Category Archives: City

The Community Just Us Coalition hosts Voter Registration Drive & Candidate Dialogue

cjusvoterflyer

Houston, TX – The Community Just Us Coalition hosts Voter Registration Drive & Candidate Dialogue, Friday, October 4, 2013, starting promptly at 7:00 PM at Shape Community Center (3903 Almeda Road).

With the passing of new Voter ID Laws, text book revisions and state lawsuits Community Just Us steps up to the plate to raise awareness for the upcoming November 2013 elections in Harris County by registering and educating voters. We have invited various candidates campaigning to partake in a dialogue with the community to share their platforms and offer transparency to the voters of the Greater Houston Area. In a candid bipartisan setting, many candidates will have an opportunity to address the community directly as they register to vote for the upcoming elections in November.

The Voter Registration Drive & Candidate Dialogue is free and open to the public. You can register online at www.cjuvote2013.eventbrite.com.

Community Just Us organizes for active and progressive change in our communities fostering quantitative and long-term results. We meet every Friday at Shape Community Center at 7 PM. Be involved today by putting in the work! Visit our web site at www.communityjustus.com.

Organization Contact
Patrick Davis
Community Just Us
Communications/Outreach Department
Tel: +1(832) 344-5275
Email: communications@communityjustus.com

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Crime Continues To Run Rampant Under Parker’s Watch

SUBMITTED BY: BEN HALL MAYORAL CAMPAIGN STAFF

crime choice

(Houston, TX) – Crime in Houston is completely out of control. Last night, a man lost his life when two robbers opened fire in a Houston Subway restaurant. The day before, another man was shot at a local donut shop in northwest Houston. These crimes are far too common and Ms. Parker has failed to even acknowledge the problems, let alone offer a solution.

“We live in a city where the Sheriff is not immune from having his home burglarized and regular Houstonians cannot enjoy a meal or a night’s entertainment without being victimized. Ms. Parker seems content with letting this continue without leadership,” said mayoral candidate Ben Hall. “The real tragedy is that for every heinous act of violence that hits the front pages or the nightly news there are others that never even get acknowledged. Entire neighborhoods have been taken over by violence and whole communities live in constant fear. How much more of our city will be handed over to criminals before Ms. Parker speaks out?”

Just this July, Houston experienced the highest number of violent and non-violent crimes in the last year with non-violent crimes like burglary, theft and auto theft exceeding 10,000 incidents. But these crimes are more than just numbers. Each incident is another victimized Houstonian, and each victim is one too many.

“As the leader of this city, Houstonians have looked to Ms. Parker to set an agenda that first and foremost protects them. All other priorities are irrelevant if a mayor cannot deliver on that fundamental promise,” continued Hall. “Her ignorance towards this problem is concerning and her inability to offer solutions is a sign of failed leadership.”

Ben Hall released a plan to reverse Houston’s crime epidemic and implement meaningful solutions that will take back neighborhoods from the criminal element and protect Houstonians. The full plan can be found here.

Ms. Parker has offered no solutions to this disturbing trend. Her campaign is silent on these life and death issues. Ben Hall will not be!

Protect Your Right to Vote Awareness Week

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Story Credit: State Senator Rodney Ellis

Dear Friend:

In 2011, Texas passed a restrictive voter ID bill, and ongoing litigation continues to sort out the future of the law. But with local elections coming up in less than two months, everyone needs to plan as if the law will be in effect this November.

The week of September 16 is Protect Your Right to Vote Awareness Week, with events across Houston to help get you prepared for the implementation of voter ID and other new election rules. If you’ve got questions, they’ve got answers.

This email will also provide the essential information that you and your family need to make sure you’re not turned away from the ballot box because you lack the required identification. If you find it useful, please forward it to your friends or “like” it above to post it to your Facebook account.

By working together, we can ensure all eligible voters are able to have their voice heard on November 5.

Sincerely,

RE signature

Rodney Ellis

The Houston Sun Press Run

Help celebrate 30 years of publishing the Houston Sun. Help fund 30 scholarships for 30 Journalism and Business students. Register to participate in The Houston Sun’s Press Run.

