The announcement was made after the Board of Trustees conducted a thorough search within and outside Texas. They narrowed down a field of 34 applicants to make the final decision.

According to state guidelines for hiring a superintendent, the Board is required to give public notice of the name of the lone finalist being considered for a superintendent position at least 21 days prior to finalizing the decision. The Board plans to hire Kinchen in June.

Kinchen has worked for the District for 13 years. He spent five years as the principal of Tomball High School, five years as the assistant superintendent of administrative services, and an additional three years as deputy superintendent.

“It is an honor to be selected as the lone finalist,” Kinchen said. “I am looking forward to transitioning the District to the next level and preparing for the future.”

Prior to working in Tomball ISD, Kinchen worked in Humble ISD and Spring ISD. In 1976, he earned a bachelors degree in science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He received his masters degree in education in 1985 from Southeastern

Louisiana University.

“The Board was looking for a visionary leader,” Board President John E. McStravick said. “We not only wanted a visionary leader in terms of instruction, but also in respect to facilities, staffing, programs, and finance. We are confident Huey is that leader.”

Jimmy Butler visits with THS principal Greg Quinn during a campus visit on Monday. Butler, a former basketball star at Tomball, now plays for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA.

Next year, Kayla Boucher, Lexie Comeaux, Savannah Sandoval, and Kiana Workman are returning and expected to lead their team back into the playoffs.

“I believe our strength will lie in the experience that this team will have playing together,” said coach Benita Dunlavy, the winningest softball coach in Texas.

“Building pitching position and working on back up for our back up pitching positions would be our weakness and something that needs to be worked on.”

“My mom just kind of stuck me in a guitar class as something to keep me busy- and once I picked it up, I never put it down,” she said.

Three years later, on her 14th birthday, she had her first gig at Main Street Crossing.

“Looking back, I was so, so, so nervous,” she said, recalling her uncle going up to the general manager, Matt Davis, who was playing that night, mentioning his niece knew how to play the guitar.

She played a few songs that night at Main Street Crossing, but it was only the beginning of the music career ahead of her.

“Today, I play at Main Street regularly,” she said, in a monthly “Young Artist” showcase the venue hosts.

“Naming it ‘Courage’ just made sense, because I finally say everything I felt,” she said.

Four years after her first performance, she found herself performing at Main Street Crossing at her first album release show.Tori’s album, “Courage”, was released on April 14th, the day of the show.

Tori was first inspired to start on her own album when she won the school’s Talent Show with her original song “Try This Out” she co-wrote with the same manager who, four years ago, met her on her 14th birthday to sing at her first gig.

“We realized pretty quick that we had really great writing chemistry and didn’t stop,” she said.

The majority of the songs, she says, are about “relationships she’s been in- from wanting just a simple ‘fling’ of a relationship, to the heartbreak of a guy that moves away.

Not wanting to sound “too Taylor Swift-y”, Tori explains that “not all of the album is about boys,” she said. “You have listen closely and read between the lines on some of the songs.”

She explains that one of her songs in the album, titled “Talk, Talk, Talk” was written for “all the people that have ever liked someone in a band, because, if you ever meet or talk to them, the majority of the time, they have a tendency to flirt.”

But the song reveals the theme of the journey toward maturity, confessing her inner thoughts.

“I feel like a lot of people can connect with someone that they have a bit of a flirtation-ship with, but it’s never turned into anything more,” she said, “so you’re kind of left wondering, ‘Is this going anywhere?”

But Tori believes that it’s not just the lyrics and the voice that have helped build her success so far, but her supportive friends.

“Throughout this entire process, they’ve not only been there to motivate me and encourage me musically, but also be there for me as friends,” she said.

And the night of her show wasn’t the exception, where she had the chance to play all of her album’s songs in front of her friends who had been with her since day one.

“She’s been my best friend since before the guitar was in her hand, and when she picked it up I watched it click,” said senior Savannah Lee. “I love Tori’s music-because it is so her. Those words are words that came up in our conversations or ones she called me about because she was excited that they flowed so well.”

A career in the music industry didn’t seem too far away a month prior to her album release, when she had been competing in Houston Rodeo’s “Rodeo Rockstar” competition.She competed in the youth division for ages 16-21.

At first, she had to send in an audition video where people voted for the best online, in which she sang an original song, not included in her album.

The top 10 most voted-for videos from each age division moved on to the next round. Tori was one of the ten from her age group, going on to perform at the live competition on the Kids Country stage at the rodeo.

Tori made it all the way to the preliminary round, where she chose to sing an original song on her album – “Kiss Me Quick”. When the judges critiqued her, they admired how beat up her guitar was, telling her that it showed she had been practicing a lot.

“Which I do,” she said, “but I also just have a tendency to run into things whenever I have my guitar in my hands”.

The judges also noted that she had a “universal” voice.

Before she knew it, though, the competition was over, and the winners were being placed.

“When they got to first place of the Youth Division,” she said, “they said my name.

