ASKING QUESTIONS, EXPLORING OPTIONS, CHANGING THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.

Student Life

In two years of teaching, REEP Business Certificate student Shayna Loebig has orchestrated stellar achievement

Filed Under: , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by:

Shayna Loebig

Shayna Loebig is the kind of teacher principals salivate over: curiously intelligent, self-reflective, and fiercely compassionate. Becoming an intricate part of the fabric of her school is of great importance to Shayna, and she’s wasted no time in doing so.

Approaching a third-year of teaching at Cesar Chavez High School in Houston ISD, Shayna has built a portfolio of projects only a teacher deeply committed to her school would pursue. After completing an undergraduate degree in physics as Louisiana State University, Shayna decided to pursue research and attended a PhD program at Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine. Soon after, she decided to shorten her studies and teach, and while writing her master’s thesis in biochemistry, Shayna began her first month as a ninth grade science teacher in August of 2009. Shayna recalled her first months of teaching: “I wound up immediately loving [teaching] and sort of regretting I hadn’t done it sooner.”

(more…)

School House

What Makes a School Successful? Principals Give Their Take

Filed Under: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by:

School leaders set the tone in a school community. They play a prominent role in defining a vision and driving it forward. REEP is exploring the question, “What are the conditions that make a school successful, and what does ‘success’ mean, anyway?” Recently, we met with four school leaders to gather their thoughts on the matter.

(more…)

Faculty Insights

Laura Arnold on Leadership and How to Advocate for Education

Filed Under: , , , , , , ,

Posted by:

I sat down recently with Laura Arnold, Adjunct Professor of Management at the Jones Graduate School of Business and President of the Laura and John Arnold Family Foundation, to talk on the topic of leadership at the Jones School of Business as well as solicit ideas for how individuals can contribute to education, regardless of their professional tracks.

I’d long wanted to meet Laura Arnold. Her Legal Issues in Mergers and Acquisitions course was highly reviewed by my fellow colleagues while at the Jones School, and her combination of broad leadership experience and passionate involvement in education initiatives positioned her perfectly for a conversation centering on both topics. Ms. Arnold simultaneously conveys a delightful, welcoming presence and razor-sharp intellect and drive, and I found our visit absolutely terrific.
(more…)

Alumni News

Meet REEP Alum: Angelica Vega

Filed Under: , , , ,

Posted by:

Angelica Vega, REEP Alum

Angelica Vega is part of a cohort of exemplary educators in the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program (REEP). Currently, Angelica is dean of students and college access counselor at East Early College High School in Houston ISD. As a Harvard student of the School Leadership Program, Angelica mentored new teachers, used data-driven strategies to improve student learning, and collaborated with administration and faculty to define and reach school goals at a Boston public middle school. This experience inspired her to help build a program in Texas that would meet the district’s goal of increasing college readiness among students.

(more…)

School House

Hartman Middle School: A Student Perspective on Bullying

Filed Under: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by:

Since 2010, dramatic tales of bullying have appeared in news reports across the nation. As adults we are able to recall instances in our own experience in which we were either the recipient, the witness, or perhaps even the source of an act of bullying. Although it occurs throughout our lives at varying levels and degrees, we most associate bullying with middle school. Recently, stories of well-known actors and artists have appeared in teen news articles, from Glee star Lauren Coffer’s “Disable Bullying” campaign, speculations over Harry Potter’s Emma Watson and her withdrawal from Brown University, and rapper 50 Cent’s semi-autobiographical novel Playground, in which he writes from a 13-year old bully’s perspective. Stories of bullying are pervasive, and teens across the country are well-versed in its consequences.

(more…)