Registration: 713-524-0786 www.houstonsun.com

What: Press Run
Who:Race Participants; individuals, groups, organizations, churches, businesses
When: September 28, 2013
Where:Houston Sun to Emancipation Park
How Much:Entry Fees are:
Adults:$30
Children:10-17 $15
Children 9 & Under FREE
Senior Citizens:$20

Time: Event:
6:00 am- 7:00 am Registration
7:00 am Opening Ceremonies
7:15 am Wheel Chair, Family
Walk 7:30 am 5K, 10K
9:15 am Press Run Awards

Ben Hall: Officially on the ballot for November election

Ben Hall announcing his filing of paperwork for his name to be on the ballot for mayor in November.
Ben Hall announcing his filing of paperwork for his name to be on the ballot for mayor in November.

Myra Griffin
The Houston Sun

It is official that former City Attorney, Ben Hall is in the race for mayor of Houston as he officially filed the necessary paperwork to be on the ballot for the November election.

On August 20, 2013, Hall held a viewing of a new video to be released at the CWA Hall for all who wanted to see. The room was filled and as the people stood arm to arm to watch the short film the excitement for the mayoral race picked up several notches.

Once the movie ended Hall stood behind the podium as the crowd cheered and applauded. Hall began by thanking his friends, supporters, friends to be and those who will vote for his candidacy.

“For those who are doubting promises let me just simply say the trajectory of this campaign looks very good and we’re going to be the next mayor of Houston,” said Hall.

Hall is definitely in full blown campaign mode as the future of Houston is the focus of his campaign. He expressed that it’s good to be confident and he is showing his confidence. Yet he believes that the city should be prepared for anything as he reminded the crowd of how harmful it can be to ignore what ifs in the city government like the people on the Titanic.

“The city of Houston may have confidence but we must prepare for the economic iceberg that lay ahead and the present Mayor hasn’t done so and the Ben Hall administration will do so,” said Hall.
Fiscal responsibility is playing a major role in this race as a new discovery about Mayor Annise Parker’s net value has come into question.”

People want change in this city. The present Mayor has been in office for 16 years and when she started she didn’t have much money but as you all will soon find out she has carefully turned herself into a millionaire while holding public office,” said Hall. “This is an astounding discovery and I don’t think it’s been pointed out to the public before.”

Hall has been accused of trying to buy the election as he has one of the largest campaign funds seen in Houston in years. Hall has done well for himself and the monetary gains of the Mayor have caught the attention of many.

“At least I did mine in the private sector,” said Hall. “She has become a millionaire working off the tax dollars. That’s not right and we’re going to investigate that a little further.”

Although the campaign is getting heated Hall would like to keep it about city issues and not make it dirty and smearing campaign. His supporters seemed pleased with his video and eagerly awaited to hear anything else Hall had further to say.

“I thought the movie was great and it really introduces Ben to Houston. I think he is going to do a fantastic job,” said Claude Cummings, the Vice President of the CWA District 6. “He really has a vision for this city and we have some real problems in this city like infrastructure, crime, pension fund for city employees and he’s right we can’t just ignore it and keep kicking this can down the road. Sooner or later were going to run into that iceberg so we need someone with a vision and a plan and I believe Hall has one.”

As he continued to rally for support Hall let his supporters know he is going to be “Hall for All”.

“That’s more than a motto it’s a commitment,” said Hall. “I want to be a voice for the powerful but I also want to be a voice for the powerless, I want to be a voice for those who may have a home but I also want to be a voice for those who are homeless, I want to be a voice for those who are full and also a voice for those who are hungry but when you ask the question of what kind of man Ben Hall is going to be you tell them I am going to be a Mayor for everyone. I will be Hall for All but I need All for Hall.”

When the Sun talked to Hall about the feedback received from Houstonians, Hall said, “Extremely well, there is such excitement out there in the community and it drives me even further than I would otherwise think I would be able to do. Everybody I’m meeting is so energized by this campaign as they look for a fresh and new day in Houston.”

