debra.dehlinger@nisd.net
Ms. Debbie Dehlinger's childhood was spent as an Army brat living all over the United States and world attending approximately 17 schools including three high schools. She has over thirty years teaching experience; eighteen were at Thomas Jefferson High School, San Antonio, as Director of Forensics and Director of Theatre. During those years her students won 17 UIL One-Act Play District Championships, 2nd place in the nation in Dramatic Interpretation, places at UIL State in Prose, Poetry, and Extemporaneous Speaking, and a number of Texas Forensic tournament honors.

She was also fortunate to have served as a president of the two state speech organizations: Texas Speech Communication Association and Texas Forensic Association.

In her fourteenth year at Communications Arts, she feels honored to have the opportunity to work with the great students in this year's freshman class as well as selected older students. Currently she teaches Communication Applications and Media Criticism.

Her degrees include a B.A. in English with a minor in Speech, Southwest Texas State University, a M.A. in Educational Psychology, University of Texas at San Antonio, and a M.A. in Integrating Technology in the Classroom from Walden University.

jill.barton@nisd.net
In December of 1993, Jill Barton earned her B.B.A. and a teaching certification from Baylor University. She began her teaching career at Coolidge ISD, a small 1A school district 35 miles northeast of Waco, Texas. During her 3 and a half years at Coolidge, she was the Technology Coordinator for the district and taught classes in Computer Literacy, Business Computer Applications, Personal Business Management, and Business Communications.

stephen.villela@nisd.net
Stephen Villela was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He attended Thomas Jefferson High School and went on to graduate from The University of The Incarnate Word with a B.A. in Music/Communication Arts. His major concentrations were in Musical Composition & Performance and Audio/Video Production.

While at Incarnate Word, Mr. Villela was very involved with on-campus organizations such as the UIW Jazz Ensemble, Sports Director of KUIW Internet Radio, Vice-President of Rec Sports Campus Intramurals, and Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.

Mr. Villela is a founding member of the film company CineVeliz. He has had the privilege to be a part of several film productions, most notably La Tragedia de Macario (Official selection of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival). He continues to work as a freelance producer/editor for various productions and events.

Mr. Villela is a local musician and plays with several Latin, Jazz, Country and Rock groups around San Antonio. In his spare time he enjoys riding motorcycles and going to various sporting events, especially UT football games and Spurs games.

shellie.malik@nisd.net
Shellie Malik is a native of South Texas and graduated from Texas State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Speech Communications and a Master of Arts degree in Speech Communications. Before moving to CAHS in 2006, she taught at H.B. Zachry Middle School where she taught English, theater arts, keyboarding and creative writing. As a Gifted and Enrichment Specialist, she chaired district-wide GT events, presented GT staff development and was involved with the state’s GT Performance Standards Projects. She currently teaches Independent Study Mentorship and is one of the the National Honor Society sponsors.

Mrs. Malik and her husband have two children who are both graduates of Communications Arts High School. As a family, they enjoy traveling and being outdoors and have traveled to all 50 states. They now spend summers traveling abroad and have visited Eastern Europe, China, and Central Europe. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, playing with her dog and spending time with her family.

heidi.whitus@nisd.net
Heidi Klein Whitus was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has a B.F.A. in Cinema from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, an M.F.A. in Video Research from the Art Media Studies Department at Syracuse University, and an M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in Foreign Language Education. Her work in photography and video has been shown in exhibits and festivals in the U.S. and abroad. Prior to teaching, she worked in various aspects of the film and video industry in New York. She loves to travel, and has visited Southeast Asia, Morocco, Central America, and Europe, in addition to her family's annual road trips throughout the continental United States, Mexico and Canada. During the summer of 2012 she was an instructor for the Monteverde New Media Expedition in Costa Rica.

Ms. Whitus' students have received city-wide, regional, state and even national recognition for their video and multimedia projects. Many of these projects have earned not only awards but monetary rewards that have allowed the school to purchase supplemental video, audio and computer equipment.

Ms. Whitus is active in the field of media literacy. She served on a Media Literacy Guidelines Panel for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and has also worked for the Texas Education Agency writing a statewide media literacy curriculum for Language Arts teachers. She is a proud member of the National Association for Media Literacy Education and gives workshops and presentations on media literacy and technology topics at district, state and national levels. She also served on the inaugural editorial board of the online Journal of Media Literacy Education.

