Video vignettes designed to assist educators with cyber safety issues
October is national Cyber Security Awareness month, and HISD’s Office of Communications and the district’s Educational Technology Department have joined forces to kick-start the month by launching a new video series called “Digital Safety Moments.” read more…
Dr. Carolyn Sumners
Dr. Carolyn Sumners already holds the unusual distinction of having 45 consecutive years of service with HISD, but she also lays claim to another, even more unexpected achievement: she has essentially held the same position within the district for all of that time.
Dr. Sumners is one of a handful of HISD educators who are “embedded” at the Houston Museum of Natural Science through a longstanding partnership with that organization. She and the others work with district students who come to the museum on field trips throughout the school year.
“When I walked into it, it had already been going on for five years,” she explained. “It started in 1965.”
Since that time, Dr. Sumners has trained astronauts, run the museum’s education department, obtained a doctorate in engineering, and even written an elementary science textbook. She also helped design the museum’s satellite facilities in Brazos Bend State Park and Sugar Land, and estimates that she has taught more than a million students, influencing generations of future scientists.
Do you know a teacher or principal who shows exceptional passion and commitment on campus? If so, speak up! The H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards are designed to recognize just those types of individuals, and nominations are currently being accepted for this year’s awards.
Each year, H-E-B “seeks to pay tribute to those educators who go the extra mile each and every day to serve their students and their communities and who inspire others to do the same.” The awards also include $800,000 in cash prizes. The deadline to submit nominations is Nov. 1, 2015.
There are five award categories are:
- Teacher
- Principal
- District
- Early Childhood Education
- School Board
Click here to learn more about the nomination criteria and to submit your choice for an outstanding member of Team HISD.
What HISD is doing to ensure data systems work together
When HISD began to develop its implementation plan for the HUB, the district’s K–12 learning management system, Director of IT Educational Technology Beatriz Arnillas and her team became focused on one word: interoperability. Interoperability enables different data systems to work together and allows students and teachers to access digital resources from a single platform without additional logins. read more…
In this week’s I Am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other team members, Special Education Senior Manager Sharon Cole-Braxton talks about how she came to work for the district, what spurred her to begin “adopting” schools back in 2006, and why she is challenging her colleagues to do the same.
According to your LinkedIn profile, you’ve been with HISD for more than 16 years. What did you start out as, and how has it led you to where you are now?
Actually, I first came to work for HISD in 1991. I started out as a reading teacher at Deady Middle School. I became the assistant principal there in 1994, and part of my responsibilities was overseeing Special Education, so I used a lot of English as a Second Language and Special Education strategies in my lessons. At that time, I thought,“My goodness, I know nothing about Special Education,” so I got a Special Education certification. I left the district for a short time because my husband got transferred, but we came back in 1999, and I became a coordinator in Special Education. Later on, I became a director, which is the same thing as I am now, just a different title. So I’ve been in Special Education for 15-plus years. read more…
Teachers’ needlework on display in HWM cafeteria
Stop by the Hattie Mae White’s Marketplace Café, and you’ll see a new addition to the walls. Hanging in the sitting area is a quilt crafted by more than 40 retired educators more than 40 years ago. The amazing piece of needlework originally hung at the old district headquarters off Richmond Avenue.
The quilt is seven feet tall by twelve feet long and was sewn by a group of retired HISD educators for America’s bicentennial celebration in 1976. It was meant to be “a gift from the teachers of yesteryear to the teachers of today and tomorrow,” according to the late Hester Ruth Edwards, who was chairman of the committee that created it. read more…
With proper preparation, retirement can be an exciting time as a reward for a long and distinguished career.
That’s why HISD’s Retirement Storefront is hosting a series of seminars designed to answer employee questions about the Teacher Retirement System and now to maximize their benefits.
The seminars are scheduled from 5-7 p.m. on:
- Tuesday, Oct. 27
- Wednesday, Nov. 11
- Wednesday, Dec. 9
Employees must register through e-TRAIN to attend. To register, log in and select course code #BN0200. For further information, call V. Janene English at 713-695-5561 or email VENGLISH@houstonisd.org.
Perfect attendance could mean cash for Nutrition Services employees
HISD’s Nutrition Services department has launched an employee attendance incentive program that will reward employees for perfect attendance. Employees will have the opportunity to receive $200 for being at work every day during four award periods. The program started on Aug. 24, and each award period has an average of 48 days. Employees who miss a day will still have a chance to earn money during other award periods.
For complete details, please see this article.
Congratulations also go out this week to:
- The Scarborough High School football team, which made a comeback on Sept. 4 by winning its first game in more than five years. The Spartans defeated the KIPP Sunnyside Senators with a score of 18-14. Get that full story here.
- Vaughn Construction and José Palacios, who were recognized for their contributions to HISD students during the district’s first Chamber of Commerce meeting of the year on Sept. 9. Find out why they were honored here.
- The 63 HISD students who qualified as semifinalists recently in the 61st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. See that story and a full list of students from six high schools here.
| 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/National news links for the week of Sept. 18, 2015
HISD in the News
- Houston embraces Arabic immersion school, despite protests
- What it takes to enroll in a gifted and talented class
- Church chips in to give Wheatley HS a fresh new look
- Carnegie Vanguard HS student entrepreneur creates news organization
National News Links
- Texas school districts continue to fight for funding
- Meet Ted Dintersmith, an education philanthropist with a different agenda
- Heroin scourge spurs schools to stock up on overdose antidote
- High court to decide whether to scrap or keep current school funding system
HISD continues to work on improving employee communications, as well as providing the necessary tools and resources to help them do their jobs more effectively.
Those resources now include the “Ask Gloria” blog, a new, regular feature where Chief Human Resources Officer Gloria Cavazos will answer Human Resources-related questions that affect HISD employees.
Employees can submit their questions through the blog, which is securely hosted on the myHISD site. One question or topic will be featured each week, and all previous posts will be searchable, so that employees can find information from previous posts.
