Architect chosen for new Energy Institute HS campus

Energy Institute High School Texas-based VLK Architects has been selected to design the new $37 million Energy Institute High School, one of HISD’s newest and fastest-growing magnet programs.

The school, currently located on West 28th Street, will double its size next school year when it adds another freshman class of 200 students. The school will eventually accommodate 800 students in grades 9 -12. The curriculum is designed to prepare students for college and careers, particularly in the fast-growing energy industry, with an emphasis on math, science, engineering and project-based learning.

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YMCPA robotics teacher named SECME Teacher of the Year

Vince Hamilton, a teacher at Young Men’s College Preparatory Academy, got a big surprise on Thursday – the Southeastern Consortium of Minorities in Engineering named him Teacher of the Year!

YMCPA Principal Dameion Crook and teacher Vince Hamilton (Houston Independent School District)

YMCPA Principal Dameion Crook and teacher Vince Hamilton

“I told him he needed to have a meeting with me about some issue with a parent and he needed to get down here right now,” Principal Dameion Crook said. “What he didn’t know was 400 kids and his family and friends had assembled in the gymnasium. When we brought him in, he was extremely surprised.”

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Two HSPVA students win Tommy Tune Award

Best Featured Performer winners from HSPVA's Avenue Q, Kyle Legacion and Emily Scott. Kyle and Emily portrayed the Bad Idea Bears in Avenue Q. (Houston Independent School District)

Best Featured Performer winners from HSPVA’s Avenue Q, Kyle Legacion and Emily Scott.

Two students from the High School for Performing and Visual Arts have been honored with a Tommy Tune Award for their performance in the campus’ production of Avenue Q, School Edition.

Students Kyle Legacion and Emily Scott were jointly named best feature performer as the “Bad Idea Bears.”

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HISD touts sourcing process during small business conference

More than 300 small business owners and supplier diversity professionals learned how HISD has improved its strategic sourcing process during a conference held Thursday.

“We always get questions about what are the projects we have available and when are they going to take place,” said Gilberto Carles, the district’s general manager of procurement services. The department recently updated its website to provide small businesses better information about projects and bid opportunities. “You will be able to find out who the buyer is for a project, the project name, the schedule.”

Carles was one of 16 speakers at the Government Procurement Connections’ 2014 State of Procurement event held at Houston Community College Southeast. The three-hour program included various speakers from Houston Metro, the City of Houston, Port of Houston Authority, Houston Airport System, and NASA, as well as opportunities for small businesses to network.

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Lee HS boys’ soccer team plays in state semifinals game

Lee High School’s boys’ soccer team will play in the 4A UIL soccer tournament on Friday, and their classmates held a pep rally on Thursday to show how much they support the Generals.

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Lee (19-4-1) will face the team from Pharr Valley View (25-2) in Georgetown, Texas, on Friday. If they win that game, they’ll advance to the finals and play the winner of the semifinal game between Northwest Nelson and Frisco Wakeland. This is the first time the Generals have played in the state tournament.

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“Literacy By 3” built on common goal: All students reading by Grade 3

HISD’s chief academic officer unveils comprehensive literacy plan, to be implemented starting in 2014-2015

HISD’s Chief Academic Officer Daniel Gohl presented a comprehensive literacy plan to the Board of Education on Thursday. The plan, Literacy By 3, engages students, teachers, parents, and community members around a common goal: having every student reading with proficiency by Grade 3.

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Week of the Young Child event honors early childhood educators

Two 4-year-olds in lab coats launched a model rocket they’d built themselves and kicked off an event to honor early childhood educators at HISD’s Hattie Mae White building on Tuesday, April 15.  Made of paper, PVC pipe and an empty water bottle, the two tiny scientists were able to explain without hesitation how the contraption worked, thanks to the hard work of early educators at Fonwood Early Childhood Center.

The district celebrated national “Week of the Young Child” a bit later than usual because of STAAR testing, but that didn’t impact enthusiasm.  Artwork graced the walls of the board auditorium, and early childhood educators gathered for refreshments and networking, as young children from HISD’s early childhood centers provided a walking and talking museum just outside the doors.

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Tragic anniversary, generous gesture from T.H. Rogers student

(Houston Independent School District)A T.H. Rogers student has collected books to help rebuild school libraries that were damaged in a massive fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, one year ago, on April 17, 2013.

Sixth-grader Camille Abaya is on Education in Action’s 2013-2014 Lone Star Youth Council, which has 27 members across the state. The group came up with ways to collect books in their areas, and Camille asked members of three different clubs to participate. She gathered a total of 114 books.

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Lamar HS mixed doubles tennis team headed to state playoffs

(Houston Independent School District)Two Lamar High School tennis players will go to Austin the last week of April for the state playoffs.

The mixed doubles team of Emily Chen and John Milstead advanced to the state quarterfinals after defeating a team from Spring Branch Memorial High School on April 16.

Emily and John’s quarterfinals game is set for Monday, April 28, at 12:30 p.m. at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center at the University of Texas in Austin. If they win, they’ll advance to the semifinals later that afternoon. The finals match will be played the following day.