Due to the generosity of school adopter Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, every student at Lee A. McShan Elementary School received high school shirts last week. Senior leaders from Conrad High School personally delivered the shirts to students and described the high school experience.
The “I will graduate” schools shirt program has the goal of reaching all 80,000 elementary students in Dallas ISD. Approximately 30,000 students have received shirts thus far for at least one grade level at 150 campuses. This small gesture is intended to make a lasting impression by giving elementary students a shirt representing their high school on the front with colleges listed on the back.
For students whose parents likely did not attend college and might not have graduated high school, the shirts say the school and community believes they can and will graduate from both. In addition to setting expectations of high school and college graduation, the shirts promote community pride around a neighborhood school. The shirts will be worn on spirit days, field trips and at athletic and fine arts events at the high school.
Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church has a 20 year history of outreach to the Vickery Meadow Community beginning with the establishment of the Vickery Meadow Learning Center. The connection with McShan Elementary began when the school opened in 2005. In addition to providing schools supplies and honoring teachers, church members have established an intensive reading program – an acute need for a school educating immigrant children from all over the world – and recently launched the Girls in Pearls and Guys in Ties mentoring programs to promote leadership and self esteem.
