Cohort 1 Seeks Judges for Community Garden Project

Cohort 1 students have been working on designing a flower bed for the community garden they recently went to on a field trip. Students are aiding in the Third Ward and looking at reducing food deserts through the use of community gardens. The Community Garden will be adding a flower bed to help attract pollinators to the garden in order to increase the yield of crops and longevity of the garden. Students will be presenting their garden bed pitches and a winner will be selected to return to the garden and actually build their garden bed. Presentations will be on December 7th, and we are looking for professional judges to help pick the winning group! If you are interested in judging, please fill out this form.

Energy Served 250+ Hours of Service on Saturday

Energy Institute High School participated in our Annual Fall Day of Service. Since 2017 (and even during the pandemic!) we have participated in a day of service in the Fall and Spring.

This year, we had two projects: Campus and Bayou clean-up and a STEM Partnership with NSBE, NHS, and the Houston Chapter of Jack and Jill of America.

For Campus Clean up, we worked in the courtyard. Students cleaned up the tree limbs, stray dead branches, and the overgrown ornamental ginger. We also spray painted the student parking lot numbers. Alexa Hernandez and Ms. Jocelyn Thomas used their arts and craft skills to make the stencils of the numbers we were missing! They looked as good as the purchased ones. A team lead by a parent, Mr. Sean Andrews, walked along the bayou and cleaned up along the way. They wound up walking two miles!

Our NSBE Team worked hard all day to set up a STEM Showcase for Kindergarteners and 1^st Graders, the “Astro-Tots,” from Jack and Jill. We gained this partnership through Ms. Wendy Tilford who will be on campus working with our STAAR students next semester. Zion Duplechain and Bria Stewart lead NSBE and NHS volunteers in imagining, designing, and creating a fun and dynamic obstacle course for the children. Along with their parents, we had nearly 60 community members here. Our students mentored the children making Pinewood Derby Cars. We had a build, decorating, physics and race stations. NSBE created a wonderfully fun obstacle course for the children to race their cars. A team lead by Victor McKenna Borrero worked with the children to add nuts, bolts, and screws to their cars to see if weight impacted speed in the Physics Room.

All and all, it was a great day. Forty Energy students earned between 3 and 8 hours service each. Over 250+ hours served total.

Thanks to Ms. De La Rosa for coordinating the entire event!

Thanks to Ms. Shelling for her work to prepare NSBE.

Thanks to Ms. Thomas for her exceptional arts and craft skills and supervision.

Thanks to Mr. Elliott for your great ideas and supervision.

Thanks Ms. Thomas for her assistance with building the race course.

Thanks to Ms. Maydon, Penny, and Deliah Maydon for showing up and your gardening and Balloon Arch Expertise.

Thanks to Ms. Garcia for support, supervision, networking, and staying late.

Spread the Word about Energy Institute!

Do you know any families interested in learning more about what Energy has to offer? There are several events coming up that we'd love for you to share with families you know who are interested in Energy Institute! This year is the first year we are back to normal Magnet recruiting since Covid. Energy has hit the group running with activity! In October we held our first annual Fall Middle School Design Challenge. Students from all over Houston ISD participated in the Float Your Boat and Punkin' Chunkin' Challenges. The winning group was $25 Amazon Gift Cards. Ms. Alexander, our Magnet Coordinator, has visited 33 middle schools in the last few weeks recruiting new students. Our PTO has held numerous parent coffees to allow prospective parents a chance to ask questions in a casual environment. Although we have given over 20 tours so far this year, we are officially starting tours weekly Thursday Magnet Tours on Thursday, November 17th. The tours will be at 1:00 PM. Each Tuesday night Ms. Alexander also has a standing TEAMS meeting from 6:00 - 7:00 PM for prospective parents and students. Student ambassadors are on the call as well to talk about PBL and Energy Institute. Below is the flyer weekly Teams Meetings.

Energy students were invited to support the Generation Texas Movement this Tuesday November 15th by wearing their favorite college’s shirts or college colors. Students that participated were entered into a raffle for various gift cards and the lucky winners were announced at the end of the day. Congratulations to 10th graders Matthew Pilkington and Lillian Ryden! This is a fun way to get students involved and participating in a college readiness environment no matter what grade you are in."

Cohort 1 Community Gardens

Students are learning about community gardens and how to support the neighborhood through them. Part of the project involves growing a plant from seed. Students are really excited about seeing their little plants growing from zero. They are also sketching and designing a garden. Students also visited a local community garden.

Mr. Tesla Awarded to Ms. De La Rosa and Ms. Thomas

Last Thursday, November 10th, Jamie Oxford had the amazing opportunity to remotely speak at COP27, the United Nation’s annual climate change conference. Jamie was one of 10 panelists in the Youth Climate Justice Pavilion. The point of this pavilion was to discuss climate change education, and youth action in regions all over the world. Jamie spoke on the conditions of climate education here in Texas public schools, and planned with people from all over the world about what idealized climate education would look like. They met people from the Taiwanese Youth Climate Coalition, Climate Youth Japan, Green Growth Africa, and Singapore Youth for Climate Action. Jamie was the youngest panelist, and only panelist from the American public education system. Jamie said, "It was so insanely amazing to meet all these people who are just as passionate about climate change action as me and hear their stories. I am so grateful to Ms. Haas, and Mr. Franklin, for introducing this opportunity to me, it’s definitely one of the coolest things I've ever been able to do, and I cannot wait to share more of what I learned at COP with the Climate Change Awareness Club and the students here at Energy."

This past weekend, Madison Dedman's poem, "The Beauty of our Lone Star" was chosen for publication in the iWRITE Literacy Organization and the Bryan Museum. Each recipient was recognized at their annual Gala and book signing at the Hilton America Hotel. Not only was her poem selected to be published in the book, but the book was also recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest published book in the World for kids. The book is over 7 feet tall. Congratulations Madison!

Senior dues cover graduation ceremony costs, a professional graduation photo on stage, the yearbook, a graduation cap and gown, the diploma cover, a senior class panoramic picture, senior t-shirt, senior breakfast, prom, senior picnic (or other fun selected activity), and more senior week activities. 

The Early Bird time period has expired. Students should pay their senior dues before prices increase again. Senior students should see their dean if there are any economic concerns and make sure they have completed the Socioeconomic Form. Visit our website for more information. 

We hope that you find the information on the newsletters helpful. The best way to stay in the know about all things Energy related is to follow us on one of our social media platforms. Follow us today!

Energy is a proud recipient of the 2016 National Merit Awards

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Energy is a public school in the Houston Independent School District

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Energy is an active participant with the district's Canvas initiative

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