BISD Students Excel at DI

Over 500 BISD students and teachers, representing 73 Destination Imagination (DI) Teams, competed in the 16th Annual South Border Bridge Destination Imagination Regional Tournament held on Saturday, February 20 at Veterans High School in Mission. With over 200 performances, teams used entertaining skits to showcase their solutions to a variety of challenges that required research into math, science, social studies, and technology. Presentations included student created vehicles able to carry students across a gym floor, creative ways to use camouflage, presenting a mystery story set in the past, improvising news flashes, or showcasing projects that address a community need. Early childhood teams showcased maps they created using skits about a journey. Congratulations to these creative BISD students and their sponsors on a job well done. View the BISD team results by campus.

BECHS Student Wins National Scholarship

Zahira Y. Correa, a senior at Brownsville Early College, has won the 2016 Joseph Adams Senior Scholarship from the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (SHH), an honor society for high school students studying Spanish or Portuguese, for her dedication to the study of Spanish and excellent skills in that language. This national award is a prestigious honor for Brownsville Early College High School. The $2,000 scholarship is awarded to only 12 students from over 2,400 SHH chapters across the United States. View the media release.

BISD Scientists to Compete at State and International Fairs

A total of 82 BISD secondary students have qualified to advance to the Texas Science and Engineering Fair to be held on April 1 and April 2 in San Antonio, Texas. The students qualified at the UTRGV Regional Science and Engineering Fair held on Saturday, February 13, 2016. BISD has 30 projects and 60 students advancing from the Senior Division of early college high schools and 19 projects and 22 students advancing from the Junior Division of middle schools. Two Hanna ECHS Senior Division team projects qualified to directly advance to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona in May. Hanna’s 1st Runner-Up team is composed of Kathy Estrella, Jose Chacon, and Sarah Chacon. The 2nd Runner-Up team is composed of Kevin Le, Brandon Campos, and Rodney Morales. The sponsors are Sally Chong and Nelda Rogers. Congratulations to all BISD students and their sponsors who are advancing in competition. View the Senior Division and Junior Division winners who earned 1st – 3rd places in the UTRGV Regional Science and Engineering Fair by campus.

65 BISD Historians Advance to State

Brownsville ISD secondary students participated in the Rio Grande Valley History Day on Saturday, February 13 at UTRGV in Edinburg. A total of 65 BISD students have qualified to advance to the State History Day competition to be held on Saturday, April 30 in Austin, Texas. Congratulations to our BISD historians. View the awards summary for the junior and senior divisions for Brownsville ISD.

State Swimming Bound

Congratulations to Swimmers Maya Imperial, Hanna ECHS; Stephanie Castillo, Rivera ECHS; and Jonathon Ashford, Veterans Memorial ECHS; and Diver Thadey Diaz, Lopez ECHS; who qualified for the UIL State Swimming and Diving Championships to be held on Friday, February 19 and Saturday, February 20 at the University of Texas in Austin. The competition may be viewed on the NFHS Network starting at 10 am on Thursday, February 18.

BISD Middle School Band Students Are Tops

BISD middle school band students dominated the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Region 28 Jazz Ensemble audition held on February 4, 2016. BISD students earned 20 of the 40 chairs available, including 2 first chair positions. The TMEA Region 28 Middle School Jazz Band will perform on Saturday, February 20 at the Harlingen Performing Arts Center at 4 pm. View the results by school.

New Firefighter/EMT Offering for Students

The new Board approved Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Certification Program of Study was featured in The Brownsville Herald on Sunday, February 7. The program will open to incoming BISD 9th grade students during the 2016-2017 school year. View the story here.

Top BISD Spellers Advance

At the BISD Spelling Bee held on Saturday, February 6 at Veterans Memorial ECHS, 8 top spellers qualified to represent the district at the regional spelling bee. Congratulations to: Richard E. Zayas, Sharp Elementary (2016 BISD Champion) Marlene Gonzalez, Ortiz Elementary (2016 BISD Runner-Up) Paris Cho, Manzano Middle School Austin Valdivia, Keller Elementary Starlika Bauskar, Burns Elementary Gaddiel Garcia, Lucio Middle School Amanda Garcia, Stillman Middle School Sofia Trevino, Stell Middle School The 28th Annual Rio Grande Valley Regional Spelling Bee will be held on Saturday, March 5 at South Texas Technical College in Harlingen in the Science and Technology Building (W) Lecture Hall. Registration will begin at 8:00 am and the competition will begin promptly at 9:00 am. The winner of the regional competition will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee to be held in Washington, D.C. during Bee Week, May 29 - June 3, 2016.

Secondary Scientists Advance to Regional Fair

Over 235 BISD secondary students have qualified to compete at the UTRGV Regional Science and Engineering Fair on Saturday, February 13 at the UTRGV Brownsville campus. BISD’s middle school students, junior division, will compete in the Garza Gymnasium with public viewing from 3 pm to 4 pm. The Junior Division Awards Ceremony will be held on the UTRGV Student Union lawn from 6 to 7 pm. The high school students, Senior Division, will compete in the UTRGV Gran Salon with public viewing from 4 to 5 pm and the Awards Ceremony starting at 7 pm. The public is invited to attend the public viewing and awards ceremonies. Students who win 1st-3rd place in either division will advance to the ExxonMobil Texas State Science and Engineering Fair in San Antionio. The top two high school winners at regional competition will directly advance to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona.

College Connected

BISD early college high school students are actively applying to colleges and universities using the APPLY TEXAS Application. Check out the latest numbers below by BISD school. For questions, contact Pilar Janis, BISD Guidance and Counseling Department, at 548-8251. Name of ECHS Apply Texas % FAFSA% TASFA FAFSA/TASFA % HANNA 96% PORTER 92% PACE 99% RIVERA 71% LOPEZ 100% VETERANS 88% BECHS 80%

Community Conversation

Ruben Cortez, Jr., District 2 State Board of Education Member, and Brownsville ISD will host a Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, February 11 from 9:30 - 11:30 am at the Central Administration Building (CAB) auditorium located at 708 Palm Boulevard in Brownsville. Educators, parents, community members, and business leaders are invited to attend. View the Town Hall topics and registration information.

2016-2017 BISD Calendar Approved

The BISD Board of Trustees approved the 2016-2017 Academic Calendar at the Regular Board Meeting held on Tuesday, February 2, 2016. View or download next year’s school calendar here.

Guest Principals Head to School

Brownsville ISD will host its 24th Principal for a Day (PFAD) activity on Friday, February 19. Each BISD campus, 58 in all, will invite a business or civic leader to serve as a guest principal for one entire morning. Guest principals will begin their day at their respective schools where they will shadow the campus administrator and participate in a variety of school activities. Their day will conclude with a luncheon which allows participants to share stories about their morning spent in the principal’s office. Initiated in 1992, PFAD has enabled hundreds of local leaders to experience the joys and challenges of public school administration. Many of the guest principals, inspired by their experience have continued their involvement with BISD schools.

Change in Location

The BISD Homeless Youth Connection Project has moved to a new location at the Clearwater Campus, Room 117. Everyone is invited to attend an Open House on Thursday, February 4 from 8-10 am. View the invitation in Spanish.

BISD Chess Champs

The 2016 TCA Region VIII Scholastic Chess Championship was held on January 30-31, 2016 at Veterans Memorial ECHS. Over 1,300 chess players from kinder to 12th grade participated. A total of 13 Brownsville ISD teams will compete at the National Chess Championships. View the BISD results.