Inside Dallas ISD

Students, staff, and community members gathered Saturday for a combined celebration: to rename the former Thornton Elementary for Dallas educator Otto M. Fridia, and to dedicate the school’s library to literacy advocate Emma Rodgers. Both Mr. Fridia – who passed away in 2000 – and Mrs. Rodgers were pillars of the community, devoted their lives to education, and the event was an opportunity to honor their legacy and commitment to the school and community. Dallas ISD Executive Director Lisa Curry celebrated Mr. Fridia’s career, from his beginning as a teacher at Booker T. Washington after serving in the military during…

The Food and Child Nutrition Services department recently joined together to celebrate the achievement of a Dallas ISD student who won the “Fuel Up to Play 60 Madden NFL 23 Open Tournament.” The purpose of the Esports tournament is to encourage kids to live a healthy lifestyle from a young age by teaching them healthy eating habits and the stressing the importance of physical activity. Free of charge, the gaming tournament was available for all middle and high school students in the Dallas Cowboys’ viewing areas. Many schools participated in the competition ranging from Dallas to San Antonio. The competition…

What started as a back-and-forth bout between the two teams ended in victory for the South Oak Cliff Golden Bears against the Melissa Cardinals in last week’s UIL State Quarterfinal game. Once the Golden Bears were able to gain some momentum after a game-changing interception, the reigning champs were ready to bring it on home. “Anytime you can take the ball away from your opponent, you swing the momentum in your favor. I think it is even more powerful when a kid—like sophomore Jayden Shelton—enters the game to replace an injured player and makes an impact right away. A ton of excitement was generated by that alone.…

Two tournaments, two Saturdays, and one school filled with excitement and suspense as almost 2,000 Dallas ISD elementary and secondary students competed against each other in the fall chess tournaments hosted by the Student Activities department at Obama Male Leadership Academy. The secondary chess tournament on Oct. 29 kicked off the first of two Saturday tournaments with 665 students from 72 middle and high school campuses ready to play the strategy game of chess. Students were able to play multiple rounds of chess, paired with different opponents, based on their wins and losses after each game. Different strategies were used…