Category Archives: District V – Sue Deigaard

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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New ‘Caught in the Act’ video series to showcase great instruction

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HISD is kicking off a new video campaign to recognize highly effective teachers delivering great instruction.

It’s called “Caught in the Act” (CIA), and its goal is to demonstrate what high-quality teaching looks like by spotlighting instructors from across the district. Every month, the HISD video team, along with Chief Elementary Curriculum and Instruction Officer Lance Menster and Chief Secondary Curriculum and Instruction Annie Wolfe, will be dropping in on classrooms to observe and point out examples of great instruction.

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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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Presentation inspires librarian to expand lesson on good nutrition

A simple lesson on heart-healthy eating recently has inspired one HISD educator to take students’ instruction a step further.

More than 1,300 HISD students at four elementary schools learned how to keep their hearts healthy during American Heart Month, thanks to a series of interactive nutrition activities offered by the district’s Nutrition Services department.

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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.

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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Student Congress elects new leaders for coming school year

StudCong_Cabinet2015_440x230Carnegie Vanguard High School student Zaakir Tameez will soon be handing over his gavel to a new leader. The graduating senior, who cofounded HISD’s new Student Congress last year, will be yielding his position as speaker of the congress to Amy Fan, a junior at Bellaire High School, after graduation this spring.

An election for new Student Congress cabinet members took place on March 28 at the Gregory Lincoln Education Center, and the new officers will assume their duties as of May 28.

“It’s been my effort from day one to create something that would last well beyond me,” said Tameez. “Today was a giant step in that direction.”

Below is a list of the new leaders-elect (pictured, L-R, above):

  • Demetron Dotson, advocacy chair, Austin HS, Class of 2017
  • Jacob Castillo, finance chair, Austin HS, Class of 2016
  • Kate Ham, chief of staff, HSPVA, Class of 2016
  • Amy Fan, speaker of the congress, Bellaire HS, Class of 2016
  • Anusha De, initiative chair, Bellaire HS, Class of 2017
  • Jessica DeBoe, outreach chair, HSPVA, Class of 2017
  • Michael Talanker, governance chair, Carnegie Vanguard HS, Class of 2016

“Our election is a testament to our motto: student-run, student-led,” said new Speaker of the Congress Amy Fan. “Now that we have a strong base of members and the foundation is set, we’re ready to accomplish even more. I’m really looking forward to next year.”

 

Four students win national recognition for their writing talent

Four students from HISD schools have been recognized at the national level this spring through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Bellaire High School’s Liana Wang and Carnegie Vanguard High School’s Victoria Songyang won Gold Key Awards, while Bellaire High’s Christina Tan and Gabriel CyPacht from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts won Silver Key Awards.

Only 39 students in Harris County earned awards at the national level of this competition, which is sponsored regionally by the Harris County Department of Education. To see a full list of winners, please click here.

The Gold Key winners will be honored at a ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City in June.

Telemundo celebrities connect the dots between literacy and life

On-air personalities visit select HISD schools to show connection between reading and careers

Telemundo Houston weekend anchor Antonio Hernandez visits with students at Wharton K-8 Dual Language Academy.

Telemundo Houston weekend anchor Antonio Hernandez visits with students at Wharton K-8 Dual Language Academy.

A popular Spanish-language television station is getting HISD students excited about reading in a whole new way.

Through Leyendo con Telemundo, five different on-air personalities—including newscaster Paulina Sodi and weekend anchor Antonio Hernandez—are visiting classes at select district schools once a month to talk about the importance of literacy.

The visits are part of an on-going partnership between Telemundo Houston and HISD, in support of the district’s Literacy By 3 movement.

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Challenge senior wins dream trip to Disney World

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Earlier this month, Shaylah Cooper joined 100 “Disney Dreamers” at Walt Disney World. She was picked from 10,000 applicants to spend four days in Orlando, Florida, thanks to the Disney Dreamers Academy.

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