Category Archives: Achievement/Recognition

YMCPA robotics teacher named SECME Teacher of the Year

Vince Hamilton, a teacher at Young Men’s College Preparatory Academy, got a big surprise on Thursday – the Southeastern Consortium of Minorities in Engineering named him Teacher of the Year!

YMCPA Principal Dameion Crook and teacher Vince Hamilton (Houston Independent School District)

YMCPA Principal Dameion Crook and teacher Vince Hamilton

“I told him he needed to have a meeting with me about some issue with a parent and he needed to get down here right now,” Principal Dameion Crook said. “What he didn’t know was 400 kids and his family and friends had assembled in the gymnasium. When we brought him in, he was extremely surprised.”

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Six HISD students earn national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

HSPVA student Patrick Zapien celebrates with sponsoring art teacher Eileen Montgomery after being named as a Scholastic Art & Writing Gold Medal portfolio winner.

Six Houston ISD students have won national awards for their entries in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

High School for the Performing and Visual Arts student Patrick Zapien is a gold medal art portfolio winner, which earned him a $10,000 scholarship.

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Lockhart ES principal finalist for H-E-B Excellence in Education Award

Lockhart Elementary School Principal Felicia Adams got a big surprise at a school assembly on Friday – she’s been named a finalist for H-E-B’s Excellence in Education Awards.

H-E-B officials suddenly appeared during the assembly, carrying balloons, flowers, cake and giant check. Adams was awarded $1,000, and the school will receive $2,500.

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Handwriting still counts: Cunningham ES fifth-grader wins national contest

Maryam Al-Saidi

A Cunningham Elementary School fifth-grader’s skill with a pen has earned her one of the top prizes in a national handwriting contest for students with special needs.

Maryam Al-Saidi, who recently transferred from Cromwell Valley Elementary School in Towson, Maryland, placed first in the “manuscript” (or printing) category of the National Maxim Award, which is sponsored by Zaner-Bloser and only open to students with a cognitive delay, or an intellectual, physical, or developmental disability.

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Bellaire HS dance team wins national title

Bellaire High School’s eMotion Dance Company took home the title at the Crowd Pleasers National Showcase of Champions at the Berry Center in northwest Harris County on March 22.

The team, which has a total of 35 male and female dancers, won the national title and choreography award in the hip-hop category. Bellaire HS dance teacher Sanja Korman said senior Pierre Phillips created the choreography.

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Perfection earns Lockhart ES first place in K-2 ‘Name That Book’ contest

Lockhart Elementary's "Name That Book" team

Six second-graders from Lockhart Elementary School brought home the gold in the HISD K-2 “Name That Book” contest in their second year of competition. Students received medals and certificates for their win.

The annual K-2 competition prepares younger students for upper-level competition, which includes all grade levels and continues through April 17. Each school can enter only one team.

“Name That Book” is an HISD reading incentive program that encourages teamwork and ongoing reading, which is critically important in meeting HISD literacy goals.

“Literacy is a cornerstone issue for HISD,” said district Superintendent Terry Grier in his 2014 State of the Schools address. More specifically, that means that getting every HISD student to read on grade level by third grade is a major priority for the district.

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Texans star celebrates whopping food donation with West University ES

Students at West University Elementary School collected more food for the Souper Bowl of caring than any other school in the United States, and a Houston Texans star visited the campus on Friday to congratulate them.

Offensive tackle Duane Brown, along with some of the Houston Texans cheerleaders, celebrated the 30,908-pound donation with a pep rally.

The Souper Bowl of Caring’s goal is to mobilize youth to fight hunger and poverty in their communities. Houston has the largest campaign in the nation, and West University ES has led the effort for four consecutive years.

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