On April 10, local school districts were informed that First lady Laura Bush and daughter, Jenna Bush were going to visit Houston. Mrs. Bush has asked to meet with area teachers that are making a difference both in the classroom and in their community.
Thirty Aldine teachers who met specific criteria were nominated by Administrators within the Aldine district. The 30 teachers nominated wrote about how they have effected their school community out of these thirty people only two were selected to meet the First Lady Bush and her daughter.
Then a selection was made by the Superintendent Dr. Wanda Bamberg and other administrative committee members based on their explanation of the programs in which they are involved and how it has affected the school community and benefited the students and community members around their schools.
Two selected from Aldine
The two selected people from the Aldine ISD were: Demetria Westmoreland, 7th Grade History Teacher from Shotwell Middle School and Alpha Omega Cruz-Lopez, Bilingual Librarian and Teacher from Keeble EC/PK Center.
These two teachers have made a tremendous impact on their community and students in their schools. Westmoreland, has many programs involving the students in her school. She has formed a student group called The Purple Roses.
The Purple Roses
This group of students have participated in projects including: Breast Cancer Awareness, Elderly Help, Staph Infection realization. During Breast Cancer Awareness month, the students did various projects to inform other students and teachers of Breast Cancer and to help in the prevention and research by collecting money for the Pink Ribbon and donating to Breast Cancer collection places and giving out Pink Ribbons for Breast Cancer Awareness. This has been a very enlightening thing for students as well as the teachers.
For their sock hop, they collected socks because this is one thing that the elderly love because their feet are always cold. This is a very unusual collection; however, with their visits to the elderly homes and their enthusiasm, the elderly really enjoy this time. Enlightening the student population about the importance of washing their hands and knowledge about Staph Infection and how to prevent it is of great importance.
Alpha Omega Cruz-Lopez , a Bilingual teacher and librarian at Keeble EC/PK Center in the Aldine Independent School District, has wholeheartedly taken pride in becoming extremely involved with adult and childrens reading to accomplish a two-fold growth.
The ABC Club
One spectacular monthly activity, the ABC Club (A.-Answers, B.-Books, C.-Children), invites parents to come for an hour the first Friday of each month to hear about forthcoming events and to participate in a make-N-take activity related to a book.
The session involves methods and approaches on how to read to children; skills; manipulatives; and diverse techniques that parents can use nightly as they read to their children. Parents interest in reading has become an overwhelming concentrated effort tied into another activity started since last year called: Go Wild with Reading.
This program encourages the parents to read every day to their children. At the beginning of every month a Reading Form is sent home for the parents to write down the title of every book that is read to their children daily. At the end of each month, they return their form and each child receives a certificate. The childs name is kept in a log. This program ends in May. The children who have completed: eight months of 100% participated reading will receive a GOLD Medallion, seven months of 100% participated reading will receive a SILVER Medallion; six months of 100% participated reading will receive a BRONZE Medallion.