The 2012–2013 PTO Executive Board at Black MS are (L–R): Cayce Carlsson, Dawn Butterick, Kara Hagan, Arwen McMillan, Principal Meilin Jao, Janet Orfield, and Tim Weltin.
Each year, PTO Today recognizes the nation’s top Parent Teacher Organization as the “Parent Group of the Year,” and this year, HISD’s own Black Middle School earned Honorable Mention for its impressive efforts to revitalize the campus.
“Up until about three years ago, Black suffered from declining enrollment,” explained Principal Meilin Jao. “But we worked with parents and the community to bring a Vanguard program to the school, and last year, the PTO raised $18,000 to support three areas: academics, fine arts, and athletics.”
The money was used to fund $100 mini-grants for teachers, to purchase band instruments for the music program, to expand the school library, and to pay for the construction of a new baseball field.
“Our PTO has been amazing,” said Jao. “It’s helped us celebrate teachers on a monthly basis with little personal touches that let them know they’re important, and spread the word that Black has changed for the better. We are focused on educating the whole child, and our enrollment has been steadily increasing.”
In 2011, Jao noted, the school only had 480 students, “but last year we had almost double that, and this year, we are projected to have 925.”
For more information about Black Middle School, please visit the school’s website. A complete list of winners is available on the PTO Today website.
Q: I heard that the Board of Education approved a 2 percent raise for all employees. When will this raise go into effect?
A: For 12-month employees, the pay raise will be reflected on the September 11th paycheck. For less-than-12-month employees, the pay raise will be reflected on the August 14th paycheck.
Sheila Mason
Sheila Mason is beginning her 40th year of service in education this year. For the past 15 years, she has served in various roles at the HISD central office, including as an instructional supervisor, project manager, content specialist, and most recently as a performance and continual improvement manager. However, Mason’s service to HISD surpasses the 15 year mark as she began her journey in HISD as an elementary school teacher at Wesley ES from 1975-1985.
“I had the best mentor and principal at the time, Thaddeus Lott, who taught me all children could learn – even those from disadvantaged backgrounds. To me, some of my fondest memories are from working with the students that I taught at Wesley. I still have old pictures that I look at and reminisce.”
In her current position as a performance and continual improvement manager in the department of Human Capital Accountability, Mason is responsible for administrative support for all of HISD’s appraisal and development systems, visiting campuses to help administrators with appraisals, write policy related to appraisal systems, and providing appraiser certification training.
“I think teaching was my niche but my other niche – I really enjoy being a support person to administrators. It’s very rewarding to help them to do their best so we serve our children in the best way. It’s always about the children. And when you can help the adults do their job, then you’re doing what’s best for the kids.”
Mason officially marks her 15th anniversary with the district on July 27, but several other employees are also marking theirs this week (July 21–27).
See if you know anyone on this list:
40 years
- Alice McKinney, teacher, Bellaire HS
25 years
- Janis Norman, teacher, Henderson ES
- Irma Solis, student information rep, Scarborough ES
20 years
- Enid Cross, custodian, Bellaire HS
- Maria Gonzalez, attendant, Food Services
- Avian Hogan, attendant, Food Services
- Barbara Jedkins, attendant, Food Services
- Cathy Jones, attendant, Food Services
- Khalilah Moore, attendant, Food Services
- Leticia Moreno, plant operator, Pilgrim Academy
- Alma Navarrete, attendant, Food Services
- Janice Odie, clerk, Austin High School
- Tanquelyn Sumler, manager, Food Services
- Sandra Terrell, attendant, Food Services
- Diane Young, attendant, Food Services
15 years
- Sheila Mason, manager, Human Capital Accountability
- Nora Rubalcava, instructional coordinator, Coop ES
10 years
- Carmelita Anderson, teacher, Williams MS
- Vincent Egbuchulam, teacher, Shearn Elementary
- Jacqueline Moore, teacher, Windsor Village ES
- Tamina O’Banner, clerk, Lamar HS
- Cynthia Sawyer, business analyst, IT Customer Service
- Tina Smith, teacher, Halpin ECC
- Harold Snowton, teaching assistant, Cullen MS
- Eric Thompson, associate teacher, Associate Teachers
- Christine Walton, associate teacher, Associate Teachers
- Bennie Wilson, teaching assistant, Pin Oak MS
5 years
- Stephen Pinkney, data processing, Lamar HS
- Chad Scholz, teacher, Lamar HS
- Lakisa Stewart, custodian, High School Ahead Academy
| Check back next Friday for more July Milestones. Leave a comment below if you’d like to congratulate any of the above employees. |
Janice Newsum
This week’s Shout Out goes to Library Services Specialist Janice Newsum from her manager Liz Phillipi, for single-handedly coordinating the inventory of books in North Forest campus libraries over the Fourth of July holiday.
