Now, EMERGE scholar can just wait and let the acceptance letters roll in
Some people thought Olaide Sode was crazy when they found out she was planning to apply to almost two dozen different colleges and universities this year.
But the Carnegie Vanguard High School senior persevered, and she wrapped up the last of the 23 batches of paperwork this week. Now, she is basking in the glow of her accomplishment—and waiting for the acceptance letters to start rolling in.
It’s been more than 40 years since Annie McReynolds first taught kindergarten in HISD’s Durham Elementary School, but the retired educator has been back in the classroom since 2014—and this time, it’s as a volunteer.
McReynolds, who celebrated her 80th birthday on Jan. 22, now serves as a reading mentor at the school she helped launch. She was one of the original faculty members when the campus opened back in 1968, and a photo of her registering a student on the first day of class that year (pictured) still hangs in the front office.
“I was only there about four years, because I had two more babies,” explained McReynolds, who later taught at private schools. “But my heart is in school teaching, and I’m still very healthy and active. If I don’t go to the mirror, I don’t know I’m 80.”
McReynolds said she offered to help out at Durham because “I could see what individual attention did for children.”
Volunteers are still needed, so if you’d like to be a mentor, please visit the Read Houston Read website.
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More than 800 pre-K through fifth-grade teachers attended HISD’s Elementary Literacy Summit on Saturday, Jan. 10 to participate in sessions on quality reading and writing instruction and hear presentations by national literacy experts. Continue reading
Representatives from dozens of local businesses gathered Friday, Jan. 9 to learn how their companies could help Houston ISD first-graders learn how to read. It only takes 30 minutes per week, and volunteers can make a difference without ever leaving their desk.
Neil Bush, chairman of the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation and a Read Houston Read volunteer, said he plays games, including an educational version of Tic-Tac-Toe, with his assigned student, Savannah. They also go through digital flash cards and read a book each session. Continue reading
If you’re still deciding on a New Year’s resolution, look no further because we have a great one for you that will change a child’s life.
You can help a first-grader learn to read by spending at least 30 minutes reading to a child per week as part of HISD’s Read Houston Read program. Volunteers can become a Read Houston Read mentor, in person or over the Internet, by reading to a child at their school or by logging onto the web. Volunteers also listen to the child read, help the child learn new words, and play fun games to reinforce what he/she has learned.
Houston is in a literacy crisis, and it will take everyone – schools, families, communities — to help provide this basic skill that can make the difference between lifelong learning and achievement or frustration and failure.
For a listing and map of participating schools, click here.
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HISD’s East Early College High School (EECHS) recently held its very first family literacy day—but it wasn’t for the benefit of its own students.
Instead, the event was designed to get some of the district’s youngest pupils interested in reading, and all students from nearby Laurenzo Early Childhood Center were invited to attend. Continue reading
Mimi Vance (pink sweater) and former Houston First Lady Andrea White (burgundy sweater) visited Crockett ES on Dec. 2
Every student at HISD’s Crockett Elementary School encountered a very special guest bearing gifts on Dec. 2—but it wasn’t Santa Claus.
On that day, four different authors came to campus with copies of their books, which they read aloud from and talked about with students. Pre-K and kindergarten students heard from Mimi Vance and former Houston First Lady Andrea White, who co-authored “Tummies on the Run” and “Snuggles.” First-, second-, and third-grade students met Keith Graves, who wrote “Monsterator,” while fourth- and fifth-graders met René Saldaña, author of “The Mystery of The Mischievous Marker.”
The visits were coordinated by Assistant Principal Dina Rayo-Kirkconnell, who obtained a grant from the Texas Book Festival to underwrite it. The grant also allowed each student to take home a copy of the book he or she learned about, and paid for extra copies of each book to be purchased for the library.
It was a night filled with good cheer during literacy night at Anderson Elementary Dual Language School, when dozens of students and their parents showed up to celebrate literacy and the holidays. Reading, games, and art projects kept students entertained, as various prizes were awarded and refreshments were served.
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Students who are taking Italian at Bellaire High School and Pin Oak Middle School entered projects in a literary contest organized and sponsored by the Italian Consulate and the Committee of Italian Residents Abroad. Italian journalist and archeologist Valerio Massimo Manfredi presented the winners with certificates during the 10th Conference of Italian Researchers in the World, which was held at the Italian Consulate on Dec. 6. Continue reading
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Reading aloud to students is widely recognized as the single most important activity for developing literacy. And if that reader also can serve as a positive male role model, even better.
This past fall, Anderson Elementary Dual Language School launched M.A.L.E. (Men and Literacy Evolving), an initiative in which male members of the community come to the school to read to students on the last Monday of each month. Anderson Principal Roslyn Stiles Vaughn envisioned the program after a member of her church expressed his desire to make a difference by reading to students. Continue reading