Mr. Drayton
Professional Biography
While Mr. Drayton is originally a Minnesotanite with a hint of North Dakotan, his teaching experience is unilaterally Texan. This year is Mr. Drayton's 13th year teaching, all of which have been at Quail Valley Middle School.
Mr. Drayton was named Gulf Coast Region Teacher of the Year for the Gifted in 2012 by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT) and was a FBISD district finalist for Teacher of the Year in 2009. He served 8 years as English/Language Arts (ELA) Department Head from 2006 - 2014 when he stepped down to pursue more time with his family and to reinvigorate pursuit of new strategies in his own pedagogy. During his 13 years in the classroom, he has successfully taught a vast spectrum of students in 6th - 9th grade general education, Pre-AP, and remedial reading classes. Mr. Drayton has been teaching in the QVMS GT Academy for 6 years and authored the original 8th grade ELA curriculum for the academy. In addition to his teaching role, Mr. Drayton has also presented numerous professional development sessions at the campus, district, and state level in addition to actively participating in curriculum writing/revision for FBISD and serving on a multitude of other district and campus committees.
Mr. Drayton holds a Bachelor's degree in English Composition and Language with an emphasis on Linguistics and a minor in Music from the University of North Texas. He completed his Master's degree in Administrational Leadership and Supervision from the University of Houston in 2008.
Above all, Mr. Drayton enjoys the challenge of motivating students to frantically pursue their eternally elusive potential through relevant classroom endeavors that encourage critical thinking. He has also been known to enjoy writing about himself in the third person to give a greater appearance of objectivity.
Personal Biography
When not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my wife, Sylvia, our 8 year old daughter, Mielyn, and our 4 year old son, Keegan. We love to read together, play outside, and play computer games. Independently, I love to read both fiction and non-fiction spanning a wide variety of genres, listen to and play many genres of music, exercise/engage in athletic activity, and play with technology.
I believe that diversification helps build understanding and tolerance for competing viewpoints. As a secondary educator, I believe it is exceptionally important to be generally knowledgeable regarding a variety of different academic disciplines, activities, cultures, and current events. One of my pet peeves is hearing teachers tell students: "Oh, I'm an ELA teacher. I don't have to know math" or a similar statement toward any other discipline. I believe that even though many specific skills/facts learned may not be relevant to everyone in later life, the varied analytical and evaluation skills learned through experiencing the demands of each discipline are essential to developing a comprehensive and empathetic view of the world and that every teacher has the responsibility to communicate this relevance to students.
While Mr. Drayton is originally a Minnesotanite with a hint of North Dakotan, his teaching experience is unilaterally Texan. This year is Mr. Drayton's 13th year teaching, all of which have been at Quail Valley Middle School.
Mr. Drayton was named Gulf Coast Region Teacher of the Year for the Gifted in 2012 by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT) and was a FBISD district finalist for Teacher of the Year in 2009. He served 8 years as English/Language Arts (ELA) Department Head from 2006 - 2014 when he stepped down to pursue more time with his family and to reinvigorate pursuit of new strategies in his own pedagogy. During his 13 years in the classroom, he has successfully taught a vast spectrum of students in 6th - 9th grade general education, Pre-AP, and remedial reading classes. Mr. Drayton has been teaching in the QVMS GT Academy for 6 years and authored the original 8th grade ELA curriculum for the academy. In addition to his teaching role, Mr. Drayton has also presented numerous professional development sessions at the campus, district, and state level in addition to actively participating in curriculum writing/revision for FBISD and serving on a multitude of other district and campus committees.
Mr. Drayton holds a Bachelor's degree in English Composition and Language with an emphasis on Linguistics and a minor in Music from the University of North Texas. He completed his Master's degree in Administrational Leadership and Supervision from the University of Houston in 2008.
Above all, Mr. Drayton enjoys the challenge of motivating students to frantically pursue their eternally elusive potential through relevant classroom endeavors that encourage critical thinking. He has also been known to enjoy writing about himself in the third person to give a greater appearance of objectivity.
