Tag Archives: EMERGE

HISD to recognize 99 seniors headed to nation’s top tier colleges and universities

The Houston Independent School District will pay tribute Tuesday to 99 graduating scholars from 24 high schools during the second annual EMERGE Senior Awards Ceremony.

Through EMERGE, the scholars have earned the distinction this year of being accepted to colleges and universities such as MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Rice, Smith, Stanford, Tufts, and Yale. As a whole, the group has been awarded more than $20 million in scholarships and financial aid, with the majority of students receiving individual financial packages totaling upwards of $40,000 per year. Continue reading

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier focuses on global education, higher education in 2015 State of the Schools address

Placing a strong emphasis on college attendance and completion, Houston Independent School District Superintendent Terry Grier on Wednesday unveiled plans to expand the district’s successful EMERGE program and double the number of college counselors available to high school students. Continue reading

EMERGE scholars reunite to reflect on college experience, prepare for internships

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Graduates of HISD’s EMERGE program reflected on their first semester of college and learned how to begin a summer internship search during a “homecoming” event held especially for them on Jan. 6. The EMERGE Scholar Homecoming, which took place at the University of Houston, reunited students who came home for the winter break from colleges such as Columbia University, Oberlin College, Smith College, and Yale University.  Continue reading

College acceptance letters start arriving for members of Class of 2015

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Lamar senior Tyra Jenkins poses with the acceptance letter she received from Cornell University. Cornell is her dream school, and she plans to attend it in the fall.

Graduating seniors are starting to discover where their quest for higher education will take them this fall, as colleges and universities across the country are sending out letters of acceptance to those who applied for admission early.

More than two dozen students in the district’s EMERGE program have already received either early decision or early action notices from top tier schools, including Stanford, Notre Dame, Rice, Cornell, and Harvard.   Continue reading

Emerge recruiting students to prepare for college at top universities

A group of Eastwood Academy 10th and 11th graders learned what it takes to be in HISD’s Emerge program, which helps prepare high school students to receive college acceptances and scholarships to the nation’s top colleges and universities.

“We’re looking for students who aren’t afraid to work hard and show their drive,” said Emerge program manager Karthik Soora at an Emerge information session Tuesday at Eastwood.

Emerge is holding information sessions this month at various high schools across the district to encourage more students to apply for the program. The deadline for students to submit an Emerge application is Nov. 1. Continue reading

Emerge students meet mentors at college send-off banquet

Emerge – HISD scholars were congratulated on their success and encouraged to continue to work hard during a college send-off banquet last week. The Emerge fellows, who will begin college this fall at schools such as Stanford, Yale, MIT, Tufts and other top-tier colleges celebrated their achievements and met the mentors who will guide them through the next phase of their education.

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During their years in high school, Emerge students keep in close contact with program managers who guide them through the process of qualifying for and applying to well-known universities. Yet the mentoring doesn’t end after students are accepted into college and put away their high school cap and gown. Students are assigned mentors — volunteers from the community — who help them navigate the college experience through their first year and beyond. Continue reading

EMERGE SAT boot camp aims to boost scores, student dreams

Across the U.S., thousands of high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors buy books, attend seminars and complete online tutorials in hopes of boosting their SAT scores. This year, HISD EMERGE fellows hope to boost their scores by attending an intensive SAT boot camp which provides test strategies and content-based instruction. In past years, the program has led to significant increases in scores on the critical reading, mathematics and writing sections of the SAT.

Students who attended boot camp said they found the materials and instructors helpful:

Continue reading

First-gen student gearing up for the road less traveled

Karen Banda

The route of a minority, low-income, first-generation student is filled with road-blocks and a mix of emotions: anxiety, fear, confusion, happiness, and sadness. I know because I am a first-gen student. I’m anxious to see what’s beyond my hometown; to see the things that I can accomplish. But I am also scared that I will not make it or that I will not do as well as I have these past few years in high school.

This fall, I will embark on the road less traveled by someone with my background – I will leave my home and family to achieve my “impossible dream.”
Continue reading

Liberal arts colleges are focus of #EMERGEtour Day 3

Day 3 of four-day tour by HISD EMERGE students highlighted three of the northeast’s strongest liberal arts schools — Brandeis, Clark, and Boston College. The two private colleges and one private university consistently rank high on various higher education listings, including U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges.

The #EMERGEtour is taking more than 95 students from 15 HISD high schools to nine top-tier university campuses this week.

Here are the students’ impressions of tour Day 3, in their own words: Continue reading

HISD junior: ‘Our economic background doesn’t define us’

Day 2 of HISD’s EMERGE Northeast college and university tour included trips to Harvard and MIT, where students got to walk in the footsteps of such notable alumni as  W.E.B. Du Bois (Harvard),  Buzz Aldrin (MIT), Richard Feynman (MIT) and President Barack Obama (Harvard). The #EMERGEtour will take more than 95 students from 15 HISD high schools to nine top-tier university campuses this week.

Here are the student’s impressions of their second day, in their own words: Continue reading