• The Alief Early College High School (AECHS) Liquid Knightrogen Team placed first at the Alief Seaperch Underwater Robotics Scrimmage. All participating teams from Albright, Killough, O’Donnell, Olle, AECHS, Hastings, Kerr and Taylor will move onto the regional competitions later this month.
  • Olle Middle School students Jessica Nguyen and Emily Tran were invited to participate in the 2017 Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (TAME) competition. The competition takes place in San Antonio in April.
  • The Alief FFA had a great first day at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. High school students from Elsik, Hastings and Taylor won second place in the tour guide event.
  • Taylor High School student Leslie Garcia signed to play soccer at Texas College in Tyler. Garcia previously attended Martin, Owens and Killough and will pursue an accounting degree at Texas College.
  • The Hastings High School Jazz Band earned first place at the Waltrip Jazz Festival. The group also won Most Outstanding Rhythm Section of the Day. Saxophonist Paul Okwegba, drummer Jason Benitez and trumpet player Bryan Paxtor won All-Star Soloist awards. The Hastings High School Indoor Drum Line also took home third place at the Texas Color Guard Circuit Pasadena Memorial Contest.
  • Budewig Intermediate School bilingual teacher Manuel Grajeda, Holmquist Elementary School ESL teacher Isaac Tadesse and Elsik High School ESL teacher Catherine Massey were recently announced as the Alief ISD Houston Area Association for Bilingual Education (HAABE) Teachers of the Year. These three educators will represent the district at the HAABE Bilingual/ESL Teacher of the Year Awards Ceremony in May.
  • The Elsik Ninth Grade Center and Hastings Ninth Grade Center Campus Learning Center group were chosen by the American Library Association as one of 77 groups to take part in the Nature vs. Nurture: Origins of Teen Violence and Suicide Great Stories Club. The Great Stories Club (GSC) is a three-part, thematic reading and discussion program series developed to engage teens who are facing difficult challenges through literature-based library outreach programs. In addition, the Hastings Ninth Grade Center Library will serve as one of nine pilot sites for the GSC Advisory Council by the American Library Association. Library Information Specialist Charla Hollingsworth will travel to Brooklyn Public Library in February for a planning workshop and then conduct the pilot program with the Summer School Bridge students.
  • Alief Middle School teacher Veronica Dixon was selected by Seidlitz Education to present at its English Language Learner (ELL) Conference in Austin. She presented a session on how to inspire and equip ELL students with writing skills to excel on state tests and beyond.