HISD HOSTS ANNUAL ELEMENTARY SCIENCE FAIR p.2. Week of February 19, HHS football player signs letter of intent to TLU - p.5

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1 Week of February 19, 2018 HISD HOSTS ANNUAL ELEMENTARY SCIENCE FAIR p.2 HHS student signs to play golf at Jacksonville College - p.3 HHS football player signs letter of intent to TLU - p.5 MASBA visits STEM Early College High School - p.8

2 HISD HOSTS ANNUAL ELEMENTARY SCIENCE FAIR A total of 125 students from all HISD elementary schools filled the Palo Alto Performing Arts Center to present their projects during the annual Elementary Science Fair on Feb. 16. The group of students that competed at the district fair represented the top three projects from all third, fourth and fifth grade school levels. This year, projects ranged from questions exploring the world of physical sciences to earth and living sciences. The Elementary Science Fair is such an exciting time for our students and our campuses, HISD Elementary Science Facilitator Meghan Guerrero said. Students discover how their world works, and it provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate their science investigating and reasoning skills, while developing their science literacy and critical thinking, as they answer questions, solve relevant problems and use evidence to defend their thinking. Among the questions being displayed included: Can one marble move two marbles off a ruler? Do all candles have the same melting point? Which fruit will rot in the sun? and How does ph differ with different water sources before and after filtration? We had an amazing turn out and the quality of projects are definitely increasing as the years continue, Guerrero added. The judging process involved two phases. First, two judges assessed each board on the question, background research, results collected and conclusion without the student present. The two judges scored were then added up to identify the top 10 projects per grade level. As this point, another set of judges came in and interviewed the top 10 projects to determine the first, second and third place winners. During the fair, students also had the opportunity to interact with multiple science and STEM organizations from around the city. Representatives from Girls Inc., The DoSeum, UTSA itec, Texas A&M AgriLife, Institute of Texan Cultures SAVIG and the HISD Instructional Technology Department exposed students to the engineering process, augmented reality and robot coding. Students got to build terrariums, solved mathematical problems with excitement and challenged problem solving skills while building a bridge to drive a car across, Guerrero said. Following the competition, parents and students were invited to attend the Award Ceremony held at Harlandale HS Auditorium to see all the winners. Third grade winners: First Place - Navaeh Cantu, Morrill ES, Can worms Regenerate? Second Place - Brayden Rodriguez, Rayburn ES, What boils faster milk or water? Third Place - Sophia Garcia, Wright ES, Do all liquids freeze at the same rate? Fourth grade winners: First Place - Addison Acosta, Schulze ES, Can exercise make your brain work better? Second Place - Nathan Moreno, Gillette ES, How will adding different Kool-aid flavors to water affect the time it takes the water to reach its boiling point? Third Place - Nathaniel Salazar, SWF ES, Can cut flowers last longer with food packet? Fifth grade winners: First Place - Jose Vasquez, Gilbert ES, The effect of temperature on the bounce of a tennis ball? Second Place - Alita Uresti, Bellaire ES, The big bubble theory Third Place - Keivi Alejandro Jaques, Vestal ES, Cual chicle conserva el sabor más tiempo? Way to go, elementary students! p.2

3 HHS student signs to play golf at Jacksonville College Harlandale High School senior Vanessa Agis signed her letter of intent to play golf at Jacksonville College on Feb. 21, becoming the first girl to earn a college golf scholarship in HHS history. Administrators, coaches, family and friends gathered at the Student Union to cheer Vanessa on as she signed the document making her decision official. Receiving this scholarship is a dream come true for Vanessa, who has been playing golf since she was 11 years old. I worked so hard to get where I am, she said. I love playing golf, so it means a lot to me that I ll be able to continue to play in Jacksonville. Vanessa acknowledged her parents for their unconditional support, as well as her Coach Raynaldo Garza, who has been helping her since she was in middle school. I want to thank Coach Garza, he has gotten me to where I am today, and my parents for always being there, she said. Coach Garza and HHS Principal Alfred Anthony also took the opportunity to congratulate and celebrate this milestone with Vanessa. I m extremely proud, it s been very rewarding to have been able to help her from start to finish, Coach Garza said. I was the first HHS student to ever win a golf scholarship, and now, she s the first girl to ever win a golf scholarship, so I m proud to have been able to help her. She s definitely one of the best golf players in the city. Vanessa has been nothing but a role model here at HHS. We re proud and happy for her, and we can t thank her enough for everything she s done and continues to do for us, Principal Anthony said. Besides playing golf, Vanessa plans to pursue a career in education. Congratulations, Vanessa! p.3