“I just can’t say enough about how hard she has worked,” said Phillipi, who serves as manager of Library Services. “I was out of town, and she found 30 librarians to come in during their vacation to take inventory and weed out the older titles. She found vendors to donate lunches and water, and created the budget for Dr. (Julie) Baker so she would know how much it would cost to purchase supplies and pay the librarians. She even sweet-talked North Forest’s vendors into coming in to give us training for free on how to use their software, so we could generate lists of books, spreadsheets, and reports.”
Phillipi noted that Newsum has been working every day since the North Forest ISD annexation became official on July 1, even over the Fourth of July holiday and following weekend, so that librarians could hit the ground running when they came in to start weeding and taking inventory on July 8.
| 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. |
The abbreviated work week HISD adopts each summer will be coming to an end on Fri., Aug. 2. The district will revert to its normal business hours on Mon., Aug. 5.
First implemented in 2011, the 4-10 schedule was designed to save the district money on operating expenses during the hot summer months.
Here are some other dates you might want to mark on your calendar:
- Aug. 2: Summer Schedule concludes
- Aug. 4: Cool to Be Smart celebration
- Aug. 5-9: HMNS Summer Energy Workshop
- Aug. 7: Administrative Inservice
- Aug. 8: Board meeting (regular)
- Aug. 9–11: Texas Sales Tax Holiday
- Aug. 10: Back to School Fest
- Aug. 26: First day of school (students)
- Sept. 2: Labor Day holiday
- Sept. 7: Grads Within Reach walk
HISD’s Employee Support Services (AKA Retirement Storefront and Drug-Free Workplace) office completed its move to a new location during the week of July 15, 2013.
Please make a note of the new address, telephone, and fax numbers:
M.C. Williams Annex Building�
Employee Support Services: Drug Free Workplace and Retirement Storefront
6100 Knox St.
Houston TX 77091-4143
Drug Free Workplace
Phone: 713-695-5862
Fax: 713-695-5723
Retirement Storefront
Phone: 713-695-5561
Fax: 713-695-5723
The HISD Employee Support Services unit administers the following:
- Drug Free Workplace Program
- HISD/TRS Retirement Counseling
- HISD 403(b) Retirement Plan
- HISD 457(b) Retirement Plan
- Supplemental Sick Leave Bank (SSLB)
Driving Directions:
On the grounds of M. C. Williams Middle School in the detached one-story brick building located on the north side of the campus (map).
Park Place ES
HISD’s Park Place Elementary School was one of only three campuses from across the nation to win a $1,000 prize for creating an outdoor habitat for songbirds.
The school was selected from among dozens of submissions to Scott’s ‘Save the Songbirds” initiative, whose goal is to save a million songbirds by creating more than 50,000 acres of habitat nationwide.
Participating schools had to create a space on their campus that provided food, a water source, shelter, and a place to build a nest. They also had to submit photos that showed all of those elements.
“You can tell that the winning schools spent some time (designing these habitats),” said Scott’s Wild Bird Food Marketing Brand Manager Rob Lamp. “It was more than just throwing up a bird feeder.”
The Save the Songbirds program was launched in 2011 and the contest is open to students in grades 1–4.
| If you know someone who should be featured in Accolades, please email us at info@houstonisd.org and tell us why. |
Q: What are some of the best apps out there for educators?
A: It depends on what you’re looking for. Many teacher-centric apps deal with the collection and organization of student data, but Gradespeed already manages that in HISD.
Still, a number of other apps exist that teachers might find useful. Jorge Rodriguez, a health and physical education teacher at Harvard ES, cites “Too Noisy” as one of his favorites for keeping student chatter down to reasonable levels.
“It acts as a sound meter,” he writes in his education blog. “I use it all the time during transitions…when we move through the building during a water break.” Rodriguez also uses “Classroom Dojo” to help students’ manage their own behavior, and “Dropbox” for digital storage of photos, videos, documents, and spreadsheets.
You can read more about his favorites here, and see some other suggestions from the Teach Hub website here. Be sure and take our weekly survey on your favorite education-related app, and we’ll share the results in a future edition of eNews.