“It was a total surprise, because everyone in my division was so talented and had gorgeous, big voices, and here I am- with my not-so-big voice with a huge check in my hand for five-hundred dollars and a Houston Rodeo belt buckle.”

Tori will be returning to the rodeo next year to be in the Houston Rodeo parade.

But as she anticipates next year’s possibilities, she is reminded of the long road ahead of her.

Tori plans to go to Texas A&M to major in General Studies while she continues to pursue her musical interests.
“There’s so much to see and do- and to get to play music, travel, and tour everywhere would be a dream,” she said.
But even as her life changes seasons, she will always remember her roots.
“I’ll always be a Texas girl at heart,” she said.
Hear a song from Tori’s new album! Log onto the newspaper’s website at THSCougarClaw.com to listen, and catch songs by other THS singers as well.

That all changed recently, when atrium passes were given to students who had participated in Academic UIL competition in mid-April. The pass is an “admit two” card, so the person with the pass can bring a friend.

“We wanted to do something to recognize these students for going the extra mile to represent their school,” said Academic UIL Coordinator Jerry Fordyce. “Being able to enjoy springtime weather out in the atrium is the least we could do for them.”

For some students, the pass is a great relief from the everyday school routine.

“I’m so glad we actually get to go outside, it helps me calm down a bit if school is stressful,” said Alexis Aguilar, who competed in journalism at multiple UIL events.

But even with the perks of being able to escape the hallways for a breath of fresh air during lunch, there are still drawbacks to being one of the few students with an atrium pass.

“The pass is a key to something that used to be free for everyone to go to,” said Spencer Wingert, a recent UIL competitor.

“Since no one goes to the atrium, the pass is utterly useless.”

It is true that the number of students allowed in is slim, but that’s for good reason.

Two years ago, multiple fights occurred in the atrium, making it hard for APs to detain those involved since the area is enclosed and the entrances can quickly become blocked by students.

There were also serious problems with litter in the atriums; it wasn’t uncommon for the entire atrium to be filled with discarded bottles and trash after lunch.

While the academic team was open to all students, those who are not part of the academic team may harbor some resentment.

“Technically, it is fair since it was decided the passes were a reward for those who represent our school,” said top ten-percenter junior Karine Wilson.

“However, if they are limiting access because of behavioral issues, then the top ten percent should be able to use it,” he added, “as that category of students aren’t typically violent or disrespectful.”

There has been no decision on whether to expand the program next year, but for it to be successful, that might be necessary.

Sean McElvogue declined the pass offered to him as a UIL participant, for a simple reason:

“I didn’t want to go in the atrium because no one eats out there.”

She held up her detailed colored-pencil drawing, the one she spent over 67 hours on, the vibrant colors woven together intricately.

There were many attractive aspects of the drawing, but a black and white border collie in the bottom left of the picture caught the eye of one buyer – and that’s all it took.

The auctioneer rambled off numbers that could hypnotize. But the very last numbers were hard to miss.

“I heard ‘twenty-five thousand’ and I was like ‘What?’!” said Amanda, whose artwork went further into competition than anyone else’s from Tomball.

The drawing – taken from a picture Amanda took of her dad’s friend leaning down, in full cowboy attire, to his black and white border collie named Cash, had just been bought for $25,000.

“Cash is the money maker,” she joked.

Although her drawing sold for a large sum, every student whose work is auctioned at the rodeo can only take back with them a maximum of $2,000. The rest of the money goes to charity.

Amanda’s rodeo art from last year went to auction as well. Though her art did not sell for nearly as much as it had this year, she still received the maximum of $2,000, which she had used to help buy a car.

This year, though, she plans to put that money towards college, planning to attend BYU in Idaho in the fall. Amanda accredits her family to her art skills, having grown up in a house full of artists.

“My sisters and I, we drew all the time. Art was always around me.” she said, growing up in a family with an architect dad, artist mom, graphic designer step brother, a crafty younger sister (whom Amanda believes is her biggest critic), and her older sister, whose previous painting had made it the rodeo as well.

Even with a big background in the arts, however, Amanda says she doesn’t think she will make a career out of it.

Amanda plans to attend BYU in the fall. She says she wants to be a park ranger someday, making art more of a hobby.

As the second year of the EOC testing period comes to an end, freshmen and sophomores can let out a sigh of relief.

The STAAR tests have been a pretty heavy weight for underclassmen, with the threat to determine success or failure in a class, an obstacle to graduation, not to mention the fact that the test covered a lot more material than the previous TAKS test.

But recent changes in the state legislature could mean significant changes to the tests, dropping the 15 required EOC tests to just five.

Beyond this, House Bill 5 also eliminates the power the test has over a student’s grade; it can currently count as 15 percent.

“It’s better that they won’t be counting the test as 15 percent of my grade, because they make it so hard that I’m afraid I can’t pass my class.” said sophomore Rebekah Neidigk.

But the bill doesn’t just alleviate strain from standardized testing, but curriculum as well. The bill could eliminate Algebra II from the graduation requirement.

