Q: How much money was distributed through the ASPIRE Awards this year?
A: In all, 7,201 HISD employees received awards totaling $17.6 million for student/campus growth/progress shown during the 2011–2012 school year.
Q: When was the money distributed?
A: Most eligible employees received their ASPIRE Award payment on Jan. 23 via direct deposit. Charter schools began distributing funds to eligible employees that same day.
Q: I haven’t received my ASPIRE award yet, but I know I was eligible for one. Why not?
A: ASPIRE payments are being held if there is an inquiry or investigation pending. Of the 515 formal inquiries received, only 27 remained under review at the time of the Jan. 23 payout. The ASPIRE team will continue to review these inquiries and process payments during the next few payroll cycles.
Q: Why is this year’s total so much lower than last year’s ($35.4M)?
A: The decrease is due primarily to changes in the program, which have made earning an award more challenging, including:
- eliminating awards based on TEA ratings and TAKS writing standards
- awarding campus progress and campus achievement awards to the top 20% of campuses rather than the top 50%
- awarding teachers with value-added with above-average effective ratings rather than to the top 50%
- reducing the maximum payout for campus progress awards.
Q: Who do I contact with questions?
A: The opportunity to address an issue regarding your award amount closed on Dec. 10, 2012. However, you may still direct questions about:
- how it was calculated to: ASPIREaward@houstonisd.org
- the amount deposited to: 713-556-7383
- charter-school employees: please contact your particular campus
Q: Why was my name released to the media in connection with the ASPIRE awards?
A: In compliance with the Open Records Act, HISD is required by law to provide the public with information regarding the 2011–2012 ASPIRE Awards. Various news media outlets may request the names of all campus-based staff eligible to receive an award and their respective award amounts, including those who were eligible but whose award amount was $0. Representatives of the news media who requested this information agreed not to report on it until Jan. 23.
Teachers who are interested in broadening their horizons this summer should consider submitting a Fund for Teachers (FFT) grant proposal. The deadline to apply this year is Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013, and previous winners have used their grants to explore Alaska, Morocco, and Iceland, among other places. Each year, the FFT awards grants of up to $5,000 to individual educators and $7,500 to teams of educators for summer training and enrichment activities, so finish gathering up your materials and get your submission off today.
In this week’s I am HISD, which features HISD students, graduates, and employees, Lee High School junior and Darfur survivor Nasma Abdulkhalik opens up about living through Sudan’s civil war, experiencing Houston’s diversity, and how attending an HISD school has given her a new life two years after arriving in Houston.
You were only seven years old when war broke out between the Sudanese government forces and the non-Arab indigenous population. What was life like for you in Darfur at the time?
My first memory was of the holiday Eid. I remember the girls – 15, 16, 17-year-old girls – put money in their hair and dressed in pretty clothes and eye makeup. There was dancing and food everywhere. When the rain came, we would go outside and dance in it. There was fruit everywhere and as a child my mother and I planted mango trees. My father was a hard worker. He used to work in our farms and drove his truck to the neighboring markets full of fruit and vegetables, and then would bring back groceries. I would spend weekends with my grandfather. Never before did people fight in the street. It was a very happy time.
I was 7 years old when the war started. It was a Friday after school and my parents were not at home. There were government soldiers bombing. There were soldiers on horses with swords. My aunt was home – she had just had a baby the week before and she was still recovering. She told us to leave with only the clothes we were wearing. We rode a donkey and headed towards the mountain. There were gunshots and soldiers raping the women and girls and killing the male babies. If they knew you had a higher education they would kill you. If you were a man, they would kill you. I saw all of this. When we turned to look back, all you could see was fire.
While escaping through the mountains of Darfur with my three brothers, hiding from the government soldiers, we were separated from my parents, and ran into my mother by chance a year later. Government militia had attacked her to rape her, and she had fought back courageously. They stabbed her leg and caused her many back and neck injuries. She survived but she can no longer work. The Red Cross informed us that my father was in Chad. When the war started, the government accused him of supporting freedom fighters in our region of Darfur. They put him in prison for two months, where they kept him standing on his feet the entire time. He escaped the prison to Chad, but he had severe injuries all over his body, making him permanently disabled and unable to work. We traveled as refugees to Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, France, and then lived in Burkina Faso in apartment buildings with security. From there, the United Nations brought us to Houston.
What was the most surprising thing about Texas?
