Author: The Hub

The approximately 40 Skyline students in Shawn Coyle’s floral design class in the school’s Eco-Tech cluster don’t have any time for idle chitchat this week. In their effort to trim and prepare 1,000 roses and 1,200 carnations for their big Valentine’s Day flower sale on Friday, the students are hard at work taking orders and making sure each flower looks perfect. The class is a part of Skyline’s Agriculture Career and Tech program. “It’s phenomenal what these students can do after just four or five months of being in this class,” Coyle said. “They are able to work on the…

What would life be like without books and reading? The question alone is a scary thought for anyone who loves reading. The children at Cornerstone Baptist Church, one sponsor of the Feb. 20 African American Read-In, may have tapped in to that idea in coming up with the theme for the event, Reading is the Wave of Life. The theme emphasizes the importance of reading and suggests that without books and reading, life would be much less interesting. Given that view, you might wonder why aren’t more people reading and why aren’t more parents reading to their children. These are…

The Budget Services division of the Dallas Independent School District has been awarded the Meritorious Budget Award for its 2015-2016 budget from the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO). To earn the award, the district followed rigorous guidelines for effective budget presentation, including meeting stringent criteria and adhering to the principles and standards of the organization. According to the ASBO, “The budget is an outstanding document which includes a wealth of information in graphic and narrative form.  The document is user-friendly for the average taxpayer with an abundance of data presented in different forms to meet the needs of…

The Dallas ISD Office of Transformation and Innovation received nearly 1,600 applications of students interested in attending one of the district’s four new transformation schools. The window to apply to one of the district’s four transformation schools— D.A. Hulcy STEAM Middle School, Solar Preparatory School for Girls at James B. Bonham, Eduardo Mata Elementary, and the Innovation, Design Entrepreneurship Academy at James W. Fannin—was open Jan. 6–29. Mike Koprowski, chief of the Office of Transformation and Innovation, said the number of applications exceeded expectations. “This is the second time we’ve run applications for Transformation Schools. Once again, there is an…

As of this week, Hospitality and Tourism students at Dallas ISD’s Justin F. Kimball High School have collected more than 2,000 pairs of jeans for children, teens and adults as part of the Teens for Jeans project. Daniela Mora, an eighth-grader at Robert T. Hill Middle School, is leading a collection drive at her campus. The jeans will be given to New Beginnings Center in Garland, where they will be distributed to families in need. To donate new or gently used jeans to the cause by Feb. 28, take them to Kimball High School, 3606 S. Westmoreland Road; or to…

What better way to experience solar energy than to be outdoors, surrounded by sunshine? That’s one way the outdoor learning lab at Dallas ISD’s Arthur Kramer Elementary School is being used on a daily basis to boost student learning. The two-year-old lab, funded through donations, has improved science testing scores dramatically at the school. On a recent school day, teacher Renold Bodden led his fifth-graders into the outdoor setting to study solar energy through hands-on experiments. “To be out of those four walls, it seems to lose the sense of being confined, and gives them more of a connection with…

Lunchtime on Feb. 12 could prove to be a much more pleasant experience than usual for hundreds of Dallas ISD’s middle schoolers. With the help of counselors, students at the district’s 37 middle schools are pledging to make their schools kinder, more caring places to learn by inviting everyone to the lunch table on No One Eats Alone Day. A national, peer-led initiative sponsored by the nonprofit organization Beyond Differences, No One Eats Alone Day is aimed at ending social isolation in middle schools and creating a culture in which all kids feel included, valued and accepted by their peers.…

Additional funding for upgrades at South Oak Cliff High School are part of the bond program phasing proposal to be considered by the Board of Trustees during its briefing on Thursday, Feb. 11. The Final Revised Phasing Plan, an outline for projects under the 2015 Bond Program, contains $25 million for South Oak Cliff High School (SOC). That’s up from $13 million in the original plan. The increased spending will be used to complete the original project scope that included roofing and plumbing improvements as well as the following: Create new entrance to the school with a new entrance plaza and…

At Nathan Adams Elementary School, the Year of the Monkey started off in a special way. Monday, Feb. 8, marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year. To tie in with lessons with its Explore China Enrichment Program, students at Adams were treated to a traditional lion dance performed by members of the J.K. Wong Kung Fu Tai Chi Academy. GrandMaster Jimmy Wong explained the dance, in which the lion is depicted as eating lettuce, going to sleep, getting excited and then “spitting” lettuce on members of the audience. Those rewarded with the flying leaves are said to have good…

Students are learning almost as fast as cheetahs are running thanks to helpful organizations such as the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) and its representative, Caitlyn Beck, who came all the way from Washington D.C. to hand-deliver a treasure trove of sources of data to eager second-grade Gifted and Talented (GT) researchers at Anne Frank Elementary School. Beck, a Constituent Relationship Manager of the CCF, planned ahead for a trip to Dallas where she is working with the Dallas Zoo to bring along many heavy items such as books and magazines for a team of students who are studying cheetahs. The Annual…