Tag Archives: EPISD

When Richardson sixth-grader Evan Lopez came calling, the community came calling.

Evan has helped gather socks for homeless El Pasoans for years, knowing full well that in order to stay warm people need to keep their feet covered.

His sock drive, which expanded from his old school at Nixon Elementary to his current one at Richardson, helped gather more than 750 pairs of socks.

During the holiday break, Evan and his family delivered the donated socks — plus a couple of other items — to three agencies in El Paso helping the homeless. One of them is the Rescue Mission of El Paso.

Evan said he is thankful to everyone who donated items and helped spread the word about the sock drive.

District officials commended Lopez’s actions, saying “His commitment to school and desire to help his community makes him a clear example of someone who has the EPISD Proud Spirit.”

The students at Stanton Elementary School returned to classes Wednesday after the end of the winter break, and they got a special treat as they walked in.

Waiting for them were a group of American heroes: members of the U.S. Army who were there to give them books, orange juice and encouraging words to help them start the second half of the school year.

The soldiers, all wearing their fatigues, even brought another superhero friend.

Batman was there to high-five kids and wish them luck in the spring semester.

EPISD students returned to school on Wednesday after the winter break.

EPISD Community School volunteers were thanked for constantly going above and beyond in their efforts to help students and their families during a holiday luncheon last week.

The luncheon was just one way to thank the volunteers who make up EPISD’s efforts to connect students and families to community services aimed at helping them reach their academic and economic goals.

The volunteers help with outreach like job fairs, food pantries and adult learning courses.

Community Schools is a program that currently serves six campuses in EPISD, as well as the neighborhoods surrounding them. The campuses are: Bowie High School, Guillen Middle School and Hart, Aoy, Douglass and Zavala elementary schools.

“This is a great program to get parents involved in their children’s school,” said Juan Adame, a VISTA volunteer with Community Schools program. “They do so much to help our kids and our parents … it’s our turn to thank, them.”

The luncheon included holiday treats like doughnuts and coffee, as well as steaming hot menudo. Participants also chatted and played games to celebrate a job well done.

But for many of the volunteers, the fun will be short-lived. They want to get back to serving their communities.

“I like to help,” said Amber Fernandez, who often helps the program with food pantry deliveries. “This program has helped a lot of people. And a lot of people come out.”

Story by Victoria Castillo  |  Photos by Leonel Monroy –  EPISD

The Oso Good Food Truck students debut their latest business venture Thursday, selling Bowie swag and other merch for alumni, students and staff in their new store.

The Bowie Cave, located within the school’s cafeteria, formally dedicated the store Thursday evening – nearly selling out the shirts, hoodies, beanies, mugs and other spirit merchandise. The store also will have a print shop for students and staff can order copies, laminate and posters. It also has seating for a student hang out.

“It’s a great new project we’re doing,” said senior Emily Badillo, marketing manager. “We’re really excited. I think it’s going to bring more students together. They’ll want to come to the store and chill or to buy something new.

The store will mostly be managed by students in the culinary club, but StuCo, courtesies and other students will have the opportunity to work in the store for retail experience and community service.

Profits from the store go back to the school.

“It’s not just for our club,” said chef Christopher Puga, who runs the culinary program. “The culinary student wanted to go outside the box. They already do customer service and they’ve been successful at it but their thought was let’s think about doing something for the whole school and not just something that benefits our program and the food truck. ‘What’s our next step?’”

The store will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on school days.

Puga said he also will be bringing in retail managers from area businesses to interact with the students, showing them that they are doing real-world applications.

The students expect the store to also be a source of pride for their alma mater. The store opened with approximately 10 different types of merchandise but will grow to at least 20 in January after winter break include a variety of clothes and accessories with the oso mascot – some specifically for alumni.

“This is a good way to buy stuff and represent Bowie,” said senior Emmanuel Meneses, general manager. “It’s a great thing.”

Senior Jennifer Candia, the store manager, agrees.

“We have great alumni,” Candia said. “When alumni see us out in the community wearing a Bowie shirt, they’ll get excited and ask if we go to Bowie. It makes us feel proud.”

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house EPISD children were reading using their tablets and iPads.

Winter break is fast approaching for EPISD, and that means students will have time to rest and spend time with their families. But educators want them to know that break time does not mean books are off the table.

The EPISD myOn Winter Reading Challenge can help elementary- and middle-school students keep up with their literacy during the winter vacation time, but also win some prizes for doing reading the most books from Dec. 22 to Jan. 7.

“A child who reads at least 20 minutes a day read 1.8 million words in a year,” said EPISD Chief Academic Officer Tamekia Brown. “Our research is clear that over time a child who keeps up with his or her reading will outperform their peers.”

The winter reading challenge will help students keep up with their reading, even when school is not in session.

Winners for the most minutes read will be tracked using myOn, EPISD’s digital book access point that is available free of charge to all students in the District. Five top readers will be selected in three categories — kinder to second grade, third to fifth grade and sixth through eighth grade.

Winners in each category will receive fun prizes and a certificate. The top reader in each category will receive a Visa Gift Card.

