HISD students to compete at STEM Symposium and Education Rainbow Challenge Nov. 15
As part of HISD’s efforts to strengthen students’ skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), more than 1,500 students are expected to explore future career options in those areas at two weekend events — the HISD STEM Symposium and the Education Rainbow Challenge.
The robotics club at the newly-renamed Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men is hosting a VEX robotics tournament on Saturday, Nov. 15, at Space Center Houston (1601 NASA Parkway, 77058). Now in its third year, the Knights of Engineering Robotics Club at the all-boys academy is inviting families from throughout HISD to attend the tournament, which is expected to last most of the day.
EMERGE graduate gives advice on the importance of taking risks in this week’s edition
Graduating seniors face a dizzying array of choices when considering a college to attend. In addition to selecting programs and possible majors, students have to decide whether to stay close to home or leave everything familiar behind by enrolling in a university thousands of miles away.
The Houston Independent School District Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to approve plans for the district’s first-ever Arabic Language Immersion Magnet School.
The school is set to open its doors in the fall of 2015, with two pre-kindergarten and two kindergarten classes. A new grade level would be added each year as the students progress through the fifth grade.
Editor’s note: This profile is part of an occasional series on minority- or women-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs) that do business with HISD. The district’s minimum M/WBE goal levels are 20 percent for all levels of purchasing and construction, and 25 percent for professional services. In the 2007 bond program, that commitment reached nearly 34 percent. In the 2012 program, contracts awarded are expected to top 53 percent. Continue reading
Six months ago, Lauren Paquette was teaching in North Carolina and living at the poverty level with her husband and son. Now, that’s all changed.
“We started realizing, ‘We can’t afford to live here anymore,’” explains the Hobby Elementary School fourth-grade teacher. “I saw that HISD was coming back to Charlotte, and I said, ‘You know what, let’s just go and see what happens.’”
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That was this past July, and within weeks of meeting with HISD’s Teacher Recruitment team, Paquette had packed up her classroom and headed to Houston.
“For me, it was a $20,000 raise, and that’s huge,” said Paquette. “It’s almost a whole other salary.”
Continue reading
Rodriguez Elementary School students, along with the Gulfton-area community, now have a new soccer field, thanks to the generosity and fundraising efforts of the Dreambuilders Foundation and United Healthcare. The two groups joined forces with Houston Texans player Chris Myers for a campus celebration on Nov. 11.
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Due to the weather, the rededication ceremony was conducted indoors, but despite the change in plans, Myers was able to create an indoor soccer challenge for the kids and talk to them about the importance of good health habits and being physically fit. Continue reading
Magazine honors school district for bus-tracking tool, safety training, green fleet
The Houston Independent School District’s Transportation Department recently was named a recipient of District Administration magazine’s 2014 Districts of Distinction award.
Districts of Distinction is a new national recognition program created by the publication to honor school districts that are demonstrating education excellence with innovative approaches and ideas that work.
HISD has been working with the Houston Food Bank for years to provide non-perishable, kid-appealing, nutritious foods to students who are at high risk of food insecurity or are chronically hungry over the weekend. About 2,100 district students from 62 schools receive bags of donated food each week through the Food Bank’s Backpack Buddy program.
Now, that program is slated to become even easier for campus administrators and staff, as HISD’s Nutrition Services department will begin delivering the food bags directly to participating schools starting Nov. 17. Continue reading
Briargrove Elementary School students are once again being considered for a national award for their efforts to build a greener campus and maintain a healthy environment.
As part of HISD’s recent Green Apple Day of Service, the school has entered their solar-powered hydro-planter project into the 2014 National Reuse Contest, sponsored by The Reuse People of America.