Micro sculptor Willard Wigan’s Art in the Eye of a Needle Exhibit Tour will be in Houston to raise funds for the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum’s-“Leave-A-Legacy…Buy-A-Brick” Paver Program on Thursday October 8th at 6:00 PM at the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum. The event is open to the public.

Today, more than 3,500 OfficeMax associates will be joined by community members and celebrities as they surprise 1,000 teachers across the country with $1,000 worth of essential classroom supplies as part of the third annual “A Day Made Better” event. Each year, OfficeMax volunteers surprise teachers at 1,000 elementary schools across the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, to celebrate their extraordinary efforts and call attention to the national problem of teacher-funded classrooms.

What school fundraising is all about is watts, thanks to a new program developed by HISD in partnership with Texas electricity providers. Just sign up with one of the providers and a portion of your electric bill will go to the school of your choice.

Prairie View A&M University is welcoming its largest freshman class. The university’s freshman, which hail from Texas and across the world, have the university’s full attention as it settles in as the largest freshman class— ever. As of 10 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 15, PVAMU counted 8,543 enrolled students. Since Fall 2006, the university’s enrollment has climbed and this fall, first- year student enrollment at PVAMU jumped nearly 27.3 percent to 1,648 students. Fall 2008, first-year student enrollment was 1,294. Uncertified overall enrollment for this academic year has peaked at 8,761 students.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced today that 26 Texas public schools have won the prestigious Blue Ribbon School Award. Four HISD Schools are on the list. The schools are the Debakey High School for Health Professions, Garden Villas Elementary, Kennedy Elementary and Lantrip Elementary.

Blue Ridge Elementary School Principal, Deirdre Holloway, promised students at her school that she would perform as a “mime” if their school received a rating of “Recognized” by the Texas Education Agency as a result of students’ performance on the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) test. Fort Bend ISD received its 2009 district and campus accountability ratings in July, confirming that Blue Ridge was indeed among 23 FBISD campuses to receive a rating of “Recognized.” Holloway is shown posing with students (from left) Kayla Bolah and Deaveon McDaniel.

Students and Their Teachers Compete for Cash Prizes Up to $5,000;
Nearly $200,000 and 54 All-Expenses Paid Trips to Nation’s Capital to be Awarded
U.S. high school students and their teachers are invited to compete for nearly $200,000 in prize money by participating in the fourth annual Being an American Essay Contest. Top prize winners and their teachers will also receive all-expenses paid trips to the nation’s capital.

The Coca-Cola Company announced today that it will give $6 million to Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University and the Morehouse School of Medicine, all part of the Atlanta University Center. This support will assist students at these Atlanta-based historically black colleges and universities with scholarship funds where economic hardship is impacting the likelihood of the completion of their education.

The Houston Public Library will be hosting the Vernacular Architecture and the Building Arts in Houston: The Gulf Coast Connection symposium on Saturday, September 12, 2009 from 10 AM to 6 PM. The event will take place at the Central Library, 500 McKinney, 77002, 832-393-1313, on the 4th floor’s Program Place. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Pat Jasper at (713) 527-9330, cell (512) 484-1180 or by email at pat@haatx.com.

Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

UNCF, the United Negro College Fund–the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization, received $250,000 from Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF) to support UNCF’s Emergency Student Aid Campaign, an initiative to help thousands of recession-impacted students at UNCF’s 39 member historically black colleges and universities enroll for their senior year and receive their college degree.

Lulu Belle Madison White, civil rights activist in the 1940s and 1950s, devoted most of her adult life to the struggle against Jim Crow in Texas. She campaigned for the right to vote, for equal pay for equal work, and for desegregation of public facilities.

Today is Dr. Abelardo Saavedra’s last day as HISD Superintendent and just in time for his departure the school district has set yet another record. The Texas Business and Education Coalition (TBEC) has released its 2009 list of Texas Honor Roll Schools and 21 HISD schools are on the list. That’s new record for the district, which had 18 schools on the list in 2008, 16 in 2007 and 14 in 2006.

GED and English as a second language classes begin this fall in more than 60 locations throughout Harris County. Harris County Department of Education provides the classes free of charge. Communities served include North Forest, Cypress-Fairbanks, Katy, Alief, Spring Branch, Klein, Sheldon, Pasadena, Deer Park, La Porte, Goose Creek (Baytown), Crosby, Huffman, Galena Park and Channelview.

Talented students and scholars who excel academically and deserve an enriched and challenging collegiate environment will now have Prairie View A&M University’s Honors Program as an option to consider. To manage its emerging Honors Program, PVAMU has appointed James A. Wilson, Jr. as its honors program director.

The Houston Police Department is the first law enforcement agency in the state of Texas to utilize a new crime fighting tool interfaced with the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ Repository for Individuals of Special Concern (RISC) database, which will enable officers to immediately check the true identities of potential criminals on the streets.

For generations, education has opened doors to untold
opportunities and bright futures. Through quality instruction
and a personal commitment to hard work, young people in every
part of our Nation have gone on to achieve success. Established
by men and women of great vision, leadership, and clarity of
purpose, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
have provided generations of Americans with opportunity, a solid
education, and hope.

A kindergarten teacher at Oak Forest Elementary School and an integrated physics and chemistry teacher at Lanier Middle School have been named the top two educators in HISD for 2009. Oak Forest’s Tiffany Janish earned the Elementary Teacher of the Year title, while Lanier’s Dennis Huffman received Secondary Teacher of the Year laurels at the district’s 34th annual Teacher Recognition Banquet, held May 11 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Houston Community College (HCC) has received a total of $1.8 million in four job-training grants from the Texas Workforce Commission’s (TWC) Skills Development Fund. The grants will be used to custom train workers in 1,151 new or upgraded jobs in high-demand, high-growth health care, engineering and technology industries.

Talented students and scholars who excel academically and deserve an enriched and challenging collegiate environment will now have Prairie View A&M University’s Honors Program as an option to consider. To manage its emerging Honors Program, PVAMU has appointed James A. Wilson, Jr. as its honors program director.