Yearly Archives: 2012

Team HISD Celebration of Excellence honors Teachers of the Year, exceptional employees

HISD is recognizing its most dedicated staff members—including the Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year—at the Team HISD Celebration of Excellence at the Hilton Americas Hotel downtown. The program, which honors the year’s Employee’s of the Month, as well as Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year,  also features KPRC-Channel 2 Chief Meteorologist Frank Billingsley as emcee.

Follow the 2012 Team HISD Celebration of Excellence at HISD’s website and see photos of the event below. Click here to find out which two teachers were selected as the Teachers of the Year.

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Teachers of the Year will be announced during recognition ceremony

The Houston Independent School District will announce the 2011-2012 Teachers of the Year tonight during a Celebration of Excellence recognition ceremony. The winners will receive $5,000, a plaque, and a custom made ring from Herff Jones Graduation Center. The Principals of the Year and the Employees of the Month will also be recognized.  View live coverage of the event at houstonisd.org

Who:  HISD Board of Education Trustees, Superintendent Terry Grier,2011-2012 Principals of the Year, Employees

of the Month, Elementary Teacher of the Year Nominees for 2011-2012:

  • Ashley Moteil – Lyons Elementary School
  • Ana Lentz – Pilgrim Academy
  • Nanette Musters – Mark Twain Elementary School
  • Selene Rogers – Windsor Village Elementary School
  • Maria Godoy – Port Houston Elementary School
  • Lindsey MacLeod – Oak Forest Elementary School
  • Benjamin Glover – Gallegos Elementary School
  • Susan (Kim) O’Reilly – Roberts Elementary School
  • Alaster Gaines – Crawford-Sherman Elementary School
  • Cecily Stevens – The School at St. George Place
  • Martha Garcia – Herrera Elementary School
  • Ernie Bainbridge – Walnut Bend Elementary School

Secondary Teacher of the Year Nominees for 2011-2012:

  • Timothy Daponte – Reagan High School
  • Qian Zhang – DeBakey High School
  • Tarhonda Greer – Jones High School
  • Modesto Mendoza – Devry/CLC
  • Mildred Williams – Hope Academy
  • Margarita Castro – Madison High School
  • Darryl Tricksey – Fondren Middle School
  • Brian Gaston – Hogg Middle School
  • Neda Khan – Black Middle School
  • Camula Stanfield – Pershing Middle School

             

What: Team HISD Celebration of Excellence recognition ceremony honoring 2011-2012 Teachers of the Year, Principals of the Year, and Employees of the Month

When: Thursday, May 24 at 6:45 p.m.

 Where: Hilton Americas Hotel
                  Ballrooms of America
                  1600 Lamar Street

HISD Students Make History on the Space X Dragon

The Space X Dragon which is now headed to rendezvous with the International Space Station is carrying two experiments made by four Houston Independent School District students as well as two student-designed mission patches.  The Dragon launched Tuesday morning at 2:44 a.m. CST from Cape Canaveral, FL.

The National Center for Earth and Space Science (NCESSE) and NanoRacks, LLC, have developed the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP), aimed at helping today’s students become the scientists and engineers of tomorrow.  The program gives the students the opportunity to be involved in a national space project with a focus on STEM education via the Nano-Racks payload.

Johnston Middle and Parker Elementary were two of the schools selected from 12 communities in the United States.   Hundreds of students in grades 5- 8 were given the opportunity to design and submit experiments to be performed in microgravity aboard the space station.  From 267 formal experiment proposals received, two were chosen to go to space.

Emily Soice from Johnston Middle School and Michael Prince, Maxx Denning and Aaron Stuart from Parker Elementary school had the winning proposals.  Both schools also held an art contest for the mission patch design. Fifth grade Parker Elementary student Christian Astorga and eighth grade Johnston Middle School student Sebastian Beil designed the winning mission patches.

The students conferred with STEM experts from Rice University, the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), NASA, Pfizer, Texas A and M University, the University of Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, and Texas Southern University.    The students also had the opportunity to visit research facilities to prepare for their experiments for flight. 

The Student Space Flight Experiments Program (http://ssep.ncesse.org) is undertaken by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE; http://ncesse.org) in partnership with Nanoracks, LLC and is enabled through NanoRacks working in partnership with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.  

During the Dragon’s 21-day mission it will dock with the space station where it will deliver about a half ton of supplies along with cargo from NanoRacks containing 15 student-designed SSEP experiments from around the United States.  Dragon will be the first privately-owned spaceship to dock at the space station.

