Texas Public Schools Week March 9-13

Students and teachers in Irving ISD and across Texas will celebrate Texas Public Schools Week March 9-13. Building upon the district’s year-long theme, 100 Years of Learning, IISD schools will hold open houses for parents and neighbors to experience first-hand how each school is building upon the history of the district.

High schools will have open houses March 9, middle schools March 10, and elementary and early childhood schools March 12. Times will vary by school and parents are encouraged to contact their children’s school for more information.

To learn more about the history of Irving ISD, access www.irvingisd.net/history.

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ICE Celebrates Excellence

Irving ISD conducted the ninth annual Irving Celebration of Excellence awards ceremony on February 26. Dallas Morning News Columnist Steve Blow served as guest host, and the event was held at Nimitz High School.

Crystal awards were presented again this year as the top prize in 18 categories. For the first time, silver and bronze medallions were also presented in each category.

In addition to having broadcasted the event live, Irving Cable Television Network (ICTN) will replay the ICE Awards on Time Warner Cable Channel 16 and Verizon FiOS Channel 30, and on their website at www.ci.irving.tx.us/ictn/index.html.

Access www.irvingisd.net/iceawards for a schedule of ICE Award replays on ICTN and Irving Schools Television.  See www.irvingisd.net/iceawards/winners2009.htm for a complete list of winners.

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Golden Apple Awards

The Board of Trustees presented two esteemed Golden Apple Awards, one to an individual and one to an organization, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to students and teachers within IISD.

The organization recognized was Real Choices Crisis Pregnancy Center and center director, Dr. Jeff M. Livingston. Livingston and his organization have provided treatment and counseling to the Irving ISD student population since 2003, he serves on the IISD district health committee, and volunteers his time conducting community outreach and guest speaking activities in IISD schools. Livingston has assisted with IISD athletic physicals, has served on the Campus Improvement Committee for Union Bower Center for Learning, and is a frequent speaker for students and administrators regarding teen pregnancy prevention.

Barbara Cardwell was recognized with the individual Golden Apple. Cardwell served on the IISD Board of Trustees from 1974-1980 and again from 1993-2008, a total service longer than any other trustee in IISD history. She held the positions of member, secretary, vice president, and board president, and was the first woman elected as a school board president in Dallas County. She has held membership in Irving Council of PTAs as well as local, state and national school board association. In 2008 an Irving Schools Foundation scholarship was endowed in her name.

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Marketing Students to Compete Internationally

Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) students from MacArthur High School traveled to Galveston February 26 for state competition. Three MacArthur students are eligible for participation at international competition.  Seniors Nikko Wilson and Ryan Whiteside qualified in the financial analysis team decision making event. Senior Joshua Layer qualified in the automotive marketing individual series event.

The DECA International Career Development Conference will be April 29-May 2 in Anaheim, California.

Following their performance at the Texas DECA Conference, MacArthur High School seniors Ryan Whiteside (left) and Nikko Wilson earned the right to compete in Financial Analysis Team Decision Making at the International DECA Career Conference in Anaheim, California.

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Students Advance to State SkillsUSA

Students from The Academy of Irving ISD and Union Bower Center for Learning competed at District Six SkillsUSA at Texas State Technical College in Waco February 20-21.  IISD students won top awards in 24 categories in career specializations including advertising design, auto-cad & electronics, collision repair, cosmetology, criminal justice, hospitality & culinary, and media technology.

The SkillsUSA program is a non-profit youth organization that enhances trade & industry education. Students develop essential communication and teamwork skills and gain a competitive edge in the work force.

In addition to competition, Keyla Mata, sophomore at the Academy, was elected as an officer for District 6 and will serve in the position of Reporter.

IISD students advancing to state will travel to Corpus Christi April 2-4 for the conference and competition held at American Bank Center. For a complete list of IISD students advancing to state competition, access www.irvingisd.net/articles/skillsUSA2009.htm.

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Cultural History a February Focus

With February being Black History Month, many IISD schools took the opportunity to include not only African-American studies in their schedules, but also events related to cultures worldwide.

At Elliott Elementary School, students read poems, performed famous speeches and watched skits related to African American History.

