Art
Hey Texans!
My name is Hannah Chang and I am the Art teacher at Bransford Elementary. What an amazing start to the 2022/2023 school year! I feel so honored to be entering year six with the BESARTISTS! We are back in the Art room this year! YAY! Our focus this year will be to explore different artistic professions and learn how to master some mediums. I'm so excited to see what we could create together! We will also be back on Artsonia this year, which is an online gallery platform that allows parents and loved ones to view a student’s work. If you are new to Bransford, please be on the lookout for an email to allow your student’s artwork to be uploaded!
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns!
Email: hannah.chang@gcisd.net
Music
Hello there! My name is Ashley Benson and I am the music and piano teacher at Bransford. I’m so excited to be in year six of our journey together! Here is a peek as to what is going on in the music room.
Texans in 2nd-5th Grade get weekly lessons in the piano lab starting next week. If your child has taken piano lessons, please email me at ashley.benson@gcisd.net so I can best help your child. Kindergarten and 1st Grade will start piano in January.
All students need to bring headphones for use in the piano lab. Only wired headphones work with the pianos. Bluetooth headphones (unless they have a cord) and lightning port (apple) headphones do not work.
Music Class
In music class, we will be working very hard on brushing up on our musical skills. In K-2, we will be doing a big review on singing on pitch and steady beat. We will continue to work on these skills throughout the year. We will also start drumming (hand drums and tubanos) as well as exploring on barred instruments (xylophone, metallophone, and glockenspiel).
In 3-5, we will be reviewing singing technique, as well as playing barred instruments and movement skills. We will also do some world drumming, as well as improvisation on drums and barred instruments. You’ll get to see these skills on display at their performances later in the year!
Texan Choir
4th and 5th grade choir is coming back! Rehearsals will be held on Mondays from 3:00 to 4:00. We will rehearse every Monday unless we have a school holiday. Students do NOT have to audition to be in choir. More information will be sent by email soon!!
I’m looking forward to another fabulous year at BES! If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at Ashley.benson@gcisd.net. Hope you and your family have a smooth and successful start to the school year!
PE
Hi y’all! My name is Angie Bardin and this is my 4th year at Bransford. We get to participate in PE EVERY SINGLE DAY! YAY! Sooo, please make sure your student is prepared with their tennis shoes…EVERY SINGLE DAY! This is a district requirement so please make sure they wear them or have them to change into.
I am Coach Mac and I am so excited to be returning to Bransford for my 10th year in the district. I look forward to seeing our Texans everyday.
Our goal in PE is to move our bodies, have fun and be good sports. We love to see students who are great athletes but if they don’t know how to be a good teammate, playing cooperative games becomes difficult. We want everyone to succeed!
We have ONE rule this year in PE:
If what you are doing:
Interferes with learning
Hurts someone’s heart
Prevents you from being your best self…STOP IT!
Our Fabulous PE Assistant
Theatre
Hello! I am Jennie Culpepper. I am a native Texan and am super excited about joining the BES Fine Arts team as the theatre teacher. I am starting my 12th year of teaching and my 5th year in elementary. I have a BA in theatre from TAMU-Corpus Christi and an MFA in Acting from the University of New Orleans. I’m married with two boys, Micah and Noah. We live in the district and I am super excited to be teaching where I live. My family loves this community and I can’t wait to work with our students and collaborate with parents! Go Texans!
Specials Team
Music - Ashley Benson. ashley.benson@gcisd.net
PE - Angie Bardin angelia.bardin@gcisd.net
PE Assistant - Sam McFadden samantha.mcfadden@gcisd.net
Theatre - Jennie Culpepper jennie.culpepper@gcisd.net