Broad committee visits J.P. Henderson Elementary

A decade after HISD won the inaugural Broad Prize for Urban Education, committee members for the 2012 Broad Prize have arrived at HISD to evaluate the district again as a finalist for the largest education award in the country given to school districts.

See photos of the committee visit to J.P. Henderson Elementary School below:

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HISD to Launch Parent Super Centers powered by Microsoft technology

The Houston Independent School District and Microsoft are partnering to launch new Parent Super Centers across the district in an effort to promote parent engagement on campus.  The district will be unveiling one of the five new Parent Super Centers on Friday, May 25 at 10 a.m. at Sam Houston MSTC High School (9400 Irvington).

“Research shows that increased parent engagement on campus leads to increased academic performance of students,” said HISD Superintendent Terry Grier. “HISD is committed to providing resources on campus to help parents become more involved in their children’s education.”

Each new HISD Parent Super Center will have 12 desktop computers fully loaded with the latest version of Microsoft Office, internet access, laser printers and other software.

“In today’s digital world it’s essential for parents, students and members of the community to have access to technology, which is why we are delighted to partner with HISD,” said Lori Aulds, Microsoft’s education sales director. “Microsoft has been and will always be committed to providing people with the training, education and tools needed to improve their digital literacy skills and grow in today’s economy.”

In addition, parents will receive computer training through Parent Engagement and curriculum provided by Microsoft to help them be computer savvy and master basic computer skills. 

These centers will be available for parents to use before and after school, during summer school and on Saturdays during tutorials. 

In addition to Sam Houston, HISD Parent Super Centers will be located in the following schools:

  • Sutton Elementary, 7402 Albacore Drive
  • Kelso Elementary, 5800 Southmund
  • Deady Middle School, 2500 Broadway
  • Hartman Middle School, 7111 Westover

National Broad Prize Education Panel Tours HISD Schools

 What: National educational experts will tour the Houston Independent School District on Wednesday to gather information for a jury of former U.S. secretaries of education, governors, university presidents and CEOs to decide whether HISD will win the 2012 Broad Prize for Urban Education, the nation’s largest education award that carries with it $550,000 in college scholarships. This four-day “site visit” will include interviews with district officials, principals, teachers, staff, parents, students and community representatives, as well as classroom observations. Best practices collected during the site visit will also be shared with urban districts nationwide.

 
When:

 

 Wednesday, May 23

10:30 a.m. School and classroom tour with Superintendent Terry Grier, panel of national education experts, and Principal Herlinda Garcia.

11:15 a.m. Media availability, Q&A with researchers, Broad Foundation rep and superintendent

 
Where:

 

 J.P. Henderson Elementary School, library
1800 Dismuke Street
713.924.1730

 
Why: HISD is one of only four urban school districts nationally to be in the running for the 2012 Broad (rhymes with “road”) Prize for Urban Education and $550,000 in scholarships. Houston was chosen as a finalist in April for having topped 71 other large urban districts nationwide in making student gains. This is HISD’s first time returning as a Broad Prize finalist since winning the inaugural award in 2002.The Broad Prize is awarded annually by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, a national education philanthropy based in Los Angeles that seeks to ensure that every student in an urban public school has the opportunity to succeed. The award honors urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement in the nation while reducing income and ethnic achievement gaps.

The winning school district, which will be announced on Oct. 23 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, will receive $550,000 in college scholarships for high school seniors who graduate in 2013. Each finalist district will receive $150,000 in scholarships. Seventy-five large urban school districts nationwide were eligible for the 2012 Broad Prize. Other finalist districts this year are: the Corona Norco Unified School District in Southern California, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the School District of Palm Beach County, Fla. For more information, please visit www.broadprize.com.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation was founded by self-made entrepreneur Eli Broad and his wife Edythe, both graduates of Detroit Public Schools. Bringing together top education experts and practitioners, the foundation funds system-wide programs and policies that strengthen public schools by creating environments that allow good teachers to do great work and enable students of all backgrounds to learn and thrive.

Furr High School hosts ‘Civility in the Park’

Students from Furr High School recently held Civility in the Park, an event to celebrate the new spirit of community that exists in their corner of the east side. The area that was once plagued with gang violence and crime has been transformed in recent yaers thanks to dedicated citizens.

Civility in the Park featured musical performances, face painting, dancing and food. See photos from the free event below.

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