When asked about Mayor Parker’s response to him as a full blown contender, Hall said, “It’s clear that she recognizes that people are starting to gravitate to our campaign and so she’ll try to continue to attack me but I’m not going to shrink to that level, I’m going to stay on the high end of it and continue to speak about the bright future of Houston and not about the disappointing present.”

Of course the speech could not be concluded without asking for votes but he also requested prayer. Hall said it is going to be a spiritual fight as well as a political fight yet he pledged not to do anything that would dishonor Houstonians as he joked about the attack on him for living in Piney Point, a suburb of Houston. He went on to say he wants to live his life in a way the Lord will be pleased with and he pledges to have a very humble spirit.

Ben Hall supporter Clark Rone, said Hall is an answered prayer. “ People have been praying that God would send someone to step up to the plate to lead this city in the direction it needs to go and I just think he’s what we need, an answered prayer.”

Hall greeted, shook hands, posed for pictures and spoke to anyone who made eye contact. His intent is clear and the manner he will pursue it as well. The race is official as of August 20th and these candidates have until November to win over the citizens of Houston.

Mayor Parker reduces health insurance premiums for city workers

Mayor Annise Parker has approved a reduction in health insurance premiums for city workers, reversing last spring’s increased rates from 14.9 percent to 8.7 percent. The premium reduction is in addition to lower copays and reduced prescription drug costs.
The Mayor hopes that the combined cost reductions will provide some financial relief for employees while also ensuring they stay engaged in wellness activities.

“We budgeted very conservatively and have been transparent in reporting where we are at every step along the way,” said Mayor Parker. “I make no apologies for that. It is the same fiscally-responsible approach we apply to all matters related to city finances.”

Parker’s competition for the mayoral race, Ben Hall, believes it is no coincidence that there is a reform to the health insurance premium.

“It’s an election year and a lot of good policies are suddenly appearing because of the challenge of an election and that’s the good thing about our democracy that once an incumbent is made to justify policy positions during an election cycle that there is some reformation that takes place,” said Hall. “So I applaud this exercise of an election because it has causing the ship to right itself on some of the bad policies on healthcare coverage issues before.”

The city began to focus on employee wellness after an increase in claims which also was the alleged reason for the increase in premium contributions and copayments last spring. The city also moved an extra $14 million into the health benefits account to ensure minimum balances would be available to meet all claims, according to the Mayor’s office.

“In April, HOPE members spoke before City Council rallying around the issue of affordable healthcare,” said Melvin Hughes, President of the Houston Organization of Public Employees. “After detailed analysis we were able to provide the city with recommendations that found several opportunities for cost savings. This decision makes healthcare affordable for the workers that help make this city run. I am proud of our members for making this possible and thankful to Mayor Parker for being willing to listen.”

September 1, 2013 the lower cost will go into effect and remain until April 30, 2014.

Ben Hall commented at about it his press conference that he is confident there was a catalyst for the reduction but whatever it was the reduction is the right thing to do for city employees.

Many are pleased to see the reform to the health insurance premiums as healthcare is necessary but becoming such a tedious and hard to come by commodity in the country. The city is in the third year of a self-insured employee health benefits plan, where it pays only when employees submit claims rather than having to pay set monthly costs.

Changes for HISD

School is almost back in session and there are many changes that will take effect this year in Houston Independent School District (HISD).

James D. Ryan Middle School will be re-purposed as the Baylor College of Medicine at Ryan and the previous students of Ryan will now attend Cullen Middle School. The standards for graduation and testing will change as well, while the students of North Forest will become new students of HISD.

