Great debaters continue their tradition of success

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Lanier Middle School students know that oratorical skill can be a powerful tool. The debate team from that campus attended the National Speech and Debate Association’s National Tournament for High School and Middle School Speech and Debate recently—and walked away with one of the top honors.

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DiscoverU providing HISD students with global education opportunities

Turning out global graduates is the mission of HISD, and Houston-based nonprofit organization DiscoverU is helping the district achieve that goal. Forty-four HISD students completed college and career preparatory programs worldwide during the 2014–2015 school year, and more than 200 more are taking advantage of programs this summer.

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HISD Board of Education approves 2015-2016 budget; raises for teachers, principals, staff

The Houston Independent School District Board of Education on Thursday adopted a 2015-2016 budget with significant salary increases designed to help the district hire and retain the most effective teachers and principals.

As part of the approved budget, teachers will get a minimum salary increase of 2 percent, with beginning teacher salaries jumping up to $51,500 — almost $5,000 more than they earned just two years ago. Certified bilingual teachers would earn an additional $4,000 annual stipend, more than triple the current stipend.

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HISD graduate reflects on the district resources that made the difference

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Meylin Ramirez just graduated with honors as a member of Reagan High School’s Class of 2015. But the journey behind that diploma is a testament to both her willpower and the strength of HISD’s support systems for students.

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Students win study abroad opportunities

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Two HISD high school juniors are well on their way to an education that straddles continents. On June 15, the Institute of International Education (IIE) bestowed Passport Awards on Luz De Leon of Davis High School and Karen Ortiz of Sharpstown International School. The Passport Awards were given to 13 students across the country in an effort to encourage these students to go abroad in college.

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HISD PD hosts School-Based Law Enforcement Summit series

About 200 law enforcement officials are now more equipped to address school safety and security
issues across Houston area schools, thanks to the 2015 Texas School-Based Law Enforcement Summit series held June 7-9 at Westside High School.

The event, hosted by Houston Independent School District Police Department, is a part of the Institute for Criminal Justice Studies program of the Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University.

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Workshops helping teachers become better writing instructors

A series of writing workshops for HISD educators is giving teachers new tools for showing students how to become better writers.

In the June 11 workshop, participants practiced the technique of selecting a “seed topic” to inspire students’ writing through personal memories and experiences.

“When something is meaningful and important to you, you can tell a better story,” said Thompson ES teacher Lenora Green. “Just a prompt can be anything and may not be meaningful to you, but…if it means something, you’ll do a great job at it.”
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Read Sunnyside Read helps students develop financial literacy skills, too

Students at one school in Houston’s Sunnyside community got a chance to build a foundation of financial savvy alongside their reading skills recently, during a four-day literacy camp sponsored by Capital One and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

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About 50 children in grades 1 through 3 took part in the “Literacy for Life – Choices, Character, Careers and College” program at Woodson K–8 during the week of June 11. Activities in math and reading were combined to help students learn basic financial concepts, such as how to set up checking and savings accounts, what a “bounced” check is, and how credit cards work.

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