Tag Archives: linked learning

Students exploring Linked Learning through Junior Achievement

Thanks to a $30 million federal Race to the Top-District (RTT-D) grant HISD won in 2013, students at 119 campuses are connecting the concepts they learn in the classroom to the real world that awaits them after graduation. 

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Automotive technician training program offers Sterling HS students hands-on career experience

Mapping out the road for life after high school can be intimidating for some students, but with the help of HISD’s Transportation department and International Trucks of Houston, students from Sterling Aviation High School are quickly on their way to meaningful careers in the automotive industry.

The Automotive Diesel Internship Program, sponsored by HISD’s Transportation Fleet Operations, creates a hands-on opportunity for departmental staff to train future automotive technicians and provide guidance to students. Training is divided among all five motor pools in the district in hopes of giving students the background and initiative to succeed in automotive mechanics.

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STEM fields come to life for ELL, migrant students at Rice

Twenty-eight students in HISD’s English Language Learner and migrant programs spent two weeks of their summer participating in hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) activities at the STEM Leadership and Design Fabrication Academy at Rice University.

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The students, who attend Austin, Chávez, Davis, Furr, Kashmere, Liberty, Lee, Sam Houston, Sharpstown, and Waltrip high schools, got a taste of what careers in a STEM-related field could be like. Continue reading →

More teachers building connections between industry and classroom

Good teachers know how to inspire students by using the world around them. And that’s just what about 100 HISD educators have been doing this month through Teacher Externship Week, a program sponsored by Linked Learning in order to promote job-based education.

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Various industries agreed to host core curriculum teachers for a week so that the latter could acquire first-hand experience and insights into career paths. After shadowing employers, teachers will bring their newfound wisdom back to the classroom this fall. Externship locations included the Houston Public Library, the Federal Reserve Bank Cybersecurity branch, Memorial Hermann Hospital, and the Houston Fire Department, among others. Continue reading →

HISD students venture into the world of STEM at Rice

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Eastwood Academy student Michael Casio tests water samples in a microbiology lab.

A chemistry formula is just letters to be memorized until it becomes the answer to a problematic disease.

This summer, a group of HISD students are interning in various labs at Rice University and finding such answers. Linked Learning, an HISD program that initiates applied and career-based learning, created these internships with help from the Rice Office of STEM Engagement. More than 300 students applied for 12 spots, making the six-week paid internship applicant pool more competitive than that of a top-tier college.

At the Rice labs, each student is paired with a graduate student mentor. The interns are helping their mentors research everything from Alzheimer’s disease to solar cells to volcanoes. After a few short weeks in the advanced labs, the interns can now toss out scientific terms without a hint of a stammer and handle chemical samples as if it were second nature. Continue reading →

Linked Learning gives recent grads a jump on public works careers

LiLe_PubWksTour_440x230Students from Furr and Chávez high schools tour largest wastewater facility in the city

The source of our water is becoming the source of a career for several HISD graduates. Fifteen students who just graduated from Furr HS and Chávez HS were selected to partake in a three-week class on water maintenance that will result in them gaining Class D water operator licenses as well as eligibility for employment with the City of Houston Public Works Department.

The class is a part of HISD’s Linked Learning initiative, which combines academics and hands-on learning to prepare students for real-world experiences and career pathways.

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Fourth-graders visit Texas A&M and University of Texas at Austin

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It’s never too early to get students excited about college. Shadowbriar and Mading elementary schools took fourth-grade students on college visits recently. Close to 150 Shadowbriar students, teachers, and staff, as well as some alumni parents, traveled to Texas A&M University (TAMU), and 55 Mading students went to University of Texas at Austin (UT).

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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 →

AVID program supports low-income students’ quest for college

The desks in seventh-grade teacher Zachary Cummings’ AVID classroom at Hamilton Middle School are arranged so that students can work in groups. Collaboration is one of the five hallmarks of AVID, along with reading, writing, inquiry, and organization.

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Cummings’ students recently quizzed each other on Cornell notes they took on a PowerPoint presentation about the history of Apple Inc. Cornell notes are just one example of college-level study techniques students learn in AVID, a global nonprofit organization directed at students who are capable of completing a college-preparatory path if they receive the proper support. The focus is on low-income students whose families don’t traditionally attend college.

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HISD to link virtual learning to classroom with on the job video conferences

Career professionals will soon be able to join an HISD class virtually to speak to students live on camera about their industry, giving students an up-close and personal look at numerous professions.

As part of a new HISD Linked Learning initiative to combine core academics with career-based knowledge, hundreds of career and technical education teachers participated in a two-hour training this week to learn how to use Nepris.com, a web-based platform that easily connects teachers and students with industry experts for video conferences. Although teachers often organize face-to-face student visits with professionals, this tool will allow teachers and students to participate in these sessions without having to leave the classroom.  Continue reading →