Author: The Hub

On the surface, there is not much that connects Jamie Foxx, Dan Rather, and the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. However, the Dallas ISD high school joined the company of those household names, as well as other legendary Texas’ artists, entertainers, and arts patrons, at last week’s Texas Medal of Arts Awards. At the award ceremony held Feb. 25, Booker T. Washington High School was one of 15 honorees recognized for their “powerful contributions to the arts here at home and around the world.” Booker T. Washington Principal Dr. Scott Rudes traveled to Austin…

Bo Jackson, the only athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports, visited E.D. Walker Middle School last Friday. In Dallas to receive the PWC Doak Walker Legends Award, Jackson joined the collegiate award recipient, running back Melvin Gordon of the University of Wisconsin, at the Dallas ISD School. The 25th Anniversary Doak Walker Awards Presentation Banquet, which was sponsored by the SMU Athletic Forum, was held that night at the Hilton Anatole Hotel. The PWC Doak Walker Legends Award is named for SMU All-American and Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker. E.D. Walker Middle School is named for Doak’s father,…

Fizz-ma-wizza-ma-dill—definitely not a word for Scrabble, but one that fits nicely in the world of Dr. Seuss. Students, teachers and volunteers from all walks of life are celebrated the wonderful, wacky world of Dr. Seuss in honor of his birthday. Ignacio Zaragoza Elementary students were treated to local celebrities who took time to read to them as part of the annual Read Across Dallas event. Volunteers fanned out across the district to take part in this fun event to promote literacy by reading to young students.

On Feb. 21, history was being made for one North Dallas High School student. In the shadows of the record breaking achievement, in which Kymberlynn Jackson won the first Dallas ISD UIL girls wrestling title, the daunting reality that Jackson faces daily made that moment all the more satisfying. Unlike most of her peers, Jackson can’t place her state medallion in her room or hang it on her wall with the other countless accolades she’s won this year: the first Dallas ISD girls wrestling state champion is homeless. Without a place to call home, Jackson chooses to wear the symbols…

The late children’s book author Dr. Seuss would have turned 111 years old on March 2. Most Dallas ISD campuses celebrated his legacy early on Friday, Feb. 27, by staging events to celebrate wacky Seuss characters while emphasizing the importance of reading. The commemoration of Seuss’ birthday is an annual districtwide event. At Mount Auburn Elementary School, there were enough volunteer readers to fill all 36 classrooms in the morning to read to the students. Dallas ISD Board President Miguel Solis and Dallas ISD Police Chief Craig Miller were among them. Several staff members and students dressed as Seuss characters…

Two Dallas ISD girls basketball teams have punched their tickets to the first-ever state tournament in San Antonio this year. Skyline’s Lady Raiders and Bryan Adams’ Lady Cougars are slated to be among the teams competing in the Texas UIL Girls’ State Basketball Tournament on March 7. 6A Action Skyline’s Lady Raiders powered past Spring DeKaney 45-42 this past weekend. Senior Dai’ja Thomas, an SMU signee, led the team with 14 points. The team’s state tournament berth is the first for head coach Cassandra McCurdy, who has worked toward this milestone for the past 28 years at Skyline. The Lady Raiders…

On Friday, North American Spine donated 50 free yoga mats to Pre-K students at Robert E. Lee Elementary School. North American Spine also helped put on free yoga classes for the students. CW 33 covered the event and captured great footage of the little yogis in action. Click here to view the video.

Staff and students at Dallas ISD’s Benjamin Franklin Middle School took to the school’s auditorium stage to celebrate African-American History Month on Thursday, Feb. 26. The program began with an interpretive pantomime performance of the African-American experience by drama students, from living in Africa, to being used as slaves, to the civil rights movement in the 1960s and ultimately the swearing-in of President Barack Obama. Students’ faces were covered so that their movements were the sole method of telling the story. A performance by the girls choir rounded out student participation. Clarice Tinsley, news anchor at KDFW-FOX 4, encouraged students…

A news story from CBS DFW details a proposed bridge plan that would help meet the most pressing needs at nine Dallas ISD campuses. The story, which you can read here, describes the bridge plan as “an opportunity on the horizon” to finance $137 million in necessary improvement at the district schools. If approved by the Board of Trustees, improvements at the facilities could begin this Spring.

The Dallas Morning News editorial board had high praise for Irma De La Guardia, a third-grade dual-language teacher at Harry C. Withers Elementary School who was named the 2015 Teacher of the Year by the National Association for Bilingual Education. The editorial, which you can read here, details De La Guardia’s background and the importance of a bilingual education. The Hub will feature De La Guardia and her important work in a video next week.