HISD Executive Officer of Specialized Learning and Services Khechara Bradford received her Doctoral Degree in Professional Leadership from the University of Houston-College of Education this past weekend alongside her sister, Ayana Lebron, who serves as Director of Special Education for Spring ISD.
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Third Ward students become Coogs for a day
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Article reposted with permission from the University of Houston College of Education
More than 100 students from Third Ward and the surrounding area had a chance to envision themselves as future Coogs during an activity-packed visit to campus this week.
The University of Houston Advancing Community Engagement and Service Institute organized the campus visits on Tuesday and Wednesday for students from Blackshear, Foster and Hartsfield elementary schools and Yates and Sterling high schools. Continue reading
College Readiness wraps up 2015–2016 with resounding success
The HISD College Readiness Dept. works closely with HISD high schools to create and maintain a college-bound culture. The district saw a major increase in college applications and FAFSA completions this past school year, with a 23-percentage-point increase in college applications over last year and a 10-percentage-point increase in financial-aid applications.
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Twenty-eight new College Success Advisers (CSAs) and 15 new College Success Managers (CSM) were definitely a factor in the increases. Last summer, thanks to a Houston Endowment grant of $3 million, the college advisers and managers were hired and trained to assist district seniors with applying for college and scholarships.
HISD to announce winning school of NCAA Read to the Final Four literacy challenge
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.
Magnet Spotlight: Austin HS navigating maritime and teaching profession pathways
Campus is fourth in a series of articles on magnet schools with space still available
Students who attend Austin High School have two enticing study pathways available to them. They can embark on a path to becoming educators themselves through the school’s well-established teaching professions program, or they can explore careers in the thriving maritime industry.
When the school’s teaching program was created in 1982, it was the first high-school teacher preparation program of its kind in the nation. Today, the program benefits from a partnership with the University of Houston that prepares students both for life on a college campus after graduation, and life in the classroom as professional educators afterwards.
HISD to Host Inaugural Districtwide Special Olympics Field Day
More than 1,200 students to participate during two-day event
The HISD Office of Special Education Services and Special Olympics Texas have partnered to host the inaugural districtwide Special Olympics Field Day, a two-day event to provide athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and closely related developmental disabilities, on May 2 and 3. More than 1,200 HISD students will be participating in a variety of athletics events such as basketball, track, flag football, soccer, and softball toss events. Houston Texans players and coaches, along with volunteers from HISD’s athletics department, the University of Houston and Hewlett Packard, will be helping out with the event.
What: Inaugural HISD Special Olympics Field Day
Who: HISD Office of Special Education Services staff, HISD students, coaches, Houston Texans players and coaches, and University of Houston and Hewlett Packard volunteers
When: Thursday, May 2, 2013 (Elementary) and Friday, May 3, 2013 (Middle/High) from 9a.m. – 1p.m.
Where: Delmar-Tusa Athletic Complex, 2020 Mangum Road
University of Houston partnership gives high school students glimpse of college life
Austin High School student Gwen Martinez has always dreamed of becoming a teacher—and thanks to the school’s magnet program, she is well on her way. Once a week, Martinez and dozens of her classmates visit Cage Elementary School to tutor students and get a feel for what it’s like in the classroom.
“I believe kids are our future and they deserve the best,” said the high school senior. Martinez plans to attend the University of Houston (UH) in the fall to pursue her career goal. She chose UH in part because of a new collaboration between Austin and the emerging Tier One school.
Through a partnership started this academic year, students at Austin are being paired with students at the local university to get a feel for college life. They’re also getting a chance to interact with professors from the school’s College of Education.
“Not only are the professors collaborating with our students at mini-workshops, but our teachers are being exposed to the university’s research-based strategies,” said Austin Principal Jorge Arredondo. “Our teachers are then putting theory into action, with the goal of raising our standards of instructional delivery and ultimately increasing student achievement.”
Leaders at the University of Houston say they are excited about the opportunities it creates for those pursuing a career in education.
Two HISD Schools Win Chance to Test Projects in Space
Two HISD student science projects are cleared for lift off. Johnston Middle School and Parker Elementary School students will have their microgravity experiments included in Mission One to the International Space Station through the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.
More than 1,000 students submitted proposals and 12 U.S. school communities were given the chance to compete. Johnston and Parker students recently learned that they were among a handful of winning schools whose projects will fly aboard a Soyuz rocket in the spring of 2013.
“The students are just ecstatic,” said Parker science teacher Rebecca Mitchell. “It’s a dream come true. They feel like they can do anything, that any dream can be realized.”
Johnston eighth-grader Emily H. Soice led her school’s winning project. Soice’s experiment explores whether a bioscaffold infused with the TGFB3 protein grows and forms cells faster in microgravity than in normal gravity. Bioscaffold is an artificial structure that can be implanted in the body to serve as a base where tissue can grow.
Soice’s research could lay the groundwork for the growth of replacement tissue, joints, and even organs.
At Parker Elementary School, fifth-grade students Maxx Denning, Michael Prince, and Aaron Stuart will test to see if liquid Vitamin C can preserve bone density in microgravity, which could be helpful to astronauts who stay in space over a long period of time.
Mitchell said the students worked after school, during their lunch break, and even on weekends to create their winning proposal. The students will conduct their Vitamin C experiment using a chicken bone.
“We are splitting a wishbone,” Max said. “Part of it will fly in space and part of it will stay here. It will float in a solution that includes Vitamin C for six weeks.”
Researchers, biologists, physicists and many others from institutions including Baylor College of Medicine, NASA, Rice University, University of Houston and Texas Southern University provided support for the project.
For more information, please visit www.ssep.ncesse.org.