4 CAREER DAY INSPIRES RAYBURN ELEMENTARY STUDENTS Rayburn ES Counselor Nichole G. Nava said the purpose of the event is to enlighten and empower students by exposing them to different career choices at a young age. Young students at Rayburn Elementary got a glimpse of real-life occupations during the school s annual Career Day on Feb. 16. A total of 20 local professionals paid a visit to the school to introduce students to a variety of fields available to them. Students got the opportunity to hear from doctors, lawyers, architects, firefighters, police officers and even our very own Superintendent Rey Madrigal. They shared their career experiences to students from kindergarten through fifth grade in an effort to encourage and motivate them to pursue a career they are passionate about. For some students, the only exposure to career options is given here at school, she said. Earlier this year, students visited local colleges and universities, and some students would say, What is college? Wow, I didn t know we had this school in San Antonio, Now, I want to go to Our Lady of the Lake University, or I want to be a roadrunner. The oohs and aahs from the students and the look on their faces from both college visits and career day is always very rewarding. There is always hope for a better future. p.4

5 LMS CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY MONTH Leal Middle School hosted several events on campus in honor of Black History Month. This year s theme was Celebrating Black Excellence. This year for Black History Month, we wanted to put several events together for the students to show them that black people have succeeded in more than just sports and music, but also in education, LMS Teacher Olivia Robinson said. To kick off the festivities, students from the student-led leadership organization IMPACT, Juliet Hernandez and Erick Perez, delivered daily announcements highlighting African-American scholars and professionals throughout history, including Michelle Obama, Langston Hughes, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, Medgar Evers and Katherine Johnson. I learned that black people have succeeded in life because they tried their hardest to overcome racism and segregation, Seventhgrade Student Christian Turner said. Advisory classes were encouraged to create informational posters featuring a historically black college and university or a minority serving institution. Some of the universities included in the competition were: Texas College, Howard University, Prairie View A&M University, Florida A&M, Palo Alto College, Xavier University of Louisiana, St. Phillips College and Spelman College. The posters were displayed in the cafeteria and the winning advisory class received a pizza party. On Black Cinema Tuesday, students were treated to free popcorn and drinks while they watched Hidden Figures, The Black Panthers Documentary and The Great Debaters. During Black History Month, I learned about all the people who risked their lives to make others better, Seventh-grade Student Princess Mora added. The school s librarian also organized a writing contest where students were asked to write a letter, poem, essay or short story addressing the prompt, What is Black Excellence. A thank you letter to Barack Obama, an acrostic poem about Rosa Parks and a short story featuring a black woman who overcame obstacles and persevered through her struggle were some of the writings submitted. The winning student received a $25 gift card to the Leal Book Fair taking place next week. Motivational speaker Sebastian Sanders paid a visit to the campus and spoke to seventh and eighth grade students about the meaning of excellence and the importance of an education for all age groups. As the CEO and founder of the Sanders HAND Foundations, the 20-year-old junior management science major is planning to work in operations and supply chain management. Students left feeling inspired as they heard about his passion for supporting black businesses, working with minorities and giving back. p.5