New beginnings for Third Ward

Upon the closure of historical James D. Ryan Middle School many community member of Third Ward were outraged and bewildered by the shutting down of such a pivotal school that is a known feeder into Jack Yates Senior HIgh. Ryan’s students will now be bussed or transported 4 miles to Cullen Middle School where they will fill a school that too had the same issue of low attendance. Before the closure of Ryan the student population had fallen to 263. HISD school board cited that low attendance and financial mismanagement led to the closing of Ryan. By consolidating the two middle schools it will at least save Cullen from the threat of closure as well.
Baylor College of Medicine takes over old Ryan

The doors of Ryan will not close verbatim as Baylor College of Medicine will take over the campus and form a magnet school for health and science.

“In association with Baylor College of Medicine, the Baylor College of Medicine Academy (BCMA) at Ryan will provide a rigorous curriculum founded on project-based, hands-on learning to 6th–8th grade students. Students will have the opportunity to earn high school credits, explore pathways in health and biomedical science, and become ready for challenging high school academic programs,” according to the Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan.

Students will have rigorous curriculum, hands on learning, project based learning with 21st century health science and computer labs. The curriculum will have courses such as bioengineering, neuroscience and Latin as a foreign language. The academy is designed to prepare students for careers in medicine, dentistry, allied health professions, biomedical sciences, pharmacy and biomedical engineering. BCMA is the feeder school for Debakey High School for Health Professionals.
What about North Forest?

The students that made up North Forest ISD will now be a part of the student body of HISD. This will be a historical moment when the predominately African American school district will have to surrender to HISD’s custody. North Forest ISD was annexed into HISD on July 1, 2013 after a battle that even drew down support and legal action from Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. The civil rights case did not hold up and now the name of the district will change but the school buildings will remain and the children will stay inside their community.

The changes the children will see once school starts will mostly be new principals and the reassignment of school buildings. The principals will be, Dr. Kimberly Agnew-Borders, Fonwood Early Childhood Center, Tammie Daily, Shadydale Elementary, Maggie Gardea, B.C. Elmore Elementary, Hilarion Martinez, Thurgood Marshall Elementary, Mike Walker, Hilliard Elementary, Rick Fernandez, Forest Brook Middle School, Pam Farinas, North Forest High School.

The changes in the usage of the buildings will be Fonwood Elementary becoming an Early Childhood Center, Thurgood Marshall Early Childhood Center will be an elementary school, Elmore Middle School will be an elementary school, Elmore Middle students will be zoned to Forest Brook and Key Middle Schools, Lakewood students will be zoned to Hilliard and Elmore Elementary Schools and Lakewood Elementary will be closed.
Changes to testing in HISD

HISD students should call and thank their State Representative Alma Allen for working on the House Bill 5 that reduced the number of test from 15 to 5 as well as the graduation criteria.
Graduation Plans

Starting this year students will have a new foundation plan that only requires 22 credits for graduation. Students will need four English Language Arts, three Math and three Science, three Social Studies, two Foreign Language, one Fine Art, one Physical Education and five Electives.

Some schools offer different programs and for students to graduate with a distinguished recognition on their diploma they must have an endorsement from one of the following five programs, STEM, Business and Industry, Public Services, Arts and Humanities and Multidisciplinary Studies.

The full criteria for students to graduate distinguished are all requirements met on the foundation program, an endorsement and an Algebra II credit. Students who achieve the distinguished recognition will be eligible for college admissions under the Top 10 percent automatic admissions provision.
Testing

The state testing requirements have been reduced from 15 to 5 tests a year. Students will only have to take English Arts I &II, Algebra I, Biology and US History.
Accountability

The students aren’t the only ones who will be graded as the schools will be evaluated on their Academic Performance, Financial Performance and Community and Student Engagement. Schools are required to have at least three additional indicators of academic performance as determined by the Commissioner of Education, which may include, percentage of students graduating with endorsements or distinguished level of performance, number of students earning college credit and number of students earning workforce certificates.

“This allows local communities to engage in the accountability process by requiring districts to set goals and evaluate performance locally in addition to state ratings,” said State Representative Alma Allen.

The students and parents of HISD as well as the old North Forest have many changes ahead of them this school year. The school district and the state of Texas have made adjustments with the hopes of better educational opportunities for the every growing Houston Independent School District. School starts August 26, 2013.

