Annette Spikes was born in San Saba, Texas. At age ten her family moved to San Antonio where she graduated from Harlandale HS. Upon graduating and while attending college she worked in the summers as an intern in the office of the Base Commander at Kelly Air Force Base. With this internship she was able to pay her way through Howard Payne University, Brownwood, TX where she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Trustees at her Alma Mater.
While at Howard Payne she met and married her husband, Grady Spikes. Upon graduation from college she taught for two years in Coleman, TX. She and her husband moved to Conroe Texas where both were employed by Conroe ISD. Annette earned a Master’s Degree from Sam Houston State in 1986. She trained in the New Jersey Writing Project, Writing Programs that work, and was a trainer for the Project W.R.I.T.E. Over the span of thirty years Annette taught grade levels Kindergarten through College Level. With emphasis on reading/writing she trained as a Reading Recovery teacher and concentrated on developing effective programs in this area. Annette developed programs and conducted workshops in “Using Novels to Teach Reading and Writing” for teachers in Conroe, Aldine, Rockdale, and Spring ISD’s. She was an In-Service presenter in Aldine and Spring ISD’s on “Using Whole Language in the Middle School Programs”. She also developed and presented workshops for Montgomery ISD and East Central ISD in San Antonio on “Learning to Write by Writing” as well as working with undergraduate/graduate students at Sam Houston State University in “Using Literature to Teach Reading”. In 1990 Annette joined with Drs. Bess Osburn, Leslie Patterson, and Joan Proudy (Sam Houston State) to present a project based on classroom research to the National Reading Association Conference. She presented numerous campus, district, and state level in-service training in the “New Beginnings” program as well as other workshops. She was a consult for Lancaster ISD and Waco ISD on implementing the Reading/Writing workshop model. She served as the Literacy Coordinator and School Wide Planning Coordinator for her building and was also a Staff Developer for district and in-house staff development for the teachers during the school day while also coordinating activities for the children implemented at the same time as the teacher in-service. Annette served on the Textbook adoption committee and was a Curriculum Writer for Reading Improvement for Conroe ISD. She represented two of the campuses where she taught as Teacher of the Year.
During an interim period of staying home to raise two sons, Annette started a business, “The Wicker Basket” which was a gift foods business. During the time that her sons were in college she became an insurance agent for Southern Security Insurance Company. In 1990 she organized the campaign for her husband when he ran for public office.
After retiring from teaching Annette has been active in the community. She organized the Volunteer League for the Conroe Symphony Orchestra of which she has served as President for two terms and is a Board member of the Conroe Symphony Orchestra. She is Treasurer and acting Ex. Dir. of the Greater Conroe Arts Alliance. Currently, she is working with CISD teachers to develop a curriculum for fourth grade students that will include field trips to the Lone Star Monument and Historical Flag Park.
Annette is a Sustaining member of the Conroe Service League, member of the Republican Women, and Retired School Personnel. She has served on the Conroe Commission on Arts and Culture for four years, been a member of Community Foundation Allocation Committee and United Way Distribution Committee. She is a graduate of Leadership Conroe, and Lifetime member of the Montgomery County Fair Association. Annette was Honorary Chair for CASA in 2002.
Annette’s husband is deceased and she has two sons and five grandchildren who live in Conroe. One son is a Justice of the Peace Judge and the other owns his own Business, Spikes Group Inc. She is a long time member of the First Baptist Church where she serves on the By-Laws committee and is a member of the choir.
