HISD’s Office of Communications has been honored at the national level for its efforts to keep all district stakeholders informed.
The National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) announced the winners of its annual awards competition recently, and HISD earned seven, including a Golden Achievement Award for its coverage of the annual State of the Schools luncheon.
The district also walked away with four Excellence awards for its community and employee eNewsletters, its Annual Report (.pdf), and the blog 177 Days, which chronicled the adventures of five brand-new teachers during their first year in the classroom.
In addition, HISD earned two Merit awards, one for its coverage of the district’s historic second Broad Prize win in 2013, and the other for its Welcome to HISD parent handbook.
Submissions for the Golden Achievement Award were judged exclusively on the basis of contest criteria, while all other submissions were judged not only against the criteria, but also compared to other submissions from similarly sized districts or organizations.
Congratulations also go out this week to:
- Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (TAHPERD) award recipients: Rose Haggerty (Health & Physical Education manager), Honor Award; Delia Thibodeaux (Westside HS), K-12 Health Teacher of the Year; and Paula Ceaser (Madison HS), High School Physical Education Teacher of the Year. All will be formally recognized during the annual convention and awards dinner in December.
- Reagan High School geometry and computer science teacher Angira Sceusi, who was one of only five educators from across the nation to receive a 2014 Symantec Innovation in Teaching Award, based on her successful innovation, collaboration, and measured classroom results. Sceusi will receive a $2,500 cash prize, including $1,500 to help her expand the classroom innovations for which she was recognized.
| If you know someone who should be featured in Accolades, please email us at info@houstonisd.org and tell us why. |
HISD in the News
- Superintendent Terry B. Grier: Still reforming after all these years
- Teen thespians bask in Carnegie Vanguard HS’s victory
- A Classroom without walls: Transforming lives through a school garden (.pdf)
- HISD board passes magnet funding proposal
National News Links
- Teen goes from sleeping in his car to graduation, thanks to L.A. program
- School buses bring free summer meals to some Fla. students
- Why educators should stay in ‘teacher mode’ during the summer
- School districts reinvesting in art, music, physical education
Brittany Lewis
This week’s Shout Out goes to Brittany Lewis, an instructional technologist with HISD’s IT department who has been helping HISD high schools PowerUp.
Secondary Social Studies Teacher Development Specialist Elena Silva-Leal, who worked with Lewis at Madison High School, described Lewis as “amazing.”
“It has been a pleasure to work with her,” said Silva-Leal. “I can collaborate with her with ease, and she is incredibly supportive, flexible, and available to the campus. I am so excited that she will support Westbury next year.”
IT Project Manager Kevin Hodges concurs. “In my opinion,” he said, “the work that the IT Instructional Technologists and Teacher Development Specialists have done with the PowerUp teachers this year has been the primary reason for the early success of the program.”
| Know someone who deserves a shout out? Send an email to info@houstonisd.org with the subject line “Shout Out for eNews!” and tell us why. |
If you are a campus-based member of Team HISD who participates, sponsors, and/or coaches any UIL-sanctioned or co-curricular activities, then the State of Texas requires you to be certified in the administration of Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator (CPR/AED).
Stipend payments are dependent upon this certification, so if you need the four-hour training, please sign up now for one of the 11 sessions being offered between June 26 and Aug. 15, 2014, to ensure that the district is in compliance with this legal requirement.
To register, please login to the employee portal, click on eTRAIN, and search for course code AL3100.
SPECIAL NOTE TO NURSES: HISD’s Health & Medical Services department will be offering a special, one-time training on these same topics to school nurses on Monday, Aug. 4. The seven-hour course will take place on the campus of Scarborough High School (4141 Costa Rica, 77092) from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.
To register, please login to the employee portal, click on eTRAIN, and search for course code HM3911.
