Tag Archives: White House

White House spotlights HISD classroom computer science efforts

The Houston Independent School District’s efforts to increase the number of teachers trained in computer science and to immerse all students in computer programming from elementary to high school have earned the White House’s attention.

The White House computer science fact sheet outlines President Barack Obama’s plan to give all students across the country the chance to learn computer science in school. The fact sheet titled A Year of Action Supporting Computer Science Education for All (#CSForAll) shows the progress various states have made in computer science by adopting higher standards to better prepare students for success in careers and college since the initiative first launched in January.

The factsheet highlights HISD for its plans to double the number of computer science certified teachers over the next two academic years; expand advanced computer science courses by offering Advanced Placement computer science programming and computer science courses at 38 HISD high schools by the end of the 2017 school year; and adopt computer science standards that will provide for teaching computational thinking skills to 215,000 HISD students in grades pre-K to 12. Continue reading →

Two HISD Educators Named ‘Champions of Change’ by White House

Two HISD educators are being honored at the White House on Friday, Aug. 31, as “Champions of Change” for their efforts to improve the lives of Hispanic youths.

Teacher Development Specialist Ben Hernandez and Austin High School teacher Armando Orduña were nominated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which also handpicked them to be members of that organization’s inaugural Teacher Advisory Council earlier this year.

“I don’t even know how to feel yet,” said Hernandez. “I was just excited that they had created this award to honor the hard work and the success that teachers experience. (HISD is) very progressive and aggressive, so I think in a lot of ways, it can turn national eyes on us to see what we’re doing right.”

You can watch a live feed of the awards ceremony on the White House’s website (www.whitehouse.gov/live) starting at 12:30 CDT.  Members of the media are also welcome to visit Austin High School (1700 Dumble) where fellow staff members and students will be watching the live ceremony.