News Briefs

Turn trash into crafts! Kids can paint empty egg cartons his or her favorite color and store small items such as beads or neat rocks. Paper or Styrofoam egg cartons can be used to hold paint for art projects, too. Or plant your very own miniature garden! Use each well to plant seeds that grow flowers or herbs.

Brad Mayfield, a social studies teacher at William B. Travis Academy, was one of 30 educators from across the nation selected to attend C-SPAN’s 2015 Summer Educators’ Conference held in Washington, DC. Mayfield competed with applicants from across the country to secure a place at the conference. It helps educators discover how to integrate C-SPAN’s programs and C-SPAN Classroom’s free web-based primary source materials into classroom activities to create engaging learning experiences for students. The conference brings together middle school teachers who specialize in social studies and/or technology. Throughout the event participants learn more about C-SPAN, its online archive of…

Same-sex spouses of Dallas ISD employees are now eligible for health, dental, vision, and life insurance under the district’s benefits plan. The Teacher Retirement System (TRS) of Texas extended its spousal benefits eligibility following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on June 26 to legalize same-sex marriage. A district employee can add a same-sex spouse to their benefits plan during the annual benefits enrollment period, which happens August 1–31.

Teach For America – Dallas-Fort Worth (TFA) will bring together partners from Dallas ISD, Southern Methodist University’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development, and the Momentous Institute for a panel discussion about what Teach For America DFW Summer Institute means for DFW and education partners across the city. The panel discussion is set for tomorrow, July 9, from 12–1 p.m. at Stephen C. Foster Elementary School, 3700 Clover Lane. The partnership between TFA, SMU, Dallas ISD and Momentous Institute brings Teach For America’s pre-service training program to Dallas for the first time this year, with teachers completing the organization’s…