Category Archives: District VIII – Judith Cruz

Austin HS and Sam Houston MSTC project teams meet to design new schools

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Project Advisory Teams from Austin HS and Sam Houston MSTC attended a charrette, or intensive workshop, where they collaborated on preliminary design plans for their new schools.

Each school’s project team – along with architects, facilities planners and project managers – spent the two-day session focused on how to design a 21st century school that will incorporate the needs of students, teachers and other stakeholders while creating an engaging learning environment.

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Top six JROTC cadets in HISD Class of 2015 honored at awards ceremony

The top six Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) cadets, who were named earlier this month, were honored on April 25 at the Annual HISD JROTC Final Review and Awards Ceremony.

All were promoted to the rank of Cadet Colonel (Army) or Cadet Captain (Navy), which are the highest ranks in the program. The top seniors were chosen from among all the graduating seniors in HISD’s 25 JROTC programs.

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CVHS senior awarded $20,000 Footlocker scholarship

Carnegie Vanguard High School senior Tre’shunda James was surprised on Friday, April 24, at a schoolwide pep rally, where she was awarded a $20,000 scholar-athlete scholarship from Footlocker. James was also selected for the District 20-6A All-district Volleyball First Team.

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HISD students receive corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship

Two Houston Independent School District students are among more than 1,000 high school seniors from across the country to be selected this week to win a corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship.

Sophia Cen of Bellaire High School received a $3,000 corporate-sponsored scholarship from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and Henry Hoang of Carnegie Vanguard High School was awarded a $3,000 scholarship from the Lockheed Martin Corporation Foundation.

Both students are in the first group of 2015 winners to be announced as part of the 60th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, which rewards academically talented U.S. high school students who score well on the PSAT with free money for college. The students’ scholarship awards are renewable for up to four years of college undergraduate study.

The corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship awards are financed by about 200 corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations. Scholarship winners must either plan to pursue a degree or career in the company’s industry, be a child of company employee, or be a resident of a community the company serves.

Additional recipients of other National Merit scholarships will be announced in May followed by the announcement of winners of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards. In September, 56 HISD students were named National Merit semifinalists.

Magnet Spotlight: Austin HS navigating maritime and teaching profession pathways

Campus is fourth in a series of articles on magnet schools with space still available

AustinHS_Tug_440x230Students who attend Austin High School have two enticing study pathways available to them. They can embark on a path to becoming educators themselves through the school’s well-established teaching professions program, or they can explore careers in the thriving maritime industry.

When the school’s teaching program was created in 1982, it was the first high-school teacher preparation program of its kind in the nation. Today, the program benefits from a partnership with the University of Houston that prepares students both for life on a college campus after graduation, and life in the classroom as professional educators afterwards.

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Magnet Spotlight: Gregory Lincoln students learn about fine arts, fine cuisine

Campus is second in a series of schools with space available to be profiled in advance of School Choice Fair

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Kellie Karavias (holding rake) poses with some of her students

Students at HISD’s Gregory Lincoln Education Center can not only hone their skills in the visual and performing arts, but also in the culinary arts. This fine arts magnet school, which serves students in grades Pre-K through 8, offers focused instruction in the areas of music, choir, theatre arts, dance, visual arts, and multimedia.

The campus also has a culinary arts program led by Kellie Karavias, who was named a “Food Revolution Hero” in 2013 by celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver. Under her supervision, students learn how food is grown by working in the school garden, how food is prepared by cooking or assembling dishes in the kitchen, and even how restaurants and other commercial food production facilities are inspected by taking tours of district facilities.

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Leland Kibbutzim internship to broaden HISD students’ perspective

Ten HISD students will be travelling to Israel this summer to experience life on a kibbutz. Every summer since 1980, the Mickey Leland Kibbutzim Internship Foundation has sent high school juniors who live or go to school in the 18th Congressional District to Israel for a month.

Amber Wright and Tenaya Oliveras (Yates HS); Malcolm Edmonson (Worthing HS); Branaun Galentine (Wheatley HS); Genereux Nkundimana (Davis HS); Nahome Mekonnen (Leland College Prep Academy); David Valdes (Houston Academy for International Studies); Lizette Lerma and Pamela Banner (Carnegie Vanguard HS); and Jazzmin Sanchez (Reagan HS) will all travel to Israel June 6–July 4.

The communal philosophy of caring for one another appealed to the late congressman. Following Leland’s vision, interns learn about life in a collective community and the diverse culture of the region, as well as work, travel and live in Israel. The program is organized, coordinated, and funded by The Mickey Leland Kibbutzim Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston.

HISD group wins Wayne Williams Library Project of the Year Award

WayneWilliamsGroup_400A group of educators from HISD, including three librarians—Jo Reed (Scroggins ES), Cheryl Hensley (MacGregor ES), and Sue Carnes (Bell ES; now retired)—was recognized recently with the Wayne Williams Library Project of the Year Award for 2015 by the Texas Library Association.

The librarians were selected for coordinating schoolwide reading campaigns at their respective campuses based on the Lunch Lady series of graphic novels by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. The project not only built on students’ enthusiasm for graphic novels, but also increased their awareness of health and nutrition through a cleverly organized partnership with HISD Nutrition Services Dietician Jennifer Lengyel that connected daily meal offerings to literature.

The project was so successful that at Scroggins, interest in graphic novels spurred the principal to quadruple the school’s collection of that type of book from 12 to 48. At MacGregor, circulation of the Lunch Lady books increased by 90 percent. And at Bell, the demand for graphic novels increased so much that emergency rations of books had to be secured.

The Wayne Williams award is designed to recognize a project that exemplifies the highest levels of achievement, professional standards, and inspiration to other libraries. Reed and her colleagues were formally honored during a special ceremony held on April 15 at the Texas Library Association’s annual conference in Austin.

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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HISD, Sonima Foundation celebrate expansion of student wellness program

Curriculum is now being offered to 14,000 students at 26 campuses

Representatives from HISD and the Sonima Foundation celebrated the expansion of their health and wellness program at Sherman Elementary School on April 7.

The curriculum is now being offered to more than 14,000 students at 26 HISD schools. The program’s yoga-based exercises, mindfulness practices, and nutrition education promote student health and stress reduction.

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