HISD Graduate Comes Full Circle to Train Teachers on PowerUp Laptops

Elvira Salazar

Cramming a towel under her bedroom door to hide the light, Elvira Salazar defied her father’s orders and studied late into the night to keep up with her high-school homework. Now a dedicated PowerUp instructional technology specialist with HISD, Salazar understands how giving every HISD high school student a laptop for both home and school use will help them to work more effectively and efficiently, not only in the classroom, but after school as well.

“This is going to transform how teachers teach and how students learn,” Salazar said. “I want to help integrate technology into their lesson plans to make sure that these laptops are an effective learning tool.” Salazar left teaching in another district and writing curriculum for Rice University to work with HISD teachers on the digital transformation currently underway.

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Students Have Chance to Help Decide Next Year’s Cafeteria Options

Cheesy garlic bread sticks. Chicken stuffed with broccoli and cheese. Pollock fish crusted with sweet potatoes. Pita pockets with honey and oven roasted turkey and cheese melts. Sweet potato pancakes, French toast sandwiches and empanadas.

Is your mouth watering yet?

These items and dozens of others can be sampled Oct. 24 at HISD’s first-ever, district wide Nutrition Innovation Food Show. The event is designed to showcase innovative and nutritious products being considered for HISD campuses, while also letting students and parents provide feedback as to what they’d like to see offered in school cafeterias.

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Combined Charities Lets Cancer Survivor Give More, More Easily

Diana Perez

If Diana Perez had her way, she might not have any money left in her paycheck by the time she finished contributing to various charities.

“If it was up to me, I’d give to everybody,” she said. “But I had to scale back.”

Perez, a writer in HISD’s Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment department, is also a two-time breast cancer survivor. She was first diagnosed in 2005, and then again in 2012.

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HISD Team Working to Build Supplier Diversity in Bond Program

The HISD supplier diversity team is evaluating strategies to increase the participation of Asian-owned companies doing business with the district.

“We’re doing everything in our power to attract diverse minority- and women-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs),” said HISD Team Lead for Supplier Diversity Bernard Willingham, while speaking at the district’s Asian Advisory Committee meeting on Oct. 14.

At the gathering, he gave an update on the bond program to the committee, which is made up of parents and business leaders from Houston’s Asian community.

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Teachers Going Digital During Saturday Sessions

High school teachers from throughout the district are spending their Saturdays and early-release training days learning how to integrate web tools and digital content into their daily classroom instruction. The training is part of PowerUp, a districtwide program that is giving students their own laptops to use at school and at home. HISD’s Professional Development and Instructional Technology Departments are co-hosting the training sessions, which are designed to give teachers hands-on instruction and guidance on how to use technology to make their lessons more engaging and student centered.

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M/WBE Firm: HISD Business Assistance Office Offers Accessibility

Editor’s note: This profile is part of an occasional series on minority or women-owned companies 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, the contracts awarded to date reflect a nearly 51 percent M/WBE commitment.

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