“I think eliminating the requirement will be fine,” Algebra II teacher Sherri St. Germain said, “As long as there is an underlying class to replace it.”

Nothing is final yet, until a final measure gets Rick Perry’s signature. But big changes in testing and graduation requirements are coming.

The victims were mostly firefighters who responded to the call; 14 people were killed, more than 200 were injured, and over a hundred homes were destroyed in the area.

THS has raised over $8,000 in donations collected by FFA, as well as from sales from the Cougar Den coffee shop and the Red Cross Club’s muffin stand.

Student Council collected money from all three lunches one week.

“When people have hard times, it is always an honor to be at a school where everyone steps up, and lends a helping to make a difference for so many.” Dio said.

FFA teacher Jessica Reeves thinks the motivation came from the fact that the tragedy happened “so close to home.”

Coach Badley grew up in West, and has many friends still there. His house that he rents out is still intact.

“Every time a name of a new victim comes out, it hits home” Badley said.

The Salvation Army has donated about $200,000 to the West, Texas victims. Many rumors went around that the Boston Marathon and the West Explosion were connected, but they weren’t related.

When the teen brain endures this type of experience – the type that keeps them from doing something they’ll regret, but their limbs keep moving, eyes keep still and their mind suddenly becomes outside themselves – they are enduring a whole process in the frontal cortex that seems obsolete since the crisp air seems like a better solution than being logical. This process is part of the unique, oftentimes “crazy” teen brain.

Decisions are made in the frontal cortex, which is the outer layer of gray matter, where lots of conscious and complicated thinking happens. During adolescence, the brain is barely able to access the front of the cerebral cortex.

“It’s not that they don’t have a frontal lobe- and they can use it. But they’re going to access it more slowly.” said Frances Jensen, a Harvard expert on epilepsy.

This region of the brain supplies good decision-making abilities and enables someone to behave “appropriately,” have a sense of self awareness, the ability to handle social interactions and capability to understand people.

Gray matter becomes more efficient and stronger during a process called synaptic pruning which was explained by neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore as a process that’s a lot like clipping a rose bush.

If the dendrites aren’t used, they soon wither away and the other ones become stronger, much like clipping a few dead roses to make the useful ones stronger. Dendrites are these branch-like extensions that start to become thinner. Neurons use these to receive signals from axons.

The dendrites and axons communicate and work with each other through the

chemical paths synapses creates and when they do they become stronger.

This is important because when you’re a teenager “it’s more about building and sculpting an environment that whatever type of thinking the person has practiced can sustain” according to Melissa Moritz, Tomball’s anatomy teacher. During adolescence you can only build and in adulthood you can only sustain.

In the last ten years or so, more extensive research has been done on the teen brain. Former beliefs showed that the teen brain was thought to be completely developed at a young age and that it was the same as an adult’s, just with less experience and skills as to how to use it correctly.

MRI technology has advanced so that scientists are now able to look deeper into the inner workings of the human brain.

Even court systems have acknowledged that teen’s brains are wired differently and can’t be prosecuted for the same things adults do because they are in a different stage of maturity than adults.

Even though wisdom is something that doesn’t reside in the adolescent brain until about the age of twenty-five, there is no denying that some teens are just more aware of not only their surroundings or circumstances, but themselves as people.

This does not mean to imply that the straight-A student does not make mistakes. All young people will make mistakes.

Actually, the capacity to make mistakes could be considered as a superpower of sorts for the teenage brain. The teen’s agile brain has the power to mute out that voice that says “I don’t think this is possible, I don’t think I can do this.”

Teens are also able to absorb more than adults. When they want to accomplish something, they consider themselves invincible.

Quite literally in some ways, a teen’s ability to comprehend new material is highly sensitive and the way they respond to different atmospheres is almost at its maximum.

“We’re more outgoing, we put different priorities first and have a more fun-oriented agenda than adults, but some of us are aware of our choices and the impact and are able to use that fun-oriented theme in life decisions- which can be beneficial,” said sophomore Mark Taylor.

Teens control what they want to take from what they see. They decide what they want to listen to and they decide how they want to feel. The fact that this will happen for the rest of their lives is true, but they are able to absorb what they learn faster and use what they learn as building blocks for who they will become at a faster rate.

Basically, teens are less likely to make the best decisions because their brains aren’t developed enough to think through the consequences of their behavior.

But there is also a dramatic change with the connections of the brain pathways at this age. Myelin is developed around the brain’s nerves cells, a fatty substance that coats the neurons which makes them faster and more responsive.

When you’re a teenager, the layer of myelin starts to become thicker, allowing the brain to build pathways so the cells are able to communicate better.

What this means is teens are a hundred times more sensitive to new things than ever before.

Think of this as little people running around as fast as they can, catching each other in mid-sentence, squeezing past each other as they regurgitate the events of their day in little meaningful whispers. That’s a teen’s brain.

]]> http://thscougarclaw.com/features/2013/05/17/understanding-teens/feed/ 0