To participate, students need to simply log in to the myOn account through the EPISD Plaza using their username (EPISD email) and password. Their teacher can provide a password to myOn.

Once logged in, students can click on the myOn link and began browsing books that spark their interest. The system will track reading time during the winter break and winners will be notified once school resumes in January.

Students in Chapin’s pre-engineering program took all the training they’ve received so far this school year and used it to show off their skills and spread some holiday cheer.

The sophomores designed holiday and movie-themed displays for the Principles of Engineering Holiday Villages Competition that included lights, motion and sound — all on display in the rotunda last week. The end-of-the-semester event showcased the students’ growing knowledge, skills and spirit.

Some of the holiday movies represented included “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” The Grinch Who Stole Christmas,” Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Charlie & The Chocolate Factory,” and “Polar Express.”

“Throughout the year we’ve done worksheets on this material,” said Alicia Ruiz, whose team recreated The Polar Express. “This gave us hands-on experience with everything we’ve learned up to now. It also lets us use creativity to show the love that’s present this time of the year.”

Ruiz’s display brought to life the different scenes of the movie with lights and movement.

“When the topic of movies came up, we thought of the Polar Express because we had all watched it when we were younger,” she said. “Everyone knew it. It brought back so many memories.”

Their project won top honors for creativity, use of materials, presentation and engineering design. It also swept the Kid’s Choice Awards judged by students from Powell Elementary School in categories like cool moving parts, decorations, artwork and inventiveness and creativity. The Polar Express tied with the Grinch for its wow factor among Powell students.

Zachary Magdeleno, a Chapin student and aspiring biomedical engineer, teamed up with other students to construct a Rudolph display featuring the Island of Misfit Toys.

“I thought it was helpful because we’ve been talking about a multitude of simple machine designs,” he said. “Projects like these help me prepare for what I’ll be doing in college.”

Engineering teacher Juan Clague said the displays were true STEAM projects requiring students to use their knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and math, coupled with art and creativity.

“The level of detail is amazing,” he said. “They hid the mechanisms so that the figures move in a magical way. It’s both beautiful inside and out … like a Swiss clock.”

Story and photos by Reneé de Santos – EPISD

A special signing Santa came down from the North Pole on Tuesday to visit the children in the Regional Day School Program for the Deaf at Hillside.

Every year, the Hillside students visit Bassett Place to take pictures with Santa and sign their wish lists. This Santa is extraordinary, however, as he is fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), which the students are learning at school.

“This makes them feel included because they can see a Santa who knows their language,” said Carmen Castro-Toriano, the coordinator of the program. “They can express themselves and ask Santa for what they want without having to write it down or asking someone else to interpret.”

The students lined up and one by one sat on Santa’s lap asking for a variety of toys and goodies. Skateboards, bears, toy dogs, bikes and anything with unicorns were among the gifts the kids hoped to see under their tree this year.  

“I told him I want an iPhone 11,” said fourth-grader Dillion Ramirez, who both speaks and signs. “It costs, like, $1,000.” 

Genevieve Cordova’s request was much more modest but very specific: “I want a toy puppy that’s white with spots.”

When asked through an interpreter if they liked signing with Santa. The kids raised up their hands – giving the sign for applause.

“I liked it when he was signing,” fifth-grader Ayleen Rios said. “I told him I want a toy horse for Christmas… and a unicorn toy.”

After visiting Santa, the students are treated to a performance by their peers in the Hillside Singing Signing choir, which uses vocal and ASL talents. The students sang and signed holiday favorites including “Jingle Bells” and “Jingle Bell Rock.”

They wrapped up their performance with “Silent Night” – singing and signing the first verse and then ending the song only in ASL. The final verse gives the audience a glimpse of how they experience the song.   

“It’s an amazing event,” Castro-Torino said. “Our kids look forward to it every year.”

She hopes that it inspires the RDSPD students’ hearing peers to learn sign language. 

“If we can get those students who are hearing to learn another  language – because that’s what ASL is – it can open doors for everyone and provide more opportunities to communicate with others and be able to help others as they grow up.”

EPISD’s Counseling and Advising Department has a new colorful and vibrant way to show they are here to support all students in the District, including those who identify as members of the LGBTQ Community.

The department this week began distributing rainbow lanyards to counselors and other key personnel that have the words “EPISD ALLY” printed on them. The rainbow has long been a symbol of LGBTQ Pride.

“All students are at risk of being bullied, harassed or called names at school, but LGBTQ students can face particularly hostile and challenging school environments,” said Manuel Castruita, EPISD’s director of counseling and advising. “The rainbow lanyards show support for all of our students. It is one way to let students know that you are a safe person to talk to at any time.”

Castruita said national advising core beliefs for professional school counselors state that all students’ ethnic, cultural, racial, sexual orientation and special needs are valued and considered in planning and implementing the school counseling program.

EPISD’s policy also states that the District will not discriminate in its educational programs or employment practices on the basis of race, color, age, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, citizenship, military status, disability, genetic information, gender stereotyping and perceived sexuality, or on any other basis prohibited by law.

Castruita said he has seen a positive response to the EPISD Ally lanyards among staff members and students.

“The lanyards are beautiful and they let our students know that we are here for all of them,” he said.