6 MASBA VISITS STEM EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL A total of 13 members of the Mexican American School Board Association (MASBA) visited STEM Early College High School on Feb. 22 to learn more about the school s successful program and benefits. As a nonprofit, statewide education association, MASBA, has served local Texas school boards since Its primary goal is to close opportunity and achievement gaps for all students, especially for Hispanic students and English language learners. In the school s cafeteria, HISD Superintendent Rey Madrigal, HISD Board of Trustees President Carlos Quezada and STEM ECHS Principal Dr. Eddie Rodriguez welcomed all MASBA members and spoke about what separates STEM ECHS from other traditional high schools. This year we are having our first graduation class, Superintendent Madrigal said. We will not only provide kids with a high school diploma, but also an associate s degree. We are providing new opportunities to our students here at Harlandale ISD. There are 44 high school in San Antonio, and we are the third highest-performing school based on STAAR scores, Dr. Rodriguez added. As of last week, we have a total of $4 million in scholarships for our students. All of them deserve the opportunity to go to college, and we have a plan that actually works. Accompanied by STEM ECHS student ambassadors, the MASBA members toured the campus and learned about the unique learning program offered at STEM ECHS, including its robotics competitions, the Palo Alto College courses offered and extracurricular activities. Students also had the opportunity to share their personal experiences with them. The members were impressed with the school s program and curriculum and enjoyed learning about all the student competitions. It s also important to see what other school districts are doing right and try to implement that in our own district, and seeing these students in action, I want this for our schools too, MASBA Member and Hays ISD Board Member Teresa Tobias said. I m really glad that I came to this school, and hopefully, we try to get something similar in our district. p.6

7 HISD NAMES NEW MCCOLLUM HEAD FOOTBALL COACH Harlandale ISD has named Matthew Uzzell as the new head fooball coach at McCollum High School. Uzzell is a 1997 graduate of McCollum High School and a 2001 graduate of Trinity University. While his time as a student athlete at McCollum, he was honored as an All-District and All-Greater San Antonio 1st team offensive linemen. He was fortunate enough to continue his educational and athletic career at the collegiate level where he was recognized as an All-Conference and All American offensive lineman. Uzzell served in public education for 12 years in the Harlandale and Southside Independent School Districts as a history teacher and a coach of various sports. Uzzell served as the Defensive Line Coach, Special Teams Coordinator, and Head Track Coach at Harlandale High School from After his time at Harlandale, he had the opportunity to serve as the Offensive Coordinator at Southside High School from During his tenure as a high school coach, he was a proud contributor to two district championships, four playoff appearances, with one post season trip ending with a State Quarterfinalist bid in Uzzell has also had the opportunity to coach many All-District selections, regional track and field qualifiers, while more importantly building relationships that have lasted close to two decades and will span for a lifetime. The last four years he has been proud to serve his alma mater, Trinity University as the Offensive Coordinator/ Offensive Line Coach. While at Trinity, Uzzell has been a part of the resurgence of a proud Trinity Football program that is making strides back to the national prominence that it once enjoyed during Uzzell s playing days for the Tigers. Uzzell is married to fellow Trinity Tiger alumna Jenna and they have three beautiful daughters. The Uzzell family is extremely excited about the opportunity to engulf themselves in the McCollum community and Uzzell is honored and humbled to be entrusted to impact the amazing community with which he is a very proud product of. p.7

8 HISD COUNCIL OF PTAS CELEBRATES FOUNDERS DAY The Harlandale ISD Council of PTAs held its annual Founders Day Banquet at McCollum High School on Feb. 22. For more than 50 years, the Founders Day Banquet has become a tradition at Harlandale ISD to honor the founding of the PTA and to celebrate the council s Life Members, Past Life Members and Past Presidents, who have worked tirelessly on behalf of all HISD students and campuses. The dedicated volunteers and their families, as well as administrators and staff, enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner and were treated to musical performances by the MHS Jazz Band. Today is about honoring our PTAs, they re the ones who built our PTA, they re the ones who keep it going, and they re the ones who continue our legacy, McCollum PTA President Josie Scales said. All parent-teacher associations work hard every year to develop fundraisers, projects and meetings to benefit parents and students. They need to be celebrated over and over again. During the event, a silent auction was also held to raise money for scholarships that will benefit one senior from every HISD high school. HISD Superintendent Rey Madrigal also attended the event and was auctioned off to Rayburn Elementary School thanks to a donation made by HISD Teacher of the Year Evelyn Bushart and her husband of $400! Thank you PTAs for all that you do! p.8