Ms. Whitus is the campus webmaster, and she also teaches at San Antonio College in the Media Communications Department.

emily.swoboda@nisd.net
While she isn't a Texan by birth, Mrs. Swoboda has lived in Texas most of her life. She is a two-time graduate of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, where she earned a B.A. in English and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction. Mrs. Swoboda began teaching at Waller High School, located just outside of Houston, as she completed her graduate studies at A&M. After teaching in Waller, she moved to San Antonio where she taught in Judson ISD. Now, Mrs. Swoboda is very excited and privileged to be a part of the Communications Arts High School faculty.

In her spare time, Mrs. Swoboda enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter and son, taking photographs, quilting, reading, visiting with family, organizing anything in sight, and relaxing. Some of her favorite books are: Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Shakespeare Bats Cleanup, Fahrenheit 451, The Poisonwood Bible, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Some of her favorite authors are Willa Cather, Sandra Cisneros, Sue Monk Kidd, and William Shakespeare.

quincy.scott@nisd.net
A native of San Antonio, Quincy Scott is a teacher with nineteen years of experience. He has worn many hats in his years in the classroom, but has always taught English. Quincy first became interested in books as a child, when his father, an avid library borrower, would frequently bring Quincy and his brother along to roam the library shelves. Although he loves the vast array of information at your fingertips today online, Quincy still confesses love for a good book.

Reading and writing are an important part of why Quincy teaches. He most enjoys communicating, and helping his students communicate better.

Quincy graduated in 1990 from Texas State University with a bachelors of science degree in education, focusing on kinesiology and English. His first teaching position was at Southwest High School, where he taught English and coached swimming and boys' basketball, and volunteer coached softball and girls' basketball.

In 1999 Quincy moved to Keystone School, where he taught high school English, coached JV basketball, and coached middle school softball and soccer.

In 2001 Quincy came to Communications Arts, where he has happily taught both freshman and sophomore English. Quincy still loves sports, and looks forward to his son's future little league games.

Quincy's philosophy of teaching is that it is very akin to parenting. He feels his job is a partnership with parents to nurture each child to become a thoughtful adult, a responsible citizen, an independent thinker and a lifelong learner. Quincy has been lucky enough to have several wonderful teachers in his life, along with two outstanding parents, and he feels honored and humbled to have a career devoted to helping young people blossom.

julie.morgan@nisd.net

A San Antonio and NISD native, Julie Morgan joins our faculty this year as the English III teacher. Having been warned that CAHS students were less than thrilled about her predecessor’s departure, she is prepared to face a tough crowd but has so far found CAHS a warm and inviting place!
After graduating from Marshall High School, Julie earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Texas A&M University and her master’s degree, also in English, from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She was amazingly blessed to both student teach and begin her teaching career at Health Careers High School, where she both learned from and taught with some of the best teachers around.
The only thing that could pull her from the classroom was the lure of at-home motherhood, so after seven years at HCHS, Julie took a nine-year hiatus from full-time teaching in order to take up what she will always consider her most important teaching job ever: being a full-time mom to her three young sons. During this ”break,” Julie still managed to pop into the classroom for several hours a week, in both face-to-face and online formats, by working as an adjunct instructor at Northwest Vista College. Once all the boys were school-aged, Julie was ready to return to full-time work. She spent one challenging but rewarding year at a small private school teaching middle school and high school English but could not pass up the opportunity to join the team at another of Northside’s top-notch magnet schools. She is excited to join such an innovative and unique group of students and teachers.
Julie’s love for teaching stems from the love of language and literature ignited by frequent visits to the library in her childhood, as well as by her own high school English teachers’ passion; it has always been her hope to pass it on so that students might discover for themselves and fall in love with the richness, the beauty, and the power of words.
Although the busy-ness of life leaves little time for leisure, the down-time she does have finds her spending time with family, taking walks with her husband, working in the yard, taking on home improvement projects, indulging her iPhone addiction, and reading. A few of her favorite books are Beloved, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, and A Prayer for Owen Meany. She recently fell in love with The Book Thief and on occasion will admit to having read the first two books in the Hunger Games series.

julie.davern@nisd.net

marsha.wampler@nisd.net
After 26 years as a professional biologist, teacher, and manager in the field of laboratory medicine, Marsha Wampler has enjoyed her second career as a high school biology teacher for nine years.

A native of San Antonio, Marsha graduated from Edison High School, received her B.S. in Medical Technology from the University of the Incarnate Word, and completed her education courses at UTSA. Marsha is currently working on a Masters in Education at Our Lady of the Lake University.