HISD in the News
- Graduation ceremony for one Bellaire HS senior happens at a hospital
- Houston school district invests in the future of its community with Microsoft
- Westbury HS band trying to get to Ohio for once-in-a-lifetime performance
- Celebrating success: A Snapshot of Ed-Tech procurement in Houston
- Veterinarian looking to donate old Heights-area schoolhouse
- HISD considers making Good Friday a guaranteed day off
National News Links
- Kentucky high school setting the bar for protecting transgender students
- Going all in: How to make competency-based learning work
- Fifty years of federal intervention in education’s contribution: Not much.
- How to not let your kid’s brain turn to mush over the summer break
- Is learning to code as essential as reading and writing?
Tesha Foster
Up until last summer, Tesha Foster had spent her entire career with HISD in the Human Resources department. She started off as an employee records clerk in 1989, then moved up to secretary, HR specialist, and finally, HR business partner, over the years.
But last summer, Foster decided it was time to branch out, so she applied for—and landed—a position as senior manager of terminals and safety in Transportation. Now, she is responsible for operations at both the Barnett and Central bus terminals, where she oversees about 600 drivers and ensures the buses are running on-time and safely.
“It was totally new,” said Foster of the change,” but I was ready to challenge myself and advance my career. I wanted to do something where some of my skills would be transferrable, and this was outside my comfort zone.”
But whether she was helping students gets to class on time or helping employees make sense of their benefits, Foster has thoroughly enjoyed her time at HISD.
“I love it,” she said. “Any time that you can be a part of empowering employees, but also relevant to the education of students, that’s always a win-win.”
Foster officially marked her 25th anniversary with the district on June 19, but several other employees are also marking theirs this week (June 15–21). See if you know anyone on this list:
30 years
- Anthony Tinsley, exterminator, Construction & Facility Services
25 years
- Eric Williams, plant operator, Construction & Facility Services
20 years
- Ana Gonzales, teacher, Ortíz MS
- Annette Thomas, teaching assistant, Hobby ES
10 years
- Marcos Garcia, painter, Construction & Facility Services
- Jorge Martinez,mechanic team lead, Transportation Services
5 years
- Jason Baggett, teacher, Austin HS
- Shelia Law-Guidry, teaching assistant, Bellaire HS
- Thelma Lemus, custodian, Construction & Facility Services
| Check back next Friday for more June Milestones. Leave a comment below if you’d like to congratulate any of the above employees. |
Superintendent of Schools Terry Grier honored five district employees at the principals’ meeting held on June 11, 2014. The following campus leaders and administrators were recognized with Team HISD hats:
- LaShonda Bilbo-Ervin, who serves as the principal of Washington HS, for improving her campus’ attendance rate (while most other high schools’ were falling) and increasing scores on her students’ End-of-Course exams in every subject, some by double digits.
- Principals Elena Martinez-Buley, Silvia Trinh, and Mayra Ramon, whose exemplary leadership styles at Rodriguez ES, Park Place ES, and Sanchez ES (respectively), have earned them the Bronze Excellence in Urban Education Award this year from the National Center for Urban School Transformation.
- Melissa Matsu, who serves as the instructional coordinator at Carnegie Vanguard HS, for handling the complicated logistics involved in offering Advanced Placement Saturday study sessions to ten campuses over a six-week period this spring.
To see a gallery of all the hat recipients, please visit HISD’s photo archive.
SPECIAL NOTE: A very special Patriotic Employer Award was presented to Assistant Superintendent of Leadership Development Josephine Rice (left) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense. Dr. Rice was recognized for her outstanding support of the Mesa family. Captain Alfred Mesa has seen multiple deployments over the past six years, and the Leadership Development team has banded together each time to act as an extended family for one of its trainers, the captain’s wife, Kim Golden-Mesa.
| Know someone who deserves a shout out? Send an email to info@houstonisd.org with the subject line “Shout Out for eNews!” and tell us why. |
Jeff Mulvihill poses with a pair of pants he could barely fit into four months ago.
