Nataly Degollado was able to envision herself at a four-year college with the help of the college success team at Austin High. HISD has 32 college success advisers, who were put in place with matching funds from the Houston Endowment. The program has propelled the district’s college application rate from 59 percent to 79 percent, and the FAFSA application rate has grown by 10 percentage points.

Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force in you or your student’s life, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.

College Success Adviser Victoria Salinas holds court in the middle of a brightly painted classroom at Austin High, fielding inquiries about tax forms and deadlines as students with laptops occupy nearby couches. Others wander in with questions that could propel them to a very different future than the one they imagined for themselves.

One of those students was Nataly Degollado. Two years ago, the 18-year-old had a baby. She struggled to balance school and her daughter, but even on her hardest days, she never gave up.

“My mom would tell me, ‘You’re doing it for her,’ ” Nataly said.

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Ronald Canales is pursuing his flying dreams at Sterling Aviation High, which in 2017 debuted a new $72 million campus, rebuilt as part of the voter-approved 2012 bond program. It includes a 7,100-square-foot airplane hangar surrounded by career and technology education classrooms.

Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force in you or your student’s life, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.

Ronald Canales was 5 when he first spotted the large commercial airliner gliding through the sky. He was mesmerized and full of questions: How does that work? How does it fly?

He dreamed of becoming a pilot, but the idea seemed elusive. Though he lived just minutes from Sterling Aviation High, he didn’t give much thought to its aviation magnet and the doors it could open.

At least not until his sophomore year, when he met aviation history teacher Marvin Smith. Continue reading →

After his family immigrated to the U.S., Hla Aye found his home at Fondren Middle, where many of his peers are the children of immigrants. There are more than 100 languages spoken in HISD, which offers services such as counseling, tutoring, and health services to help newcomers settle in their new country.

Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force in you or your student’s life, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.

Hla Aye was 2 when his home in Myanmar, formerly Burma, was destroyed in the country’s decades-long civil war and his family was sent to a refugee camp with little food and no running water. His father applied for a visa to the U.S., and the family was greeted at the airport by a translator and a sponsor who gave them enough money to last one month.

“My parents found jobs,” Hla said. “My mom encouraged me. She said study as much as you can.”

When Hla enrolled in first grade, he didn’t know anyone, and he didn’t know the language. A practice website helped Hla teach himself English, but it was at Fondren Middle that he really found his voice — and a new home.

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