Category Archives: District I – Elizabeth Santos

Nutrition Services honored with the No Kid Hungry Breakfast Champion Award

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HISD’s Nutrition Services Department was presented with the No Kid Hungry Breakfast Champion Award, sponsored by Share Our Strength during a pep rally event on Wednesday at Marshall Middle School. The department provides the First Class Breakfast program, offered in more than 240 locations districtwide.

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Student Congress using literacy to cultivate readers, leaders

Students from North Houston Early College High School read to second-graders at Roosevelt Elementary School.

Students from North Houston Early College High School read to second-graders at Roosevelt Elementary School.

Literacy is so important to HISD’s newly formed Student Congress that the organization has already created its own mentoring program.

“Bring a Book” got its start last September, when Congress members began brainstorming ideas for possible service projects. After agreeing to focus on literacy, the group decided to pair high-school students with second-graders to develop the younger children’s reading comprehension skills.

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Peer-created video spurs Davis HS students to use STAAR tutorials

A short public service announcement created by members of Davis High School’s magnet media program has led to a serious bump in the number of students getting ready for the next round of STAAR End of Course (EOC) exams.

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The video, which features senior Esenia Mendoza, began appearing on the large screen in the commons area each morning beginning March 30. It was created to encourage students to take advantage of the STAAR EOC tutorials now available online.  Continue reading →

Scholars Banquet recognizes 90-plus high school seniors at top of their class

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The Houston Independent School District paid tribute to the top students from each high school’s graduating class during the annual Scholars Banquet on April 7.

In addition to their outstanding academic achievements, these 96 valedictorians and salutatorians have garnered more than $2 million year-to-date in scholarship and financial aid offers.

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Interactive bus to help students learn more about health, science, tech careers

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HISD’s completely revamped career bus is hitting the road.

The district’s Career Readiness Department unveiled the newly remodeled vehicle—known as the Career Ready Wagon—on March 26, when it made its inaugural visit to Atherton Elementary School.

The bus is designed to allow elementary school students in third, fourth, and fifth grades the chance to explore possible career interests before advancing to middle school. It features a robotics station, a flight simulator, and a welding simulator, as well as an electric station that allows students to build their own electrical circuits. Also inside are four touchscreen monitors where students can test their career knowledge with a short quiz and watch a career-related video.

The bus will visit another 10 elementary schools — Anderson, Dávila, Emerson, Field, Garcia, Helms, Jefferson, Mading, Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School, and T.H. Rogers — throughout April and May.

The bus is sponsored by HISD and CenterPoint Energy.

Also see this related story on HISD’s one and only Career Cowboy, Jake Breier, who was the subject of an “I Am HISD” profile last October.

Former HISD trustee now serving children as a classroom teacher

In this week’s edition of I am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other team members, Harvard Elementary School third-grade teacher (and former District I Board of Education member) Karla Cisneros talks about how she went from the classroom to the boardroom and back again, the greatest gifts of her experience as a trustee, and if she’d ever consider running for that office again.

You represented District I on HISD’s Board of Education for five years in the early aughts, even serving as its president one year. Now you’re teaching third-graders at one of our elementary schools. How did that transition come about?

Karla Cisneros with her students at Harvard ES

Karla Cisneros with her students at Harvard ES

Well, I was not a certified teacher before. I was just sort of a mom who got pulled in. They hired me at Travis Elementary to be a part-time science teacher, and one thing just led to another. After I left the board, I was going to work with my husband, but I realized I wanted to be back in education at kind of a grass-roots level, so I went back to school and got certified.

And I really, really, really like being a teacher. The best part of all is the kids, but then, that’s always the best part. I knew when my own children grew up and moved on that I was going to hate being an empty nester, but so much of teaching is not just about teaching. It’s about helping usher children through their lives, not just the curriculum.

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HISD juniors awarded grant to visit Great Britain this summer

Four HISD students will travel free to Great Britain this summer, thanks to the British Foundation of Texas’s (BAFTX) Junior Achievers award. The students will travel for nearly two weeks learning about British culture.

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Reagan HS broadcast explores personal side of immigration reform

Students in Michael Shea’s magnet audio/visual classes have been producing their own TV show since the spring of 2014, but one recent episode tackled an issue that is both timely and personal for many Reagan High School students: immigration reform.

Reagan’s student population is more than 80 percent Hispanic, and a number of pupils have parents, siblings, or other family members who are in the country illegally. Six different students—four boys and two girls—agreed to appear on camera in a segment that aired on March 13, 2015, to discuss how America’s current immigration policies have affected them and their families.  Continue reading →

Garden Oaks becomes first public school to participate in Montessori Model UN

GOMont_MMUN_300Almost two dozen seventh- and eighth-graders from Garden Oaks Montessori are in the process of making history for HISD.

The students are participating in the Midwest Regional Middle School Conference of the Montessori Model United Nations (MMUN) on March 13 and 14 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and according to Principal Lindsey Pollock, this is the very first time a public school has done so.

“This is only our first year to have a Model UN, but the experience is life-changing for students,” said Dr. Pollock. “Our kids will meet people from across the country and they have researched topics that are impacting lives all over the world. It broadens their horizons and helps them recognize our inter-connectedness and our responsibility in making the world a better place.”

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