Category Archives: District II – Kathy Blueford-Daniels

Board of Education elects new officers for 2015

Board of Education meetings usually begin with commendations and recognitions. However, the first meeting of every year starts with the election of new officers.

On Jan. 15, 2015, the trustees chose Rhonda Skillern-Jones to serve as president, Manuel Rodriguez Jr. as first vice president, Wanda Adams as second vice president, Paula Harris as secretary, and Juliet Stipeche as assistant secretary.

Serving as an HISD school-board member requires a lot of hard work and dedication, and the nine trustees on HISD’s board selflessly devote many hours to studying issues, deliberating proposed actions and policy changes, and representing HISD in the community, all without pay. These men and women are essential to the success of this school district and deserve the district’s and the community’s deepest thanks.

2015 HISD Board of Education

  • Rhonda Skillern-Jones, President
  • Manuel Rodriguez, First Vice President
  • Wanda Adams, Second Vice President
  • Paula Harris, Secretary
  • Juliet Stipeche, Assistant Secretary
  • Anna Eastman
  • Michael Lunceford
  • Greg Meyers
  • Harvin Moore

For more information, including biographical information for each trustee, visit the Board of Education website.

AVID program supports low-income students’ quest for college

The desks in seventh-grade teacher Zachary Cummings’ AVID classroom at Hamilton Middle School are arranged so that students can work in groups. Collaboration is one of the five hallmarks of AVID, along with reading, writing, inquiry, and organization.

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Cummings’ students recently quizzed each other on Cornell notes they took on a PowerPoint presentation about the history of Apple Inc. Cornell notes are just one example of college-level study techniques students learn in AVID, a global nonprofit organization directed at students who are capable of completing a college-preparatory path if they receive the proper support. The focus is on low-income students whose families don’t traditionally attend college.

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After-school programs get boost from new city grant

CASE Connections

HISD’s Chávez High School and Henry Middle School became two of the first local organizations to benefit from a new initiative recently, when they received grants for $15,000 and $5,000 from the City Connections program.

City Connections, a partnership between the City of Houston and the Center for Afterschool, Summer, and Expanded Learning (CASE) for Kids, is designed to help fight juvenile crime and promote child safety by providing much-needed funding for after-school programs. Continue reading →

Reagan students excited to receive laptops for school and home use

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All 2,234 students at Reagan High School received laptops on Monday, Jan. 12, as part of the district’s one-to-one plan to give all high school students a digital device to use for learning at school and at home. The one-to-one laptop program is a key component of HISD’s PowerUp initiative, which aims to digitally transform teaching and learning throughout the district.

Reagan is one of 14 HISD high schools distributing laptops to students during the month of January and early February. Others high schools include Davis, Lamar, Milby, Scarborough, South Early College, Waltrip, Westbury, Westside, Wheatley and Yates, as well as the Futures Academies at Jones, Jane Long Academy, and the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.  Continue reading →

Health program to help students focus, stay calm expands to 26 schools

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Breathing exercises and yoga poses are just a few of the things HISD students learn in the Sonima Health and Wellness program. Fourteen additional HISD schools now offer the curriculum, which is offered by the Sonima Foundation and teaches students multiple skills for a healthier lifestyle.

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High school students receive diplomas at fall semester graduation ceremony

fallgraduation2More than 80 students received their high school diplomas at the HISD fall 2014 graduation ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 10.

Organized by the district’s Office of School Support, the ceremony recognized students from various high schools for completing the required courses and passing the state assessments during the fall semester. Among those were the first four graduates from the district’s Middle College High School at HCC Felix Fraga, which opened in August 2014: Jennifer Baltazar (below, right), Selena Hernandez (center), Verner Potts, and Nataly Ramon (not pictured). Continue reading →

HISD to link virtual learning to classroom with on the job video conferences

Career professionals will soon be able to join an HISD class virtually to speak to students live on camera about their industry, giving students an up-close and personal look at numerous professions.

As part of a new HISD Linked Learning initiative to combine core academics with career-based knowledge, hundreds of career and technical education teachers participated in a two-hour training this week to learn how to use Nepris.com, a web-based platform that easily connects teachers and students with industry experts for video conferences. Although teachers often organize face-to-face student visits with professionals, this tool will allow teachers and students to participate in these sessions without having to leave the classroom.  Continue reading →

Missy the cow teaches students all about milk

Mobile Dairy Cow

Larry Graham and Missy the cow show students where milk comes from.

Students may never look at a carton of milk the same way again after seeing firsthand where dairy milk comes from, thanks to farmer Larry Graham and his favorite cow, Missy.

Graham and L.P. Voskamp are instructors for the Southwest Dairy Farmers Mobile Dairy Classroom, an outreach program that teaches children about the dairy industry. Elmore Elementary School students recently learned how dairy foods contribute to good health, the anatomy of dairy cows, and how the milking process works. They also got to meet Missy up close. Continue reading →

KBR pre-bid meeting provides networking opportunities for minority-owned businesses

KBR Building Group held a pre-bid meeting this week to get acquainted with representatives from minority- and women-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs) who have an interest in working on HISD building projects.

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First-year school nurse revives campus club to encourage STEM careers

HISD’s Booker T. Washington High School is usually known for its magnet engineering program, but some students there have an interest in healthcare—and one first-year school nurse is helping them to explore it.

Members of the Booker T. Washington High School health club examine a sheep’s heart during a field trip to the Houston Health Museum.

Members of the Booker T. Washington High School health club examine a sheep’s heart during a field trip to the Houston Health Museum.

Worthing High School alumna Shara Fontaine, who joined Team HISD in 2014 after nine years as a labor and delivery nurse and a stint in the U.S. Air Force, resurrected the student health club at Washington last fall to better serve students with career aspirations in healthcare. The club now has about 15 members, and Fontaine has been coordinating special activities to further stoke their interest in that field. Continue reading →