Academic Decathlon Teams Travel to San Antonio

Academic Decathlon teams from Irving ISD traveled to Holmes High School in San Antonio on December 12 and 13 for a practice meet in preparation for the Regional Academic Decathlon in January.

The Nimitz High School Academic Decathlon team finished second out of 34 teams. Individually, Celeste Martinez was the top "C" student at the competition, Patrick Lewis was the third place "C" student, and David Orozco was the third place "B" student.  Marcus Johnson was the third place "A" student and was Nimitz's top scoring team member. Other members of the Nimitz team – all of whom won at least two individual medals in various events – include Marcos Vera, Maria O'Connor, Merhawi Hailemariam, Vy Cao-Nguyen, and Jasmine Perkins. 

The MacArthur High School team finished in eighth place overall. Jael Ahmad, Karissa McCalip, Emilie Anderson, Conor Bell, and Betsy Bethea each won at least two medals in various events and Izak Hernandez and Adrian Barry each medaled in science and essay events, respectively.

The team from Irving High School, an entirely new team consisting of eight sophomores and one junior, placed thirteenth out of 34. Team members Luke Simmons, William Sanchez, and Luis Nambo each medaled in an event with Nambo winning first in his division for the super quiz event.

At the practice meet, Keller High School finished first and Katy-Cinco Ranch High School finished third. The Regional Academic Decathlon is scheduled for January 30-31 at MacArthur High School.

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Middle School One-Act Play Festival

The Irving ISD theatre program presented the Sixth Annual Middle School One-Act Play Festival on November 8 at Nimitz High School.

Five middle school programs participated in the event:

Three high school-level judges critiqued each show and gave constructive teaching to the students. Awards were presented in four categories: All-Star Cast, Honorable Mention All-Star Cast; Tech Awards, and Best Actor & Actress.

Houston and Bowie troupes won overall first place scores and received superior ratings.

For the full list of festival award winners, visit www.irvingisd.net/articles/MSOneActPlay2008.htm.

Irving ISD middle school students named to the All Star Cast for the One-Act Play Festival were: Timothy Betts and Kelandria Hackworth (not pictured) from Lamar Middle School; Justin Jones and Sara Ellington from Travis middle school; Kiona Nelson from Houston Middle School; and Jordan Burnett, Eunice N'Zikou and Sijifredo Robledo from Bowie Middle School.

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Job Shadow Day Motivates Students

Students from MacArthur High School had the opportunity to shadow employees at AT&T Network Operations Center on November 13.

Sponsored in partnership with AT&T and Junior Achievement – an IISD partner in education – the job shadow day is designed for students attending "at-risk" high schools to help strengthen student success and workforce readiness. Thirty students from Kelley Watson's classes interviewed AT&T employees then spent two hours with employees at their work.

According to Kristyn Senters, special events manager for Junior Achievement of Dallas, the event can help encourage students to graduate from high school and go on to college. In 2008, schools from Irving and Dallas ISD participated and more job shadow days are scheduled for fall 2009.

Students from MacArthur High School visited AT&T Network Operations center November 13 as part of job shadow day sponsored by AT&T and Junior Achievement of Dallas.

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Fifth grade students from Davis Elementary School participated at Science University at Georgia Farrow Recreation Center December 3, where they learned about light reflection and refraction.

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Roxana Gamez, AP-Spanish class student from Lamar Middle School, and her classmates visited University of Texas at Arlington December 3 in order for students to be exposed to the campus and have a glimpse of college life.

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