Sinclair Elementary has big dreams for its library, and they’re getting closer to making them come true thanks to generous donations from the Houston Astros and Bank of Texas.
Sinclair’s library was originally stocked with second-hand furniture from other schools, and more than 40 years later students are using that same furniture. The school has launched a “Love Our Library” campaign to replace shelving, computer desks, tables, chairs, and more.
A dozen Houston ISD schools took part on the All-Earth EcoBot Challenge at Reliant Center last weekend, which allowed students in grades 5-8 to show off their engineering skills.
Teams of four students designed, built, and programmed autonomous robots. The teams then used their robots to complete a series of missions that connect to the commercial and industrial future of energy exploration, transportation, technological innovation, medical research, and environmental sustainability.
Project Advisory Teams for Davis High School and Dowling Middle School looked for ways to make their facilities better with collaborative and transparent student-centered designs that provide safe and engaging learning environments.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000Mv7XO_JrFZk” g_name=”Davis-Dowling-gallery” width=”600″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” ]
Both groups participated in a two-day design charrette Monday and Tuesday with the schools’ architects to discuss pros and cons of the existing facilities and sites and to share design ideas for facilities that will move academic and social cultures into the 21st century.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000w0kCtWXCJPk” g_name=”Meatless-Monday-gallery” width=”600″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” ]
Students at Gregory Lincoln Educational Center were treated to a visit on Monday by actress Daniella Monet to kick off Houston ISD’s new healthy eating campaign, “Lean & Green Day.”
Best known for her role as Trina Vega on Nickelodeon’s Victorious and red carpet host of the Kids’ Choice Awards, the 25-year-old actress is supporting the district’s health initiative with a poster and video campaign encouraging students to participate in “Meatless Mondays” by eating meat-free at least one day a week.
Sgt. Juan Deluna
Learning he was not a high school graduate came as something of a shock to Sgt. Juan Deluna. The 27-year-old ex-Marine had just returned from his third tour of duty overseas and was trying to apply for a job with the Houston Police Department when he found out.
“I was under the impression that I was already a 2005 graduate of Jones High School,” he said. “Sadly, I was not.”
Sgt. Deluna only learned of the discrepancy when he tried to obtain a copy of his high school transcript, which is a required part of the application. But instead of a complete transcript confirming his status as a Jones HS alumnus, Sgt. Deluna discovered that he was just shy of the district’s graduation requirements.
Madison High School’s Vladimir Gonzalez Lopez (right) was named the 2014 KBR Science Teacher of the Year. With him is last year’s second place winner, Samuel Saenz.
Vladimir G. Lopez, a physics teacher at Madison High School, isn’t interested in spoon-feeding his students their lessons.
“Science is a process,” he said, “And you can’t expect anybody to give you the answers. Students have to do the experiments and try new things, because that’s what they’re going to need when they’re doing real science.”
It’s precisely that commitment to cultivating students’ own investigative skills that has made Lopez the first-place winner in KBR’s fifth annual science awards program. The contest was created in 2009 to recognize new and effective models of instruction that emphasize the scientific method and critical thinking skills.
Students from Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy participated in the national SeaPerch Challenge at the University of Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss., last weekend.
The students recently were selected as first place in poster/presentation winner at a regional competition, which advanced the school to nationals for the first time. The students placed 20 out of 42 in the national competition.
From “Go, Dog, Go” for pre-K and kindergartners to “Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick” for 12th-graders, the reading lists for the 2014-2015 Name That Book competition are online — just in time for leisurely summer reading.
There’s an added incentive to tackle the lists now: Books read from the Name That Book selections will count toward HISD students’ summer reading program goals, and if they’re checked out from a local public library, toward the library’s summer reading program levels.
The Name That Book competition is sponsored each spring by HISD’s Department of Library Services. It’s a program designed to familiarize students with classic literature as well as contemporary, award-winning books across a variety of genres. Teams of students are asked questions about books in their reading level that will test their comprehension of characters and plotlines.
Fourteen Houston ISD students are certified welders thanks to a partnership between the district and Houston Community College.
Four seniors and 10 juniors from Austin High School graduated with Basic Welding Helper Certificates on Saturday. How did juniors earn the certificate? The courses the students took at Austin HS were dual credit and the juniors also completed required classes at HCC Southeast, which made them eligible for the certificate.
Initiative expanding in 2014-2015 school year to include online teaching and learning platform
The Houston Independent School District has been selected to receive a 2014 Gold Medallion Award from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) for its Special Communications Project/Campaign, “PowerUp Communications.” Continue reading