8th Grade Team

I teach pre-AP English in eighth grade at Wimberley Junior High. I was born in Taylor, Texas, grew up mostly in Austin, but moved to Lockhart and graduated from high school there. I went to Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos. I have taught for over 35 years in every grade from four through twelve. Places where I have taught are Giddings, Sinton, Brownsville, West Lake Hills in Austin, and here in Wimberley for 19 years. Currently, I am English department head and coach UIL academic events. The study unit we do in eighth grade English on the Holocaust has profoundly affected my life and the lives of the students in Wimberley.

Hello! My name is Amber Shand and this is my fourth year at Wimberley Junior High School. This year I am teaching 7^th grade English and 8^th grade AVID. I have previously taught Reading Enrichment, 6^th grade English, 8^th grade Pre-AP English, and Teen Leadership. I grew up in Pflugerville, Texas, and graduated from Texas State University in May 2003. I got married in December 2005 and am enjoying living in our first home here in Wimberley. I enjoy reading, scrapbooking, shopping, Astros games, and the company of my friends and family.

I was born and raised in Austin. I attended college at Southwest Texas State University where I received my Bachelors degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. I went back to school in 2002 to get my Masters degree in School Counseling from Texas A&M University. My husband is the band director at Wimberley Danforth Junior High, and we have a three year old son named Taylor. This will be my fifth year teaching and my first year in Wimberley ISD.

This will be my 16^th year of teaching and my 4^th year in Wimberley ISD. I have taught 3rd through 8^th grade. I transferred from Bowen to Wimberley Junior High this year. I graduated from Port Neches-Groves High School in 1984. I attended SWT for 3 years and then married my sweet husband Jerry Guidry. We then attended Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas where we both graduated. I received my BS in Elementary Education with a Reading Specialization. My family and I moved to Wimberley from Katy, Texas in 2002. We have two children, Blake and Paige. Blake is a 7^th grader and Paige is in the 5^th grade.

I am a first year teacher at Wimberley Junior High, and am looking forward to an exciting year in Science. I will be teaching 7^th and 8^th grade preAP Science. My family and I moved to Wimberley from Hobbs, New Mexico in June 2005, after calling Hobbs home for 20 years. I taught 7^th and 9^thgrade preAP Science for six years and 8^th grade preAP Algebra 1 for one year in New Mexico. I graduated from Southern Methodist University many years ago with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and went to work for Texaco Chemical upon graduation. More recently, I received my teacher certification from the College of the Southwest in Hobbs, and then began my teaching career. My husband Mark and I have three children. Morgan is a senior at Texas Christian University. Rob is a junior at Texas A&M. Mark is a sophomore here at Wimberley High School.

Ed Guidry was born and reared in Port Arthur, Texas, a Gulf Coast oil town on Lake Sabine. After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School there, he earned a B.S. in biology from nearby Lamar University, and a M.S. in zoology and Ph.D. in biology from Texas A & M., where he also worked as a teaching and research assistant. As an interim to graduate school, he served four years in the US Navy, two as a Marine Corps field medic. During this time, he met and married Martha McInnis of Sweeny, Texas.

He has taught over 28 years for various middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities -- most recently, Hawaii Baptist Academy, and San Marcos Baptist Academy. After living many years in Florida, Illinois, California, and Hawaii, he is glad to be back among friends and family in Texas, and is particularly excited about again joining WISD for a second year teaching 8th grade science on the Danforth campus.

Education:
Honor Graduate: Taft High School: Taft, Texas 1981
Bachelor of Science TAMU: College Station, Texas 1985
Master of Education SWT: San Marcos, Texas 1990
Doctor of Education TAMU: College Station, Texas 1997

Teaching Experience:
Elementary Physical Education Teacher: 2 Years
Secondary Mathematics Teacher: 11 Years
School Administrator: 9 Years

Interests/Hobbies:
Fishing, Spurs Basketball, Astros Baseball, Cowboys & Aggie Football

This is my first year teaching and I am thrilled to be a part of the Wimberley School District! I teach eighth grade pre-AP math and dance. I grew up in Austin, TX and attended Westlake High School, The University of Texas, and Austin Community College. I graduated from Texas State University with a B.S. in Dance with Teacher Certification. I completed my student teaching at Wimberley High School and worked with the district’s AVID program as a tutor and also as the math interventionist at Scudder. I love to cook so you will find me in the grocery store often! I also enjoy wakeboarding, crossword puzzles, SuDoku, board games, and needlepoint.

Coach Milner is a 1981 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He has been married to his lovely wife, Natalie, for 16 years and has two wonderful children, Maddie, age 13 and Evan, age 9. Coach Milner has been teaching Social Studies for 16 years and is the Pre - AP US History instructor and is head of the Social Studies Department. He is also the Varsity Assistant Volleyball and Varsity Assistant Girls Soccer coach. He has been lucky enough to have been part of the Lady Texan Volleyball State Championship teams of 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003. He loves spending time with his family and enjoys watching his children participate in sports. His favorite hobbies are reading, watching movies, taking long walks and supporting the Longhorns and the Texans.

Colleges:
Texas Lutheran University BA, 1999
Southwest Texas State University working on MA in Education

Teaching & Coaching:
Texas Lutheran Univ. 3 years
Southwest Texas State 2 years