Beverly Batiste, Employee of the Month for October, is the senior secretary of College Readiness. She joined Team HISD as a Title I clerk at Frost Elementary School in 1995, but also served as the joint clerk for both Counseling & Guidance and Health & Medical Services before accepting her current position in 2012.
As a senior secretary, Batiste is responsible for maintaining her department’s budget, ordering supplies, coordinating events, locating resources, making travel arrangements, maintaining her supervisor’s calendar, and making sure contracts are properly prepared and executed. But Batiste is also known for taking extra initiative, as she did last school year when she helped recover a Furr High school dropout.
“That student was going to fall through the cracks,” explained Batiste. “She had given up on school and stopped responding to people who called her. But someone gave me her phone number and I just kept reaching out to let her know that people still cared and what programs we had available. She finally came back and graduated this spring.”
Batiste is a native of Carencro (near Lafayette), Louisiana, who moved to Texas in 1980 for a job opportunity. She lives in Houston with her husband, and when not working, she enjoys listening to music, rooting for the Texans, and spending time with her family and friends.
“I could not recommend Beverly any more strongly for this recognition,” says Assistant Superintendent of College Readiness Rick Cruz. “She plays an instrumental role in my team’s work and often goes above and beyond the call of duty. For example, she tracked down a student who had dropped out of school, and as a result of her efforts, that student returned and graduated.”
“Beverly Batiste embraces the spirit of the Emerge program by supporting her team and motivating talented students from underserved communities to attend high school and continue their education through college, while also encouraging parents to support their children,” adds bond office budgeting clerk Brenda Adams. “She has a willingness to exercise servant-leadership beyond her regular job assignments and is very effective in making things happen.”
“Beverly Batiste defines what makes HISD #greatallover,” notes College Readiness Senior Manager David Johnston. “Whether it’s pushing through a complex contract, locating meeting space at the last minute, or making sure we have dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s as we prepare for a major event, her attention to detail and follow-through make her a pivotal member of the College Readiness team. What sets Beverly apart is how tirelessly she works to position our department in way that it can best serve students and families. At Texas College Night, as 1,000 students crashed into the Hilton Conrad Ballroom, it was Beverly out front dividing students and parents into various groups. And even when she broke her wrist, she stayed out just long enough to get her cast set, then was right back at work, typing emails and answering phones with one arm.”
