News Briefs

Yonathan Tadesse, who teaches algebra and college transition to 10th and 11th graders at Judge Barefoot Sanders Law Magnet, has been a pioneer in many new campus and district initiatives, serving as math chair and leading the first Link Crew program, which aims to increase attendance, decrease discipline referrals and improve academic performance. A 2014 graduate of Emory University, he  tutored in Atlanta public schools throughout college and experienced firsthand the need for more Black male math teachers. Upon graduation, he became a Teach For America corps member and taught math for five years at W.W. Samuell High School, helping…

Instructional Lead Teacher for English at Alex W. Spence Middle School and TAG Academy, Rachel Reese is proud to share with anyone who asks that she is a 26-year veteran of Dallas ISD who has devoted her entire career to working with middle school students. She currently teaches eighth-grade reading/language arts at Spence and serves as chair of the English Language Arts Department. Ms. Reese earned an Associate of Arts degree at Paris Junior College and a Bachelor of Arts in journalism at Texas Tech University. After launching her career as an elective teacher for the school newspaper and yearbook…

Los Angeles native and alumni of D.W. Carter High School Aaron Stewart teaches English I at Skyline High School. At Carter, Stewart became a stand-out football player and member of the school choir and National Honor Society. It was also at Carter that he became a founding member of the student mentoring program, Fostering Underclassmen To Utilize and Respect Education, perhaps foreshadowing his future career calling. Following graduation from the University of North Texas, Mr. Stewart’s desire to teach students from backgrounds similar to his own led him to Skyline High School, where his history as a poor, fatherless, Black…

Seneca Denman was raised in a small rural town in East Texas with six sisters and six brothers and learned early the importance of sharing, taking turns, being patient, and that her parents didn’t play when it came to education. Shaped by those early lessons, today, she serves as social studies teacher and department chair at Boude Storey Middle School, where she draws praise from her principal and colleagues as a campus role model who seeks not only to prepare her students but also to collaborate with and support her peers. Ms. Denman holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and…