Inside Dallas ISD

“Ain’t it fun? Living in the real world.” Those song lyrics by pop group Paramore came alive for students in the School for the Talented and Gifted at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center. Students embraced reality when they were tasked with coming up with a real-world solution for a piece of land located in The Bottoms and the 10th Street District. The four-day project had the students trekking all over the city meeting with leaders, developers and various economic, regulatory and legislative experts. Students sifted through city documents and, together with their peers, created a realistic, meaningful and high-quality land…

Three Dallas ISD students from W.E. Greiner Middle School will present their invention, the “Robo Buddy,” before a national audience at the National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge October 9 in Silicon Valley. The invention is a robotic, interactive pet that teaches kids responsibility through an app that allows parents to monitor how actively their children are caring for their “pets.” The entry from Greiner is the only project from Dallas ISD that is advancing to the national-level competition. At stake is $25,000 in prize money the students can use as seed cash for their business or for college tuition. Before the…

Former U.S. Army General Colin Powell commanded the rapt attention of more than a thousand young people at a motivational talk he presented Tuesday, Sept. 30, at SMU’s McFarlin Auditorium as part of the HART Global Leaders Forum. The audience included 500 Dallas ISD JROTC cadets and their army instructors and 60 other Dallas ISD high school students who attended with their counselors. All seemed to be captivated for the duration of Powell’s 45-minute talk and audience Q&A. The former diplomat discussed his upbringing by immigrant parents in the Bronx, what he called a mediocre academic record in high school,…

It’s a good bet the 29 J.N. Ervin Elementary students who toured the new Highland Hills Library on Monday had heard more than once how important it is to visit the library. But after receiving a private tour of the $5 million dollar facility, complete with refreshments, and leaving their handprints in cement at the front door, that message probably resonates as never before. Ervin librarian Cheryl Franklin wanted her students to be among the first to celebrate the city’s newest library, a replacement for the 40-year-old facility it’s replacing. The new library, built on a former vacant lot just…