LEADER LEARNING The Leader • Saturday, March 30, 2019 • Page 1B
Chapman reveals invisible threads This spring, Chapman offered the morning session while Michael Dressman of University of Houston-Downtown lectured on “Major Events in the History of the English Language” in the afternoons. The program is one part of a larger umbrella of senior
By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com Betty Chapman may not have been born in Houston, but she knows more about the state’s history than most. After graduating from Millsaps College in Mississippi, Chapman moved to Spring Branch to be a teacher. A 1975 docent training at the Heritage Society was enough to get her hooked. “I started digging and researching,” she said. For years Chapman was a history lecturer at Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. She’s written 600 Houston Heritage columns for the Houston Business Journal. She chaired a history task force with former Mayor Bill White that became the Houston History Alliance. And she’s the author of six books, including “Rough Road to Justice: The Journey of Women Lawyers in Texas” and “Houston Women: Invisible Threads in the Tapestry.” Chapman has a deep appreciation for the contributions that both men and women made in shaping Houston. But while the contributions of men are well known, it’s less so for the women. That’s part of the reason Chapman came to teach in the Lifelong Learning Program, which is part of the Third Age Learning Center (TALC) on the campus of All Saints Church, 215 E. 10th St. She wrapped up a six-week course
“Women started every arts group in Houston.” Betty Chapman
Photo by Betsy Denson Betty Chapman taught a six-week Houston women’s history course as part of the Lifelong Learning Program and Third Age Learning Center at All Saints Church in the Heights.
this week on Houston women and their impact on the city. “(They) worked in areas where things were not publicized as much, so not as much was written about them,” Chapman said. “Women started every arts group in Houston.” The Lifelong Learning
Program is coordinated by Carolyn Kares, a member of the Houston Junior Forum, a nonprofit women’s organization committed to providing charitable service for children, youth, women and senior adults in the Greater Houston Area. Speakers are invited to pres-
ent a five- or six-week course in the spring or fall semester.
HISD ordered to suspend superintendent search By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com The Houston Independent School District has been ordered to halt its search for a permanent superintendent amidst an ongoing special accreditation investigation by the Texas Education Agency. The TEA confirmed that state conservator Doris Delaney sent a letter to HISD trustees Monday to stop the search to potentially replace interim superintendent Grenita Lathan. Delaney was appointed as a conservator for struggling HISD schools in 2016. “She has issued to the Houston ISD Board of Trustees and administration a directive to temporarily suspend the district’s superintendent search,” TEA spokesperson DeEtta Culbertson said. HISD has been without a permanent leader since last March, when Richard Carranza left barely a year into his tenure to become head of New York City’s public school system. Lathan has served in the role since Carranza’s departure.
business in the 19th century and helped settle the city of Pasadena. While it wouldn’t be quite true to say Chapman is experiencing a resurgence, because she remains busy with speaking engagements, some of her work is. Chapman is going to
The board for the country’s seventh-largest public school district also faces the possibility of a takeover by the TEA if any of four consistently underperforming schools – Kashmere and Wheatley high schools, Henry Middle School and Highland Heights Elementary – do not meet state academic standards in 2019. “I am directing the HISD Board of Trustees to take no further action regarding the selection of a new superintendent until the board receives written authorization from the conservator to resume the search activities,” Delaney wrote in the directive. The TEA opened its investigation into the HISD board in January. According to the Houston Chronicle, the investigation stemmed from allegations that five trustees violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by illegally agreeing to a vote to oust Lathan in October 2018. According to the Chronicle, all five trustees — Diana Davila, Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca, Sergio Lira, Elizabeth Santos and Anne Sung — have either denied the allegations or declined to
programs offered through the TALC, which holds a variety of classes, parties, seminars, day trips and more. The minimum age to participate is 50. While Chapman jokes that her long-suffering family always had to listen to her babble on about history, the audience at All Saints was rapt. There were women they had heard about, such as Ima Hogg, but there were also women less familiar, like Pamelia Dickinson Mann, who confronted General Sam Houston when he appropriated her oxen to pull military equipment, taking them right back, and Corra Bacon Foster, who had her own real estate
the South Texas College of Law soon to meet with students to discuss the “Rough Road to Justice: The Journey of Women Lawyers in Texas.” “Young women lawyers have rediscovered the book,” Chapman said. Chapman said she loves teaching because she is learning, too. “When I was younger, I would pick up things from the students’ childhoods,” she said. “I was always learning from them and I hope I’m expanding their knowledge, too.” At 82 years old, Chapman is embarking on what will likely See Chapman P. 3B
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comment on them. Santos called Monday’s directive “an outrageous power grab by the TEA, its commissioner, and the governor of our state,” and claims it will have direct and negative impacts on HISD’s students. “They have seriously undermined the most important process a school board is elected to conduct: hiring a superintendent,” Santos said Monday in a text message. “... Delaying the process of hiring a permanent head of our schools further drives uncertainty and lack of public faith in the public school system.”
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Join us Contributed photo The Summer Strategy Boot Camp will be held at Heights High School on April 6.
Heights HS to host admissions workshop From Staff Reports Parents looking to boost their kids’ chances of getting into college will have a chance to gain real-life tips on April 6 at Heights High School. “Summer Strategy Boot Camp,” a free event sponsored by Huntington Learning Center, will be held from 8:30 a.m.noon on the Heights campus
at 413 E. 13th St. It is for parents of students in grades 5-12 who want information on how to master the application process. Guest speakers from the University of Houston will cover topics including avenues of assistance for students struggling in specific academSee Workshop P. 2B
Saturday, April 6, 2019 th
9 Annual Spring Plant Sale Proceeds for White Oak Butterfly & Hummingbird Garden 9:00 Presentation by Heidi Sheesly Horticulture Expert Treesearch Farms, Inc.
Huge selection of Hummingbird & Butterfly plants, Perennials, ornamental grass, native shrubs, unique Roses, Tomatoes, trees, and many more! Plant Information http://treesearchfarms.biz/White_Oak_Conference_Center.html
White Oak Conference Center 7603 Antoine Drive, Houston, Texas 77088 Former Inwood Forest Country Club www.nnmd.org
Presented by Near Northwest Community Improvement Corporation Proceeds benefit White Oak Butterfly & Hummingbird Garden
10:00 - 2:00 Plant Sale (Or until sold out)
Bring your own wagon!
T: (713) 895-8021 • E: Grownear1@nnmd.org • www.nnmd.org