The people speaking Spanish…from everywhere! When I lived in Sudan, I didn’t even know that there were other people in the world! Now, I have friends from Germany, Honduras, Mexico, Africa, and the U.S.
At Lee High School, you participate in cross country, track, and you are part of the law enforcement club. What do you think Lee offers that students in Sudan would most appreciate?
They would be most excited about the chance to receive an education in a safe place. I never went to school. I never studied. In Darfur, I started first grade and never finished. Here, I found so much stuff that I didn’t know. Even if I thought I knew, I didn’t know everything. Lee showed me everything. Lee showed me what my life would be.
I understand you would like to work in international development and aid. Based on your experiences, what educational programs would be most helpful for teenage girls?
Before they get married, girls need to grow up. They need higher education programs. They need to be smarter than they think they are. They need to feel safe. They need to serve their country. And they need to have fun in their lives.
What advice do you have for other HISD students trying to adjust to life in America?
They need to finish their education. And school is free here! HISD students need to go to college and become whatever they want.
| If you know an HISD graduate, student, or employee who should be featured in I am HISD, please email us at info@houstonisd.org. |
Herlinda Garcia, in her early days with HISD
When J. P. Henderson Elementary School Principal Herlinda Garcia first joined Team HISD back in 1967, Lyndon B. Johnson was still president, a first-class postage stamp only cost five cents, and “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin had not yet released her hit song demanding “respect.”
But even after 45 years with the district, Garcia, who celebrated her anniversary with HISD on Jan. 23, has no immediate plans to retire. “We have a trademark of excellence here,” said the veteran educator, “and as long as I can continue to do that, I’ll stay. For me, it’s not really a job—it’s a mission.”
Garcia has been the principal of J. P. Henderson for the past 31 years, but she has also served as a teacher, a bilingual education specialist, and an assistant principal. So far, career highlights include visits from (then) presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Jesse Jackson, the use of the school cafeteria as the set for a scene in a 1995 Hollywood motion picture (Powder), and running into former students who have become attorneys, financial advisors, or other successful professionals.
Garcia appeared in a Within Our Walls (WOW!) video in 2010, and her school was one of those selected to showcase HISD’s achievements to representatives of the Broad Foundation last year.
Many other HISD employees are also marking milestones this week—see if you know anyone on this list:
35 years
- Juanita Morrow-Daniels, teacher, Dowling MS
30 years
- Virginia Caballero, custodian, Dodson ES
- Ruby Lewis, teacher, Peck ES
- Fanita Moore, teacher, N. Q. Henderson ES
- Joann Rodriguez, teaching assistant, Janowski ES
- Jane Vanlandingham, teacher, Worthing HS
- Andrea Weston, teacher, Walnut Bend ES
25 years
- Esmelda Bruce, teacher, Henry MS
- Mary Chervenka, attendant, Food Services
- Melida Escalante, attendant, Food Services
- Gladys Francis-Stennis, attendance clerk, Westbury HS
20 years
- Winifred Boyd, crossing guard, Bush ES
- Linda Byrd, attendant, Food Services
- Gloria Del Rio, custodian, Herod ES
15 years
- Delfino Castanon, asbestos abatement worker, Construction & Facilities Services
- Lourez Clemons, clerk, Attendance Boundaries & Transfers
- Maria Garcia, custodian, Jordan HS
- Eliza Saenz, clerk, Martinez ES
- Evelyn Skinner, nurse, Osborne ES
- Tracy Stangle, teacher, Whittier ES
- Maria Vega, bus driver, Transportation Services
10 years
- Patricia Keeling, clerk, Mading ES
- Maria Luna-Lira, custodian, Neff Early Learning Center
- Rick Nagir, teacher, Brookline ES
- Dachundralyn Palmer, data entry clerk, Paige ES
- Glenda Platt, clerk, Bush ES
- Janet Rodriguez, teaching assistant, Peck ES
- Mayuri Surati, secretary, Secondary Curriculum
- Leticia Vasquez, attendant, Food Services
5 years
- Abigail Anyanwu, associate teacher
- Cathy Brisby, teaching assistant, Ryan MS
- Shirley Curry, teacher, CEP Southwest
- Sheryl Kirk, associate teacher
- Guillermina Mauricio, clerk, Alternative Certification Program
- Lindsey McElligott, teacher, Condit ES
- Linh Tran Nguyen Moore, teacher, Golfcrest ES
- Helen Mototo, teacher, Attucks MS
- Andre Shackelford, teacher, North Houston Early College HS
- Andrea Spivey, Special Education chair, McReynolds MS
- Billy Waters Jr, teaching assistant, Black MS
- Stephenia West, clerk, Reagan HS
| Check back next Friday for more January Milestones – and if you know someone who should be featured in this space, let us know at info@houstonisd.org. Leave a comment below if you’d like to congratulate any of the above employees. |
This week’s Shout-Out goes to bus terminal secretary Pat Sykes from Transportation General Manager Nathan Graf.
