Category Archives: District VIII – Judith Cruz

Retired brigadier general to speak at Austin HS’s fourth annual White Rose Dinner

The commandant of Texas A&M University’s Corps of Cadets will be returning to his alma mater on Thursday, March 12, 2015, when Brigadier General Joe E. Ramirez Jr., U.S. Army, Ret., presents the keynote speech at Austin High School’s fourth annual White Rose Dinner.

After graduating from Austin, General Ramirez attended Texas A&M University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in science in 1979. He obtained a master’s degree in management from Webster University, St. Louis (1993) and a master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania (2000).

General Ramirez has earned numerous awards during his 31 years of military service, including the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, and the Parachutists Badge.

The dinner will take place at 6 p.m. at the University of Houston’s Hilton Hotel (4800 Calhoun, 77004) and the public is invited. Tickets are $50 each, and there are three premium sponsorship levels available. To reserve a seat or arrange a sponsorship, please call 713-924-1600.

All proceeds from the event will be used to support Austin High School programs. The white rose, symbolizing truth, purity, and honesty, appears on the Stephen F. Austin family’s coat of arms.

‘Home Field Advantage’ program building educational stability for students

Students whose families move during the middle of the school year are being allowed to stay at their “home school,” or the one they enrolled in at the beginning of the academic year, thanks to a innovative HISD program called Home Field Advantage. Since May 2014, schools involved in the program have seen their overall mobility rate drop by an average of 10 percentage points.

During his State of the Schools address last February, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier promised to create a program to build educational stability among highly mobile students. Subsequently, students at 13 elementary schools, where roughly 30 percent of families move in any given year, were offered transportation to their “home” school, even if their parents moved. Continue reading →

Second-chance athletic showcase turns $5,000 budget into $12 million in scholarships

On Feb. 7, hundreds of graduating seniors from around the Houston area got the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to go to college for free, and play their sport of choice, too.

The Greater Houston Senior Football Showcase took place at the NRG Stadium’s practice bubble from 8:30 a.m. until noon, and male students from dozens of local campuses—including almost every high school in HISD—had a chance to land an academic scholarship there just by giving a demonstration of their skills on the football field. Continue reading →

Digital learning in the spotlight for February

[su_note note_color=”#e4edd0″ radius=”8″]During the month of February, all HISD teachers are being encouraged to try something new in their classrooms, as well as share ideas, resources, and lessons learned by posting their experiences and photos on social media using the hashtag #HISDdigital. Each week during the month, we are profiling a teacher who is using technology to break up the rows in their classrooms, engage their students, and innovate their instructional practice. This week’s profile features Austin High School teacher George Caldwell.[/su_note]

Veteran social studies teacher George Caldwell admits that when he first heard about PowerUp, HISD’s districtwide digital transformation effort, he was a little nervous and scared.

“I wasn’t very comfortable using technology in my classroom, but I decided to grab a laptop cart and let my kids know that we were going to figure this out together. They use technology every day in their lives, and we as teachers need to meet them where they are.”

A year later, all of Caldwell’s students at Austin High School have their own laptops, and he is much more comfortable using technology in his daily instruction. He’s also embraced the PowerUp:HUB, HISD’s online teaching and learning platform, as a way to facilitate student discussion and collaboration in his classroom.

[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/116014751″ responsive=”no”] Continue reading →

HSPVA alumnus bringing Black History Month to life for HISD students

Jason Moran poses for a photograph at HSPVA, February 3, 2015. (Houston ISD/Dave Einsel)

Jazz pianist Jason Moran to collaborate with three schools on community art project

It’s one thing to hear about inspiring, but long-dead, historic figures as a part of Black History Month, but it’s another entirely to have a living, breathing legend in your classroom—and almost beyond imagining that as a student, you might get to work alongside that person on a creative project.

But that is exactly what students at three HISD schools will be doing over the next couple of years, as a part of the Jason Moran Homecoming Residency sponsored by Da Camera.

Continue reading →

HISD student athletes commit to play college sports on National Signing Day

More than 90 of HISD’s top student athletes committed to taking their academic and athletic talent to the college level as part of National Signing Day on Wednesday, February 4.

The HISD ceremony at the Region IV Education Service Center, aimed to recognize the students’ formal commitment to continue their education and sports careers at colleges and universities around the country. During the event, students signed symbolic certificates of intent to continue their careers in baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling.

