Elsik High School student Marian Ebhamen has been chosen as a Gates Millennium Scholar. More than 54,000 students from around the country apply for the scholarship, and only 1,000 students are selected. The GMS Scholarship Award provides support for the cost of education by covering unmet need and self-help aid, renewable awards for scholars, graduate school funding and leadership development programs. Ebhamen plans to use the scholarship at
the University of Texas at Austin, where she will pursue a degree in communication.

Alief ISD’s Health Services Department named Kimberly Goodly as the School Nurse of the Year. Mary Keys and Mary Ann Hernandez were also recognized as License Vocational Nurse of the Year and Clinic Aide of the Year respectively.

Alief ISD Education Foundation announced the scholarship recipients from the Class of 2013. Alief Early College High School student Lesley Delgadillo was named the recipient of the Jason Best Scholarship. Delgadillo is eligible to receive $1,500 per year for up to four years of post-secondary instruction if she maintains a 2.5 grade point average. Kerr High School student Heba Ahmad was awarded the Joseph Borkey Scholarship.

Career & Technical Education students Donna Melendez, Berenice Baltazar, Rosa Amaya, Elizabeth Perez, Thao Vu and Sagrario Toledo passed the Texas State Floral High School Certification and will be honored at a convention in July. The certification consists of a written portion and a second part, in which the students are timed and must complete two floral arrangements. Toledo scored the highest in both floral arrangements with a score of 96 on each.

Kerr High School teacher Laura Negri has achieved Certified Journalism Educator status from the Journalism Education Association. The certification recognizes teachers who meet national standards of preparation to teach high school journalism classes and advise student media.

Elsik High School student Ishmael Zamora ran the 110-meter high hurdles at the State Track and Field Meet in Austin in 13.7 seconds to win the state title. He also placed second in the 300-meter hurdles and fifth in the long jump.

Hastings High School student Amber Le received two Individual Achievement Awards from the Interscholastic League Press Conference for photos she took. She received an honorable mention for a sports feature photo in this year’s newspaper and first place for a student life photo in last year’s yearbook.

Five Alief ISD campuses’ staff members received grants from Fund for Teachers. Elsik High School’s Ronald Christensen, Landis Elementary’s Anna Escobar and Melisa Perez, Horn Elementary’s Lori Lyn, Alief Middle School’s Anna Philpott and Alexander Elementary’s Rhea Brookter and Sarah Milianta-Laffin received funding. Projects include traveling along Route 66 to observe its historical significance, volunteering in the Burmese Learning Center in Thailand and attending a creativity workshop in Crete.

Hastings High School students received two of the 11 awards at the annual AIA Michael G. Meyers Architecture Competition. Domingo Perez received Best Renderings, and Brandon Hill received Most Imaginative Design. Hundreds of designs were submitted by Houston-area high schools.