“Sykes was concerned when she read an article about a school bus driver shortage in Spring Branch ISD due to a large number of drivers calling in with the flu,” Graf explained. “She wanted to prevent this in HISD, so she attached flu-safety tips to bottles of hand sanitizer and distributed them to all 1,100 bus drivers and attendants. The response has been overwhelming, with many saying how much they appreciate the district’s concern for them. She was even mentioned in a School Transportation News article!”
Other shout-outs this week go to:
- Anderson ES Teacher Xavier Gerald: Mr. Gerald eats, sleeps, and drinks the concept of providing exciting, off-the-chain, high-energy lessons for students. Most people are mesmerized, once in his classroom. He may be jumping from a desk, showing how monkeys swing off the trees, or students are outside saying they are meteorologists for the day and predicting the weather forecast. He makes PreK look easy—and we all know better. Parents want to retain their kids just to get another year with him. —Principal Roslyn Stiles Vaughn
- Senior Writer Molendia Smalls: She calms the waters and gets the project completed. Regardless of the time frame, her response is always, “For you, no problem. I will get it done.” —School Services Officer Lupita Hinojosa
| 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. |
HISD’s State of the Schools luncheon will take place on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, from 11:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the Hilton Americas Hotel in downtown Houston. This annual event gives the superintendent of schools a chance to share highlights of achievements from the previous year with community stakeholders and other interested parties. Be sure to visit the district’s website later that day to see a video of Dr. Grier’s address, a copy of the 2012 Annual Report, and other resources. Here are some other dates you may want to mark on your calendar:
January 1–31: Board Appreciation Month
Jan. 15–Feb. 1: HISD’s Souper Bowl of Caring Food Drive
January 31: Fund for Teachers application deadline
February 1: State of the Schools luncheon
February 9: Houston Hispanic Forum’s 27th annual Career & Education Day
February 11: G/T Speaker Night for Parents
February 14: Board meeting
February 16: T. H. Rogers 50th anniversary celebration
Feb. 25–March 17: Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo
March 4 & 5: 27th annual Child Abuse Prevention Conference
March 7: Board meeting
March 11–15: Spring Break
March 29: Spring Holiday
The good news from last week’s Friday eNews survey is that no one who responded expects to owe the IRS any money this year.
The bad news is that none of them expect their income tax refunds to remain in their checking accounts for very long, either.
Almost half of all employees who responded to the Jan. 18 question said that they plan to use this annual windfall to lower their credit card balances or pay off other debts.
Another third said they would be using the funds to pay for much-needed vacations or to replenish depleted savings accounts, while about eight percent said they planned to put theirs toward a child’s college fund or financing home-improvement projects. About ten percent said they planned to go shopping, while the remainder said they would be giving theirs to their church or a favorite charity.
Jan. 31 is still a couple of weeks away, but many HISD employees are already anticipating their income tax returns, and dreaming about the ways they might spend them.
If you’re expecting a refund this year, but haven’t quite decided what you’re going to do with it, MSN Money has tips on seven smart ways to use this annual windfall and ten things not to do with it.
HISD’s Benefits Department will also be offering some advice on how to get your financial house in order, at the April 17 workshop offered through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Entitled, “Getting Started: Financial Basics,” the workshop will show attendees how to give themselves a fiscal checkup and save money to meet their goals.
To see a full schedule of EAP workshops through May 2013, click here (.pdf).
Christine Morehouse, a clerk in HISD’s Food Services Department, was recently a contestant on the popular television game show, Wheel of Fortune.
The episode featuring her aired on KHOU-TV Channel 11on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013, and she walked away from the experience with a new 2013 Chevy Sonic, a trip to Panama, and $55,000 in cash.
“I’ve always been a fan of the show, ever since I was a little girl,” she explained. “It was an amazing experience. I will never forget it.”
Morehouse was selected to appear after submitting an application to the show and passing an audition held in Austin last fall. The show was taped in October.
