Category Archives: Achievement/Recognition

Three Students’ Artwork Selected for HISD’s 2013 Holiday Greeting Card

DeBakey HS art teacher Neda Khan poses with student Tam Ngo and her winning design.

This year the Houston Independent School District honored the artistic talent of its students by selecting three finalists’ artwork for the 2013 HISD Holiday Greeting Card.  The winners were Adrian Pizarro from Park Place Elementary School, Amy Vaughan from Johnston Middle School and Tam Ngo from DeBakey High School for Health Professions.

“This is one of my favorite events of the year as we have the opportunity to recognize the amazing talent of our students,” HISD Chief of Business and Community Relations Dr. Michele Pola said.  “We are very grateful for all the art teachers who support their students in their creativity.”

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Student’s Artwork to be Selected as HISD’s 2013 Holiday Greeting Card

Artwork by more than 30 finalists considered

What:             Each year HISD honors the artistic talent of its students by choosing one of their designs for the district’s holiday greeting card.  This year more than 30 students from elementary, middle, and high schools were selected as finalists.  District officials will reveal on Friday HISD’s 2013 holiday greeting card, selected by Superintendent Terry Grier. The winning student will be on hand for the unveiling and all the finalist holiday cards will be available for purchase.

Who:               Winning student, HISD Board of Education Trustees and HISD Chief             Business and Communications Officer Dr. Michele Pola

When:             Friday, Nov. 8, 2013 at 11 a.m.

Where:           HISD Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, 4400 W. 18th Street

Math Students Tally Up a Victory for HISD in ‘Think Through Math’ Contest

Six of the top ten students in the Think Through Math summer competition came to a reception held in their honor on Nov. 5. From L–R are: Saide Christoffel, Jésus Mendez, Patrick Han, Alexander Chin, Aldo Ortega, and Drayton Gober.

Ten students’ passion for solving math problems over their summer vacation has helped bring HISD first-place honors and bragging rights as the top district in its division of Think Through Math’s (TTM) “2013 Texas Math—Everybody’s Doing It!” competition.

The contest lasted from June 10 until Aug. 9, and districts from all over the state participated by having students complete math lessons to earn points.

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HISD’s Terry Grier Chosen as Texas’ Nominee for National Superintendent of the Year

Dr. Terry Grier

Dr. Terry Grier, superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, will represent Texas in the American Association of School Administrators’ (AASA) National Superintendent of the Year Program.

Under Grier’s leadership, Houston ISD was awarded the prestigious Broad Prize for Urban Education, an award that recognizes gains in student achievement and comes with $550,000 in college scholarships for its high school seniors. Houston is the only district in the country to receive the award twice, winning the inaugural Broad Prize in 2002. The district was one of four national finalists in 2012.

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HISD Senior Gets Unexpected Halloween ‘Treat’ from Nordstrom

Halloween brought a special “treat” to one student at HISD’s North Houston Early College High School. The Nordstrom Prize surprised senior Evelle Young on Oct. 31 with a scholarship check for $10,000 in front of dozens of family members and cheering classmates. Young, who also accepted a MacBook Air laptop from Nordstrom representatives, was one of only 80 students from across the country to be selected as a prize recipient this year through the retailer’s TEN4U program.

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Combined Charities Lets Cancer Survivor Give More, More Easily

Diana Perez

If Diana Perez had her way, she might not have any money left in her paycheck by the time she finished contributing to various charities.

“If it was up to me, I’d give to everybody,” she said. “But I had to scale back.”

Perez, a writer in HISD’s Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment department, is also a two-time breast cancer survivor. She was first diagnosed in 2005, and then again in 2012.

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Four HISD Teachers Experience ‘A Day Made Better’ Thanks to OfficeMax

Four HISD teachers experienced “A Day Made Better” recently, when they were chosen along with hundreds of educators across the nation to be honored by OfficeMax for their contributions to the profession.

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Team HISD Comes Together to Celebrate Broad Prize Win

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Hundreds of students, teachers, principals and support staff cheered the district’s recognition as the first two-time winner of the Broad Prize in Urban Education – a national distinction that comes with $550,000 in scholarships for graduating seniors.

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Bloomberg Radio Interviews HISD Superintendent on Winning Broad Prize

Last week, Jane Williams, host and producer of Bloomberg EDU, Bloomberg Radio’s weekly look at education, interviewed HISD Superintendent Terry Grier. Find out what winning the 2013 Broad Prize will mean for HISD students, how the district is working to increase high school graduation rates, the value of partnerships beyond the district, and how vitally important it is that education be about students, not adults. Read more in the Huffington Post.

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