Get out your boots and put on your cowboy hats, rodeo fans! The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will be back in the Bayou City next week, and to recognize that valued community partner's many contributions to public education, HISD will observe "Go Texan Day" on Friday, Feb. 26.

To participate, we encourage students, teachers and staff to wear your fanciest Western attire to school on Friday. Also keep an eye out for some of the 13 groups of trail riders converging on Memorial Park. Many will be passing by HISD facilities, to the delight of students and other onlookers.

Since awarding its first scholarship in 1957, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has contributed millions of dollars to support public education, including more than $1.8 million given out in college scholarships to HISD students in 2015 alone.