Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy, among HISD’s oldest school buildings, will undergo a $27.1 million renovation/addition that will expand learning spaces throughout the current building and add modern science and technology labs to enhance STEM curriculum.
Plans are in place to preserve much of the historic building, as well as the facade, and transform what now are three separate buildings into one cohesive structure.
The sounds of students hard at work — plotting, drilling, and making deals — filled the room at Houston Community College-Southwest during the Independent Petroleum Association of America/Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association (IPAA/PESA) Petrochallenge. Nearly 400 students participated in the annual four-day competition, which challenges young people to become leaders in the oil and gas industries through a simulation-based training tool called OilSim.
Students from different schools in Houston and Fort Worth not only predicted and acquired valuable blocks for oil and gas production, they were tasked with making deals among the different teams to test their business acumen. In the process, students learn about the methods used in the real world of oil and gas, the terminology used, and maybe even a new career option.
“I’ve learned about water depth and geometrics and all this stuff I didn’t know about going in,” said Westside High School student Jason Levine.
When all was said and done, three teams of students from Milby and Westside high schools, as well as the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy (YWCPA), took home the top prizes. Each winning team received a monetary prize, but students say they gained so much more.
“I knew I wanted to be a petroleum engineer,” said YWCPA student and second-place team member Alyssa Dorelus. But coming here just reaffirmed what I already knew.”
The Petrochallenge is sponsored by Schlumberger, NExT, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, and IPAA/PESA.
Updates will be provided on design plans and project status for each campus
Community meetings have been scheduled during the first quarter for the following seven bond schools, to inform stakeholders of project plans to rebuild or renovate their campus as part of HISD’s $1.89 billion bond program. Attendees will hear from project architects and other team members and will have the opportunity to ask questions.
This all-girls secondary school is slated to receive a $27.1 million makeover that will preserve its historic past while creating modern learning spaces to help prepare students for college and careers.
The design includes adding a circular drive to the front of the building with a covered pick-up/drop-off area. The administrative offices, now on the second floor, will be relocated near the building’s main entrance, where a secure vestibule will be added. Much of the interior renovation will focus on modernizing the classroom spaces into larger learning centers with better natural light, integrated technology and flexible furniture. An addition is slated to be built adjacent to the current auditorium, and will feature an atrium and flexible spaces to create a college-like, collaborative atmosphere for the students.
The school held its first community meeting in August of 2015 and a second one will be held in early 2016 to discuss the design development. The goal is to have the project bid so construction can start by the end of 2016.
One of HISD’s oldest school buildings is undergoing a $27.1 million makeover that will preserve its historic past while integrating modern learning spaces designed to prepare students for the future.
“This is a magnificent building,” said Architect Carolina Weitzman during a community meeting Tuesday at the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy, located at 1906 Cleburne. “It’s got great bones.”
Students Alejandro Venegas and Shannon Rouhana, who completed their externships with Southwestern Energy, pose with Damien Friend, the company’s chief geologist, at the awards banquet.
The next generation of America’s oil and natural gas leaders took its first eager steps toward securing successful careers in the energy industry, when a group of 55 rising seniors and recent graduates from the Petroleum Academies at Milby, Westside, and Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy (YWCPA) participated in a two-week, job-shadowing opportunity at various Houston petroleum exploration, production, and service companies.
The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and the Petroleum Equipment & Services Association (PESA) Student Externship Program began in the summer of 2010 to provide a one-of-a-kind experience for future engineering and geosciences students enrolled in the IPAA/PESA Petroleum Academies, and to date, 394 externs have participated.
Project Advisory Team (PAT) members for Askew Elementary, Wharton Dual Language Academy, and Young Women’s College Prep Academy (YWCPA) spent two days this week in an intensive workshop to put together preliminary design plans for their new facilities.
I Am HISD profile showcases Educational Diagnostician Week
In this week’s I am HISD, which features HISD students, graduates, and employees, we are highlighting Educational Diagnostician Week across Texas by interviewing HISD Lead Evaluation Specialist Tacy Gilmore. Gilmore talks about when she became a diagnostician, how she evaluates students for disabilities, and who decides which students are evaluated.
How did you come to be a diagnostician for HISD?
I was working as a seventh-grade math teacher in Alief ISD, when I became interested in becoming an Educational Diagnostician. As a general education teacher, I wanted to know how I could have a greater impact on student achievement and the process to get the individualized support needed. I attended graduate school at Prairie View A&M University, where I became certified, first as a counselor and then as a diagnostician.
“Lots of people have invested in me over the years,” said Harris, “and I hope this movie encouraged these young people to be productive, proactive citizens in society, much like the men and women they saw portrayed on screen. These students come from the same type of circumstance that I do, and I would like them to understand that their environment does not have to determine the outcome of their lives.”
The robotics club at the newly-renamed Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy for Young Men is hosting a VEX robotics tournament on Saturday, Nov. 15, at Space Center Houston (1601 NASA Parkway, 77058). Now in its third year, the Knights of Engineering Robotics Club at the all-boys academy is inviting families from throughout HISD to attend the tournament, which is expected to last most of the day.
