Using electricity wisely paid off for Dallas ISD this year to the tune of $578,000 when NRG Energy handed the district a check for that amount.  Through NRG Energy Inc.’s Responsive Economic Dispatch program, Dallas ISD earned more than $578,000 by monetizing its load flexibility over the course of 2024. By leveraging the RED program’s flexible curtailment options, Dallas ISD strategically lowered electricity consumption, generating significant savings without budget risk. On Tuesday, Feb. 18, NRG formally delivered the district’s energy savings payment, which will support the Maintenance and Facilities budget and future HVAC projects. This initiative underscores Dallas ISD’s commitment…

Emmanuel Gillespie, a former student at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, is leaving a lasting impact on the school as a current visual arts teacher and a professional artist.  Before he became a teacher at his former high school, he was commissioned to create a sculpture of Ernie Banks, a Booker T. alumnus and baseball hall of fame legend who played for the Chicago Cubs. Gillespie crafted the bronze statue, which was unveiled in 2018, to honor the sports icon and Dallas native. Gillespie began his artistic journey as a student at Booker T.…

The IB film students at Woodrow Wilson High School are gaining lifelong skills that will help them beyond the classroom. “You learn a lot about working with a team,” said Lucia R., a senior. “You work in groups a lot in school, but for film class, it’s different because everyone has their own vision, and you have to work together to create one vision.” In addition to working as a group to shoot, edit, and produce film projects, students also stand in as actors for each other as needed.  With so many moving parts on any given day or project,…

“One of my favorite things about jazz is how it brings people together. You can go across the world to a country that doesn’t speak anything close to your language. You can play with another person and you don’t speak, you can’t interpret each other’s words. But, then if you sit down and play music, it’s like you speak the exact same language. Music connects and brings people together.” These are the words spoken by Tinashe M., a senior piano major at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.  Tinashe comes from a family with a…