A Year in Review By John Chapman As I write my final ... - Comfort ISD

A Year in Review
By John Chapman
As I write my final article for the school year, I feel so fortunate to be in the Comfort
Independent School District. Many great things have happened during the 2007-2008 school
year that you may not realize. I would like to dedicate this article to every person that has
contributed something to the district this year. Whether it was a donation of time, monetary
support through fund raisers or even volunteering at campuses, your support is invaluable. I think
I can speak for all teachers and administrators when I say thank you.
Now, on the good stuff! As I was preparing my list of achievements taken from a countless
amount of emails sent from different staff members, I hope you will indulge me a rather lengthy
article.
We are so fortunate to have the quality of healthcare in each of our campuses. Due to our health
services, we have been able to have a community health fair to raise awareness of important
health issues, host a School Walk for Diabetes and Smile Texas Mobile Dentists. The Shattered
Dreams program received high accolades for the realistic presentation of the effects of drunk
driving. Thank you to school nurses Dottie Lindner, Kathy Ray and Kim Sweeney for their
tireless efforts helping keep our children well.
Also, on that note, one of our own—Mrs. Dottie Lindner—was asked to go to Washington in
March by the TSNO (Texas School Nurses Organization). According to research from CES
nurse, Kim Sweeney, there are approximately 500 nurse members in this organization. She spent
3 days in an intern program increasing her knowledge and skills on how to be an advocate for
patients and nurses. She visited Capitol Hill and met with Congressman Lamar Smith. She also
met with representatives for Senator John Cornyn and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson's office to
discuss nursing issues. This is such an honor for a nurse. She has since (April) been appointed
to be the Texas School Nurse Organization's Governmental Liason. This appointment is to
advocate for school nurses in the legislative process. She has and will make periodic visits to
Austin to report on issues critical to schools and school nurses to the TSNO executive board.
There is only 1 appointment of this kind in the whole organization. Congratulations, Mrs.
Lindner, and thank you for your tireless service to those around you.
High school band received a 1st division at the region marching contest at Hondo in October and
advanced to the Area marching contest. They went on to take second place at the Fredericksburg
Marching Contest and received the award for outstanding color guard. Senior Lorena Lozano
received the award for outstanding drum major at the same camp.
Nichelle Rieber, 9th grader, received a 1st division at UIL twirling solo/ensemble and performed
her solo at state UIL in May. Freshmen Cami Barmore and Nichelle Rieber, Juniors Cara
Hamlyn and Crystal Boerner and Senior Josh Macias, made the ATSSB region band. Nichelle,
Cara and Josh also qualified for area. Josh has made the all-state band for the second year in a
row. Junior Cara Hamlyn made it to UIL State Solo and Ensemble with a memorized class one
solo. Along with Hamlyn, sophomores Courtnie Seamans and Kayla Underhill advanced to State
Solo and Ensemble with their flute trio. The band received a first division in UIL sight reading.
Congratulations to the band members and band director, David Evans.

This year the Comfort High School Colorguard had several outstanding achievements. Our team
of 8 young ladies attended MA, Marching Auxiliaries camp at Schriener University. The team
earned the Outstanding Home Routine award and a Superior Rating at camp competition. Three
of our young ladies, Rebecca Lawriw, Kayla Moss, and Chase Barteau, were awarded All-Star
Performer Ribbons. Chase Barteau accepted an invitation to perform at half-time in Orlando,
Florida at the Capital One Bowl. She traveled to Orlando with her parents and will always
cherish the memory of performing this show. At the Fredericksburg Marching Contest our
Colorguard took the highest honors as the outstanding auxiliary unit in the 2A contest. A special
thank you goes to Jayne Burton for her direction with the Colorguard.
Kudos also goes to the CMS band for a great 2007-2008 season. Many students were able to
nicely place and make All Region for their performances. There were also numerous amounts of
solo and ensemble 1 st and 2 nd division winners. Students receiving a 1 st division rating advanced
to the Schreiner University Solo & Ensemble Contest. The 2007-2008 CMS Advanced Band is
entering two state-wide taped contests this year.
