Six Irving ISD staff members had lunch with golf superstar Phil Mickelson during Nelson week. While Mickelson was in town to play in the EDS Byron Nelson Golf Championship in Las Colinas, he took time to meet teachers and administrators from Dallas and Irving school districts at the Four Seasons Resort and Club. Staff from those districts have been chosen to take part in the inaugural Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy this summer in Fairfax, Virginia.

The academy will bring together 200 third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers from selected cities near the sites of the PGA events in which Mickelson plays this year for one week to hone their science and math teaching skills, enhance their curricula, and discover innovative ways to inspire their students. For more information about the academy, visit Mickelson's website.

Pictured left to right, the academy-bound staffers are Sandy Turner, instructional specialist; Lauren Cooper, fifth grade teacher at Thomas Haley Elementary School; Jacque Garcia, elementary math and science Coordinator; Susan Rice, fifth grade teacher at John Haley Elementary School; Shannon Cole, fourth grade teacher at Brown Elementary School; and Mikie Kindsfather, fourth grade teacher at Paul Keyes Elementary School.

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The Academic/Career & Technology Awards will take place Wednesday at the Irving Arts Center. The awards honor the top 10 academic students from each high school along with the top 10 students in the Career & Technology Education program. Each student will receive a crystal trophy etched with their name.

The event is sponsored by DeVry University, Wal-Mart, Crystal Images, Gerald Stavely Martinizing, Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, and Irving ISD. Irving Schools Foundation Executive Director Elizabeth Philipp will serve as emcee.

The event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the Carpenter Performance Hall.

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A team of three Academy of Irving ISD seniors placed third in the nation in an entrepreneurship competition sponsored by DECA, a high school student marketing association. The students, Lily Martinez, Christina Fiallos, and Michael Weaver competed against more than 200 of their peers on the national level in Anaheim, California April 27-May 1.

Their project was an Entrepreneurship Conference for 56 IISD eighth graders held at the Academy April 7. Students organized the conference and wrote marketing curriculum for middle schoolers. The Academy DECA advisor is Kim Watson.

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The work of seven Lee Elementary School students is featured in a nationally-circulated book of lesson plans created by Crayola. Lee was chosen to test a lesson for the Crayola DreamMakers Visual Arts and Social Studies Lesson Plan Guidebook. Students took part in a lesson called "Taking a ‘Rest’ to Dinner" about understanding other cultures. Students compared dining utensils from various cultures and then created chopstick rests which will be featured in the guidebook. This is the second year that Lee has been selected to participate.

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The Navy Junior ROTC unit at Nimitz High School has been named a "Distinguished Unit with Academic Excellence" by the Navy Education and Training Command for the fifth consecutive year. The recognition identifies the Nimitz program as one of the top 15 percent of all Navy JROTC programs in the nation.

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Lori Welch, English teacher at The Academy of Irving ISD, has been chosen for an intensive summer study program through the University of Dallas and the Dallas Institute of Humanities. Thanks to a $6,000 scholarship from an anonymous donor through the Irving Schools Foundation, Welch will take part in the 20-day program, studying classical Greek comedy and tragedy and its influences on literature through the ages. The scholarship pays for six graduate hours of study, books, and meals. For more information on the program, visit www.dallasinstitute.org.

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Ninety volunteers from Accenture spent a day at Elliott Elementary School April 29, teaching students about business and life skills, and giving teachers a break. The visit was part of a Junior Achievement program.

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