Inside Dallas ISD

Jason Hamilton graduated from Justin F. Kimball High School in 2002 and has come back to Dallas ISD to put 24 years of culinary experience and 18 years as an executive chef to use in the district’s newest Career and Technical Education (CTE) initiative. Hamilton, a CTE coordinator, is overseeing the management of the district’s food truck initiative, ensuring smooth operations across participating schools. He ensures students are taught the technical, culinary, management, and entrepreneurial skills needed to run a food truck. He says the food truck program is set to transform the student learning experience. The food truck is expected…

A drumline with dancers, typical in a marching band, is not a common part of the elementary school experience—but that didn’t stop teacher Andra Birdsong from making it happen at her school. Birdsong, a music teacher at Daniel Webster Elementary School, first got the idea when her students were invited to participate in a community parade after Justin F. Kimball High School’s boys varsity basketball team won the state championship in the Spring of 2023. Kimball is the high school into which Webster feeds. Nearly a year later, she has at least 25 students performing as either part of the…

Master teacher Michael Chang first came to  Dallas ISD in 2018 to teach fourth grade math and science at Annie Webb Blanton Elementary School, where he continues to impact students’ lives. Prior to coming to the district, he taught math and science in Tulsa, Okla., and is now in his 10th year as an educator. He is originally from Manitowoc, Wis., and graduated from Marquette University in 2014. What drew you to education? Born and raised by immigrant parents in a low-income family, I was always told by my mother that education was the key to breaking the cycle of…

Submitted by Joseph Medaris, principal at Lee A. McShan Jr. Elementary School In Dallas ISD’s Lee A. McShan Jr. Elementary—one of the unique schools with a diverse community—there exists a dedicated school counselor whose mission goes beyond the conventional boundaries of education. Maria Araceli Slette, a passionate advocate for empowering young minds, takes on the extraordinary task of guiding students from different corners of the world, helping them navigate the path from kindergarten to fifth grade, and ultimately, preparing them for college and career success starting at elementary school. Slette believes that the journey to college and career readiness begins in…