Category Archives: Special events

Principals Get Fired Up by Keynote Speaker

Fantastic! Inspirational! Amazing!

These are a few of the comments overheard after keynote speaker Alan Hooker ended the Welcome Back Team HISD event for principals and their staff on Wednesday morning, Aug. 7, at Chavez High School.

Hooker, HISD’s Leadership Development Officer, talked specifically about how to be successful in realizing your dreams. His childhood dreams included becoming a basketball star in high school, even though he was only 5 foot 6 inches at the time. He grew tall and made the team. His college dream was playing football for the Dallas Cowboys, and sure enough, they recruited him.

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Bellaire High School Graduate Wins New Car at ‘Cool to Be Smart’ Celebration

Bellaire HS grad Kevin Dwyer with the car he won at the Cool to be Smart celebration

Bellaire High School graduate Kevin Dwyer, who caught a ride with his friend to the event, left the third Annual Cool to Be Smart celebration on Sunday in a brand new 2013 Dodge Avenger donated by the HISD Foundation and Helfman River Oaks Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram.

“This is really cool!  I never thought I’d win,” said Dwyer who will be studying electrical engineering at Texas A&M University this fall.  “My friend’s dad joked around that I would win, but I never imagined it would actually happen.”

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HISD Schools Win First, Second Place in Robotics Competition

EECHS students Christopher Martinez (left), Alexandra Santos (right) and homeschooled-student Nicolas Xiong (center)

Students at two HISD schools brought home first- and second-place trophies in the SECME National Engineering Competition, a robotics event held in Daytona Beach, Fla. Even a security snafu at the airport couldn’t stop East Early College High School (EECHS) students from winning the grand prize.

Alexandra Santos and Christopher Martinez won first place in overall VEX robotics, along with homeschooled student, Nicolas Xiong, who has been on EECHS’s team since 2011. Young Men’s College Preparatory Academy’s seventh-grade students Marcellus Jordan, Steven Jackson, and Daveon Clemons won second place in overall VEX robotics.

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Emergency Response Committee Gets Ready for Hurricane Season

The Houston area hasn’t been affected by a tropical storm yet this year, but HISD administrators are already fine-tuning their preparations in case one does hit the Texas coast.

Members of the Hurricane Emergency Response Committee gathered at the district’s headquarters on June 27 to take part in a tabletop preparedness exercise. The exercise was designed to let them review their current plans of action and to identify ways of improving them based on lessons learned from previous storms.

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Power of ‘Connection’ Proves Common Thread at Summer Leadership Institute

Whether it applied to building solid relationships between Team HISD members or making the most of tools from the Digital Age, “connection” was the common thread that tied many of the break-out sessions together on the final day of HISD’s 2013 Summer Leadership Institute on June 20.

Hundreds of campus leaders took part in the three-day event at the Reliant Center this year, and many came away with new insight into how the concept of “connectedness” could help boost student achievement.

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Family Engagement is Focus of Day 2 of Summer Leadership Institute

Teachers and administrators need to work with students’ families in order to truly better their lives, said the keynote speaker at Wednesday’s Summer Leadership Institute.

Karen Mapp, a Harvard University professor and consultant with the Department of Education, spoke to a packed hall of district and campus leaders during the second day of one of the district’s largest professional development events.

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Summer Leadership Institute Bringing Team HISD Leaders Together

Campus and central office leadership teams are gathering at Reliant Center for three days of professional development at the 2013 Houston ISD Summer Leadership Institute.

This year’s theme is “Becoming Great All Over … The Connection Between Rigorous and Consistent Instruction and School Safety,” and attendees took part in a number of breakout sessions designed to show how those concepts intersect.

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HISD School Leaders Tag ‘Great All Over’ Bus

Houston ISD Superintendent Dr. Terry Grier smiles after writing a message on a bus during the Summer Leadership Institute at Reliant Center, June 18, 2013.

Houston ISD Superintendent Dr. Terry Grier smiles after writing a message on a bus during the Summer Leadership Institute at Reliant Center, June 18, 2013.

During the first day of the HISD Summer Leadership Institute, Superintendent of Schools Terry Grier challenged principals to share what they can do every day to help their staff, their school, and their students to “become great all over.” Instead of writing their thoughts down on a piece of paper, however, the school leaders grabbed paint pens and “tagged” an HISD school bus parked in front of Reliant Hall.

“Great teachers, principals, and support staff is what it is all about,” said Dr. Grier, as he grabbed a black paint pen and inked his thoughts on the bus. “Our investment in human capital here at HISD is sincere and it is an extremely important piece of what we are ultimately trying to do, which is to make all our schools and students great.”

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HISD Superintendent Terry Grier to Address Class of 2013 at Commencement Ceremonies

Nearly 9,000 seniors to graduate at 41 HISD graduation ceremonies

Starting today nearly 9,000 seniors will graduate from HISD high schools at 41 commencement ceremonies across Houston.  On Saturday and Sunday HISD Superintendent Terry Grier will be addressing the seniors at the commencement ceremonies for Chavez, Washington and East Early College high schools.  Members of the HISD Board of Education will also be taking part in commencement ceremonies across the district.

“It is such an honor to see thousands of students walk across the stage, ready to embark on a new chapter in their lives,” Dr. Grier said.  “At HISD we work hard to ensure all students are college and career ready, so we feel confident that every senior from the Class of 2013 is on the right path to success.”

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Hundreds of Deloitte Volunteers to Beautify Three HISD Campuses

Company’s IMPACT Day to benefit nearly 4,000 students

On Friday about 300 Deloitte employees will be volunteering their day to help beautify three HISD campuses as part of the company’s annual community service project. Nearly 4,000 students from Wharton Elementary, Hamilton Middle and Reagan High School will benefit from this project.

At each campus the volunteers will be helping to improve the look and functionality of the school grounds.  Beautification projects include placing gravel on sidewalks, painting benches and bike racks on campus, repairing basketball courts, gardening, office organization and much more.

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