Principal Sandra Trujillo and former associate principal Margaret Wiley both received grants from Raise Your Hand Texas (RYHT) to attend the Rice University Entrepreneurship Program (REEP).

RYHT exists as a non-profit organization dedicated to improving Texas public schools through investing in educational leaders. The district submitted four names of principals as recommendations to receive these grants from RYHT.

In the REEP program, educational leaders like Trujillo and Wiley learn to improve the way they manage the school by learning techniques CEOs use to manage a business.

“We do a lot of research on things that education systems are doing to improve and then we match them to things that businesses do to improve,” Trujillo said.

Trujillo and Wiley both attend a REEP session approximately every other Friday and enjoy meeting with other like-minded administrators.

“[Having] the opportunity to talk with 40 people who are in it for the same reason you are and getting a chance to really talk through everything is pretty great,” Wiley said.

A REEP session includes classes to help develop change in attitude and relationships in the workplace in order to get points across to further advance school success.

“[REEP] should really help us in understanding ourselves better and understanding how we interact with others,”Wiley said. “We will also learn how people will respond to us and how we make sure that we are responding and reacting in ways that help them do their jobs better.”

Trujillo compares the work she has outside of REEP to homework students receive while Wiley said the program has a lot of similarities to school.

“It’s like going back to school after you’ve been out of school for a really long time,” Wiley said. “So a lot of reading and research is involved in the process.”