A love of knowledge and a taste for trivia have brought two students from HISD’s T.H. Rogers School recognition on the national stage.
Gram Brinson, who will enter HISD’s DeBakey High School for Health Professions as a freshman this fall, and Shomik Ghose, now an eighth-grader at T. H. Rogers, won the 2014 Team Bowl Championship coordinated by the National History Bee over the weekend.
The competition took place on June 8 in Atlanta, Ga., and Gram and Shomik took home the grand prize of $5,000.
“Both boys love history bowl/geography bee/quiz bowl-type competitions,” said T.H. Rogers Principal Dave Muzyka. “Shomik is a voracious reader, and Gram absorbs everything he hears and files it away for future use. Together they are a compelling team. Practice-wise, they met nearly every day during lunch and homeroom to drill and review information. If you met them during one of these sessions, you would marvel at their enjoyment of learning more about nearly anything.”
The academic challenge teams at T. H. Rogers are coached by seventh-grade history teacher Randy Takaoka. “I can’t say enough about Takaoka and (eight-grade history teacher Jamie) McPhail supporting the kids,” added Muzyka, “and especially Gram and Shomik’s parents for all the travel and family commitment it takes to compete and achieve at this level.”
These two young men are prime examples of the success of the HISD Vangard Magnet program.
There are countless reasons to support the continued funding of the Vangard Magnate programs in Houston. The programs work! It’s time to rethink the push to bring all students down to a minimum acceptable standard by taking funds away from successful programs. We need to increase funding the programs that are proven to succeed, like TH Rogers.