She and her husband have been active in the community through scouting, sports and church. They have a son and daughter who graduated from Taft High School, and a son who graduated from CAHS. Marsha was a community member of the original NISD strategic planning.

At CAHS, she is the Science and Math Department Coordinator, a Science Club Sponsor, serves on the NHS Faculty Council, and is one of the hardworking sponsors of the Class of 2011. Leisure time finds Marsha enjoying the outdoors, arts and crafts, music, travel, and her grandson.

karen.betchel@nisd.net
Karen Betchel graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Chemistry. She worked in biomedical research for 8 years in Houston and San Antonio. She earned her teacher's certification from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She enjoys bringing the exciting world of chemistry to students. Karen enjoys the Communications Arts atmosphere where disciplines can merge to provide a more enriching experience for students. She is a cosponsor of the Communications Arts Science Club and a member of the National Honor Society Faculty Council. She is currently pursuing her masters in science education at Our Lady of the Lake University because " You should never stop learning!"

sandy.rose@nisd.net
Sandy Rose is a native of San Antonio and attended Northside schools from elementary (Locke Hill) through high school (Marshall and Clark). Mrs. Rose graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Texas as San Antonio with a Bachelor of Science in Math Education.

After more than 20 years of experience, Mrs. Rose still loves teaching. She taught at Texas Military Institute (TMI) for ten years, was a math teacher and TAKS Coach at Taft HS for eight years, then joined the faculty of Communications Arts HS in 2008. While at TMI, Mrs. Rose was fortunate to work with scientists and students studying the monarch butterfly.

Sandy Rose is a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the Texas Classroom Teachers Association (TCTA). Mrs. Rose is pursuing a Masters of Mathematics in Education, but finds spending time with her family and grandchildren to be a more joyous pastime.

Mrs. Rose is blessed with two daughters, two grandsons, and a granddaughter. She has two dogs and numerous fish. She enjoys planting, reading, photography, swimming, and scuba diving. Her favorite place to be is on the beach in Cozumel, where she married her late husband, Billy. If you can’t find her during the summer, she is in the beautiful blue waters of the Caribbean swimming and building sandcastles with her mom and grandchildren.

craig.rendon@nisd.net
Craig Rendon was born in San Antonio. The son of an Air Force colonel, Mr. Rendon lived in Grand Forks, ND, The Panama Canal Zone and Naples, Italy. He attended Randolph Junior and Senior High Schools near San Antonio and graduated from Air Academy High School in Colorado Springs, CO. Mr. Rendon graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Government. Upon graduation, he went to Japan as a member of the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Program. He team-taught English as a foreign language at four Yokohama Junior High Schools for three years. Mr. Rendon returned to San Antonio and joined the faculty of Communications Arts High School in 1998. He has lived in or visited eighteen countries other than the US and has a genuine interest in World Geography and foreign affairs.

Seven of Mr. Rendon’s students at CAHS have been national winners in the United Nations World Refugee Day poster contest sponsored by UN Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie. Their works of art have been on display at the Statue of Liberty in New York and at National Geographic in Washington, DC. Mr. Rendon traveled to Washington, DC with some of the poster contest winners and their parents to attend World Refugee Day events with UN Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie and other government leaders including US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Mr. Rendon won an Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award from the Texas Council for the Humanities in 2003. Mr. Rendon was nominated for this award by the 2003 CAHS Valedictorian and her mother, a professor at UTSA. Mr. Rendon was honored by the Texas House of Representatives with House Resolution 36, 78th Texas Legislature, 3rd Special Session. Representative Ken Mercer of House District 117, which includes Communications Arts High School, sponsored the resolution.

samuel.harris@nisd.net
Samuel Harris was born and raised on the coastal plains of Victoria, Texas, where he attended Victoria High School. After high school Samuel attended Texas State University where he majored in History and minored in Political Science. He was highly involved in university organizations such as the Interfraternity Council and Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. Samuel graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts and moved shortly thereafter to the San Antonio area.

Samuel has a passion for history, and because he is impressed by both their energy and enthusiasm for learning, he enjoys working with high school students. He also loves to travel. He has recently traveled to France, S. Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Greece, France, Thailand, Ireland, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Samuel is currently organizing a trip for CAHS students to Italy, Spain, and France for March 2010. He has found that travel enriches his studies and allows history to come alive.

Samuel is beginning his seventh year at Communications Arts High School and his third year as the Social Studies Department Chair. Samuel sits as a member of the School Advisory Committee and is a member of Texas Classroom Teachers Association.

