At lunchtime at Milby High School, many students head outside to the athletic field just to get out of the building for a few minutes.

“They inundate our backfield during lunch,” said the school principal Roy De la Garza. “There’s this tendency of wanting to be outside. So, I know that having improved outdoor spaces will be really good for our students.”

HISD is building new schools that will include courtyards and green spaces that serve as outdoor learning and common areas, providing students a place of comfort to study, perform or to simply unwind between classes.

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Robots aren’t just something you see in movies anymore. They’re in the hands of students in some HISD classrooms, and they’re changing the way students are learning about computer programming.

The district’s Career and Technical Education Department recently purchased six NAO Humanoid Robots that can do just about anything you can imagine – even dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

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Building on its efforts to encourage HISD high school students’ success on SAT testing, the district is now providing for free a proven online coaching course that would ordinarily cost a family up to $500 to buy.

PrepMe, a personalized PSAT/SAT test-preparation program, is available to all district students in grades 9–11. On average, PrepMe increases test scores dramatically, with some students reporting increases of more than 200 points.

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Energy Institute students Amber Farias, Giselle Guevara, and Kaleigh Davis (L–R) pose with best-selling author Courtney Lynch and their autographed copies of her book, “Leading from the Front.”

Five girls from HISD’s Energy Institute High School got to speak with a best-selling author, learn from female leaders in the energy industry, and network with other industry professionals on Feb. 11, 2014, after becoming the first students ever to participate in Baker Hughes’ annual Diversity and Inclusion Summit.

Students Kaleigh Davis, Amber Farias, Giselle Guevara, Nancy Mastache, and Rose Moreno were selected to attend the event after some of their classmates made a very favorable impression on company representatives during a facility tour that took place last summer in The Woodlands.

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The U.S. Government is the largest provider of student financial aid through FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid. More than $150 billion in grants, loans, and work-study funds are available each year to help millions of students pay for higher education. Because seniors who complete the FAFSA are 90 percent more likely to attend college, HISD is taking part in Houston FAFSA Day, a communitywide effort to help high school seniors and their families complete the application, on Feb. 20.

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Westbury HS sophomore Ko Lay Pla (right) performs a scene with basketball star Jeremy Lin for an inspirational short film set at Fondren MS.

Klo Lay Pla, a student at HISD’s Westbury High School, is working with National Basketball Association star Jeremy Lin to share a story of hope with the masses.

The 10th-grader shot scenes for an inspirational short film entitled “Lost for Words” recently with the Houston Rockets point guard at Fondren Middle School, which Pla previously attended.

The film tells the story of a 12-year-old Burmese refugee who overcomes language and cultural barriers with the help of a mentor, who works hard to communicate with him.

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District VIII representative will lead trustees for coming year

Members of the HISD Board of Education elected District VIII Trustee Juliet K. Stipeche as president at their February board meeting Monday.

Stipeche was first elected to the board to finish an unexpired term in 2010, then re-elected to a full term in 2011 to represent the East End district where she grew up. She has been serving as first vice president of the board this past year.

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HISD is proposing the closure or repurposing of five campuses at the end of the school year. The proposal includes Dodson, Nathaniel Q. Henderson and Port Houston elementary schools, Fleming Middle School, and Jones High School. Billy Reagan K-8 is set to be rezoned because of changing patterns in the school’s neighborhoods.

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