HISD is calling upon some of the district’s most tech savvy teachers to help launch PowerUp, HISD’s groundbreaking initiative that will eventually give every high school student a laptop computer.
“Students learn differently than we did as children so you have to engage and empower them with technology,” said Bellaire High School teacher Seth Mintz during a training session involving select teachers from the 11 schools involved in phase 1 of PowerUp. Mintz and the other teachers were hand-picked by their principals because of their proven willingness to embrace technology in the classroom. This group of early adopters have been tasked with helping their campus colleagues embrace the initiative and its potential.
Nearly 1,000 recent graduates will have the chance to enter a drawing to win a brand new car and more than $10,000 in scholarships at the upcoming third annual Cool to Be Smart celebration on Aug. 4 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Bayou City Event Center, 9401 Knight Road.
HISD students at three high schools say they are more confident and prepared to take the SAT thanks to a summer boot camp that raised their practice test scores by double digits.
Rather than spend their summer watching TV and keeping cool, nearly two dozen students from 
Editor’s note: This is the third in an occasional series of profiles on minority or women-owned companies that do business with HISD. The district’s minimum M/WBE goal levels are 20 percent for all levels of purchasing and construction, and 25 percent for professional services. In the 2007 bond program, that commitment reached nearly 34 percent. In the 2012 program, the contracts awarded to date reflect a nearly 51 percent M/WBE commitment.