Other interests include politics, going to concerts, eating sushi, and working out. Samuel carries a strong belief that it is important to stay mentally and physically active.

lisa.stevens@nisd.net
Mrs. Stevens graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a Bachelor of Arts (History) Degree in 2002 and a Master of Arts (History) Degree in 2005. Academically, she earned several scholarships and awards including a National Honors Society Scholarship, the Mitchell-Harding Scholarship, the Alameda/UTSA Scholarship, and the English Essay Millennium Award. Additionally, she was a member of the National Honors Society, the Alpha Chi National College Honor Scholarship Society, and the UTSA Dean’s Honor List in both the Bachelor and Master’s program at UTSA.

Professionally, Mrs. Stevens served 6 years in the United States Army as a Psychiatric Specialist, was the Curator and Archivist at the Security Police Museum at Lackland Air Force Base, did archival work at the Institute of Texan Cultures Museum, instructed U.S. History Dual Credit/AP courses at an inner-city college preparatory school here in San Antonio, and also is currently teaching U.S. History as an Adjunct Professor at Northwest Vista College here in San Antonio.

Mrs. Stevens also sponsors the National History Day competitions for CAHS. Both 2009 and 2010 were very successful years at the Texas State History Fair. In 2010, three groups competed at the state level. For the group documentary category, "Barbie" was one of the top nine documentaries at the state level. For the group website, "Penicillin" placed fourth at the state level.

jeremy.guerrero@nisd.net
Jeremy Guerrero was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. A graduate of Tom C. Clark High School, he went on to receive his Bachelors degree in History as well as a Master of Arts in Teaching, both from Trinity University. During his time at Trinity, Mr. Guerrero served as the treasurer for Phi Alpha Theta, as well as being named the first ever recipient of the Eunice Harrington scholarship.

Mr. Guerrero started his career at Robert E. Lee High School and the International School of the Americas, where he developed an appreciation for teaching diverse populations with different ability levels, cultures, and goals.

When not teaching, Mr. Guerrero enjoys going to the movies, gaming, and listening to music of almost every genre. The 2010-2011 school year will be his 5th year at Comm Arts teaching AP US Government and Politics and AP Macroeconomics.

cynthia.driggers@nisd.net
Cynthia Driggers earned her B.A. at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Although her specialization was bilingual instruction, she also studied Spanish in the hope of teaching others about the language and culture she loves.

Mrs. Driggers has traveled to Portugal, Spain, France, and many parts of Mexico. She also spent a year working in Ecuador and learning the regional language, and was fascinated by the natural beauty of the country and its rich culture. Her experiences in these foreign countries has created a love for knowledge of other cultures and a renewed interest in the Spanish language that was taken for granted in her youth. She would like to teach the students that, because of modern technology, our world is becoming more global and learning another language is becoming an important aspect of our society.

nora.mangold@nisd.net
Nora Mangold has returned to Communications Arts High School and Northside Independent School District after teaching in the KISD district. She taught Spanish for all levels and is very passionate about the Spanish language and its culture.

Nora Mangold first came to the United States in 1991, after having lived most of her childhood in San Luis Potosí, México.

She attended Navarro College (which is now a Texas A&M branch) in Corsicana, Texas. She obtained her Associate degree in Science, then obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

After being influenced by teachers at Communication Arts High School, she decided to continue teaching, teaching what she had learned to love the most.

She enjoys listening to music, jogging, and spending time with her family and friends. She also travels regularly and visits her friends and family inside and outside the country. She believes everyone can be a successful, motivated bilingual person; thereafter, multilingual.

ginger.ochoa@nisd.net
Ginger Ochoa, a native of San Antonio, Texas, earned her B.A. at Trinity University, where she had majors in Spanish and French with a minor in German. Ms. Ochoa has been active in NISD in the development of the Spanish for Spanish Speakers program, the Middle School Spanish program and the Exploratory Languages program. Ms. Ochoa has written curriculum and Standards for the district and TEKS for the state. Ms. Ochoa taught Spanish and French at Holmes High School, 1988-89, Spanish and Exploratory Languages at Stevenson Middle School, 1989-2002. Since 2002, she has taught Spanish I, II, III and V at CAHS.

Ms. Ochoa is a member of the Texas Foreign Language Association, and the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese which sponsors the Spanish National Honor Society. She earned a Master of Education with a specialization in technology in May, 2003. She has examples of the use of technology and curriculum integration available to educators on the PAVE/MOL site. Ms. Ochoa is looking forward to the further integration of language study, other disciplines and technology. Her hobbies are kids, pets and psycholinguistics.