The school year is winding down, which means it’s graduation time!
Houston ISD will hold a total of 42 graduation ceremonies May 30-June 8. The complete graduation schedule can be found here.
Please check with your school for detailed information about its ceremony, including tickets for your family and friends.
Students at eight Houston ISD schools have been improving their literacy skills through a program created by FotoFest, and you have a chance to check out their work.
Literacy Through Photography utilizes photography as a tool to develop basic learning skills, particularly writing and critical thinking, for students in grades 3-12. It includes a curriculum aligned to state standards, professional development for teachers, and artist-educator residency programs for students in both in-school and after-school environments.
Hundreds of Houston ISD seniors got together on Friday, May 23, to celebrate their acceptance to two- and four-year colleges and universities.
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The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo awarded more than $7 million worth of scholarships to 394 students in 77 school districts. More than 100 Houston ISD students received scholarships worth $18,000 each.
More than 100 students from the Houston Independent School District were awarded a total of $1,836,000 worth of scholarships from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on Wednesday.
Fifty-eight students were awarded “metropolitan” scholarships, each worth $18,000 over four years. Students had to be in the top 25 percent of their class, score 1350 on the SAT, or score 19 on the ACT to qualify.
Forty-four students were awarded “opportunity” scholarships, each worth $18,000 over four years. Students had to be in the top 50 percent of their class, score 1300 on the SAT, or score 18 on the ACT to qualify.
Carnegie Vanguard High School’s theater department’s one-act play adaption of “When the Rain Stops Falling” won the Best One-Act Play award in the 2014 UIL State 5A Championship in Austin.
Student Justin Lau was named best actor, and Jackson Burhnam and Anastasia Vayner received the all-star cast award.
The UIL One-Act Play contest is the largest high school play contest in the world. More than 14,000 Texas high school students in more than 1,000 plays participate in more than 300 contests.
Two Yates High School students got one of the best surprises of their lives so far — $40,000 each toward their college educations.
Janell Howard and Jamey Watts were on the volleyball, basketball, and track teams during their four years at Yates. That, along with their high grade point averages, made them eligible to apply to the Josie Haller Teal Scholarship.
Students in Jane Long Academy’s Futures Academy of Pharmacy Technology met with corporate representatives from Walgreens on Monday.
The Walgreens representatives toured the campus because the pharmacy giant is considering partnering with the school to provide resources, training, mentorships, internships and more.
Sgt. Juan Deluna
Learning he was not a high school graduate came as something of a shock to Sgt. Juan Deluna. The 27-year-old ex-Marine had just returned from his third tour of duty overseas and was trying to apply for a job with the Houston Police Department when he found out.
“I was under the impression that I was already a 2005 graduate of Jones High School,” he said. “Sadly, I was not.”
Sgt. Deluna only learned of the discrepancy when he tried to obtain a copy of his high school transcript, which is a required part of the application. But instead of a complete transcript confirming his status as a Jones HS alumnus, Sgt. Deluna discovered that he was just shy of the district’s graduation requirements.
Madison High School’s Vladimir Gonzalez Lopez (right) was named the 2014 KBR Science Teacher of the Year. With him is last year’s second place winner, Samuel Saenz.
Vladimir G. Lopez, a physics teacher at Madison High School, isn’t interested in spoon-feeding his students their lessons.
“Science is a process,” he said, “And you can’t expect anybody to give you the answers. Students have to do the experiments and try new things, because that’s what they’re going to need when they’re doing real science.”
It’s precisely that commitment to cultivating students’ own investigative skills that has made Lopez the first-place winner in KBR’s fifth annual science awards program. The contest was created in 2009 to recognize new and effective models of instruction that emphasize the scientific method and critical thinking skills.
Students from Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy participated in the national SeaPerch Challenge at the University of Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss., last weekend.
The students recently were selected as first place in poster/presentation winner at a regional competition, which advanced the school to nationals for the first time. The students placed 20 out of 42 in the national competition.