ICE Awards Set For February 26
Every day, students in the Irving ISD work hard to
accomplish their academic and extracurricular goals. The Irving ISD
Excellence Now Committee, appointed by the Board of Trustees, will honor
these accomplishments through an awards ceremony February 26 at 7 p.m.
in the Nimitz High School Auditorium.
The Irving Celebration of Excellence (ICE) Awards
ceremony is designed to recognize excellent performances by IISD
students and student organizations. Awards will be presented in five
categories: Academics, Fine Arts, Athletics & Physical Education,
Community Service, and Special Campus/District. Within each category,
awards will be presented in three divisions: elementary, middle school,
and high school.
A crystal trophy and $1,000 will be presented to the
winning school in each division and category, and certificates will be
presented to the students.
This year, musical entertainment will be provided by
the IISD All-City Orchestra, Nimitz High School All-State musicians Ryan
Perry and Jenny Smith, and MacArthur High School All-State vocalist
Tonya Cadenhead.
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ISF Announces Internship
The Irving Schools Foundation (ISF) has opened the
application process for its Exxon/Mobil Community Summer Jobs Program
Internship. IISD was chosen to host one of the coveted internships last
month.
The intern will plan and execute kickoff materials for
the district’s payroll deduction campaign, update the District’s website
and board orientation notebook with new board members elected in May,
assist in June board orientation planning, revise ISF flyers and
applications, and help maintain ISF’s Raiser’s Edge database.
The job will run for eight weeks from May 13 to August
30 at the Administration Building. It is open to any student returning
to college in the fall who has good oral, written and computer
communications skills, confidentiality, and integrity.
The internship pays $2,000. Interested students should
email resumes and cover letters to the foundation by April 1. For more
information, visit www.irvingisd.net/foundation.
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Spelling Bee Winners
Three students will represent the district in the
Dallas County Spelling Bee February 21. Ankita Krishman from Davis
Elementary won the Irving High School Cluster Bee, Kevin Reyes from Lee
Elementary won the MacArthur High School Cluster Bee, and Paul Dennis
from Bowie Middle School won the Nimitz High School Cluster Bee.
Second place winners were Crockett Middle School
student Reena Patel in the Irving High cluster, Farine Elementary
student Divya Murali in the MacArthur cluster, and Brown Elementary
student Natalie Prendes in the Nimitz cluster.
Winners at the county bee will advance to The
Dallas Morning News Regional Spelling Bee March 23. Top regional
finishers advance to nationals May 26 through June 1 in Washington, D.C.
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Science Olympiad Scheduled for February 23
The Irving ISD Science Olympiad will be held on
Saturday, February 23 at Nimitz High School from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
More than 900 students from grades six through 12 will participate in
creative problem-solving activities in the eleventh annual installment
of the event.
A team of four students from each middle school will
compete in the junior division Science Quiz Bowl, and two teams of four
from each high school will compete in the senior division contest.
Events such as short films, T-shirt design and photography will be
judged before the Olympiad. Students will also show off projects that
they have created beforehand – fettuccine bridges that hold five pounds,
a balsa wood tower that can withstand a mock earthquake, and a model car
that runs on carbon dioxide. In another competition, students will be
challenged to solve problems and think on their feet.
Following the competition, an awards ceremony will be
held at noon for middle school students. High school winners will
receive their awards at their home campuses.
Awards will be given to first, second and third place
winners in each event. First place winners will also be eligible to win
a trip to the Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama sponsored by
Baylor Medical Center at Irving.
Several corporations and community partners have
sponsored awards for the Olympiad and the IISD Science Fair, held
January 26. Abbott Laboratories Diagnostic Division has given $1,375 for
all first place awards. Other sponsorships are: NCH Corporation, $250;
Medical & Surgical Clinic of Irving, $250; DeVry Institute of
Technology, $200; Carrington Laboratories, $100; Comerica, two $50
savings bonds; and Science Kit, one graphing calculator.
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African American History Month
Schools across the district are celebrating African
American History Month.
Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson will be the guest
of honor at Crockett Middle School’s Black History Assembly on
Wednesday, February 20 at 9:45 a.m.
Elliott Elementary students are completing a group
project called “From Slavery to Civil Rights” while they study the novel
Sounder. Students are researching topics like slavery, Jim Crow
Laws, the Emancipation Proclamation, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., and the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968.
MacArthur High School students are celebrating “I Have
A Dream Month.”
Lisa McCune’s eighth grade class at Houston Middle
School has been studying African jewelry, both ancient and modern.
Irving High School’s Steppas de Irving dance troupe
performed coordinated routines at an African American History
Celebration sponsored by the City of Irving and the Irving Black Arts
Council on Tuesday, February 19. Also performing at the celebration was
vocalist Liz Mikel. The event was held in the Dupree Theatre at the
Irving Arts Center.
Students at Austin Middle School are doing research
about prominent figures in black history like Booker T. Washington,
Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Students are also
learning about Irving ISD Board Member Will DeBerry.
Lee Elementary fourth and fifth graders were treated
to a performance by the Zietor African Ensemble sponsored by Young
Audience of Greater Dallas.
