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Texas News
Humble ISD Mariachi Program offers insight into music, culture
Humble ISD’s Mariachi Program is providing new learning opportunities that enrich the lives of students through music and culture. 

The program is offered to students in all grades at Humble Middle School, Ross Sterling Middle School and Humble High School. Instruments are provided to students to support their learning. 

The popularity of mariachi has grown significantly in schools across Texas. It was introduced as a UIL competition option for fine arts in 2019. The growing popularity, along with a presentation at a recent school board conference, inspired Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Fagen to establish a mariachi program in Humble ISD. 
Roma ISD superintendent announces retirement
After eight years on the job, Roma ISD Superintendent Carlos Guzman announced he will step down from the job in June.

In a letter sent Tuesday, Guzman cited the need to spend time with his family as the reason for his retirement.

“While I have enjoyed every second of being your superintendent, I have missed some of my life too – special moments with my children, and helping my parents through their golden years,” Guzman stated in the letter. “So, I have decided it’s time for me to grasp the chance to spend precious moments with my family because you never know what lies ahead.”
Midland ISD to redistrict the school board map
Currently, the MISD area is split up into seven districts with a board member representing each district.

The Midland ISD School Board of Trustees came together for a special meeting to discuss what changes could be made to the school board map. 

At this time, MISD is split up into seven districts with a board member representing each district. 
Southeast Texas school districts offering higher pay as incentive to attract substitutes amid teacher shortage
The global pandemic has heightened the need for schools across the nation to find substitute teachers.

Some Southeast Texas school districts have begun offering higher pay as an incentive to attract substitutes amid a pandemic-related teacher shortage.

The global pandemic has heightened the need for schools across the nation to find substitute teachers. The high demand stems from teachers testing positive for COVID-19 and being temporarily put out of classrooms.
As culture wars envelop schools, North Texas sees a superintendent exodus
Several departures come after months of contentious fights over teaching about slavery, requiring pandemic precautions and limiting what books kids can access.

Educating kids is all Jeannie Stone ever wanted to do. She spent more than three decades in North Texas school districts, first as a teacher and eventually as an administrator.

After she was named Richardson Independent School District’s superintendent five years ago, she drew accolades for how well she advocated for district parents and the strides she made in closing the vast learning gap between students of color and white students.
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National News
Unaccompanied Migrant Teens Have Unique and Profound Needs. One New Orleans Teacher Created a Special School to Help Them
Julie Norman is leading a conversation about goal-setting with a class of high school students. As she speaks, she writes relevant terms in English on a whiteboard. 

“Motivation,” she narrates, marker in hand. 

After copying down the word, the teens look it up in the Spanish-English dictionaries that sit on every desk.

Motivación.
City of Las Vegas Approved to Open Charter School Prioritizing Bilingual Education
The City of Las Vegas has been given the green light to open its own charter school.

The Nevada State Public Charter School Board voted on Jan. 28 to conditionally approve Strong Start Academy, an elementary school that will use the same name as the city’s existing subsidized preschool program. The vote was unanimous and enthusiastic, with Chair Melissa Mackedon calling it a “historic vote” and other members acknowledging that it opens the door for other cities or municipalities to open schools of their own.
Student voice: Is anyone out there? We need help figuring out our futures in Hispanic communities like mine
A lack of career and college advice keeps us from knowing about options, and schools should be doing more

“Mamá, ¿sabe en dónde puedo encontrar pasantías?” (“Mom, do you know where I can find internships?”), I ask.

“No sé … pregúntale a la consejera de escuela o a tu maestra. Ellas te van a poder ayudar más porque tienen más información.” (“I don’t know… ask your school counselor or your teacher. They will be able to help you more because they have more information”), she replies.
Student Vaccine Mandates Are the Next Political Crisis
Leaders wrestle over whether requiring student Covid shots will politicize other pediatric vaccines and embolden vaccine opponents.

It wasn’t supposed to take this long to fully approve Covid-19 vaccines for the nearly 17 million U.S. adolescents ages 12-15 and the 28 million children ages 5-11.

Back in early August, Lee Beers, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration urging the agency to move faster and questioning its request for extra follow-up data before emergency authorization.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana DeBose among 2022 Latino Oscar nominees
Aside from DeBose’s acting nomination for “West Side Story,” a Latina producer and a history-making Mexican American composer got Oscar nominations for “Encanto.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana DeBose and other Latino artists have landed 2022 Oscar nominations.

DeBose, who is an Afro Latina of Puerto Rican descent, is nominated in the best supporting actress category for her performance reviving the iconic role of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s version of “West Side Story.” The movie also got a coveted best picture nomination.
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