Yearly Archives: 2013

It Takes More Than Grades to Win a Broad Scholarship

2012 Broad scholarship recipients

Leadership, initiative, community service, and setting realistic goals are a few of the things that the Broad scholarship review committee will be looking for when it reviews applications this spring.

HISD graduates will be applying for $550,000 in scholarships from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, thanks to the district winning this year’s Broad Prize and being named top urban school district in the country. Although the prize recognizes HISD’s efforts as a whole, the direct beneficiaries are students.

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2-Day Workshop Focuses on New Designs for 4 High Schools

Four HISD high schools slated to be rebuilt under the 2012 bond program hit a milestone Thursday when their projects officially moved into the design phase.

“This is an exciting event,” Dan Bankhead, HISD’s general manager of Facilities Design, told a group of about 75 people involved in the planning of the new Furr, Sterling, Sharpstown and Lee high schools. “We’re getting ready to set the course for our program.”

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Project Advisory Team, Architects Brainstorm on a New Milby HS

In talking about the future of Milby High School on Wednesday, students and members of the school’s Project Advisory Team spent just as much time reflecting on the historic high school’s past and traditions.

“There is a lot of pride and connection with the school,” said Colley Hodges, an architect at Kirksey, which is working to design a new facility for Milby that preserves the century-old school’s architecturally significant building structure. “There’s a lot of incentive for maintaining the historical fabric of the school.”

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Team HISD Elated at HISD’s Second Broad Prize Win

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/75418565/ w=320&h=205]

HISD employees erupted in cheers on Sept. 25 after learning that the district had been selected as the 2013 winner of the Broad Prize in Urban Education.

Almost 200 central office employees gathered in a conference room at the district’s headquarters to hear the winner announced, and after U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan confirmed what many had hoped, the mood in the room was ecstatic.

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HISD Named America’s Top Urban School District

The Houston Independent School District was awarded the most coveted award in public education on Wednesday because of consistently strong student academic achievement over a four-year period. The Broad Prize for Urban Education comes with $550,000 in college scholarships for graduating seniors.

HISD is now the nation’s first two-time winner of the prestigious award, which recognizes each year the public school system that has demonstrated the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among poor and minority students. HISD won the first Broad Prize awarded in 2002.

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Eight HISD Students Named National Achievement Scholarship Semifinalists

Eight seniors from seven high schools throughout the Houston Independent School District have qualified as semifinalists in the prestigious National Achievement Scholarship Program.

The National Achievement Scholarship Program is a privately funded academic competition created in 1964 to recognize and provide scholarships to academically promising African-American students across the country. It is conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and works in concert with the National Merit Scholarship Program.

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Parents Take Away Tips, Treats from Inaugural Health and Wellness Festival

HISD Chef Ryan Ng demonstrates how to create his Ziesta Chicken.

HISD’s Food Services department conducted its very first Health and Wellness Festival on Sept. 21 at North Forest HS, and more than 350 people braved the early morning rain showers to attend.

The inaugural event featured two different cooking demonstrations for budget-friendly meals. First, special guest chef Tiffany Derry from Bravo TV’s Top Chef competition showed guests how to make a healthy tropical smoothie, creole fish tacos, and a summer salad. Later, students from Jordan HS’s culinary arts program prepared a roasted chicken with fresh herbs and spices, roasted potatoes, and a green bean dish with cherry-tomato sauce.

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