Third Ward’s homegrown STEM program: CSTEM Teacher and Student Support Services

Myra Griffin
The Houston Sun

At first glance Reagan Flowers does not appear to be the super brainiac Science teacher that decided to start a non- profit STEM program 11 years ago. Founder and President of CSTEM Teacher and Student Support Services, Flowers, is beyond a pretty face and has used her sharp mind and drive for the advancement of under-privilege children to introduce them to a whole new world.

Based in Third Ward Houston, TX on Alabama Street right next to the Cuney Homes, CSTEM is a non- profit organization that is the first Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade integrated STEM learning and enrichment program in the nation. CSTEM highly motivates students to collaboratively work on six projects such as the creation and development of remote controlled robots, geoscience, creative writing, sculpture, film, and photography. The students are required to participate in all areas, providing them with an integrated STEM learning experience.

“CSTEM is an education non- profit focusing on elementary, middle and high school education from a support services vantage point,” said Flowers. “We develop teacher content knowledge and give them the tools and resources to implement what they are teaching to their students and we have them all compete in an international competition at the end of the school year, it’s a part of their accountability piece.”

CSTEM is targeted toward under-served children who are predominately African American and Hispanic children and girls. Those are the populations that are disengaged with STEM.

“We are about helping those who need help but we served every demographic and every ethnicity in our program but we do have over 80% minority participation,” said Flowers.

Flowers is a veteran teacher as she worked 10 years inside of Houston Independent School District (HISD). For five years she taught Science at Jack Yates Senior High School and a served as a Guidance Counselor for a year. After leaving Yates, she went on to become Dean of Students at West Briar Middle School and then the School Improvement Facilitator at Phyllis Wheatley High School.

“C-Stem started when I was working at Yates. I was one of those teachers who thought they were phenomenal and walked on water and my kids were extraordinary,” said Flowers. “I wrote a grant to NASA to build a robot. I got the funding. I didn’t know how complex and competitive it was.”

She led the first robotics program at Yates. Countless hours went into teaching her students about robotics enough for them to go to their first competition where she quickly learned they were in another league.

“ I got to the competition at Reliant and it was like this whole world out there with kids that were so much more advanced than my students, teachers more advanced than I was,” said Flowers.

Flowers zoned in and committed herself to her kid’s commitment to be able to compete. She describes it as an awakening. She knew work needed to be done to bring herself and the students up to speed but she knew it could be done.

“I don’t know if it was the robotics or the kind of learning where kids can problem solve but I realized about my kids that they loved to build and construct, they loved to work with the tools,” said Flowers. “They (students) were really committed they would come in school with me and if I was there seven days they were there seven days, if I was there until 2 in the morning then they were there until 2 in the morning.”

Commitment is a key component in CSTEM and the commitment and excitement about the type of learning happening helped keep Flowers interested in teaching STEM to students although the robotics program wasn’t working out too good at Yates.

“It wasn’t happening in our school, I was raising money and building relationships and it was starting to impact my teaching,” said Flowers. “I was like I’m being paid to be a biology teacher not to run an after school Science club. After burning the candles on both ends CSTEM emerged.”

CSTEM was created as a research project while Reagan was in her doctoral program. She had already left Yates and working as Dean of Students at West Briar Middle School in 2002. The principal allowed Flowers to use 25-30 students to pilot the STEM program and from there she had a successful dissertation and model for the program she felt was needed to help supplement schools.

“For three years I had the opportunity to figure out how to integrate learning, how to connect it where we could build a pipeline with kids that are excited about math and science and can apply it in fun and innovative ways,” said Flowers. “It went so well Shell Oil came to look at it around 2004.”

Flowers passion grew to encourage students to want to pursue a career in STEM. Her position was clear that children couldn’t be what they didn’t know and they couldn’t dream about what they didn’t know. With STEM having so many careers wide open she felt obligated to give the students exposure to what could be.

“ Exposure is key to a child success, you have to expose them to a world outside of their school, outside their community,” said Flowers. “While at Yates we too often run into kids who have never been out of Third Ward.”

