High school students lead STEM lesson for elementary, middle students

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Booker T. Washington High School teacher Dr. Nghia Le and his students recently led hands-on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities for students and parents at Garden Oaks Montessori.

Students collaborated in their efforts to design the perfect landing vehicle for their precious cargo – an egg. Students worked together in small groups and learned that sometimes failure is part of the process for scientists who learn from practice in order to perfect a design.  Continue reading →

Students investigate juvenile crime scene for geographic information systems presentation

Students at the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice collected data and created maps during an investigation of juvenile crimes committed in the Houston metropolitan area for a presentation at Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day in the City of Houston.

Students from HSLECJ and Houston Academy for International Studies in addition to Lee, Waltrip, and Wheatley high schools participated in the grassroots effort on Nov. 21 at Texas Southern University to learn about geography and the uses of GIS in society. HSLECJ students were the only group to make a GIS presentation at the event. Continue reading →

Latino Police Officers Association shares bounty with needy children

NLPOA_440x230Thanksgiving came a little earlier than usual for a dozen needy HISD students this year, but they were still delighted to receive free turkey dinners with all the trimmings from local members of the National Latino Peace Officers Association (NLPOA).

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HISD, Neil Bush encourage Houstonians to give back by reading to students

Community asked to spend at least 30 minutes a week reading to a child

HISD and the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation encouraged Houstonians to volunteer for the Read Houston Read literacy program in honor of ‘Giving Tuesday’ — a day specifically established to celebrate generosity and give back.

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Hour of Code registration pays off with $10,000 prize for one school

Kolter ES one of 51 campuses across the country to win in random drawingStudents work on a worldwide computer security legal hacking challenge at Clifton Middle School, November 6, 2014. (Houston ISD/Dave Einsel)

Kolter Elementary School is the lucky school from Texas to win $10,000 worth of laptops for registering to participate in the Hour of Code, through which millions of students will spend at least one hour learning about computer science next week.

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HISD Futures Academy gives students head start on college, high-demand career industry

Challenging program lets students work in the field, earn college credit

The Futures Academy of Petroleum Engineering Technology at Furr High School is preparing students to pursue college degrees in fields such as engineering and business administration at four-year universities.

The academy was designed to train students to work as engineering technicians in the downstream and midstream petroleum industry. Students complete coursework in areas such as hydrocarbon safety, oil exploration and drilling and receive career training as part of a partnership with the Houston Community College and companies in engineering.

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Computer programming classes teach students how to code, create mobile apps

Schools across district to take part in ‘Hour of Code’ Dec. 8-14

At HISD’s Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan (BCMA), proficiency in computer science is not just encouraged, but expected. The school offers a computer programming course on building web applications as part of the curriculum and as an elective.

“Our goal is to offer this course to every student between grades six through eight,” said BCMA Principal Jyoti Malhan. “A coding class is critical for my students, and the most important reason I offered it is the need for our kids to learn coding and programming to be better prepared for the workforce.”

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HISD educators, administrators tour California schools integrating Linked Learning approach

A team of 40 school educators and  district support staff recently traveled to California for a site visit of five schools that have successfully combined core academics with career-based knowledge and skills in collaborative and research-intensive learning environments known as Linked Learning. Continue reading →