News Briefs

Gabe P. Allen Elementary School has a great new Dallas Cowboys PLAY 60 Fitness Zone where students can enjoy the playground, kick the soccer ball, and get some exercise. Representatives from the Dallas Cowboys, Briggs Equipment, which donated materials for the playground, and Allen Elementary students held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Oct. 25. Former Dallas Cowboy Rocket Ismail spoke with students at the ceremony about the importance of engaging in physical activity and making healthy choices. As a bonus treat, Cowboys partner 7-Eleven was on site with their Slurpee Truck to provide students samples.

It’s a weekday morning at Thomas Jefferson High School, and 23 female high school students are discussing three stocks they’ve been tracking. The discussions are part of a year-long financial literacy program provided by the nonprofit Rock the Street, Wall Street and Fidelity Investments. The program aims to empower female high school students to manage their money and learn to budget, negotiate their salary, and invest. The students participated in four workshops and will take a field trip to Fidelity Investments offices in November. The students will also have opportunities for one-on-one mentoring and job shadowing next semester. Kimberly Pardon,…

From teaching about diseases and holding health screenings to helping get gum out of students’ hair, César Chávez Learning Center school nurse Heidi Frumkin does it all. Frumkin says she loves the diversity of what she does for work every day. “I also really love my coworkers, we pull together and help each other,” Frumkin said. “This really is a great place to work.”

Twenty clinical teachers in Dallas ISD toured multiple schools to see for themselves why they should work for the innovative school district. Clinical teachers, also known as student teachers, are educators-in-training in Dallas ISD who are getting their teacher certifications from different programs. Clinical teachers go to a Dallas ISD school and work with a mentor teacher to get in-classroom experience. “Our goal is for the high-quality clinical teachers to then become teachers in Dallas ISD,” said Jill Peeples, Dallas ISD coordinator of clinical teaching. The clinical teachers visited Francisco “Pancho” Medrano Middle School, where they learned about social and…