News Briefs

Students at Dallas ISD’s J.J. Rhoads Learning Center were inspired and encouraged by a visit from Miss Texas Margana Wood on Thursday, May 10. She has also recently visited other district schools. Wood highlighted her anti-bullying platform by using the word “SMART” to teach students what to do when they see bullying. S is for speak up; M is for mean kids are not the cool kids; A is for apologize when you hurt someone’s feelings; R is for respecting differences; and T is for teamwork. Five teachers served as pageant contestants and answered mock interview questions, which Wood called…

Fifth-graders at Dallas ISD’s J.P. Starks Math, Science and Technology Vanguard participated in “Lemonade Day” on Saturday, May 5. The goal of Lemonade Day is to inspire today’s children to become tomorrow’s business leaders, social advocates, community volunteers and forward-thinking citizens – one lemonade stand at a time. Learn more about the regional effort here.

The election for the District 9 seat on the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees is headed to a runoff after no candidate received at least 50 percent of the vote on May 5. Incumbent Bernadette Nutall and Justin Henry are the candidates in the runoff election for the seat that represents South Dallas and parts of Downtown Dallas, Pleasant Grove, Deep Ellum, Uptown and East Dallas. The runoff election is on June 16.

John Neely Bryan Elementary’s Language Proficiency Assessment Committee organized a daylong event on May 4 to celebrate Cinco De Mayo with faculty, students and staff dressing in traditional Mexican attire. Audiences were treated to morning and afternoon performances where the history of Cinco de Mayo was explained. Various grade levels performed typical Mexican folk dances. “La Raspa” was performed by pre-K students, “El Caballito de Palo” by Kindergarten students, and “El Cerro de la Silla” performed by first-grade students. The grand finale of the program featured the fifth-grade students singing to “Mexico, Mexico” by Timbiriche. The day’s festivities concluded with…