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Covering the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest & the neighborhoods of North Houston Saturday, October 24, 2015 • Vol. 60 • No. 51
How HISD’s language programs educate, engage By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
About Us 3500 East T.C. Jester Blvd Suite A (713) 686-8494 news@theleadernews.com www.theleadernews.com Facebook/THE LEADER.
AREA SPECIALIST
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On Monday, a group of Helms Elementary first graders sat on the rug in Vasti Marcelo’s classroom close to a world map. At the door, their teacher pointed to a row of sashes, each with the name of a Spanish speaking country. One of the sashes was blank. “Which one did Ms. Marcelo forget to make the sash for?” their teacher asked. After a perusal and comparison of the flags along the top of the wall with the sashes, the answer was discovered pretty quickly – Equatorial Guinea on the western coast of Africa. For the rest of the class, the students learned about Equatorial Guinea, including information from the Human Development Index. Marcelo delivered the lesson in a way her students could understand. Next to Long Life, there were nine figures, one of which was crossed out. Ability to Attend School had three out of ten marked with an X. By the time they got to Access
to Clean Water, the students understood that five out of ten wasn’t good. Food was worse, with six figured crossed out. After focusing on the problems, the class brainstormed solutions to the country’s food and water shortage and wrote about them in their journal. The exercise was just the kind of thing that Helms Principal John Baker envisioned when he added the Hispanic Culture & Art class with additional Magnet funding from the district. “I wanted a class where the kids could study about all the countries that speak Spanish,” he said. Marcelo, who was a kindergarten teacher at Helms before she moved into the ancillary role, was also in charge of the school’s recent Hispanic Art and Culture night which included a wax museum, a parade of nations and poetry readings. “It was a great community building experience,” said Baker, who estimates there were 350 in attendance. Helms, a dual language school since the See Language, P. 8A
Photo by Betsy Denson A first grade class at Helms Elementary is learning about each Spanish speaking country.
The Final Stretch
INSIDE.
Down Syndrome Academy aims at growth, fundraising By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com
Ghoulish good times in the Heights Oddities, gifts, taxidermy and decor await Heights residents looking for a scary good time at the Wilde Collection located on Yale Street. With Halloween just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to explore the collection for a take home treasure.
Find it on 3B
INSIDE.
Photo by Jonathan Garris (From left to right) Marty McVey, Stephen Costello, Sylvester Turner and Bill King were all in attendance last week at the Harriet and Joe Foster YMCA in Garden Oaks to talk public safety and quality of life as election day rapidly approaches.
Mayoral candidates talk safety, education as election day nears
The Do-Over In this month’s edition of the Do-Over, Cynthia Lescalleet focuses on one of six homes that will be featured in the Spring 2016 Woodland Heights Home Tour, themed “Reinventing for Today.” Find out what went into Laura and Dan Lensgraf ’s home in this month’s Leader Listings.
Find it on 1B
District H Race Read about Abel Davila’s aspirations for District H in this week’s candidate profile.
Find it on 3B
The INDEX. Church
6A
Classifieds
5B
Coupons
4B
Food/Drink/Art Obituaries
7A 5A
Opinion
4A
Public Information Puzzles Sports
2A 4A 7B
In one of the most recent polls for the Houston mayoral race, conducted by SurveyUSA for KPRC, Turner leads the pack with 20 percent - however in that same poll 22 percent were listed as undecided.
By Jonathan Garris jgarris@theleadernews.com “Time is running out for candidates vying for the Houston mayor’s office to make an impression on voters before residents make their way to the polls in the coming weeks. With Nov. 3 right around the corner, several candidates opted to make yet another appearance at a Leader-area forum, this time at the Harriet and Joe Foster YMCA on West 34th Street. A recent poll conducted by SurveyUSA for KPRC has Sylvester Turner leading by 20 percent, followed by Bill King at 14 percent, Adrian Garcia with 13 percent, Chris Bell with 12 percent, Stephen Costello at 11 percent, Ben Hall at 4 percent and Marty McVey at one percent. The poll, first posted Oct. 16, lists 22 percent as undecided leaving plenty of voters for candidates to work with. Another poll earlier this month, conducted by the Survey Research Center, University for Public Policy & Rice University, for KUHF and KHOU polled Houston area citizens from Sept. 25 to Oct. 6, and had Turner leading at 19 percent, with Garcia and King tied at 9 percent, Bell at 6 percent, Costello at 5 percent, Hall at 4 percent, McVey at 1 percent and a large 42 percent that were undecided. Candidates are undoubtedly turning their attention to courting these undecided voters before election day and last week’s forum offered a chance to do just that. Participating candidates included McVey, Costello, Turner and King. Each candidate was given a chance to answer two questions – What did they feel were the two most important unsolved challenges to public safety facing the city and what role will the quality of life and education of area youth play in their administration should they be elected. Turner said aging officers and firefighters are a huge liability for the city going forward. He said, in terms of staffing, about 1,900 officers of the city’s 5,300 are eligi-
Sylvester Turner 20%
Bill King 14%
It may not seem like a big move for the Down Syndrome Academy to relocate across the street from its former home, but the move is far from a symbolic one. In just over a year at its facility at Mitchelldale, the academy has gone from having only a handful of students to having a waiting list for prospective pupils President Rosa Rocha said the academy, part of Friends of Down Syndrome, simply outgrew the space. In just over a week at their new home directly across the street from their old home, Rocha said she and other volunteers hope to continue their work and grow, providing continuing education for adults with down syndrome. Part of her inspiration for setting up the academy, which has about 40 students from as far as Angleton, Tomball and Missouri City, was her own 26-year-old son who also has down syndrome. “When my son graduated from high school, he said he wanted to go to work,” Rocha said. “All of the sudden, he said he was forgetting how to read.” After time had passed, Rocha said her son had begun to regress. Those with down syndrome who aren’t challenged might very well lose the knowledge they’ve learned. “There’s the saying that if you don’t use it you lose it and that’s true for them,” Rocha said. Rocha said they began searching for continuing education services through a variety of avenues, including programs available through Houston Community College. Howevever, Rocha said she couldn’t find See Academy, P. 2A
Adrian Garcia 13%
Chris Bell 12%
Stephen Costello 11%
Ben Hall 4%
? Marty McVey 1%
Unknown 22%
See Election P. 5A
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Contributed Photo J.J. Moore, a student from the Down Syndrome Academy in Houston, dances with volunteer Samantha Garza. The academy recently moved into a new facility across the street from its original home.
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1136 Aurora