Category Archives: District V – Sue Deigaard

Read Houston Read volunteers recognized for service to students

In 71 hours, a person can ride a bicycle from Paris, France, to Brest and back or complete 48 orbits of planet earth. For Mimie Taylor, who was honored at Thursday’s Read Houston Read Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast, those 71 hours were best spent helping first-graders improve their reading skills at Garcia Elementary School.

“Tuesdays and Thursdays are dedicated to Read Houston Read and my scholars,” said Taylor brightly.

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Young Audiences honors HISD high schools with arts awards

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Young Audiences of Houston’s celebrated their 59th year of providing arts education to the Houston area at their annual gala on May 7, where they presented Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy (YWCPA) and Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men (MLCPA) with 2015 Arts Empowerment Awards.

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Asian Advisory Committee honors five outstanding teachers, one student club

All were formally recognized during HISD’s Asian-Pacific American Heritage Celebration 

HISD observed the start of Asian-Pacific Heritage Month on Thursday, May 7, with a kick-off reception held at Kim Son restaurant downtown.

As a part of that celebration, members of the district’s Asian Advisory Committee recognized five outstanding teachers and one student club for their contributions to Asian students and to HISD as a whole.

The teachers honored were: Marilou Alcaraz (Briarmeadow Charter), Pia de Leon (River Oaks ES), Dr. Nghia Le (Washington HS), Oscar Le (Sharpstown International School), and Nazan Sohail (Key MS). The Asian American club at Chávez High School is led by Thanh Hoang  and sponsored by Maria de Leon. Each winning teacher received a $500 cash prize. The club received a $200 prize to help fund activities.

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Hamilton MS ‘Scratch Off’ contest gives students a taste of coding careers

The team from McGowen ES, who won first place in the beginner division

The team from McGowen ES, who won first place in the beginner division

About 50 teams of students from various HISD elementary and middle schools came together on the campus of Hamilton Middle School May 2, and all were eager to test their mettle as coders in the school’s inaugural “Scratch Off” contest.

Named in honor of the free programming language developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the competition challenged students to complete 20 tasks using Scratch, such as making an animated character called a “sprite” change color or move in particular ways on the screen.

By the time the competition was over, Pin Oak Middle School had nailed down the victory in the advanced division, while a team of students from McGowen Elementary School took home the laurels in the beginner division. Continue reading →

Books Between Kids expands its efforts to include Pre-K students

Children at five HISD early childhood centers to receive free books for summer reading

Pre-kindergarten students at Gabriela Mistral Early Childhood Center giggled with happiness as they picked out books to keep for their very own.

The children were digging through some of the 2,000 gently used books donated to that campus by Books Between Kids, so that each child could take home six books to start their at-home libraries. Continue reading →

Eight more HISD students win National Merit Scholarships

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has announced this year’s $2,500 National Merit Scholarship winners, and eight HISD students are among them.

They winners from HISD schools are: Tianxiu Chen and Marina Finley (Bellaire HS); Brett Gu (Carnegie Vanguard HS); Xiaoyi Dou, Zachary Kortum, Teresa Lee, and Poornima Tamma (DeBakey HS); and Claudia Heymach (High School of Performing and Visual Arts).

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Spring Visual Arts Showcase displays talent of HISD student artists

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Stroll through the halls of HISD’s Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th St, 77092) over the next few days, and you could see a lion, a wolf, or even a cheetah.

All of these and more are represented in original artworks created by HISD students as part of the 2015 Spring Visual Arts Showcase, which is organized annually to display the talent of student artists from across the district.

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Johnston MS students publish inaugural anthology of art, writing

LiterARTGreyhound_300Almost 100 works by 80 different students featured in The LiterART Greyhound

A team of four educators led by a self-published author has given the gift of literary immortality to 80 students at Johnston Middle School.

The LiterART Greyhound: 2015 officially went up for sale on May 4, through Amazon’s self-publishing arm, CreateSpace.

“As a performing and visual arts school, self-expression is important, and we try to do anything we can to fuel students’ passion for it,” explained campus network specialist Ches Smith. “The process is fairly simple and virtually free if you’re willing to do all the work yourself. And it occurred to me that it would be a great experience for our students if they could see themselves in print.”

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Bellaire HS teacher wins H-E-B lifetime achievement award

Michael Clark

Michael Clark

Michael Clark, a teacher at HISD’s Bellaire High School, was honored on May 3 with a Lifetime Achievement award at the secondary level through H-E-B’s 2015 Excellence in Education Awards.

Clark was named HISD’s own Secondary Teacher of the Year in 2011. He has been an educator for almost a quarter of a century, with the last 15 of those years spent at Bellaire High School teaching Advanced Placement government and economics courses.

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J.J. Watt Foundation giving HISD after-school athletic programs a boost

Coach Wilson (L) with J.J. Watt and members of the Fondren MS football team

Coach Wilson (L) with J.J. Watt and members of the Fondren MS football team

Eight members of the Fondren Middle School football team received a big surprise on April 18.

They got to meet one of their idols that day—legendary Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt—at a special celebration held in Houston by the charity he created. As previous beneficiaries of a grant from the Justin J. Watt Foundation, the students were invited to help accept a large donation from Papa John’s Pizza, one of its biggest supporters, at the event. They also got to visit with Watt personally and ask him a few questions.

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