Beginning in 2016 with only five schools, the Rotary Club of Houston’s Dictionary Project has been dedicated to providing reading resources to HISD third graders. The number of recipient schools has grown every year, and this year, thanks to the generosity of individual donor Kandy Kaye Horn, every third grader in every HISD elementary school was given their own dictionary.
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Wainwright ES names Michelle Lewis as new principal
Michelle Lewis has been selected as the new principal of Wainwright Elementary School.
Continue readingMarcie Colemon named new principal of Wainwright Elementary School
Marcie Colemon has been selected as the new principal of Wainwright Elementary School. Colemon began her career in 2009 as an Early Childhood educator in North Forest ISD and then joined Houston ISD. Colemon most recently served as the assistant principal at MacGregor Elementary School. She was awarded the Northwest Area Elementary Assistant Principal of the Year this school year. Colemon is a native Houstonian and a proud product of Houston ISD schools.
She graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University with a bachelor’s in Political Science Pre-Law and the University of St. Thomas with a master’s in Educational Leadership.
Power of Public: Giving every child the ‘Chance to Dance’
Ivan Gonzalez is dressed as his character for the 2016 production of “The Nutcracker” at the Wortham Center, performed by the Houston Ballet.
Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force in you or your student’s life, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.
“Don’t be nervous, Ivan. Just do your best.”
Ivan Gonzalez was about to perform in Houston Ballet’s 2016 production of “The Nutcracker” at the Wortham Center, and his father was there to calm his nerves.
The “Nutcracker” was not Ivan’s first stage production. In May 2015, the Wainwright Elementary student was selected to participate in Houston Ballet’s “Chance to Dance” program, a series of free ballet classes for first- and second-graders at schools that don’t have a dance program and where 75% or more of the students are economically disadvantaged.
HISD Board of Education to vote on proposed attendance boundary changes
On Thursday, the HISD Board of Education will vote on a plan to adjust attendance boundaries at 10 elementary schools for the 2016-2017 school year to address classroom overcrowding.
The proposal affects these elementary campuses: Bastian, Hartsfield, Highland Heights, Kelso, Smith, Stevens, Wainwright, Young, Frost, and Law.
Community meetings regarding the proposals took place in October.
Complete details, including maps and frequently asked questions, can be found here.
400 “Bikes for Excellence” awarded to HISD fifth-graders
As members of the Thin Blue Line Foundation & Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club roared up to Stevens Elementary, students poured out of the school to welcome them. Last week, the club visited four HISD elementary schools to present 400 bicycles, helmets, and locks to fifth-graders at C. Martinez, Sherman, Stevens, and Wainwright elementary schools. The bikes are awarded to students who have excelled in academics, personal conduct, and attendance.
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Six first- and second-graders to receive year-long Houston Ballet training
The Houston Ballet awarded ballet scholarships to six of the 25 Wainwright ES first- and second-graders who were selected to participate in the organization’s “Chance to Dance” program. The ballet provided six weeks of classes, as well as transportation to their Center for Dance in downtown Houston.
HISD adding 21 campuses to dual language program in 2015–2016
HISD is expanding its successful dual language program to 21 more campuses in 2015–2016, launching thousands of additional pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students on the road to learning a second language. Currently, 31 HISD schools offer a Spanish dual language program.
Starting in August, kindergarten students — and pre-kindergarten students, at some schools — will be learning in both English and Spanish. One grade will be added to the program each year until it reaches school-wide.
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Wainwright ES educator helping her students ‘embrace the struggle’
In this edition of I Am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other members of Team HISD, we talk to Wainwright ES teacher Jennifer Hannah about what got her into the field of education, how the Effective Teacher Fellowship helped prepare her for the classroom, and why she inspires her fourth-graders to engage in “productive struggle” when writing.
You’ve already accomplished a great deal academically and professionally. You’ve earned a master’s degree in creative writing, freelanced as a writer and researcher for McDougal Littell, taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston, and even written a number of children’s books. What inspired you to go into the classroom?
A couple of things. For three years, I taught freshman composition and rhetoric at UH. I really was surprised at how much I liked talking and thinking and learning about writing. Teaching was a way for me to think about writing in a way that I hadn’t before, and I loved that. Then, when my children started going to preschool, I visited a lot of classrooms to find the best schools for them, and I noticed that once I picked their schools and was involved in volunteering, I never wanted to leave. I liked seeing how busy and occupied children could be when they were learning.
Cornelius ES student wins Martin Luther King Jr. oratory competition
Amari Venzor of Cornelius Elementary School took home top honors in the 18th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Oratory Competition sponsored by Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP in Houston.
Every year since 1996, fourth- and fifth-graders from two dozen HISD schools have competed in this annual contest, which challenges students to write and present a short original speech on a subject related to the slain civil rights leader. The topic this year was, “If Dr. King were speaking at a March on Washington today, what would he say?”
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“If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was speaking at a March on Washington today, he would say: As I consider the past 50 years of progress, I can’t help but wonder if for every two steps we have taken forward, we have taken three steps back,” Amari said. “Have we fought so hard to instill that pride that we fail to include words like integrity, self-respect, and even a simple hi? Have we allowed economic and social status to lull us into a crippling complacency and a sense of entitlement? Simply meaning, are we putting $200 sneakers on our children who can barely read or solve basic mathematical equations rather than teaching them how to invest the same $200 into the actual shoe company? Have we been so busy trying to give our children what we didn’t have that we forgot to give them what we did have?”
Byron Roberson of Dodson ES won second place and Bruce ES student Chrystyna Haywood won third place.
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The other 2014 finalists, in alphabetical order, were:
• Shahnoor Ahtesham, Sutton ES
• Reginald Brown, Pleasantville ES
• Chrislyn Brownlow, Anderson ES
• Kierra Hunter, MacGregor ES
• Robert Lane III, Valley West ES
• Amaria Maldonado, Wainwright ES
• Kennady Roberson, Lockhart ES
• Jayla Wright, Burrus ES
• Jacovia Young, Windsor Village ES
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Other participating HISD campuses include: Atherton, Crespo, Garden Villas, Golfcrest, Gregg, Gross, Park Place, Port Houston, Rodriguez, Thompson, Whidby, and Woodson.