March 26, 2013

Points of Pride

Seventy-nine Career & Technical Education students from Elsik, Hastings and Taylor High Schools, who are currently enrolled in coursework from the Architecture & Construction and Manufacturing Clusters, received the nationally recognized industry certification. The certifications were awarded upon successful completion of the WorkKeys curriculum and certification program.

Holub Middle School students Julia Ta and Danny Phan were named school finalists in the Do the Write Thing writing contest. The students will be recognized in a ceremony at Minute Maid Park. The contest asks students to write about how violence has affected their lives, the causes of violence and what they can do about it. The Do the Write Thing Texas Challenge is a youth anti-violence program that equips students with the tools necessary to combat violence in their lives.

Elsik High School was chosen as the first school to kick off a new project with READ3Zero, a non-profit literacy organization. The new program, Open Doors: Title One School Project, will feature founder and children’s author Melissa Williams. Elsik student Maya White, a student author, was invited to the event and will accompany Williams as they discuss the impact the literacy foundation has had on both of them and their passion for reading and writing.

Many Alief ISD Speech & Debate students competed at the 40th annual Texas Forensics Association State Tournament recently. Taylor High School sophomore Adeteju Adenji placed third in Prose Interpretation. Hastings High School freshmen Muhammad Yunus finished second in Poetry, and senior Kenny Chiaghana finished 3rd in Student Congress House. Hastings junior Abigail Onwunali was a semifinalist in Dramatic Interpretation, Senior Alexia Leontoudis was semifinalist in Prose, and Onwunali and sophomore Sidney Odom was a semifinalist in Duo Interpretation. Over 200 schools from across the state competed in this prestigious event. The Taylor team reached finals and received special recognition at the awards ceremony.

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) members recently convened to compete in leadership events at the state competition in Dallas. Kerr High School students Emily Tran (1st place), Princess Adentan (3rd place) and Mohit Agarwal (first place) advanced to nationals. They advanced in Accounting II, Business Communication and Personal Finance respectively. Hastings High School student Ling Chen is the first alternate for nationals for Accounting I, while Kerr student Rebecca Rodriguez is the first alternate for nationals for Help Desk. More than 50 school districts from across the state competed at the convention.

The Elsik boys track team took the top rank at the Port Arthur Titan Relays this past weekend. Elsik won with a score of 158.5.

Hastings Ninth Grade Center teacher Marcus Blomquist and Hastings High School teacher Brian Roher were selected to participate in the E3: Enrichment Experiences in Engineering Program at Texas A&M University. Held in cooperation with the National Science Foundation, the program aims to involve enthusiastic math and science teachers in a research experience with TAMU engineering faculty members. Together, they will develop ideas to incorporate engineering into math/science curricula and lesson plans.