Category Archives: High Schools

Camp helps boost high school students’ literacy skills

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About 160 rising freshman and sophomores are spending two weeks of their summer participating in a Houston ISD camp at Challenge Early College High School designed to boost their reading and writing abilities.

“The purpose of the camp is to provide the students with literacy strategies that they can take back with them to their schools and to get them excited and engaged with the acts of reading and writing,” said Erica Harris of Carnegie Vanguard High School, the program’s curriculum writer and lead teacher.

The students take four classes a day at the camp, each themed around the young adult book Divergent by Veronica Roth. Each class focuses on a different area of literary development.
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‘Green-minded’ students earn money while giving back to nature

Performing manual labor outdoors in July is probably not the way most Houstonians would choose to spend their time, but for some HISD students, there’s nowhere else they’d rather be.

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Sam Houston MSTC students win coveted slots at Latino Law Leaders Camp

SHMSTC seniors Giovanni Figueroa and Emily Duarte pose with counselor Ana Zamarippa and debate coach Ken Ogden. (Houston Independent School District)

SHMSTC seniors Giovanni Figueroa and Emily Duarte pose with counselor Ana Zamarippa and debate coach Ken Ogden.

Emily Duarte and Giovanni Figueroa, rising seniors and debate team members at the Sam Houston Math, Science & Technology Center, were two of just 40 students nationwide to be selected to participate in the National Hispanic Bar Foundation’s Future Latino Law Leaders Camp.

The students will work with Latino politicians, government officials, and lawyers during the eight-day workshop, which takes place at American University in Washington D.C., July 12–20.

Emily and Giovanni received full scholarships to attend the camp, and their airfare was generously underwritten by the Hispanic Bar Association of Houston, Sugar Hill Recording Studio, and Zenobia Harris, director of the Houston Urban Debate League.

25 HISD students get taste of hospitality industry

David Robinson with students from Davis, Jordan and Worthing high schools (Houston Independent School District)Twenty-five students from HISD three high schools spent their part of their summer getting a sneak peak into what their future may look like, and will continue with a one-year internship.

The students, who attend Davis, Jordan and Worthing high schools, were selected to participate in the Admiral Hospitality Scholars, an internship program which was founded by former San Antonio Spurs star David Robinson. Continue reading →

PowerUp teachers get tips for implementing laptop use in instruction

Teachers and administrators from 21 high schools that are joining the PowerUp laptop initiative in the 2014-2015 school year have spent a chunk of their summer getting ideas as to how to best implement the program in their classrooms.

Eleven schools were part of the pilot program last year. They received help from the Mooresville Graded School District, which experienced great success in a similar program, and officials from Mooresville returned to Houston to help the second batch of schools.

“The PowerUp initiative puts technology in the hands of the kids and allows students to be reached in ways that we’ve never been able to do before,” said Scott Smith of Mooresville GSD. Continue reading →

Almost every East Early College HS graduate received an associate’s degree in 2014

These East Early College High School students (black gown with blue cord) were some of the more than 100 seniors from that campus to receive their associate’s degrees from Houston Community College SE two weeks before their high school diplomas. (Houston Independent School District)

These EECHS students (black gown with blue cord) were some of the more than 100 seniors from that campus to receive their associate’s degrees from Houston Community College SE two weeks before their high school diplomas.

It’s been more than a decade since HISD opened its first early college high school off Loop 610, but the number of students taking full advantage of both their premise and their promise—the chance to finish high school with a diploma in one hand and an associate’s degree in the other—has been steadily rising.

Nowhere is this trend more evident than at HISD’s East Early College High School, where just over 100 seniors graduated this year with a college degree—a stunning 93.5 percent of its Class of 2014.

Principal Tamera Bolden attributes her school’s incredible success to a variety of factors, including a stellar attendance rate (98 percent) and the “unwavering support” of Dr. Irene Porcarello, the president of Houston Community College Southeast (HCC-SE). Continue reading →

Free camp helps high school students build reading, writing skills

Do you have a rising freshman or sophomore who needs to boost their reading and writing skills? HISD is hosting a free Literacy Enrichment Camp to give them tools to help increase their end-of-course exam scores.

The eight-day camp will be held at Challenge Early College High School on the HCC Southwest Campus, 5601 West Loop South, July 21-24 and July 28-31. Participating students are expected to attend both weeks. The camp will be held 9 a.m.-3 p.m. each day. If transportation assistance is needed, METRO cards will be provided. Lunch will be served daily. Continue reading →

State Board of Education to honor Bellaire HS economics team

Jinchen Zhou, Ridge Liu, Michael Clark, Laura Zhang, Patrick Giradet

Bellaire High School’s economics team won the National Economics Challenge in May, and you can watch the ceremony live online when the Texas State Board of Education honors members at 9 a.m. Friday.

Team members Patrick Giradet, Ridge Liu, Laura Zhang, and Jinchen Zhou beat out more than 1,200 teams from 40 states to claim the title in a quiz-bowl live on CNBC. The students, who have since graduated, spent an average of 15 hours a week preparing for the competition and skipped their prom to be there. They each received a $1,000 award and rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange within a few hours of their win. Continue reading →

Summer enrichment program gives students a glimpse inside national politics

Carnegie Vanguard HS students Bonnie Sullivan (2nd from L), and Connor Burwell (far R) pose with Senator Ted Cruz.

Carnegie Vanguard HS students Bonnie Sullivan (2nd from L), and Connor Burwell (far R) pose with Senator Ted Cruz.

If Bonnie Sullivan still wasn’t sure about her plans after graduation, she is now.

Bonnie was one of four rising seniors from Carnegie Vanguard High School (and only 100 from around the world) to participate in a summer school program recently in the nation’s capital, and her experience there only cemented her desire to pursue a career in politics.

“I did it because I thought it would be interesting,” she said. “But being in D.C. and meeting policymakers made me realize it would be something I’d enjoy.”
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