Category Archives: STEM

HISD students focus on the future in unique Technology Applications elective

Most middle schoolers wouldn’t envision themselves producing and starring in their own TV show, writing lines of code to program 3-D prints, or building computers from scratch, but for Burbank Middle School Technology Applications students, that’s an average Wednesday. Under the guidance of Technology teacher Sergio Luviano, Burbank students have the opportunity to master complex technological concepts through engaging projects and real-world application in this unique elective class.

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HISD students get wild with visit from Houston Zoo ambassador animals

Fonville Middle School is an HISD magnet campus that houses the Academy for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) Professionals. Under the direction of Magnet Coordinator Nishtha Pant, Fonville’s three-year-old magnet program gives STEM scholars access to classes developed to foster creative thinking in scientific fields.

Fonville’s STEM curriculum begins with Introduction to STEM in the sixth grade and branches out into three learning pathways: Engineering, Information Technology, and Computer Science. To supplement these programs of study, Fonville works with community organizations to introduce further STEM concepts. One of these organizations is the Houston Zoo, who visited Fonville on Friday, Nov. 3, with three animal ambassadors in tow.

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After-school club encourages girls to pursue STEM

Girls Who Code is an organization that provides free coding curriculum to school clubs with a few core goals: coding, teamwork, and sisterhood. Girls Who Code exists to inspire students to see themselves as computer scientists—not just girls, but especially girls—who historically have been afforded less exposure to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) learning and fewer opportunities in technical and engineering fields.

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Hartsfield ES students embark on underwater drone project

On the journey to Destination 2035, HISD educators are looking for ways to incorporate innovative lessons in technology-focused core competencies. At Hartsfield Elementary School, students are learning with underwater drones.

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HISD students use STEM concepts to design spy gadgets for special Netflix events

What do you get when you combine a hit movie franchise, a box of crayons, and a cafeteria full of inventive fifth graders? If you didn’t say “gadgets designed to save the world,” then you’re not thinking like a Spy Kid.

Students at several HISD elementary schools were treated to a preview of the new Netflix movie “Spy Kids: Armageddon” and challenged to design their own spy gadget with the hope that the exercise will serve as a gateway to an interest in STEM learning.

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Chávez HS students blast off toward national rocketry competition

The casual observer might never guess that the students who gather after school in Dr. Maqsuda Afroz’s science classroom at César E. Chávez High School are anything but ordinary high schoolers. They gossip and smack-talk and speculate about the future, most of them seniors with one foot out the door. Few would guess that these “average high schoolers” are in fact literal rocket scientists.

The Chávez Rocketry Club, headed by Afroz, spends two afternoons a week (and sometimes lunch periods or whatever scraps of free time they can get) designing and engineering model rockets for an international competition, The American Rocketry Challenge.

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Celebrated Hispanic astronaut gives HISD students out-of-this-world surprise

As students gathered in the Deady Middle School auditorium on Friday, Sept. 15, they thought they knew what they were in for. Deady students, along with students from Milby High School and Davila Elementary, were treated the day before to a preview screening of the new Amazon Prime film, A Million Miles Away, the life story of astronaut José Hernández. Little did they know that José Hernández himself was waiting in the wings to surprise them.

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HISD students multiply summer fun with Rice University math camps

Over summer break, Rice University welcomes hundreds of middle and high school students to participate in various academic camps offered on campus. The Tapia Camps, named for mathematician and Rice professor Dr. Richard Tapia, are for rising eighth-12th graders interested in STEM and honing their calculus skills before the new school year.

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Teen journalists discover “More to the Story” covering news in their school and community

Attucks Middle School prides itself on wearing many hats in order to consistently create opportunities for students to engage with and experience the community around them. In doing so, Attucks has made itself a home for a variety of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) magnet programs including a gardening club, an award-winning robotics program, and a culinary club via the Attucks STEAM Academy.

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HISD & TxDOT team up with mobile app to make driving near schools safer

HISD’s Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy is partnering with Houston ConnectSmart to help the Texas Department of Transportation end the streak of daily deaths on Texas roadways.

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