Davis Elementary School students participated in songs, folktales, poems and a living museum recognizing African Americans who made significant contributions to America. Students at Gilbert Elementary School hosted its annual African American Read-In the evening of February 24. Steppers from MacArthur High School entertained parents and during the reading program and librarians and special guests shared songs, stories and poetry.

Lively Elementary School activities included performances from guest story tellers Audrey Pitts, librarian at Gilbert Elementary School, and Renee Newry, librarian at Farine Elementary School. Students at Lively also hosted local guest poets and storytellers as well as watched the Lively fifth grade dance team perform.

At Houston Middle School, eighth grade students hosted a living history museum for the school’s history classes, performing a short biography of a notable African American.

Clifton Early Childhood School celebrated multi-cultural week February 16-20. Classes learned about different countries throughout the week and held a multi-cultural festival on Friday. Clifton PTA hosted a scavenger hunt for parents on Thursday and during Friday’s festival students made crafts, learned dances and played games related to certain countries.

Lively Elementary School has been named as a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Gold School, becoming the ninth elementary school in Texas and the second in Irving ISD to earn the honor.

USDA established the Healthier US School Challenge as a way to recognize schools that are creating healthy school environments by promoting good nutrition and physical activity. Schools have the opportunity to become certified as Bronze, Silver or Gold Schools, depending on meeting certain criteria.

In Irving ISD, Lively joins Lee Elementary School, named USDA Gold School in September 2007.

The Academic Decathlon Team from Nimitz High School competed at the Texas Academic Decathlon February 27-30, winning fifth place among the field of 40 large schools from across the state.

For the ninth time in the past 10 years, the Nimitz team finished among the top five teams in Texas, totaling 45,452 points. Patrick Lewis and Celeste Martinez ranked third and fifth, respectively, among all “C” students, resulting in a $1,500 scholarship for Lewis and a $500 scholarship for Martinez.  Marcos Vera was Nimitz's top scoring student and David Orozco was the team’s top “B” student. Merhawi Hailemariam won the team's only gold medal and posted a perfect score in the Super Quiz Relay.

Held at San Jacinto College in Houston, the Texas Academic Decathlon meet for large schools – 5A schools with 1,910 students or more – was comprised of the 40 teams with the highest scores from their respective regional meets in January. Pearland High School won the meet with 47,245 points.

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Lamar Steps Up for Shoe Donations

Faculty at Lamar Middle School collected and donated more than 200 pairs of shoes to an effort organized by Danielle Green, special education teacher at Lamar, and her sister, Navy Petty Officer Shelly Williams-Heberger.

Williams-Heberger is stationed at Bagram Military Base near Kabul, Afghanistan. In September 2008, she asked her sister to help organize a shoe drive for Afghani civilians working at Bagram and bringing their children for medical care. Williams-Heberger said some Afghanis were walking up to 30 miles between home and the base without shoes.

After requesting donations from Lamar faculty, Green received 50 pairs of shoes in the first two days, and has sent a total of 200 pairs to Afghanistan since October.

In appreciation for the effort, Williams-Heberger had an American flag flown over Bagram Military Base on Veteran’s Day 2008, then sent the flag to Lamar with a certificate noting the flag’s significance.

Danielle Green, special education teacher at Lamar Middle School, displays an American flag that flew over Bagram Military Base near Kabul, Afghanistan, that her sister – a Navy Petty Officer stationed in Afghanistan – sent to Lamar in appreciation for a shoe drive the school conducted.

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Teacher Enrichment Grants

Irving Schools Foundation has awarded $1,400 in Teacher Enrichment Grants for the month of January 2009.

Grant awardees include: Hope Krum, librarian at Bowie Middle School; Amy Graem, ARI-AMI teacher, Brandenburg Elementary School; Leslie Watson, Read Right teacher, Elliott Elementary School; Ellen Seither, special education aide, Thomas Haley Elementary School; Mary Ludwick, librarian, Thomas Haley; and Anupama Khosia, librarian, Keyes Elementary School.

Teacher Enrichment Grants are awarded for as much as $500 and provide funding for professional development including workshops and seminars. For more information about the Irving Schools Foundation or Teacher Enrichment Grants, please visit www.irvingisd.net/foundation.

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