Mobile investment apps are the wave of the future, and there is a new one on the market designed to turn novice investors into seasoned financial pros – created entirely by two seniors from Bellaire High School.

Co-founded by students Ryan Knightly and James Wei, InvestorPrep is a free mobile app that aims to make learning about investing an easy and engaging process by teaching how to invest in various securities through different styles. The app, which is available on both Apple and android platforms, contains a wide range of lessons from basic investing terminology to advanced investing methods.

When the 32nd annual Art Car Parade kicks off on Saturday along Allen Parkway, some 19 HISD schools will be in the lineup.

More than 250 cars, bikes, skaters, and motorized creations that will wind through the streets of Downtown Houston starting at 2 p.m. and end up back along Allen Parkway. For the parade route and complete details, see Houston Art Car Parade. 

All HISD juniors will take the SAT during the regular school day on Tuesday, April 23.

To help them prepare for the test, Khan Academy has collaborated with CollegeBoard, the makers of the SAT, to create free, online personalized practice.

Students across the district have seen point increases of more than 500 points if they dedicate just 45 minutes to an hour each day on Khan Academy. According to CollegeBoard, 20 hours of SAT preparation with Khan Academy is associated with an average score increase of 115 points (nearly double the average score gain compared to students who do not use Khan Academy).

Student SAT scores are required by most two- and four-year colleges. Doing well on the SAT can secure both admission and a major scholarship—maybe even a full ride—for college. 

To begin preparing for the SAT on Khan Academy, students need to link their Khan and CollegeBoard accounts. Once the two are linked, students will be directed to the areas of study on which they need to focus. Students should visit http://houstonisd.org/khanacademy and follow the steps to create and link their accounts.

For questions or more information, contact Jennifer Ertel at JErtel@HoustonISD.org / 713-967-5231. Students, click here to begin.

More than 250 high school students will present technology-based projects they have developed throughout the school year at HISD’s third annual Together with Tech Student Conference this weekend. 

Teams will compete by presenting the project to a panel of judges from companies such as Baker Hughes, ExxonMobil and Code Park Houston. 

The students’ projects must offer a tech-based solution to a defined problem for the communication, transportation, and justice fields. Products presented to the judges must fall into one of the following categories: mobile/web app, multimedia production or working model/prototype.

The top team in each category will receive $1,300 in scholarship money. 

The conference will also feature an expo where non-competing teams will showcase their projects, as well as interactive activities for attendees.

Students of all ages are invited to participate in activities that include a Learning.com Tech Playground, Adobe Spark Photo Booth and a STEM Hacking Workshop hosted by Microsoft. 

The competition and awards ceremony will be live streamed on HISD’s Instructional Technology YouTube channel starting at 8 a.m., Saturday, April 6.