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Among the highlights:

More than 50 HISD senior boys will continue their football careers in college, including 11 from Lamar High School, seven each from Reagan and Wheatley high schools, six from Kashmere High School, five from Furr High School, and four each from Madison, Sterling, and Westside high schools.
Five HISD senior girls will run track and field in college.
Eleven senior boys and four senior girls will play college basketball.

Traditionally, National Signing Day has been reserved for senior high school football players completing their letters of intent with colleges and universities. But, for the past six years, HISD has included both female and male athletes from all sports to showcase the district’s athletic talent. Additional athletic commitments also are expected after Signing Day.

During the event, students heard from featured speaker Antonio Armstrong, a Kashmere High School graduate, former NFL player, and owner of Houston-based 1st Class Training, as well as HISD Director of Athletics Marmion Dambrino, HISD Board of Education President Rhonda Skillern-Jones, HISD Board of Education Trustee Wanda Adams, and representatives from the Houston Positive Coaches Alliance.

Click here to view a list of the 2014-2015 HISD student athlete signees.

National School Counselor Week shines spotlight on changing role

Dean of Students Tiphaine Shaw works with Furr HS student Javeona Sudduth.

National School Counselor Week runs from Feb. 2–6 this year, and HISD encourages students and parents to take time out to express their appreciation of these hard-working professionals.

The role of the school counselor has evolved quite a bit in the wake of House Bill 5, which began requiring freshmen to identify their areas of interest this school year so that they could choose a high school with the endorsement they desired.

“The main thing that’s happening is school counselors are doing a lot more guidance in terms of leading kids to careers and post-secondary options,” said Furr High School Dean of Students Tiphaine Shaw. “It’s about connecting them with their goals a lot earlier, so that instead of just recruiting kids to come to our campus, with the new career pathways, we’re showing them how coming to our school would connect them with their future.”
Continue reading →

Austin HS students get to experience tugboat life

Austin HS junior Martin Delgado sits at the controls of the tugboat, ZEUS.

Six students from Austin High School’s maritime academy spent the morning of Jan. 30 aboard one of the newest and most technologically advanced harbor tugs on the Houston Ship Channel.

Representatives from G & H Towing Company on the 80-foot ZEUS took a break from assisting waterborne commerce to allow the students—all juniors in the maritime program—to spend some time on deck, in the wheelhouse, and in the engine room, learning about the types of careers available on the Houston waterfront.

Retired Coast Guard Master Chief John Buchanan, who serves as the lead maritime instructor at Austin, brought innovation and 30 years of his own shipboard and leadership experience to the maritime academy, and this is the latest in a string of initiatives designed to get students thinking about employment opportunities and excited to contribute to the Houston economy.

Austin High School is situated a few blocks away from the Houston Ship Channel, one of the city’s economic engines for the past 100 years.

“Very few of our students are even aware of the many opportunities right here in front of them,” Buchanan said. “Many of these jobs are stable, high-paying, and often do not require a four-year college education.”

Under the direction of new Principal Steve Guerrero, Buchanan is expanding the school’s maritime program to ensure opportunities for both college-bound and non-college-bound graduates.

Junior Martin Delgado had the chance to sit at the controls of the powerful harbor tug and experience first-hand the duties of her crew. “Maritime is full of opportunities,” said Delgado. “Visiting these tugs is an example of the stuff we get to do. How many teenagers get to say they’ve been on a tug?”

Austin is one of two HISD high schools that offers a maritime academy. The other is Yates.

Dozens of students win regional recognition through Scholastic contest

A Gold Key winning painting entitled “Childhood,” by Carnegie Vanguard HS student Oulu Li

More than 120 students from 11 different HISD schools earned recognition at the regional level of the Scholastic Art & Writing competition this year, which qualifies them to advance to the national level of judging in New York City.

Forty-two students won the Gold Key award, while 31 took home Silver Key awards, and the remainder earned Honorable Mention.

Westside High School student Christine Willis was also the only HISD student to be named an American Visions finalist. American Visions and American Voices nominees are considered regional “best of show” winners in art and writing (respectively). Each receives a $250 scholarship from sponsor Texas Arts Supply, and one in each category will earn the national medal in March.

The winning entries were selected from approximately 5,000 submissions at the regional level. Visit the HCDE website to see a complete list of winners. Other HISD students on the list are from: Bellaire, Carnegie Vanguard, DeBakey, Waltrip, and Westside high schools; Pershing and Pin Oak middle schools; T.H. Rogers, The Rice School, and the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

Project Advisory Teams tour 4 innovative schools in D.C. area

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The concept of a 21st century school can be hard to imagine. But Project Advisory Team members from nine HISD schools have a clearer vision after a trip to our nation’s capital last week.