One could almost develop a manifesto about her desires to show children more than what is inside of one building. She believes that children have to be pulled out into the world so they can see and build up in a motivation to want to do and want to learn.

“ Its not enough for a teacher to want from their children you have to train them to be self starters and self learners to take control of their learning,” said Flowers.

Those ideals compliment the STEM training and have helped Reagan build a strong organization.

“I try to find a way to ignite them. Every year we find a new curriculum and its created new because the world is changing so fast and we want the kids to have relevant experiences,” said Flowers. “We don’t want them having busy work or just doing something for the sake of saying their doing something. We want them to see that it is real and relevant and they can have a part in solving a world issue.”

Last year they worked on a project with Algae Bloom, which is an alarming amount of Algae populating a habitat that has resulted in destruction in many natural water habitats. The project was a real world issue that showed how their work may have a way to help solve the problem.

“They are looking for solutions whether its with their Geographical Information Service (GIS) projects or robotics project we integrate art as our theme is ‘everyone is an artist and an engineer’ we believe there is a little engineering and artistry in everybody so we connect art to our program and our kids paint murals and integrate the geometry, the science and technology in there,” said Flowers. “They do sculptures, they produced films last year they did Green projects, GIS projects where they can zoom in to any mass of land or water on the planet and research and do projects on it.”

The projects make the kids become very conscious and aware of the environment, conscious about making innovations and ways to solve problems. They work on their projects for 7 or 8 months during the school year and then they come to the George R. Brown Convention Center and compete.

“We are very fortunate as an organization to be the only non-profit that partners with the Shell Eco-Marathon and we hold our competition during their Eco-Marathon Americas. Our kids compete with vehicles that are designed to run on alternative fuel sources and its just an awesome space and it exposes kids to STEM careers beyond anything that they would have the opportunity to know about,” said Flowers. “Most of these kids don’t come from homes where their dad is a geoscientist or their mom is a mechanical/electrical engineer. So they get exposure to these professionals it exposes them to what’s possible if they work hard.”

CSTEM is open to any child who has an interest. CSTEM partner with the schools and allow them to select the students that will participate.

“We really stress that they see the project through from start to finish because its an enormous investment made per school for the kids to have this experience because the teachers don’t have to pay for anything,” said Flowers. “It’s a free program for the students, the schools will pay for the teachers to train.”

CSTEM works with schools in Houston, Fort Bend, Aldine, Alief Independent School Districts as well as Kipp Charter School and Yes Prep Houston and home schools. They are in four states and two countries and two additional states will come on board this year.

“We normally service anywhere between 30-60 schools a year depending on budget it cost to service nearly 10,000 per school in the program. That’s where the fundraising go towards, supporting and funding our schools,” said Flowers.

Once the organization started to grow outside the state all of their services moved to online. Registration is all online and they are trained by industry professionals and the training happens online and all their materials are shipped to them at their schools.

“The schools have to decide they want to be a part of CSTEM. When we started to expand we started to look exclusionary and we would get parents that would say I really want to do this program but the school is not willing so we created the iSTEM Olympiad,” said Flowers. “It was created last year for that problem. If you have a parent or organization,that want to do the program with kids we have the iSTEM Olympiad so they don’t have to be a school. A kid can register for iSTEM as long as they can pay the cost.”

iSTEM is an unpaid program but the CSTEM challenge is a scholarship program but Flowers has found it tough sometimes to work with some schools because they are not use to working as partners and working collaboratively.

The program is flexible as every school has a different set of dynamics. Flowers and staff don’t tell the schools how to implement the STEM program they have the control to do it however they want.

“Some schools have a class dedicated to it, some have it after-school and others only on Saturdays,” said Flowers. “We have Saturday workshops where the teachers and the kids can participate and if they want to meet at their school they can and those Saturdays are a great time for them to all meet at one of their schools.”

