Dozens of students win regional recognition through Scholastic contest

A Gold Key winning painting entitled "Childhood," by Carnegie Vanguard HS student Oulu Li

A Gold Key winning painting entitled “Childhood,” by Carnegie Vanguard HS student Oulu Li

More than 120 students from 11 different HISD schools earned recognition at the regional level of the Scholastic Art & Writing competition this year, which qualifies them to advance to the national level of judging in New York City.

Forty-two students won the Gold Key award, while 31 took home Silver Key awards, and the remainder earned Honorable Mention.

Westside High School student Christine Willis was also the only HISD student to be named an American Visions finalist. American Visions and American Voices nominees are considered regional “best of show” winners in art and writing (respectively). Each receives a $250 scholarship from sponsor Texas Arts Supply, and one in each category will earn the national medal in March.

The winning entries were selected from approximately 5,000 submissions at the regional level. Visit the HCDE website to see a complete list of winners. Other HISD students on the list are from: Bellaire, Carnegie Vanguard, DeBakey, Waltrip, and Westside high schools; Pershing and Pin Oak middle schools; T.H. Rogers, The Rice School, and the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

Students at 22 high schools participated in second-annual HISD FAFSA Day

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It’s not too late to apply for free financial aid from the federal government

HISD high schools across the district hosted HISD’s second-annual FAFSA Day on Thurs., Feb. 19. Administrators, staff, and volunteers were on hand at 22 area schools to assist students and their parents complete the application accurately and on time.

HISD partnered with Neighborhood Centers, which provided volunteers to help parents file their income tax returns. The family’s financial information is used to calculate the “Expected Family Contribution,” a key factor in the assessment of how much each family is expected to contribute and how much financial aid they will receive. Once students had their parents’ finalized tax information, they could get assistance with their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) application at the same location.

“I came here to do my taxes, so I would be able to file my FAFSA for college,” said Sharpstown senior Preston Seymore. “After I graduate, I’m going to HCC to get my fire and EMT training. This is a wonderful thing, and I recommend that every school have a group of people come out and help students like this.”

Undocumented students are also eligible to receive state aid, but they will need to fill out the TASFA (Texas Application for State Financial Aid), which was created for students who do not have a Social Security number and are not eligible for federal student aid. See Houston FAFSA, a communitywide effort to help high school seniors and their families, for more information.

“Completing the FAFSA is an important step in ensuring college enrollment among our students,” said David Johnston, director of the HISD College Readiness Team. “In fact, seniors who complete the FAFSA are 90 percent more likely to attend college than those who don’t.”

Once students have completed the FAFSA or TASFA application, the colleges they have applied to AND received acceptance letters from will begin to put together a financial aid package for them.

“Deadlines for financial aid vary from school to school, so unfortunately there’s not really a hard deadline,” said College Readiness Specialist Derick Hutchinson. “It really depends on the school the student is going to as to the deadline. But students should always apply for FAFSA before the priority deadline to ensure that it is processed in time for the start of the fall semester.”

For most colleges, the FAFSA priority deadline is March 15, 2015. Although students can apply anytime, grant funding is limited, and colleges cannot guarantee their financial aid award will be processed by the start of the fall semester.

There are thousands of college scholarships out there, but the U.S. government is by far the largest provider of student financial aid. FAFSA gives students access to $150 billion in grants, loans, and work-study funds.

For questions, please contact your high school campus or the HISD College Readiness Dept. at 713-556-7196. Be sure to visit the HISD FAFSA/TAFSA website here.

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Project Advisory Teams tour 4 innovative schools in D.C. area

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The concept of a 21st century school can be hard to imagine. But Project Advisory Team members from nine HISD schools have a clearer vision after a trip to our nation’s capital last week.

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HISD police testing new body cameras

An HISD police officer wears one of the body cameras being tested this month.

An HISD police officer wears one of the body cameras being tested this month.

More than two dozen HISD police officers are patrolling campuses across the district with small cameras clipped to their lapels as part of a pilot program designed to provide an additional tool in boosting student and school safety.

Twenty-five officers began testing the first cameras this month, wearing them while monitoring schools and responding to various incidents. The department aims to fully outfit the 210-officer department with cameras by the 2015-2016 school year. Continue reading →

Need help applying and paying for college?

fafsa-promoFebruary is full of free events to help HISD families

Navigating the college application process and finding financial aid to pay for higher education can be somewhat daunting for both students and parents, but HISD and various community partners are here to help throughout the entire month of February.

Mark your calendars, and check below for a list of FREE fairs, expos, and events that are open to middle- and high-school parents.

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Meet the new Board of Education president in HISD’s ‘Up Close’

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Rhonda Skillern-Jones was elected the HISD Board of Education’s new president for 2015, and outgoing president Juliet Stipeche used her farewell episode of HISD’s Up Close program to give viewers an introduction to the board’s new leader. Continue reading →

Five HISD schools named finalists for Touchdown Club’s sportsmanship awards

HISD representatives accept good sportsmanship awards on behalf of Austin, Davis, North Forest, Sterling, and Yates high schools at the Touchdown Club’s annual luncheon Jan. 28.

HISD representatives accept good sportsmanship awards on behalf of Austin, Davis, North Forest, Sterling, and Yates high schools at the Touchdown Club’s annual luncheon Jan. 28.

Austin, Davis, North Forest, Sterling, and Yates high schools were all named finalists for the Touchdown Club Houston’s annual Sportsmanship Awards.

Nominees are determined based on referees’ scores after every game in the areas of:

  • actions of coaches
  • actions of players
  • actions of supports groups (such as parents and bands)
  • respect for the American flag.

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eNews Highlight: It’s over—all of my college applications are done!

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.

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Bellaire HS graduates nail perfect scores on AP macroeconomics exam

Bellaire HS grads Yuqing “Mike” Xiong, left, and Jinchen Zou

Bellaire HS grads Yuqing “Mike” Xiong, left, and Jinchen Zou

Two Bellaire HS graduates just learned that they made perfect scores on last May’s Advanced Placement (AP) macroeconomics exam. Yuqing “Mike” Xiong and Jinchen Zou graduated from Bellaire last spring and took the exam to earn college credit and be eligible for higher-level courses as university freshmen after completing Michael Clark’s economics course.

Jinchen and Yuqing’s are two of only 51 students worldwide to have made a perfect score on the exam in 2014, which was taken by 117,209 students last year. Jinchen now attends Yale University and Yuqing is going to the University of Texas.

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Former Durham ES teacher now back on campus as a reading mentor

RHR_AnnieMcReyn_300cIt’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.