The first contest is the Association of Texas Small-School Bands Outstanding Performance
Series. This contest selects the best performance by school classification throughout the entire
state for 2007-2008. CMS entered recordings from our UIL and TLU performances. Results
will be announced in July at the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention.
The second contest is the State Honor Band Competition. This contest selects the best bands
from the state in each school classification (1C, 2C, 3C, 1A, 2A, etc). Comfort Middle School is
a classification 1C school. We are looking to be the best 1C band in the state! We submitted
recordings from our UIL Contest and Spring Concert. Results will be announced in July at the
Texas Bandmasters Association Convention. Thanks to Michelle Adam for her leadership with
the CMS band.
This year, the Bobcat Baseball team did extremely well with a winning record of 18-10 capturing
the Bi-District title and competing in the area playoffs. Congratulations to Coach Kyle Tidwell
and all of the Comfort Bobcats for an outstanding season. All-District selections include:
� Travis Chrisman - 1st Team Pitcher (SR)
� Will Pace - 1st Team Catcher (Soph)
� Rhett Bell - 1st Team Outfield (Fresh)
� Sid Moreno - 2nd Team Third Base (SR)
� Dereck Wright - 2nd Team First Basee (Soph)
� Michael Wright - 2nd Team Pitcher (Soph)
� Paxton Oliphant - 2nd Team DH (Soph)
� Travis Saur - Honorable Mention Shortstop (SR)
� Travis Lich - Honorable Mention 2nd Base (Soph)
� James Meredith - Honorable Mention Outfield (SR)
For the first time in Comfort ISD history, we have had the opportunity to be included in the
Spurs education program, which encourages healthy lifestyles and great character. The two
programs are “Get Fit with Bruce and Buddy” sponsored by Bruce Bowen and HEB, and the
“Tim Duncan Character Award” program sponsored by Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs.
Our connection to these two programs is a local resident by the name of Misty Kothe. Misty,
knowing what a great fan base we have here in Comfort, included us this year in the program

which has focused in the past on San Antonio area schools. We are very excited to have been
included this year.
The Comfort Elementary P.E. program nominated several students to both programs and were
thrilled to have eleven children picked by the education committee with the Spurs. The students
picked for the “Get Fit” award were Justin Faulkner, Loren Nevers, Jacob Mueller, Schyla
Hernandez, Christyn Klemm, Victor Falcon, Emily Martinez and Emma Miguel. Justin actually
got to meet Bruce Bowen on the court! These students were picked because they demonstrate an
understanding of a healthy lifestyle, and work hard in P.E. and at home to insure that they live
what they have learned. The students picked for the “Tim Duncan Character Award” were Luke
Lindner, Colton Finke and Elizabeth Navejas. These students were chosen for having
outstanding character traits and making great character choices. We are extremely proud of all
the award recipients, and look forward to being a part of this program next year. After all, we
are the Spurs greatest fans. Thank you to Darla Flynt and Tara Lovelady, elementary PE
teachers, for going above and beyond to teach students the value of exercise and a healthy
lifestyle.
CHS Football was very exciting this year. Comfort captured the District title and went on to
compete as Bi-District finalist. Several members of the CHS football team were selected to top
honors which include:
� Vance Lich—1 st Team District WR/Honorable Mention All State WR
� Travis Chrisman—Co-Offensive MVP District/Honorable Mention All State QB
� 1 st Team—Gabe Lozano/OL; Corey Cook/OL; J. Frank Derby/RB; Hector Ortega/Utility; James
Bowman/DL; Travis Saur/LB; Daniel Rechenthin/LB; James Meredith/DB; Justin Ashley/DB
� 2 nd Team—Dalton Trieter/OT; Chris Boerner/OL; Will Pace/WR; Scotty Ritcher/WR; Austin Bohnert/WR;
Justin Ashley/WR; Josh Werner/DL; Sid Moreno/DL; J. Frank Derby/LB; Kahlob Bookout/DB; Chris
Daniels/DB
The CHS Bobcat Football Team was led by former Head Football Coach Lee Wiginton.
