Weekly Teacher Download for December 2

District Advisory Committee Voting: Cast your vote in the District Advisory Committee elections for district and campus-based employees beginning Monday, Nov. 18 to Friday, Dec. 6. Campus-based professional employees have two votes: One vote is for a “Classroom Teacher” and one vote is for an “Other Campus-Level Professional”. Central Office Employees will be able to vote for one Central Office nominee and may elect one person from the Central Office group. For more detailed information, click here.

ALL TEACHERS

Toys for Tots: All HISD employees and schools are invited to participate in Toys for Tots, the Marine Corps’ premier community action program with donations of new and unwrapped toys. We encourage schools and departments to select a coordinator, who can track collection efforts and complete the collection report form, to coordinate the drop-off at the Hattie Mae White (4400 West 18^th St., 77092) by Tuesday, December 18. Coordinators should bring the complete form and all collected toys to the Strategic Partnerships Department, located at Level 1 SE at Hattie Mae White. Before drop-off, please email your collection forms and notify Tarah Davis when you will be dropping of your toy collection at tarah.davis@houstonisd.org.

SPED Cohort Application Extension: The Office of Special Education Services (OSES) is still seeking qualified Special Education (SPED) teachers and other instructional professionals with Special Education certification to apply for Aspiring Program Specialist and Aspiring Department Chair Cohorts, also known as A.S.C.E.L. Those interested, should apply by the December 15.  The purpose of the aspiring cohorts is to develop a pool of potential SPED leaders to provide timely and relevant instructional support and services to campus leaders, special education teachers, staff and other stakeholders who serve students with disabilities. To apply, click here.

DREAM Summit: All HISD DREAMers, DACA recipients, visa holders, permanent residents, refugees, and asylum grantees along with their parents are cordially invited to attend the DREAM Summit on Saturday, December 7 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Hattie Mae White (4400 West 18^th St., 77092). Attendees can learn how to successfully complete your college applications, apply for financial aid, and how to make the most of your college experience. The event will also include a college and resource fair with information about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals information, university programs, financial assistance, and community resources. During this event, five twelfth-grade students will win $500 scholarships for college. For more information, click here. To share the flyer in Spanish, click here.

HISD Master Training Catalog: Haven’t found a training suited for you? The HISD Master Training Catalog for teachers and leaders is currently available through December 2019. To view a complete list, click here.

ELEMENTARY

Fueling Education Student Challenge: ​In partnership with Discovery Education, CITGO is excited to announce the launch of their new Fueling Education Student Challenge for students in fifth to eighth grades. For the challenge, students may work individually or in groups up to four, to solve a problem in their community that aligns to one of four United Nations Sustainability Development Goals. Students must submit a one to two-minute video detailing the identified problem and their STEM solution by February 13, 2020. Teachers can review classroom resources material that will help students brainstorm for the challenge. Students participation required parental consent. For additional details, click here.

Rodeo Decorating Contest: The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) has partnered with HISD once again to distribute activity coloring booklets to third graders. The booklets will be delivered to schools between December 9-18, which are now TEKS aligned and reinforce the pillars of the HLSR. Students are encouraged to decorate the last page of the booklet and enter it into a contest for a chance to win ground passes to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Submitted entries will also be placed on display in the AGventure area during the Rodeo. Instructions for the contest appear on the last page of the activity booklet. All entries must be received no later than February 7, 2020. For questions or additional information, please contact Elizabeth Rozier at hlsractivitybooks@gmail.com.

SECONDARY

Study Abroad Opportunity: The Puranik Foundation, an official HISD partner, will offer full and partial scholarship opportunities for students and incentives for HISD faculty and staff to join students on the trip. Puranik will also provide need and merit-based partial scholarships to students. Those interested, can apply for the Spring Break trip, here by December 10. Puranik is a non-profit organization established in 2000 that runs a residential school – Vision International – for underprivileged students in India. Their flagship program in the U.S., Impact India, was initiated in 2015 as a way to give students across Houston international experiences and to create a cultural bridge between the United States and India. To learn more about the program, click here.

ELLevation Training: Multilingual Programs has partnered with ELLevation Education to provide instructional strategies for ELs training for secondary teachers on January 7 and January 28. There will be multiple session held each day that will introduce the Sheltered Instruction Dashboard coupled with instructional activities tailored for ELsto make differentiated instruction simple for classroom teachers. Participants will leave equipped with simple and flexible strategies for daily use to engage all students across content areas in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking in every classroom.  Those interested can receive additional information and register in OneSource, course #1440052.

Upcoming CTE Trainings: The CTE department is hosting a two-day Auto CAD training on January 14 and January 21 at Barbara Jordan Career Center (5800 Eastex Fwy., 77026). For those interested, registration will open soon. Automotive teachers are invited to attend two informational sessions on January 17 and February 14 to discuss the Automotive Competition. Those interested, should register in OneSource, course #1440020.