Destini Williams, right, navigated the most difficult time in her life without leaving her studies behind, thanks to help from Deborah Greco, left, with Communities in Schools. The group is one of many that partners with HISD to provide behavior and medical services, parent education, and other social services that address the whole child.

Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force for you or your student, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.

Destini Williams remembers many times in the past four years when she could have dropped out of school. Like when her mother died of breast cancer a month before the start of her freshman year. Or a year later when her father suffered a stroke that put him in the hospital and rehab for nine months. Or after his second stroke last fall.

“She has the determination to keep going even when a lot of people would have given up,” said Deborah Greco, a licensed social worker for Communities in Schools of Houston and part-time counselor at North Houston Early College High, where Destini is a senior. “Her story is not common, but it’s not extraordinary either. The issues are so huge for students, it’s difficult for them to focus on school.” Continue reading →

Principal Bertie Simmons has transformed Furr High by believing in every student who walks onto her campus. “We’re trying to teach them they can make a contribution to the world in a very positive way. They usually don’t get outside their own neighborhoods. It makes a big difference to open their eyes to new ways of doing things.”

Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force for you or your student, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.

Furr High Principal Bertie Simmons grabs a turquoise soccer ball from a bag in her storage closet, tosses it to the tall boy standing in her office, and instructs him to kick it around.

The boy — a junior in a neighboring district hoping to re-enroll at Furr — looks dubious but follows instructions. After a few minutes, the 82-year-old principal takes the ball back and holds it up as she connects a cord attached to a bulb, which immediately begins to glow. Continue reading →

Williams Santos, a student at Energy Institute High School, has come up with an innovative way to work around power outages.

Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force for you or your student, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.

William Santos will graduate with the first class of Energy Institute High this spring, and he may do so with the prototype for a product that could one day be in your home.

His engineering teacher challenged the class to tackle an unsolved problem in the world, and William thought about how power outages affect homes and businesses in Houston. By using magnets and a turbine to harness the kinetic energy generated by air passing through every building’s air-conditioning unit, he thought, he could store energy for later use. Continue reading →

Ty-Rinetta Sanders-Washington is one of 58 seniors from 27 HISD high schools who pledged to return to the district to teach as part of Teach Forward Houston. The grow-your-own program is training a new generation of HISD teachers who have a personal connection to the district that gave them the foundation they needed.

Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force for you or your student, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.

Ty-Rinetta Sanders-Washington knew she wanted to enter a profession where she could help people.

“I looked at going into physical therapy, being a motivational speaker … I just wanted to impact lives,” Ty-Rinetta said.

Then a counselor at Booker T. Washington High told her about Teach Forward Houston, an innovative fellowship program that is training the next generation of HISD teachers.

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Victor Rodriguez inspired his classmates to create 16 metal roses in just three days — and he gave one of them to his mother, Rosa. CTE programs like welding at Milby, along with eight Futures Academies and 14 CTE workforce level I certificate programs, are helping HISD graduates fill jobs in some of Houston’s most high-demand industries.

Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force for you or your student, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.

When a popular Milby High welding project, completed each year by the senior class, was in jeopardy of not getting off the ground, the instructor knew he could count on Victor Rodriguez to get things rolling again.

A junior at the time, Victor had the leadership skills to rally his classmates to complete 16 metal roses for Valentine’s Day in three days — a record for the class.

“I rounded up all my good friends, and I said, ‘OK, you’re making this, you’re drilling this, you’re making the petals, you’re making the leaves.’ We created an assembly line,” Victor said.
“I truly felt like a leader. The teacher let me keep one, and I gave it to my mom for Mother’s Day.”

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Nicole Mut turned quantum physics into something anyone can understand, making her one of 15 finalists in a global contest. HISD is exposing students to STEM at all levels and offering STEM-focused programs at magnet schools and public charters, pathway schools, and through 23 TIF 4 grant schools.

Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force for you or your student, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.

As far back as she can remember, Nicole Mut has been interested in science. Her parents, both engineers, wove science and engineering topics into everyday activities. Family vacations were often spent in national parks, where Nicole’s dad would explain about animals or the environment, and discussions often dealt with the reasons behind why things are the way they are.

Nicole’s passion for all things STEM was further nurtured by enthusiastic teachers with whom she felt a personal connection. She remembers her seventh-grade science teacher explaining course material in ways that made the lesson seem like an adventure. Her fifth-grade teacher made a strong impact when she encouraged Nicole to participate in a STEM contest where she explored turning algae into biofuel.

Continue reading →

Valencia Grayson put in practice time off the field with Khan Academy’s free SAT prep courses — and gained the point increase she needed to pursue her dream of playing sports at a Division I university.

Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force for you or your student, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.

Valencia Grayson loves sports, and she was fairly certain that her SAT scores were not good enough to get her into a university where she could compete at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics.

“I knew I had to get my math scores up, and I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “Then somebody at school showed me Khan Academy.” Continue reading →

Grace is one of 17 HISD students with developmental disabilities working at the Houston Food Bank through a partnership with H.E.A.R.T. (Housing, Entrepreneurship, and Readiness Training). HISD has several programs to help young adults like Grace transition successfully from high school to a productive adult life.

Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force for you or your student, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.

Grace keeps looking at her watch. It’s quite impressive — a large wristwatch she got for Christmas. It’s the perfect gift for this 19-year-old developmentally disabled HISD student, because her life is busy, and she can’t be late to her internship at the Houston Food Bank.

“I get up at 5:20 a.m., shower, dress, and fix my lunch,” Grace said. “I have to catch the bus at 6:20 a.m., but sometimes it comes early, so I go to the bus stop at 6:10 a.m.” Continue reading →

For Alvin Gibson, right, and Deshaun James, left, Literacy in the Middle is giving them voice and choice — plus a little friendly competition. More than half a million books were distributed to HISD middle schools to stock classroom libraries. “Some of them I have read several times because I like them so much,” Alvin said.

Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force in you or your student’s life, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.

The friendship between Alvin Gibson and Deshaun James is based on constant competition. The two teens challenge each other in nearly everything, including basketball, girls, and something a little out of character for middle school boys. Ask them who has read more books, and the two shout out in unison, “I have!”

But it wasn’t always that way. Both Alvin and Deshaun struggled to read in elementary school, and both were diagnosed with dyslexia. Both were also held back a grade. “At one point, I wanted to give up. I thought I was stupid,” Alvin said. “But my teachers and my grandfather pushed me.”

Continue reading →