Congratulations to all coaches and players on a great season.
Two CMS students scored high enough on their achievement tests to earn state recognition status
from Duke University Talent Identification Program. Joe Cawthon took the SAT and Emilio
(E.J.) Pereda took the ACT. What a great way to represent Comfort Middle School—way to go
boys.
Comfort Elementary students had a chance to successfully log 6 hours of recreational reading to
earn a free ticket to Fiesta Texas for the 2008 Read-to-Succeed program. CES had 25
kindergartners, 36 first graders, 23 second graders, 20 third graders, 15 fourth graders and 28
fifth graders that won free Fiesta tickets…great job! Thank you to each classroom teacher, CES
librarian, Mrs. Tina Parker and parents for helping the students Read-to-Succeed.
Comfort Elementary also had several students who read ALL 20 Texas Bluebonnet Books this
year and received Bluebonnet Trophies. The students include:
� Tom Petrowski—3 rd grader—Mrs. Simmon’s Class
� Loren Nevers—3 rd grader—Mrs. Duran’s Class
� Kati LaRo—4 th grader—Mrs. Bosworth’s Class
� Antonio Vasquez—4 th grader—Mrs. Bosworth’s Class

� Kody Davis—5 th grader—Mrs. Pruett’s Class
� Patricia Randal—5 th grader—Mrs. Boyer’s Class
� Will Gaines—5 th grader—Mrs. Boyer’s Class
� Emma Miguel—5 th grader—Mrs. Boyer’s Class
Great job CES students!!
This school year forty Comfort High School students enrolled in Dual Credit classes. These
classes were taken at the high school by making use of interactive video Antonio. According to
Mr. Hal Harwell, thirty-three of these students took four college courses each during the year.
Six students took two courses each. The students earned a total of 432 semester-hours of college
credit. If the students had taken the same classes at Palo Alto, their total cost for tuition and fees
would have been $32,733. The same courses at UTSA would have totaled $142,751.20. These
figures do not take into account the cost of transportation, food, and lodging expenses required
for classes on campus. Approximately forty-five Comfort High School students are expected to
participate in the program next year. It is wonderful to see Comfort continue to climb the
technological ladder.
CHS golf teams excelled during competitions this year. CHS girls obtained the title of District
Champs and won 4 th at Regionals. Jessica Sorbel won 2 nd in District. Claire Adams, Maeghan
Eckert and Daryn Peterman tied for 3 rd in District. Daryn Peterman and Katie Alldredge won
Academic All District golf honors. The CHS boys team won 3 rd at the District Meet. Patrick
Simmons advanced to the regional meet in Baird as a medalist. At regional, he shot 76-79 (155)
to tie for 10 th place overall. Great job golfers and coaches!
The 2008 Comfort High School One-Act Play, The Importance of Being Earnest, was selected
as the Alternate Advancing Play at the District 8AA competition held at Llano High School on
March 26. Individual acting awards were given to three of our cast members. Corey Heitzman
and Brittany Vaughan received medals and were named to the All-Star Cast. Haley Hoekstra
received a medal and was named to the Honorable Mention All-Star Cast. Kathrine McDaniel
also received a medal as she was selected for the Honor Crew for her work as our lighting tech.
The OAP cast and crew earned 25 points of the points scored by Comfort High School students
at the District Academic contest. Thank you to Leia Webb, One Act Play Director and Jayne
Burton, Assistant Director, on a great year.
