Category Archives: Achievement/Recognition

Four students win national recognition for their writing talent

Four students from HISD schools have been recognized at the national level this spring through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Bellaire High School’s Liana Wang and Carnegie Vanguard High School’s Victoria Songyang won Gold Key Awards, while Bellaire High’s Christina Tan and Gabriel CyPacht from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts won Silver Key Awards.

Only 39 students in Harris County earned awards at the national level of this competition, which is sponsored regionally by the Harris County Department of Education. To see a full list of winners, please click here.

The Gold Key winners will be honored at a ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City in June.

Challenge senior wins dream trip to Disney World

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Earlier this month, Shaylah Cooper joined 100 “Disney Dreamers” at Walt Disney World. She was picked from 10,000 applicants to spend four days in Orlando, Florida, thanks to the Disney Dreamers Academy.

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Westside HS educator named finalist for SHAPE’s Health Education Teacher of the Year

Delia Thibodeaux

Delia Thibodeaux

Delia Thibodeaux is one of only three teachers from across the nation to be so honored

A veteran educator with more than a decade of service to HISD students has been named one of three finalists for the national Health Education Teacher of the Year award by the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America).

Delia Thibodeaux, who teaches at Westside High School, advanced to the national round of the competition after being named SHAPE’s 2015 Health Education Teacher of the Year for the Southern District, which encompasses 13 states from Virginia to Texas.

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Student wins recognition, concert tickets through Reliant

Front row (L to R): Elizabeth Bandercan, German Lerma's soccer coach at Johnston, and one of his teachers, Kristen Aust. Back row (L to R): Rainatu Gabisi, Yolanda Guillory, and Sid Evans from Reliant; winner German Lerman; nominating teacher Lanena Berry; Johnston teacher William Aust; and Johnston MS Assistant Principal Claran Johnson.

Front row (L to R): Elizabeth Bandercan, German Lerma’s soccer coach at Johnston, and one of his teachers, Kristen Aust. Back row (L to R): Rainatu Gabisi, Yolanda Guillory, and Sid Evans from Reliant; winner German Lerma; nominating teacher Lanena Berry; Johnston teacher William Aust; and Johnston MS Assistant Principal Claran Johnson.

An HISD student recently was named a grand prize winner in the Reliant Student Recognition Program. Johnston Middle School student German Lerma was selected for his academic achievement, outstanding citizenship, and improved academic performance.

Lerma was nominated by his principal, teachers, and parents. For this honor, he received four premier tickets to see the Fallout Boys in concert at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo on March 8.

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Students urged to enter art contest for Police Appreciation Week

The Houston Independent School District Police Department will be hosting an art contest on May 11-15 for Police Appreciation Week.

The department is asking third- through fifth-grade students to showcase their artistic skills on the theme of law enforcement. Some ideas may include:

  • Highlighting any HISD campus officer, patrol officer, K-9, bike patrol, or honor guard
  • Honoring a relative that is in law enforcement
  • The importance of law enforcement
  • The different types of police officers, such as federal, state, county or municipal
  • Appreciation of any police occupations
  • Entry qualifications to become a police officer

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Eighth-grader wins $1,000 and more thanks to Luby’s ACT program

JasmineZamora1jpg

As Luby’s ACT winner for the third six weeks of the current academic year, Stevenson Middle School student Jasmine Zamora received a check for $1,000, an Apple iPod Shuffle, and a $25 Luby’s gift card. She is the first Luby’s ACT winner to be nominated by two teachers – Mike Van Tilburg and Heather Campbell – and neither one knew the other had done so.

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HSPVA leader participates in inaugural Cooke Foundation Summit

Dr. R. Scott Allen

Dr. R. Scott Allen

Dr. R. Scott Allen, the principal of The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) was one of only 100 campus leaders from around the country to be invited to participate in at a two-day summit last week to identify solutions to close the excellence gap—the troubling disparity in academic performance between lower-income and higher-income students at advanced levels.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation convened “Closing the Excellence Gap” on Feb. 5 and 6 to share cutting-edge research and best practices for supporting high-achieving, low-income students.

A number of principals formed a new organization at this landmark event, called the “Coalition of Leaders for Advanced Students Success,” whose goal is to support and advocate for high-achieving students with financial need.

“We are leaders in our communities who have a stake in nurturing talent wherever we find it and regardless of a student’s economic status,” said Dr. Allen. “We need talent to remain competitive as a nation. This summit underscored the fact that HSPVA is part of the solution.”

“This summit confirmed my belief that these leaders have excellent insights to offer policymakers at all levels of government,” said Harold Levy, executive director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and former chancellor of New York City Schools.

The creation of HSPVA in 1971 represented the first attempt by any public high school in the nation to correlate an academic program with concentrated training in the arts. It was one of only three public schools in the nation to offer programs in both the visual and performing arts, and the first such institution in the Southwest. HSPVA is fully accredited and offers the same academic curriculum and graduation requirements as all HISD high schools.

TX Dept. of Agriculture dubs HISD Nutrition Services the ‘Cream of the Crop’

Nutrition Services representatives (L-R): Glenn Topfer (vendor liaison), Amanda Oceguera (nutrition manager), Angela Olige (chief administrator), and Audene Chung (senior administrator) accept the award on behalf of the district.

Nutrition Services representatives (L-R): Glenn Topfer (vendor liaison), Amanda Oceguera (nutrition manager), Angela Olige (chief administrator), and Audene Chung (senior administrator) accept the award on behalf of the district.

HISD’s Nutrition Services department was recently recognized for supporting agriculture in the Lone Star State. The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) presented it with a “Cream of the Crop” award on Jan. 8 for the district’s commitment to sourcing food locally.

Each year, the TDA challenges schools to use more Texas products in the meals they serve during National School Lunch Week and recognizes those who complete the challenge.

HISD served nine menu items that were locally sourced, including milk from Oak Farms, apple juice from Cal-Tex, and tortillas from Kurz.

“Our vision is to create more recipes from scratch, sourcing the ingredients and menu items locally to not only provide wholesome meals for our students, but also to support the Texas community,” said Audene Chung, senior administrator of Nutrition Services.

This was the district’s second year of recognition. HISD Nutrition Services was also presented with the Grapefruit Award for completing a local products challenge last year.

33 HISD high schools rated as best in nation in annual Washington Post rankings

More than two-thirds of the high schools in the Houston Independent School District made the Washington Post’s annual list of the Most Challenging Schools in America — and four schools cracked the top 100.

Carnegie Vanguard High School took home top honors for HISD, ranking 11th out of the 2,156 high schools from across the country that made the list. Energized for STEM Academy came in 32nd place, the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice ranked 52nd and Challenge Early College High School came in at 97th place. Continue reading →