Category Archives: District VIII – Judith Cruz

Nutrition classes let students learn through baking

HISD’s Nutrition Services culinary team is teaching students about baking and healthy eating through Nutrition Education Classes.

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At the Gregory-Lincoln Education Center, which has a culinary arts program, the classes are a collaboration between Dietitian Jennifer Lengyel and Gregory-Lincoln Culinary Arts Instructor Kelly Karavias.

The goal is to develop students’ interest in kitchen fundamentals while also letting them practice concepts learned in math and other subjects. Continue reading →

Volunteering duo can’t wait for Read Houston Read to start back up again

In this week’s I Am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other team members, returning volunteer Sharon Plummer discusses how she and her husband first discovered the Read Houston Read program, why they both immediately signed up to participate, and why they can’t wait for this year’s first mentoring sessions to begin.

Sharon Plummer & Chandler Davidson

Sharon Plummer & Chandler Davidson

I understand you and your husband, Chandler Davidson, both volunteer as reading mentors at Burnet Elementary School through Read Houston Read. How did that arrangement come about?

We had actually been looking for an opportunity to read to elementary students for quite some time. Maybe even a couple of years. We had made several inquiries with various organizations, but just could not find a good fit. Then I happened to see this. And I thought, “Oh, my gosh, this is it!”

What is it about reading to young children than appeals to you? Continue reading →

Nine schools to participate in Marching Band Festival Oct. 6

Nine HISD high school bands will be strutting their stuff in the district’s eighth annual Marching Band Festival on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The festival gives bands the opportunity to receive feedback on their music quality, sections, music effects, visual effects, and visual performance. The critiques will help the bands prepare for future performances and events.

Participating schools include: Continue reading →

Principal stages freestyle rap session to help students ‘PowerUp’

Furr High School is new to HISD’s PowerUp initiative, but that didn’t stop enthusiastic campus leaders from spreading the word.

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Chess students take on blindfolded grandmaster in group competition

Grandmaster Timur Gareev will be trying to break a world record soon by playing the largest number of simultaneous chess games ever while blindfolded — and 10 students from HISD schools recently helped him prepare for that challenge.

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The Uzbekistan native, who became the youngest grandmaster ever from Asia in 2004 at the age of 16, played 10 of HISD’s top chess players on Sept. 19, and defeated them all (along with three students from a local private school) within the span of a few hours, despite not being able to see any of the chessboards. Continue reading →

Community offers words of support after bus tragedy

On Tuesday, Sept. 15, two of our students — Janiecia Chatman, 14, and Mariya Johnson, 17 — died in a tragic bus accident in southeast Houston. Two other students and the bus driver were injured.

In the hours and days after the accident, people from across the country expressed their concern for the victims. Below is a sampling of the words of support they have shared.

We continue to keep those affected in our thoughts and ask you to do the same. Please feel free to share your own comments below.

2015 Grads Within Reach walk recovers more than 80 students

HISD’s annual Grads Within Reach walk took place on Sept. 12, 2015, and volunteers convinced more than 80 students to come back to school and continue their education.

Almost 500 volunteers fanned out across the city, visiting the last-known residences of students who had not shown up for class this year and leaving information on how to re-enroll if no one came to the door.

Continue reading →

63 HISD students named National Merit semifinalists

Sixty-three seniors from six Houston Independent School District high schools qualified as semifinalists this week in the 61st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. HISD had 56 semifinalists last year.

The HISD students are among 16,000 from across the country to earn the semifinalist designation, allowing them the opportunity to continue in the academic competition and vie for more than $32 million in scholarships that will be awarded in the spring.

They attend Bellaire, Carnegie Vanguard, and Lamar high schools, DeBakey High School for Health Professions, Eastwood Academy, and the High School for the Performing & Visual Arts. Continue reading →

‘Support Our Science’ initiative kicks off at Sherman ES

Campus is one of only two in America selected to receive comprehensive STEM program

Students and faculty at Sherman Elementary School got a sneak preview of the numerous fun and fascinating activities that await them this year on Sept. 9, when representatives from Discovery Education and the Science Channel came to the campus to kick off the year-long Support Our Science initiative.

Discovery Ed Curriculum Specialist Patti Duncan led a number of entertaining demonstrations to illustrate various science concepts, such as an explosive combination of Diet Coke and Mentos that brings gas out of solution.

Continue reading →

HISD announces partnership with Kennedy Center to expand student access to the arts

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Thursday that the Houston Independent School District together with the City of Houston would serve as the 19th site for their national arts education program.

The Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child program will take existing resources from HISD, local arts organizations, the City of Houston, and the Kennedy Center and combine them to increase arts opportunities and provide high-quality arts education for 7,000 students at 11 schools.

The schools include Atherton, Benbrook, Eliot, Hartsfield, Hines-Caldwell, Kashmere Gardens, Memorial, Mitchell, Scarborough, and Whittier elementary schools, and Hamilton Middle School. Additional schools are expected to be added in the coming years. Continue reading →