Jeff Mulvihill didn’t join HISD’s “4 for $40” challenge in January because of any dire warnings from his doctor.
“I’ve been a fat person for most of my life,” explained the Special Education teacher from Braeburn Elementary School. “I weighed 90 pounds in the first grade. But I’ve always wanted to be slimmer. I just needed that little extra push to say, ‘Let’s do it.’”
And so he has. Over the past four months, Mulvihill has logged the most substantial weight loss among all participating district employees: 79 pounds. His secret? “Purely diet.”
“I work two jobs, so I don’t really have time to go to the gym,” he explained. “I just cut out most breads and cereals, and ate lots of fruits, vegetables, and salad.”
Now, said Mulvihill, “I can cross my legs easier. I can bend over and tie my shoe. I don’t really feel any different, but I had a sore knee for about a year. It doesn’t hurt anymore. My feet used to bother me, too, but those pains are gone.”
Francisca Rios before…
Another successful “4 for $40” participant is Francisca Rios, one of four women who dropped more than 40 pounds over that same time period.
“I have struggled with my weight for most of my life,” said the Student Information Specialist at Seguin Elementary School. “I just made a decision that this time things would be different.”
Rios began exercising daily in addition to changing her diet, and “now I am 47 pounds lighter. My health has improved tremendously. I am exercising daily and jogging three miles at a time.”
…and after
When asked what advice they would offer to others considering weight loss, the common thread was to make a commitment and stick with it. “For me, at least, it was purely mind over matter,” said Mulvihill. “That first week, it can feel like you’re starving. But you’re not, and it goes away after about a week. Try to get through that first initial shock of change. If you make up your mind you want it, you’ll get it.”
“I feel that these types of persuasions are sometimes what we need to begin a new, positive lifestyle,” added Rios. “I thank this program and the people who took the initiative to touch the lives of other people.”
HISD wrapped up its four-month-long “4 for $40” weight-loss challenge at the end of May, and collectively, participants shed more than 22,000 pounds—or the weight of a mature male orca.
Employees who met or exceeded a monthly weight-loss goal were eligible to receive an extra $40 incentive in their paychecks, for a possible payout of $160. Thousands of employees met that challenge, resulting in a total payout of $174,760 for the district. The final payout (for the month of May) should have appeared in eligible employees’ June 18 paychecks.
For recent Reagan High School graduate Kody Ford to even be alive today is nothing short of a miracle. The Class of 2014 member not only confounded doctors by proving virtually every grim prognosis about him wrong as a baby, he also managed to graduate last month with a perfect 12-year attendance record—less than nine weeks after being ejected through the sunroof of his own car during a collision with a drunk driver.
Get the full story here.
Whidby ES baton-twirlers headed to state finals after first-place finish in Corpus
Baton-twirling’s heyday may be about 60 years behind it, but a group of 14 girls from HISD’s Whidby Elementary School is bringing back that lost art with an amazing run for the national title next month.
Get the full story here.
Westbury HS band raising money for Pro Football Hall of Fame trip
Westbury High School has been invited to march in the Pro Football Hall of Fame parade in Canton, Ohio, in August, but the musicians and dancers need a bit of help to pay for the trip. The band was invited because former student and athlete Michael Strahan, who now hosts Live with Kelly and Michael and contributes to Good Morning America, is being inducted this year in recognition of his 15-year career with the New York Giants.
Get the full story and find out how you can help here.
Washington HS design internship kicks off with straw bridge challenge
A quartet of students from Washington High School will begin getting an up-close and in-depth look at the makings of a 21st century campus this year, after landing four highly coveted internships with the new facility’s design team. The students began their study of design with a straw bridge-building challenge on June 16.
Get the full story here.
