Children at five HISD early childhood centers to receive free books for summer reading
Pre-kindergarten students at Gabriela Mistral Early Childhood Center giggled with happiness as they picked out books to keep for their very own.
The children were digging through some of the 2,000 gently used books donated to that campus by Books Between Kids, so that each child could take home six books to start their at-home libraries. Continue reading
Nancy Casarrubias
Milby High School’s library is a place “where learning never ends,” and now, the whole world knows it.
Senior Nancy Casarrubias created a five-minute video showcasing her library (and its librarian, Rowena Verdin) for a digital storytelling contest sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians—and her entry won in the high-school category (grades 9–12).
The contest challenged students to show how their school library/librarian helps advance their education by encouraging them to learn new things, fine-tune their research skills, and discover how to make the most of available resources. The focus of entries was the 2015 School Library Month theme, “Your School Library: Where Learning Never Ends.”
Bess the Book Bus, a national mobile literacy outreach program, stopped in Houston recently to promote literacy and share a little story time with HISD students.
A student at Barrick ES shows off her selection. Photos courtesy Anthony Amirante.
The bus, which makes its way across the U.S. every year, visited Barrick and Grissom Elementary schools on April 22. Jennifer Frances, the bus’ founder, read aloud to students at Grissom, and afterwards the children got to explore the bus and pick out a book to keep. More than 430 Pre-K and kindergarten students received a free book that day to start their at-home libraries.
“Many of our students come from low-income homes where books—particularly children’s books—are considered a luxury,” said HISD Literacy Director Cindy Puryear. “So it’s really exciting when children get to have a book of their very own to keep, especially when it’s one that they picked out themselves. We are very grateful to organizations like Bess the Book Bus for giving our students this experience.”
Bess the Book Bus is dedicated to sharing the joy of reading with underprivileged children. It was founded in Tampa, Fla., in 2002, and named in honor of Frances’ grandmother, Bess. The bus has traveled to all 48 contiguous states in the U.S. and is funded solely by generous donors, including CITGO Petroleum, which offsets the cost of gasoline.
In 2015, Bess the Book Bus served more than 25,000 kids in 25 states.
Meeting the author of a book can sometimes create a personal connection to a story for readers.
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And that is just what third- through fifth-graders at Mitchell Elementary School got to experience on April 17, when Houstonian and author Noah Rattler visited their campus. Rattler spoke with students regarding his book, “Noah’s Walk,” which is about his 1,800-mile journey to raise awareness about homelessness. Continue reading
A 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.
Volunteers needed to read with first-graders for 30 to 60 minutes per week
It’s National Volunteer Week, and HISD would like to recognize and encourage the many people who volunteer their time with the district. Volunteers are an integral part of the HISD family who share the common goal of wanting to help students succeed.
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“I heard about the volunteer program on TV and thought, ‘I can get out of the house and do something worthwhile,’” said Loretha Fore, a retired teacher who is now an HISD volunteer at Southmayd Elementary School. “We have so much to give, especially retired people. We’re going out to lunch and getting together with friends, but this is something we can all do to help students and give back to our communities. You are giving, but also receiving.”
Annually, nearly 31,000 community members apply to volunteer in HISD schools through Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS). With the launch of even more opportunities, including the district’s Read Houston Read volunteer program, that number is expected to grow.
Robert Edmond
Robert Edmond, a sixth-grader at Johnston Middle School, has been named the second “Reader Leader” by myON for logging the most time spent reading on that website during a particular month.
Alfredo read for 13 hours and eight minutes on myON in March. He also completed 109 books and took their accompanying quizzes.
As a part of his prize, Robert received a laptop (with computer case) from Muses3, LLC, the representative of myON in southeast Texas.
“This was another very tight race,” said Linda Bessmer, managing partner of Muses3. “Robert’s teacher, Wilfred Dacus, instituted a myON Camp for his Life Skills students, where they spent concentrated time reading on myON, and several other Johnston students were only minutes away from the leader’s record, with elementary students close behind.”
Robert was formally recognized during a special ceremony held on his campus April 10.
Photo courtesy Muses3, LLC.
Ministers Alliance to support HISD’s Literacy By 3 program at Burrus, Kennedy
Almost 20 faith-based organizations in the Independence Heights community have joined forces to lend their support to HISD’s Literacy By 3 initiative at two neighborhood elementary schools.
Members of the Independence Heights Greater Houston Ministers Alliance (IHGHMA) met with HISD Board of Education President Rhonda Skillern-Jones, Curriculum Specialist Carley Colton, and representatives from Scholastic, Inc., and the Bush Houston Literacy Foundation on April 9 to discuss plans for “Lifting Through Literacy,” a summer reading challenge that will benefit students at both Burrus and Kennedy elementary schools—and possibly serve as a model for other struggling communities.
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“Illiteracy gives birth to dropouts, joblessness, crime, and teen pregnancy,” explained Reverend Ray Mackey, who serves as chairperson for the IHGHMA. “I envision this pilot as a program that will show how faith-based organizations can get involved to make an impact. And if it’ll work in Independence Heights, then it’ll work in Acres Homes or Hiram Clarke or Sunnyside or Kashmere Gardens.”
Bruce Elementary School was selected this week to receive a $50,000 grant from the Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children, an organization that provides educational resources to underfunded schools in urban and rural communities.
Bruce Elementary was one of nine schools from across the country to receive the grant, which will be used to purchase interactive whiteboards and nonfiction books for existing classroom libraries to boost literacy through student engagement and teacher effectiveness.
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.