Grant to provide pedometers, introduce students to one new fruit or vegetable each month
Condit Elementary students can add nutrition and leading a healthy lifestyle to their school education this year, thanks to a $3,000 grant from locally based Oliver Foundation.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G000039Banq9wnfQ” g_name=”20140908-Wilson” width=”600″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” ]
Helms Elementary threw a birthday party for one of its most dedicated employees on Monday – 84-year-old crossing guard Joy Wilson. She was presented with dozens of cards and flowers. Continue reading
Houston ISD and community partners issued a call Thursday for 1,500 volunteers to join HISD’s Read Houston Read program, to mentor first-graders at more than 50 selected elementary schools as part of the district’s Literacy By 3 movement.
[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/105288838″ responsive=”no”]
“All along, as we devised our master plan to attack this literacy crisis, we have said that this is not a problem that will be solved in the classroom or the school alone,” said Superintendent Terry Grier at the news conference at Garcia Elementary, one of the participating schools. “It is a community crisis, and the community’s help is needed to solve it. This is a very important — if not the most important — district initiative since I’ve been here.”
Read Houston Read volunteers can sign up for a weekly one-hour mentoring session at a school, where they will work with two first-graders in half-hour sessions — listening to them read, doing an activity related to the book, and reading another book to them. Continue reading
Nathaniel Q. Henderson Elementary School has a newly renovated library, thanks to Lakewood Church.
[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/105069510″ responsive=”no”]
The church also donated more than $1,000 worth of library books and 10 iPads.
“We anticipate a great impact in the closing of the reading gaps for our scholars,” Principal Rosa Cabrera said.
In addition, Lakewood donated equipment for a multi-sensory room for the Champions Club, which was designed specifically for the school’s special needs students.
“We had over 500 volunteers work on this school and in this community this past year,” said Craig Johnson, Lakewood’s director of ministries. “It’s a way for them to give and then see the difference they’ve made in the lives of students.”
J.P. Henderson Elementary has new furniture in its teachers’ lounge, thanks to Gallery Furniture, Univision 45 and Children at Risk.
The furniture store is making over several teachers’ lounges throughout the Houston area. It asked Univision 45 to pick a school, and the TV station asked Children at Risk for a recommendation.
“When Univision called that I had really good news, I ran to my office and said that I need good news – it’s the beginning of school!” Principal Herlinda Garcia said. “This sends a very strong message from the community to the teachers that we do care about you.”
[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/104653995″ responsive=”no”] Continue reading
Thanks to the generosity of Houston-area companies and community organizations, many HISD students have the supplies they need to start the new school year.
For the fourth year in a row, NRG, formerly known as Reliant Energy, helped local students with a donation of more than $20,000 worth of school supplies. NRG executives were on hand at the Martin Luther King Jr. Early Childhood Center the week before school started to personally distribute the school supply packets to students. Four thousand more backpacks that include grade-specific supplies for students in grades K-12, such as crayons, notebooks, pens, paper, or folders, will be distributed to more than 35 HISD schools.
[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/104453915″ responsive=”no”] Continue reading
Celebrity readers share stories, set an example for community involvement
Walnut Bend ES partner Phillips 66, along with the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation and Lone Star Sports & Entertainment, got together at the campus on opening day Monday to raise awareness about the importance of literacy for Houston’s children. The star-studded event kicked off HISD’s Literacy By 3 program, a movement designed to turn around and end the literacy crisis in Houston.
[su_vimeo url=”http://vimeo.com/104425696″ responsive=”no”]
Living up to a promise made by Superintendent Terry Grier during February’s State of the Schools address, HISD is enacting “Home Field Advantage,” a program to create educational stability among highly mobile student populations.
Students at 13 elementary schools where families are most transient are being offered transportation to continue to allow them to make that school their home, even if their families move. General mobility rates in the selected schools is about 30 percent annually, according to Susan Kaler, Student Services officer. Continue reading
Shearn Elementary School is one of 14 HISD schools launching the school year today as a dual-language campus, with instruction in both English and Spanish, and students had a special visitor this morning.
Dr. Terry Grier dropped in as the school day began to greet students and parents, and to pump up their enthusiasm for dual-language. “I sure wish we had this when I was in school,” Grier told a trio of fifth-grade school leaders who guided him on a tour of Shearn.
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000wAY8MS6sbR8″ g_name=”20140825-Shearn” width=”600″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCCCCC” ]
Marques Foster was delighted to hear about the new program. “I really want to learn Spanish,” she said. “I know it’s important to have more than one language.” Continue reading
As more than 210,000 students head to the first day of the school year today, there’s a lot that’s new awaiting them. Continue reading