Personal Biography
When not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my wife, Sylvia, our 8 year old daughter, Mielyn, and our 4 year old son, Keegan. We love to read together, play outside, and play computer games. Independently, I love to read both fiction and non-fiction spanning a wide variety of genres, listen to and play many genres of music, exercise/engage in athletic activity, and play with technology.
I believe that diversification helps build understanding and tolerance for competing viewpoints. As a secondary educator, I believe it is exceptionally important to be generally knowledgeable regarding a variety of different academic disciplines, activities, cultures, and current events. One of my pet peeves is hearing teachers tell students: "Oh, I'm an ELA teacher. I don't have to know math" or a similar statement toward any other discipline. I believe that even though many specific skills/facts learned may not be relevant to everyone in later life, the varied analytical and evaluation skills learned through experiencing the demands of each discipline are essential to developing a comprehensive and empathetic view of the world and that every teacher has the responsibility to communicate this relevance to students.
Mr. Bernhart
Mr. Bernhart has happily taught English Language Arts in grades 6, 7, and 8 for the past 17 years. Back in 1994, Mr. Bernhart earned a bachelor's degree in English Education 6-12 from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In 1995, he moved to Houston to teach and dedicate himself to urban education. During his tenure in HISD, he had the honor of being featured in a CPB/Maryland Public Television professional development video series called "Making Meaning Through Literature." He and his students were filmed for a week, and became part of this series based on Dr. Judith Langer's research on teaching literature. He was also selected as Teacher of the Year at Fondren Middle School.
In this same time period, Mr. Bernhart presented teaching ideas to other ELA teachers at professional conferences in Birmingham, AL; Baltimore, Maryland; Milwaukee, WI; and Portland, Oregon. In 2005, he earned a masters degree in teaching from the University of Houston-Downtown. He graduated with a 4.0 GPA and was selected by his professors as "The Most Outstanding Graduate Student" of his class. Since moving to FBISD in 2006, Mr. Bernhart was selected to write curriculum for the district, served on the literature text book adoption committee, and has presented teaching ideas to other teachers during district inservices. He has also been an active member of the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented, presenting at its annual conference last year in Austin as well as being scheduled to present again in November 2012.
In his free time, Mr. Bernhart enjoys spending time with his family—his wife, son, and daughters. He is also a “recreational” marathoner (26.2 miles), having run 33 marathons in the past decade or so. He plans to run several more this school year. As a teacher at QVMS, Mr. Bernhart has dedicated himself to the classroom and touching the lives of his students through engaging activities and exceptionally high standards--both in academics and classroom environment. By the way, he was absolutely thrilled that the Raider school colors are green and gold--the colors of the Green Bay Packers! He is thrilled to bring his expertise and experience to the GT Academy students and looks forward to another awesome year!
In this same time period, Mr. Bernhart presented teaching ideas to other ELA teachers at professional conferences in Birmingham, AL; Baltimore, Maryland; Milwaukee, WI; and Portland, Oregon. In 2005, he earned a masters degree in teaching from the University of Houston-Downtown. He graduated with a 4.0 GPA and was selected by his professors as "The Most Outstanding Graduate Student" of his class. Since moving to FBISD in 2006, Mr. Bernhart was selected to write curriculum for the district, served on the literature text book adoption committee, and has presented teaching ideas to other teachers during district inservices. He has also been an active member of the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented, presenting at its annual conference last year in Austin as well as being scheduled to present again in November 2012.
In his free time, Mr. Bernhart enjoys spending time with his family—his wife, son, and daughters. He is also a “recreational” marathoner (26.2 miles), having run 33 marathons in the past decade or so. He plans to run several more this school year. As a teacher at QVMS, Mr. Bernhart has dedicated himself to the classroom and touching the lives of his students through engaging activities and exceptionally high standards--both in academics and classroom environment. By the way, he was absolutely thrilled that the Raider school colors are green and gold--the colors of the Green Bay Packers! He is thrilled to bring his expertise and experience to the GT Academy students and looks forward to another awesome year!