When most people think of Dallas ISD, they picture classrooms, teachers, and students. Jermauld Cobbs, director of Fleet Services, thinks about trucks, fuel, ice melt, work orders, and pallets of supplies having to move before sunrise. Cobbs is a homegrown leader — a graduate of David W. Carter High School, he pursued engineering studies at Prairie View A&M University. He came back to Dallas ISD as an employee, and will soon celebrate 30 years at Dallas ISD. . “I started with the district back in 1996 and have been here ever since,” he said. Today, Cobbs oversees the Service Center…
Author: Gema Guevara
When Edwin Dubois, principal of H. Grady Spruce High School, stands before students, he doesn’t see a random crowd of teenagers. He sees the future of the neighborhood where he grew up—and a calling he can’t ignore. “I want people to know that it’s a new day here at Spruce,” Dubois said. “Whatever yesterday’s view of Spruce was, we want people to see about today.” A Dallas ISD legacy, Dubois grew up in the Pleasant Grove community and graduated from Skyline High School. While his professional life didn’t begin in the classroom, the fire was lit once he began substitute…
In 47 years of serving Dallas ISD Food & Child Nutrition Services, Brenda Jackson can count on one hand how many days she’s missed work—just one. In an era where job-hopping is the norm, her colleagues still marvel at her reliability, because for Jackson, the job was never just about serving meals—it was about serving people. This past December, Jackson—who was the food service assistant at Maria Luna Food Service Facility—hung up her apron one final time. Her story with the district began in 1978 at two schools, the now defunct Pearl C. Anderson Middle Learning Center and David Crockett…
Para la mayoría, una baja en la temperatura significa echar mano de un abrigo. Pero para Duran Hargest, director de Servicios Vehiculares, significa movilizar a un equipo de 56 técnicos que se aseguran de que más de mil vehículos, incluyendo los casi 900 autobuses escolares y un nuevo conjunto de 17 buses eléctricos, estén listos para salir a la carretera. Las operaciones vehiculares de Dallas ISD hacen más que transportar estudiantes. Ya sea reparar la llanta de un carro patrulla o preparar un autobús para el invierno, Hargest considera a su departamento un pilar importante del distrito. “Mi departamento apoya…
For most people, a drop in temperature means grabbing a coat. For Duran Hargest, director of Fleet Services, it also means mobilizing a team of 56 technicians to ensure that over 1,000 vehicles — including nearly 900 school buses and a new fleet of 17 electric buses—are ready to hit the road. Dallas ISD’s fleet operation goes beyond just transporting students. Whether it’s repairing a police cruiser’s flat tire or switching a bus to winter mode, Hargest sees his department as the backbone of the district. “My team supports the whole district, from HVAC and maintenance to IT and the…
One of the most important rites of passage in a young person’s life is the ability to do mental math without conscious effort. Children begin training for this process, known as automaticity, in the first grade and continue through elementary school. But as curriculum coordinators visit classrooms throughout the district, they’ve identified a recurring challenge: students lack the immediate recall of basic facts necessary for higher-level problem-solving, according to Aaron Daffern, director of mathematics in Academic Services. “It used to be that there was this false dichotomy: you either memorize everything but don’t understand what it is, or you go…
Cuando los Dallas Cowboys lanzaron una liga élite de fútbol bandera para chicas, se hizo historia en Dallas ISD. Pero en ningún otro lugar se sintió el impacto tanto como en Dr. L.G. Pinkston Sr. High School, cuyo equipo ganó el campeonato de la división. Nicole Stovall, directora deportiva adjunta y técnica del equipo de Pinkston, dijo que estaba emocionada por dejar un legado que su equipo se atribuiría para siempre y dar inicio a algo significativo para las jugadoras y la comunidad. “Sinceramente, ser parte del personal inaugural en Dallas significa mucho”, dijo Stovall. “Esto va a ser muy…
When the Dallas Cowboys launched an elite girls flag football league, history was made across Dallas ISD. But nowhere was the impact felt more deeply than at Dr. L.G. Pinkston Sr. High School, whose team won the division championship. Nicole Stovall, assistant athletic director and lead flag football coach at Pinkston, said she was excited to create a legacy her team could claim forever and to help start the beginning of something bigger for her players and the community. “Honestly, just being a part of the inaugural staff in Dallas meant a lot,” Stovall said. “This is going to be…
Hay un salón en Margaret B. Henderson Elementary School que se destaca en el distrito, pues con el fin de hacer el aprendizaje más entretenido para sus estudiantes, el maestro de prekínder Ángel Cano decidió transformar su salón en un mundo maravilloso inspirado por Super Mario Bros. De extremo a extremo, cada centímetro del salón es un homenaje al popular videojuego de Nintendo. Cubiertas con cartulina color rojo y azul, la puerta y la pared contigua al salón están decoradas con imágenes de Mario y Yoshi, un tubo de luz multicolor que sale del puño de Yoshi, una bombilla con…
There is one classroom at Margaret B. Henderson Elementary School that stands out in the district, and it belongs to pre-K teacher Angel Cano. To make the foundational learning process more engaging for his students, Cano decided to transform his classroom into a Super Mario Bros-inspired wonderland. From the door to the wall, each inch of the classroom pays homage to the popular Nintendo game. Covered with red and blue construction paper, the door and wall adjacent to Cano’s classroom feature cutouts of Mario riding Yoshi, a rainbow LED tube light winding from Yoshi’s fist, Mario sitting on an illuminated…