Howard W Blake High School of the Arts Administrators

Jacqueline Haynes - Principal

Mrs. Jacqueline K. Haynes, is a graduate of Florida State University, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Education. She continued her education at the University of South Florida, where she received her Masters Degree in Guidance and Counseling, and Educational Leadership. Ms. Haynes is a product of the HIllsborough County Public Schools, graduating from Brandon High School in 1978. For the past 25 years, she has worked as a teacher, guidance counselor, assistant principal and presently Principal at numerous schools. Her experience has allowed her to serve Blake, Brandon, Bloomingdale, and Plant City high schools. She loves serving the students and families of Blake. Ms. Haynes also has an AA degree in music, concentrating on Flute.

Teresa Winston - Fine Arts Coordinator

Teresa Benefield Winston graduated from USF with a degree in Art Education with an emphasis in studio art. Ms. Winston was a founding member of the artist-faculty at Blake School of the Arts in 1997. She is certified in diamonds from Gemological Institute of America and is a goldsmith specializing in “lost wax” casting and stone setting. In 2000, she received the “Teacher of the Year” award for Blake High School. She has been nominated to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers multiple times and is the recipient of numerous fine arts grants.

Ms. Winston currently serves as Fine Arts Coordinator / Lead Arts Teacher for Blake, initiating and coordinating signature events for magnet recruitment and is in charge of admissions to Blake’s Magnet Program. Ms. Winston has served Hillsborough County Schools as an art educator for the past 33 years. She started the first jewelry/metals program in Hillsborough County and has taught a variety of art courses including Jewelry/Metals, Black and White Photography, Ceramics, Sculpture, AP General Portfolio, Drawing, Painting, Portfolio and Glass Techniques. She has been a major workshop presenter at the FAEA conference for art educators teaching repousse’ and chasing techniques based on architectural elements.

Winston’s work has been exhibited in local venues throughout the Tampa Bay Area such as the Tampa Museum of Art, TECO Plaza and Evelyn Cobb Gallery and she is responsible for many stained glass installations in both public schools and private spaces. Throughout her teaching career her students have won numerous first place awards such as: The Columba Bush Award, The Congressional Show “Next Generation” sponsored by Tampa Museum of Art, Law Day, Tampa Museum “The Art of Recycling”, University of Tampa/High School Art Awards, National Honor Society Exhibition, Holland and Knight Illustration Award, 3M Corporation “Think Big Billboard Contest” and the “Kodak Award of Excellence” in the Scholastic Art Competition. She was commissioned by the St. Petersburg Museum to create lessons plans in conjunction with the Chihuly glass installation in 2004-2005.

John Parris - Fine Arts Department Chair

John Michael Parris, director of Blake Guitar Studies, is a major prizewinner in four international guitar competitions and a former Artistic Ambassador for the U.S. State Department. Hailed as “a player of great sensitivity and refinement” (Soundboard magazine), he has performed throughout the United States and abroad. Mr. Parris has received national teaching awards from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and was voted Florida Studio Teacher of the Year 2004 by the American String Teachers Association. His Blake students have won seven national awards in the past seven years. They have performed at Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on The Today Show on NBC, and on NPR’s nationally syndicated From The Top. John Michael Parris currently serves as Fine Arts Department Chair at Blake. Mr. Parris joined the artist-faculty of Blake in 1998; previous teaching positions include North Carolina School of the Arts, the University of South Florida, St. Leo University, and Florida State University.