Tag Archives: NCAA

Student spotlight: Yates HS communications students participate in CBS Sports Symposium

Leave a reply

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles designed to highlight the work of HISD students, particularly as it relates to developing global graduate skills, connecting learning to careers, or preparing for higher education. In this entry, we see members of the communications program at Yates High School participating in a CBS Sports Symposium, one of the many Final Four events benefiting HISD students.

Representatives from CBS, Turner Sports, and the NCAA held a symposium with Yates HS students on March 30 as part of the lead-up to the Final Four showdown.

Continue reading →

Codwell ES students celebrate renovation of Morefield Boys & Girls Club

Leave a reply

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is committed to making a lasting impact on each Final-Four city, and in Houston, that meant working with Lowe’s to complete a total renovation of the Morefield Boys & Girls Club on Selinsky Road near Codwell Elementary School. Thanks to NCAA Legacy Restorations presented by Lowe’s, Morefield was refurbished with a new basketball court, library, state-of-the-art computer lab, and garden.

Continue reading →

HISD to announce winning school of NCAA Read to the Final Four literacy challenge

Leave a reply
Carillo ES learn they are in the lead

Carrillo Elementary School students learn they are in the lead for the Read to the Final Four challenge in November 2015.

Nearly 10,000 HISD elementary school students will fill NRG Stadium (Reliant Parkway, 77054) on Friday, April 1 for the district’s announcement of the winner of the NCAA Team Works Read to the Final Four Literacy Program at Reese’s Final Four Friday event.

The program begins at 11 a.m., but prior to that, Waltrip HS’s band will play as students arrive, and Atherton ES’s drum line will perform before the announcement of the winning school at 11:40 a.m., which will receive a $5,000 cash prize, Final Four trophy, and campus celebration. The final four elementary schools in the competition are Browning, Carrillo, Dogan, and Janowski. Additionally, the top readers from each of the 68 schools will receive a bike from CYCLE. Attendees are welcome to stay for the remainder of the day and watch special practice games and tributes. The day’s activities are free and open to the public, including parking in the stadium’s Blue Lot beginning at 9 a.m. Anything brought into the stadium during all Final Four events must be in a clear bag, due to security. Some 125,000 clear bags are being given away at Houston hotels and the George R. Brown Convention Center, as well as on METRORail platforms. Find full details here.

Continue reading →

Street artist, Codwell ES students re-imagine NCAA March Madness logo

Leave a reply

Well-known Houston street artist GONZO247 shared his craft with about a dozen Codwell Elementary School students on Jan. 20, creating a colorful painting of the new men’s NCAA March Madness logo.

The painting will hang in a soon-to-be-restored basketball court at the Jim & Barbara Morefield Boys & Girls Club, which serves nearly 1,000 predominately African-American youth.

The new NCAA logo was announced immediately following the art lesson at a press conference celebrating the NCAA men’s college basketball Final Four tournament, which will be held in Houston April 1–4. The painting was unveiled at the press conference, along with a plan to restore the basketball court.

Continue reading →

Schools advance to ‘Elite 8’ round of Read to the Final Four

Leave a reply

Eight HISD elementary schools advanced to the fourth round – the Elite 8 – of the NCAA Read to the Final Four Literacy Program, as we count down to The Final Four.

The third-grade students logged an additional 1,112,338 minutes of reading time for a total of more than 3 million minutes since the launch of the literacy competition.  More than 1,700 students at 16 schools logged reading time during this round.

Here is the ranking of elementary schools that made it to this round:

Number 8: Janowski

Number 7: Kennedy

Number 6: Marshall

Number 5: Browning

Number 4 : Tijerina

Number 3 : Anderson

Number 2: Carrillo Elementary

Number 1: Dogan

Congratulations to all the elementary schools in the contest. Third-graders participating in the fourth round received a book to keep, courtesy of the 2016 NCAA™ Men’s Final Four™. The competition was created by HISD in partnership with the Houston NCAA Final Four Local Organizing Committee, Houston Public Library, and University of Houston.

Students who did not advance should keep reading, because there may be additional prizes for top individual readers in April 2016.

Starting next fall, college-bound athletes must ‘earn 2.3 or take a knee’

Leave a reply

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has changed its initial eligibility requirements to play Division I and II sports, and college-bound high-school athletes will need to take note so they don’t end up on the sidelines warming the bench.

“The biggest change is to the minimum grade point average (GPA) requirement for core courses, which will increase from 2.0 to 2.3 as of the fall of 2016,” said HISD Director of Athletics Marmion Dambrino. “That means students who are on the edge in those areas will really have to buckle down to be eligible to participate in athletics programs or receive athletic scholarships as freshmen in college.” Continue reading →

Thirty-two schools advance to the next round of Read to the Final Four

2 Replies

Celebratory pep rally gives special shout out to top five

In a fun-filled ceremony at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, a crowd gathered (and some watched live, online) to hear the announcement of the 32 schools who will advance to the next round of the NCAA Read to the Final Four Literacy Challenge.

The competition was created by the district in partnership with the Houston NCAA Final Four Local Organizing Committee, Houston Public Library, and the University of Houston. Houston will host the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four April 2–4 at NRG Stadium. Thus far, elementary school students in the literacy challenge have reported 1,141,283 minutes of total reading time. Continue reading →

HISD kicks off student reading challenge with NCAA, Houston Public Library, UH

Leave a reply

The Houston Independent School District announced Thursday a partnership with the Houston NCAA Final Four Local Organizing Committee, Houston Public Library and the University of Houston on a bracket-themed reading challenge that encourages students to read at least 30 minutes a day.

Nearly 6,800 third-graders will participate in the reading challenge known as the NCAA Team Works Read to the Final Four Literacy Program leading up to the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four that will be held in Houston April 2-4 at NRG Stadium. Continue reading →

NCAA donates backpacks to 6,800 HISD students

Leave a reply

About 6,800 HISD third-grade students will get free backpacks full of supplies, thanks to the NCAA.

“Each student will get a notebook, pencils, pens, crayons, rulers, and other school supplies,” said Doug Hall, president of the Houston organizing committee for the 2016 NCAA Final Four. Continue reading →