For the past three years, Alief ISD has hosted a community event known as Alief Proud Day. Alief Proud Day is free to the Alief community and is an annual festival parade that celebrates all of the schools in the Alief District and puts efforts in spreading the word that Alief is a proud district, area, and a proud community. School performances, gifts, competitions, food, art, community aid, and much more are available at Proud Day. This year, Alief Proud Day was hosted on November 16, at Leroy Crump Stadium’s parking lot, as well as had staged the 2019 annual Alief Idol competition as its main event.

“It was an enjoyable feeling,” said Hastings Senior Nicholas Antezana. “I showed up to follow up on volunteer hours for a class called PALS(Peer Assistance and Leadership), and I would recommend for people to go to the next Alief Proud festival. The talent and hard work from all the schools are there”.

As far as Alief Proud Day being a community event, the parade festival had booths that provided information and aid regarding health care, transportation, housing and mortgages, nutrition, and many more. 

“There were booths that had help ready for Alief families like United Health Care”, said Iveth Barron, a Hastings High School senior. “Like our school, Hastings for example, hosted a booth for our group known as Texas Association for Future Educators. We give service to those who want a profession in helping children and working with them for their education. At our booth, we gave supplies and resources that were for educational purposes to any person that walked by during Proud Day”.  

Also for being its first time hosted at Alief Proud Day, the Alief Idol competition resulted very successfully as the main event for ending the festival. There was a large number in the audience joining Alief family, students, and staff that make up the Alief community.  The competition also introduced student competitors of a variety of ages and even teacher staff entered as participants in the competition for the very first time in the Idol’s third year of being hosted. 

“The competition was exciting and filled with good vibes and good energy throughout the audience,” said Barron. “I thought Alief was very generous as they went through the efforts to encourage the community. One of the children, David Morales, who I work with in the TAFE program sang and won first place”.