CSTEM has many components and the concern of it being overbearing for a child may cross ones mind but Reagan adamantly dispels that and assures the children don’t get overwhelmed. Since the model is set up for the six competition areas, CSTEM calls for math, science, social studies, technology, art and an English teacher and each teacher is asked to lead one of the competition areas. So if it’s worked out the right way they will have six teachers for 20-25 students on each project and most kids just focus on one project but together they make one team.

“Kids are naturally curious and will figure things out and we train the teachers them online and we pace them through it,” said Flowers. “We don’t give them answers but we give them everything they need to put a base model together and if they want to do extra we teach them how to program but if they want it to do extra stuff they have to play with the program to make it do what they want it to do.”

CSTEM is meant to be competitive. As an international program, Flowers intention is to prepare the children to compete internationally.

“For the question why is the school international its because our students are struggling in knowing math and science as they should particularly blacks and Hispanics children and they are the largest un-empowered people in STEM fields,” said Flowers. “They’re not going into STEM fields and a lot of it is because they don’t want to do the work that is necessary to take the chemistry and physics to complete the degrees in those areas so we have to work extra hard to get those kids excited and to want to finish and know what it takes. They have to know they aren’t just competing with their class mates their competing with the kids in Africa, India, Singapore and the world is so flat now that it’s like Singapore is right next door to you now. The internet has just made the world smaller and our kids need to be ready to be global citizens so we work very hard to engage our students to be competitive.”

Annually the students compete in the CSTEM Challenge competition at the George R. Brown Convention Center. They pick the first place winner from the projects presented and only give first place prizes are given.

“The world is a competitive world and I’m preparing them for the real world and I’m not giving them any sense of false hope or accomplishment but they have won because they have shown up because a kid can choose to do nothing but they chose to see their project through from start to finish and come and compete and give it their best. If they don’t come in first maybe they’ll come back again,” said Flowers.

The perks of CSTEM don’t stop with children. The teachers also have an incentive as they are certifying teachers as STEM certified so if they have done all of their teacher training, done all their workshops and competed in the national competition, put in almost 100 hours and submit portfolio they can become a STEM certified teacher. To train six teachers for CSTEM is about $2200 and they have the opportunity to get three hours of graduate level credit through St. Thomas University.

Well over 200 schools since 2002 in HISD has participated in CSTEM. Most of CSTEM partners has been in HISD since it started in HISD. The program is flexible and schools can come in and out.

CSTEM is an organization that is still a small operation as far as staff. Flowers is the one full time staff member and she has six part timers and about 15-20 contractors.

“We have the same needs as a Fortune 500 company but we don’t need it as often as much as a Fortune 500 company,” said Flowers.
CSTEM is integrating more technology into their program and wants to connect more strongly with alumni. They have had an estimated impact of over 50,000 in the past years. They desire to develop more partnerships with companies.

“We’re not always looking for money but sometimes we just need services or staff that will save us money,” said Flowers.

Summer is CSTEM’s retooling time where they write new curriculum for the new year. They get registration ready and identify their trainers for the year.

“Our trainers stay with us for a year, see once the schools pay for the training which is our Teacher Training Institute. They get six free workshops with their students and their teachers. We do one a month. So they train in October and in November they’ll do one Saturday workshop a month and these are facilitated by experts in the field,” said Flowers.
“They inform the curriculum, the outcomes the kids should experience and they coach them through it. They walk them through until April and then they get to come and see kids they’ve never met except for online at the GRB and get to see all the work. We usually have minimum of 3000 kids at the GRB.”

Registration for CSTEM and iSTEM Olympiad is underway now. The registration period will end September 6, 2013 for the CSTEM Challenge and for the iSTEM Olympiad February. This year Flowers will welcome aboard Louisiana and Washington D.C..

CSTEM’s Board of Directors is Earl Cummings, LaQuita Cyprian, Robert L. Satcher M.D., Ph.D., Misty Khan, Syalisa Winata, Ross Peters, Ahmad Shaheed, Morgan Gaskin, Sandra Saldana, Ricky Raven, Joi Beasley, and Reagan Flowers Ph.D.