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Emily
Swoboda
English I Honors
Quincy Scott
English II Honors
Ken
Billings
English III Advanced Placement
Victoria
McCormick
English IV Advanced Placement
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Emily Swoboda
English I Honors e-mail webpage |
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.
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Quincy
Scott
English II Honors e-mail webpage |
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.
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Kenneth
Billings
English III Advanced Placement
e-mail webpage |
Ken
Billings, husband of one and father of three, was born in California
in 1973;
graduated from UTSA with a B.A in History in 1995; started teaching
at John Jay High school in 1997; married in 2000; received his
M.A. in English from UTSA in 2003; became an adjunct professor
at Wayland Baptist University in 2004; arrived at Comm Arts in
2007. However, there must be more to a person than a string
of years. For Ken Billings, these are the things that matter most:
his faith in God; his love for his wife, children, and the rest
of his extended family; his addiction to reading (“I am constantly
reading: theology, literature, history, espn.com”); his devotion
to the Spurs (“Go, Spurs, Go!”), his passion for politics,
and his dedication to improving as a teacher.
“Let all things be done decently and in order”: in
Ken Billings’s life, this idea must become part of his daily
agenda. Between juggling family life, high school teaching, college
teaching, and church activities, very little time remains for “free
time.” But, in that time that exists that some call “free,” Ken
enjoys movies and a few television shows (no more “Lost”--how
sad); taking long walks on the beach (“No, wait, there is
no beach where I live, scratch that!”); and…well, there
is nothing much after that. Playing with his boys and enjoying
time with his wife, pretty much sums up the week.
As a teacher, Ken believes that if a teacher truly, really, deeply
loves what he or she teaches, and that love radiates and flows
out of every lecture, lesson, and assignment, then the students
will notice, and hopefully they will be able to catch some of that
passion, grasp some of the love, and take hold of some of the lessons
about literature and writing and grow as a student, citizen, and
person.
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Victoria
McCormick
English IV Advanced Placement
Winner
of the 2007 Sue German Award at the New Jersey Writing Project
Convention for excellence in education
e-mail
webpage
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Victoria McCormick started out wanting to be a writer and ended
up a teacher of writing, proving that those who can both do and
teach. She has been teaching for 35 years and has been in the Northside
School District for 28 years, 16 at John Jay High School and 7
at Health Careers High School before moving to Communications Arts
in August of 2005. She was the English department coordinator at
both Jay and HCHS, is a New Jersey Writing Project in Texas trainer,
and for several years was a reader for the AP Language and Composition
Test and has been a reader for the AP Literature and Composition
Test for the past five years. In 2002-2003, Mrs. McCormick was
awarded the Trinity Prize for Excellence in Teaching. She has also
been an officer in TCTE/LA, the state professional organizations
for English and language arts teachers, and SAACTE, the San Antonio
affiliate for TCTE/LA.
Mrs. McCormick was born
in El Paso, Texas, but spent most of her life living in various
places along the West Coast where
her sailor father was stationed by the U.S. Navy. A graduate
of Texas Tech University, she received her master’s degree
in English from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Her writing
has been published in UTSA’s literary magazine Cactus Alley
and one of her poems placed first in the Poets on the River Contest.
Although reading
and writing are Mrs. McCormick’s main
interests, she also enjoys traveling, hiking, and camping with
her husband. Together they have visited just about every
national park west and/or north of Texas, including Big Bend,
Pikes Peak, Yellowstone Park, and Mt. Rushmore. However, the
highlight of their camping adventures has been their trip to
Guadalupe State Park where they climbed the strenuous switchbacks
up to Guadalupe Peak, the highest spot in the state of Texas.
She and her husband have five children, ranging in age from 40
to 22, and she hopes one day to share her love of the outdoors
with her nine grandchildren.
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