CES is thrilled to see the high level of participation in the AR program this year. According to
Mrs. Amme Davis, CES Reading Specialist, Comfort Elementary had more students reading than
ever before! At the program’s end on May, 2 nd , we had 80% of all our students reach
Independent Reader and 50% reach Super Reader. The AR Prize Patrol rolled out each six
weeks and handed out a total of 797 certificates this year. Each certificate was accompanied by a
book chosen by the child to take home as a reward. On Thursday, May 15, and Friday, May 16,
the students that achieved AR goals set at the beginning of the school year were eligible to go on
a Mystery Trip. 109 first and second graders and 141 third, fourth and fifth graders were each
awarded slots to go to the AR Mystery Trip. We all know that the more children read, the more
they will succeed, and we are thrilled and so proud of the children who participated this year!
CES had two students from each grade level that earned the highest amount of AR (Accelerated
Reader) points. Those students are:

FIRST GRADE:
NAME: POINTS: TEACHER:
1 st Place: Holli Andreas 51.6 Behrens
2 nd Place: Diego Rodriguez 50.0 Behrens
SECOND GRADE:
1 st Place: Schyla Hernandez 45.0 Tucker
2 nd Place: Emily Dupree 43.4 Tucker
THIRD GRADE:
1 st Place: Loren Nevers 157.1 Doran
2 nd Place: Anneliese Bosworth 128.2 Day
FOURTH GRADE:
1 st Place: Kati LaRo 152.7 Bosworth
2 nd Place: Candace Clemmons 108.3 Bosworth
FIFTH GRADE:
1 st Place: Patricia Randal 233.6 Boyer
2 nd Place: Reagan Balensiefen 230.0 Pruett
Great Job CES students!
CHS boy’s basketball had a very successful season. The Bobcats defended their District title for
the second year in a row while going on to be Area Champs, Quarterfinal Champs and Regional
Finalist. Several members of the Bobcat team were awarded various honors. They include:
� Antonio Blanco—1 st Team All Region; MVP District 8; All-Greater San Antonio; All Tourney Johnson
City, Bandera and Eula; Zebra All-Star Game and Centex All-Star Game
� Patrick Simmons—1 st Team All Region; 1 st Team All District; All Greater San Antonio
� Darin Smith—1 st Team All District; Academic All-District; Academic All State; All Tourney Johnson City
and Eula
� Juan Rodriguez—1 st Team All District; Academic All State; Academic All District; All Greater San
Antonio
� Aaron Guzman—2 nd Team All District; Academic All State
Thanks to Coach Colin Toot for all the hard work and determination. Coach Toot was also
awarded the very prestigious “Coach of the Year” for the entire 2A basketball division.
Hal Harwell has been chosen to receive a Texas Exemplar Scholarship to fund registration for
the Engineering Our Digital Future professional development this summer at SMU. The training
is for the new Infinity Project class being offered at Comfort High School starting fall 2008. The
Infinity Project, created by the SMU School of Engineering and Texas Instruments, is an
innovative, yearlong program that sparks students to pursue careers in engineering and

technology. It incorporates state-of-the-art engineering and advanced technology into the high
school classroom. Students can receive a math, science, or career and technology elective credit
for successfully completing the course.
During the 2007-2008 school year, CMS student council had an amazing year. The entire student
council helped with homecoming activities, dances and Veteran’s Day. SC President, Mason
Lindner, and SC Vice President, Ricky Jean Myers, according to Mrs. Christine Poulis, were
responsible for the daily honor of taking the flags down and folding them, they were in charge of
organizing fundraisers and making the dances a success. Thank you, Mason and Ricky Jean, for
your leadership roles on the CMS campus.
The CHS boys track team had a good showing at their competitions. Several boys were regional
qualifiers. They include:
� Kahlob Bookout—Pole Vault
� Clint Strube—Shot
� Michael Wright—Long Jump
� Stephen Flores—800, 1600
� Derek Houghton—400m
The JV boys track team won district. Congratulations to all boys track team member and
coaches on a great season.
