Inside Dallas ISD

It’s not every day that students are on camera reporting live from a teleprompter and shouting, “Action!” But third- and fifth-graders from Montessori Academy at Onesimo Hernandez got a chance to do just that as they tried their hand at video, audio, and post-production at the Dallas Schools Television (DSTV) studio.  Getting a sense of what it’s like to be in a real broadcast studio, the students were also taught how to use state-of-the-art, Canon EOS C500 cameras similar to the ones used to record Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Each area of the DSTV studio was split into…

Cheryl Culberson, Dallas ISD’s Alcohol and Drug Intervention Program coordinator, is playing a vital role in the district’s efforts to increase awareness, expand prevention, facilitate intervention and promote recovery for substance use/abuse in students, a role that has become even more crucial recently as the area faces an increase in fentanyl abuse. As a licensed chemical dependency counselor and a licensed professional counselor, Culberson is qualified to provide both substance abuse and mental health intervention, something that has always been her passion. “Substance abuse is a large component of impulsivity and poor life choices that affects the whole family,” Culberson…

Three Dallas ISD teachers were recently honored by the Dallas Metroplex Musicians’ Association for their dedication to student success and their years of hard work in the music industry. Nelda Washington of Clara Oliver Elementary School and Osley Cook Jr. of Franklin D. Roosevelt High School Of Innovation were both inducted into the Dallas Metroplex Musicians’ Association Hall of Fame for serving the area for over 30 years. Chad Lott of Skyline High School earned a Next Generation of Music Professionals Award, which is given to professional musicians who have been in the field for less than 10 years. The…

For Stevens Park Elementary School kindergarten teacher Deborah Castro Torres, creativity is the name of the game. If she is having fun, she said it’s likely that her dual language students will be, too, so she has spent the past 17 years and counting looking for innovative ways to keep her classes engaged. That often means using real-world interactions to keep students involved, whether she is teaching math, science or reading. “One thing that I love to do when we’re doing science is to bring real worms,” Castro Torres said. “I won’t touch them because they gross me out, but…