Browning, Pugh students get an extra dose of literacy through Deloitte’s IMPACT Day
Two HISD elementary schools got “taken over” by tax, audit, advisory, and consulting professionals from a firm in downtown Houston on June 6, when representatives from Deloitte traded their suits and briefcases for T-shirts, sensible shoes, and a custom curriculum dedicated to literacy.
Deloitte employees came to Pugh and Browning elementary schools that day as a part of the company’s 15th annual IMPACT Day of community service, which usually benefits other HISD campuses with whom Deloitte has on-going partnerships.
Read the full story here.
First of your most-wanted workshops returns June 25
HISD’s Office of Onboarding and Organizational Development has brought back three of employees’ favorite professional development sessions, just in time for the summer break.
The topics of these sessions were selected by participants from the previous year, who answered a survey asking for the top three workshops they would like to see offered again.
The first, Preparing to Shine, is scheduled for Wednesday, June 25.
For more information or to sign up, please see this related article.
Give a Year, Change a Life! Become an Apollo 20 Math Fellow
HISD is seeking dynamic candidates to change the lives of elementary, middle, or high school students by tutoring them in math every day for an entire school year. Apollo 20 Math Fellows are full-time HISD employees on a 10-month duty schedule with standard employee benefits and the opportunity to earn performance pay in addition to base salary. Visit this site to learn more or to submit an application.
Sasha spends most of her work day sniffing around HISD schools, searching for anything that doesn’t belong – drugs, weapons or suspects.
The work is part of a normal day for the 2-year-old Dutch Shepherd, one of four dogs serving on the Houston Independent School District Police Department’s K9 patrol unit.
TAKS recovery program aims to help students earn overdue HS diplomas
The search is on for 1,200 current and former HISD students who may be just one test short of earning their high school diplomas to take advantage of a free, drop-in program that could help them earn that valuable document.
Get the full story here.
Back by popular demand, it’s…your most-wanted workshops
HISD’s Office of Onboarding and Organizational Development has brought back three of employees’ favorite professional development sessions, just in time for the summer break.
The topics of these sessions were selected by participants from the previous year, who answered a survey asking for the top three workshops they would like to see offered again.
To see which sessions are being offered and when, please see this related article.
Time running out for HMNS summer energy workshops
Middle- and high-school science teachers are invited to participate in one of three, three-day workshops over the summer sponsored by Marathon Oil Corporation.
The first one starts on June 16, and sessions are limited to the first 22 applicants. Participants will acquire knowledge of careers in the energy industry by touring production sites such as the Cedar Bayou Natural Gas Power Plant, the Varel Drill Bit Factory, and the South Texas Nuclear Project.
The workshops cost $45 each, and lunch and transportation from the HMNS to the workshop’s sites will be provided each day. Please see this related flyer (.pdf) for details.
Burbank MS student named national finalist in ‘Do the Write Thing Challenge’
Fatima Menendez’s thoughts on violence and how it has affected her life have garnered her an invitation to the nation’s capital, where she will be recognized along with 49 other students who were named national finalists in the Do the Write Thing Challenge essay competition. Get the full story and read a copy of her essay here.
Castro’s Kids donates 7,200 books to HISD two elementary schools
Students at Scroggins and MacGregor Elementary schools received an exciting surprise on the last day of school this year: Houston Astros catcher Jason Castro and his wife dropped by both campuses to help distribute some of the 7,200 books they had donated through the literacy foundation the couple started. Get the full story here.
Board of Education to consider naming new elementary school after former governor
The HISD Board of Education is considering naming a new elementary school being built in the West Houston area after former Texas Gov. Mark W. White Jr., who served in office from 1983 to 1987.
Get the full story here.
HISD honored by Texas Comptroller’s office for financial transparency
Houston Independent School District’s financial team was recently honored by two organizations for its financial transparency. It received the Platinum Seal Award from the Texas Comptroller Leadership Circle program, and was recognized for 15 years of participation in the Association of School Business Officials International’s Meritorious Budget Awards (MBA) program. Read the full story here.
