The Houston Independent School District paid tribute on Friday to four of its long-standing, dedicated partners during the Annual Partnership Appreciation Breakfast.
The Houston Astros, Houston Food Bank, IPAA/PESA Education Center and Target each received a 2013 Hall of Fame award for their exemplary service to HISD students. The award is presented to businesses and organizations that have an impact on multiple schools and serve as a model for other partnerships.
What: The Houston Independent School District will pay tribute to four of its long-standing, dedicated partners during the Annual Partnership Appreciation Breakfast. The 2013 theme — HISD Partners: Becoming Great All Over — serves to recognize the importance of our partners and the role they place in students’ success. Each of the four honorees will receive a 2013 Hall of Fame award for their exemplary service to HISD students. Winners will be announced during the ceremony.
Who: HISD Board of Education Trustees Juliet Stipeche, Rhonda Skillern-Jones and Michael Lunceford, HISD Chief Business/Community Relations Officer Michele Pola and many district partners.
When: Friday, Oct. 25, 2013 from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Breakfast starts at 7:30 a.m. with the program following at 8:15 a.m.
Where: Kingdom Builders Center, 6011 Orem Drive
Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Ken Houston will deliver a motivational message to Houston Independent School District students about his life experiences and the tools to success that made him great in the game of football. The former Houston Oiler and HISD counselor will speak to Wheatley and Kashmere high school students during a video conference. The event is part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Heart of a Hall of Famer series. Houston attended Prairie View A&M University and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
Who: Pro Football Hall of Fame Safety Ken Houston
What: During a video conference Ken Houston will speak about the traits that made him one of football’s greatest players. The event is the latest in the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Heart of a Hall of Famer education series.
When: Wednesday; December 5, 2012 at 10 a.m. (Kashmere) and 11:30 a.m.
(Wheatley)
Where: Wheatley High School (4801 Providence) at 10:00 a.m.
Texas Southern University School of Education Auditorium hosts Kashmere students (3100 Cleburne Street) at 11:30 a.m.
HISD will be celebrating three of its long-standing community partners by inducting them into the district’s 2012 Hall of Fame during the annual Partnership Appreciation Breakfast on Friday, October 5 at 8:15a.m. at the Royal Sonesta Hotel (2222 West Loop South).
This year’s honorees, KBR, Port of Houston Authority, and Prepared 4 Life,will be recognized for their continued support and efforts to provide extra resources and opportunities for HISD students.
“We depend on our community partners to help us better serve our students and provide them opportunities that will prepare them for the workforce,” HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said. “They are vital to the success of the children in Houston. We can’t thank them enough for their continuous commitment to helping Houston’s students.”
The 2012 event’s theme, “Partnership Champions,” will recognize the partners’ efforts to go above and beyond to help HISD students achieve their dreams through their collaboration.
The KBR partnership began with the original HISD-Halliburton partnership in the 1980s. This partnership provides HISD with volunteers and financial contributions as well as support for organizations that help the district’s students. The KBR Discover Engineering group has volunteered for HISD programs as judges for science fairs, Youth Inventors’ Showcases, HISD/KBR Science Teacher Award, and FIRST Robotics Competitions. KBR is known for its three year commitment of $25,000 per year beginning in 2009 for the KBR Science Teacher of the Year Award.
The Port of Houston Authority began its partnership with HISD in 1986. Since then, the partnership has evolved to focus on encouraging students to pursue career opportunities in maritime transportation or associated fields. Thousands of students have taken tours of the Ship Channel on the Sam Houston inspection boat. The cornerstone of this partnership is the maritime program at Austin and Yates high schools. Students participating in the maritime program have the benefit of dual course credits, field trips, internships, college scholarship opportunities and maritime industry themed forums. Students also participate in the Port of Houston Authority/Texas Southern University summer transportation academy program and the Boy Scouts of America’s Venturing program.
Prepared 4 Life has been an HISD partner since 2005. The partnership began with after-school activities offered at select middle schools to instill life skills, character education and self-reliance. An E-mentoring program was later implemented to help students as well. Prepared 4 Life is noted for sponsoring Lemonade Day which began in 2007 and offers students entrepreneurial experience by encouraging them to select lemonade stand sites while schools choose to have school, grade-level, or classroom stands. To extend the entrepreneurial experience to more students, Serving Up Lemonade was implemented in 2010 for sixth-grade students and expanded the next year to include seventh-grade students.