Comfort Middle School students took top places in UIL events at the competition level. Students
that took top honors include:
� Nick Rangel—First Place Dictionary Skills—7 th grader
� Reed Bell—First Place Social Studies—8 th grader
� Kiara Pankratz—Second Place Listening Skills—6 th grader
� Devin Jones—Second Place Maps, Graphs, Charts—6 th grader
� Hannah Sparks—Second Place Ready Writing—8 th grader
� One Act Play All Star Cast—Emilie Kelley (7 th ) and Casey Kelley (8 th )
� One Act Play All Star Cast Honorable Mention—James Pace (7 th ) and Rebecca Gaines (8 th )
Comfort FFA students, directed and coached by Agriculture Teachers, Perry White and Josh
Limmer, took top honors in many events throughout the year. Several of these honors include:
� Chris Boerner, Brittany Vaughan, Chase Lantz and Jim Bob Werner—will be receiving Lone Star FFA
Degrees this summer at the State FFA Convention in Lubbock.
� Holly Moldenhauer--won the Area VII FFA nomination for the Ryan Mott Memorial scholarship and will
interview at state finals in June.
� Kari Beth Langbein--advanced to state in the state FFA scholarship interviews and won area VII FFA
Swine and Diversified Ag Proficiencies which will also advance her to the state finals.
� This year we have three individuals that will compete at the Texas FFA finals in Lubbock, Reid Barker,
Kimberlyn Billeiter and Jim Bob Werner.
� Kari Beth Langbein--placed and sold at San Angelo; Brittany White--placed and sold at the State Fair of
Texas; Brittany Allerkamp--placed and sold at San Antonio as well as Houston; Baley Allerkamp--placed
and sold at Houston.
� Kari Beth Langbein--won district and went on to Area in Job Interview LDE; Daryn Petermann, Chase
Lantz, Liz Copeland and Ashlee Juliano--won district and went on to area in FFA Quiz LDE.
� Brittany Siemens, Carly Speirs, Holly Moldenhauer and Jolene Johnson--won District in Horse Judging and
area and placed 13th in State
� Liz Copeland, Phillip Grafe, Nichelle Rieber and Jim Bob Werner--3rd in area in Dairy Cattle evaluation
� Kari Beth Langbein, Chase Lantz, Josh Werner and Matt Lopez placed 6th at area Livestock evaluation
� Logan Rust, Sammy Collins, Chris Boerner and Johnathon Flynt placed 3rd in District in Meats CDE

� Cody Kneupper--American Farmer Degree
� Kari Beth Langbein--National FFA contender in Proficiencies and top 10 Star Lone Star Finalist
Congratulations to the FFA students that have worked so hard to accomplish great things.
The Comfort Deer Track team had many successes this year. Regional qualifiers were:
� Jessica Barnes--pole vault and high jump
� Katie Poerner--discus, 100 meters, and long jump
� Daryn Petermann--discus
� Devin Saur--400 meters
Jessica Barnes was district and regional champion in pole vault and finished sixth at the state
meet. She is the current school record holder (10-6). Katie was district champion in discus for the
third straight year and is also the school record holder (120-9), breaking her old record twice
during the 2008 season. Sophomore Summer Williams also set a new school record in the 200
meters (26.56). Three more team members: Carly Speir, Monica Smith, and Brittany Siemens
were all named to the Texas Girls’ Coaches Association All-State Academic Team. A big thanks
to Coach Billy Nabours and others for their dedication. Congratulations, deer, on a winning
season.
The CHS boys and girls cross country teams also had a great year in competitions. The Bobcats
won the District 8-2A championship for the second consecutive year and seventh time in eight
years. Stephen Flores was the individual boys’ champion, marking the eighth consecutive year
that a Bobcat runner has claimed that award. The boys finished seventh at regional. The Deer
finished third at the District 8-2A meet, but also managed to qualify as a team to the regional
meet for the 10 th straight year.
Comfort ISD is blessed to have talented, patient sponsors and coaches that do so much for our
students. Academics are critical for the young minds we develop each day, but building
character, self-discipline and leadership skills through extracurricular activities develops an
individual that will impact tomorrow’s world.