Before Hamersen B. moved from Ethiopia to Dallas at 14 years old, his typical day consisted of riding around his village on a bicycle, going to school, and teaching other kids how to ride a bike to earn lunch money. Today, he is a graduating senior at W.T. White High School, looking forward to a bright future of someday becoming a surgeon and traveling the world. Hamersen always dreamed about accomplishing big things, but he wasn’t sure what his path would look like until he met his Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) teacher, Major Nebyou Yonas. Through his instructor’s…

The email caused North Dallas High School’s Janet R. to scream so loud everyone in Starbucks wondered if she was okay. Earlier that afternoon, Janet had felt very discouraged after being rejected by one of the colleges she had applied to. Now, before her eyes appeared a message from Stanford University: “Congratulations, you’ve been accepted.”  “I applied to 45 schools or something like that, and I’ve been accepted to 41. However, this was the one that I was most excited about,” she said. “Getting accepted to Stanford University and later receiving the news that I got a full ride reaffirms…

Grad Goals: From Sunset Bisonettes to Boomer Sooner! Meet Diego A., Sunset High School’s first male drill team captain in all of its 70-year history. Diego will be attending The University of Oklahoma after graduation as a modern dance major and hopes to be part of a professional dance company someday. Congrats, Diego! To share your unique graduation story, visit our website and stay tuned on our social media channels to see other Dallas ISD students we are highlighting throughout May. You can also share your grad’s story by: Posting your grad’s story on social media and tagging Dallas ISD…