers of the Year. CEF would like to congratulate Alice Tuckness, Elementary District Teacher of the Year, and A'ndrea Fisher, Secondary District Teacher of the Year. Comal Education Foundation was happy to award both winners a $500 grant for their classroom!

Jan Heckendorn Memorial Scholarship Winners

Congratulations to this year's Jan Heckendorn Memorial Scholarship winners (middle, Left-Right) Abigial Permenter - Smithson Valley High, Katelyn Davis - Canyon Lake High, and Ray Allen Schaefer - Canyon High. Each winner received a $2,500 scholarship. Jan was a founding member of Comal Education Foundation and driving force behind the long-standing Academic Recognition Banquet honoring the top 15 graduating seniors from each high school. Her servant leadership and legacy to champion initiatives to benefit the children lives on through CEF's mission to enrich learning and expand educational opportunities so all students can excel.

CEF Grant Winner Receives National Geographic Society Grosvenor Fellowship

Comal Education Foundation would like to congratulate one of our Leaders in Innovation, Ms. A'ndrea Fisher, at Pieper Ranch Middle School. She has been named a 2023 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow through the National Geographic Society!

In November 2023, Ms. Fisher and her 8th grade Gifted & Talented Students were awarded an Innovation Grant for an "Outdoor Learning System" that provides a creative outlet for students to learn through immersive outdoor experiences, grow a love for learning, and promote academic and social-emotional achievement.

"In my application for the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, I spoke to the fact that my 8th graders had won the CEF grant, commending them on using their voice and power as experts on being a student to affect change on our campus and in the lives of students by developing and implementing their outdoor learning system. My focus was on how I teach in a manner to promote growth of students to want to speak up, speak out, and act for change.

The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship is an opportunity for me to open the opportunity for students to take more power over their learning by directing my focus and vision while on expedition in Indonesia so that their wonders and curiosities are guiding my journey. They have control over what they want to learn more about, what experiments or interviews they want to direct me to complete, etc.

I am very excited to collaborate with them as the stateside expedition team so that the learning is more engaging, more connected personally to them, and more impactful on their development of an explorer mindset. I know that translating many aspects back to our own spaces at PRMS will be critical and the outdoor learning wagons to go developed by my 8th graders this year will be instrumental in extending this learning from Asia to our own backyard."

We are extremely proud of your distinguished achievement Ms. Fisher! Thank you for sharing our mission to Enrich.Expand.Excel!

Spring Fling Sets New Record

Our Spring Fling was a throw back, boot-scootin' night to remember and one for the record books! Thanks to our sponsors, community donors, local businesses, and Comal ISD students, teachers and PTAs, we raised over $106,000 which will support classroom grants and educational programs across Comal ISD.

Special thanks to Fast Movin' Train, our Emcee Jaime Alvarez-Calderon, and Spring Fling Committee Chair Craig Jendrusch, and members Josh Acut, Sarah Permenter, and Chelsea Ormond. Photo credit to Salwa Lanford, CISD Communications Specialist.