IISD to Host Academic Decathlon

Thirteen schools will compete at the Region 9 Academic Decathlon Meet scheduled for January 19-20 at MacArthur High School.

High schools competing at the meet will be Carroll, Creekview, Flower Mound, Haltom, Hebron, Irving High, Keller, Lewisville, MacArthur, Marcus, Newman Smith, Nimitz, and R.L. Turner. These schools compete in the Large Schools Division of Academic Decathlon.

Nimitz, which has won the regional title 16 of the past 19 years, is the defending Region 9 champion.

Academic Decathlon provides high school students an opportunity to experience the challenges of rigorous academic competition through participation in team activities. It is designed to include students from all academic backgrounds.

Teams will compete in 10 areas, including math, science, language/literature, art, music, and economics. The competition also includes essay, speech and interview components, as well as Super Quiz.

Super Quiz, annually the highlight of the meet, is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday, January 20 at the MacArthur Spectator Gym. The public is invited to attend the Super Quiz portion of the meet. The Super Quiz topic is “An Introduction to Climatology.” The meet’s overall topic is “China and Its Influence on the World.”

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IISD Spelling Bees Set for January 17-19

Irving ISD students will compete in spelling bees for their respective high school zones at 1 p.m. January 17-19 in the Board Room at the IISD Administration Building.

Students in grades 4-8 from IISD elementary and middle schools are eligible to compete in the spelling bees.

The schedule is as follows:

• Irving High School Zone – January 17

• MacArthur High School Zone – January 18

• Nimitz High School Zone – January 19

The bees will be broadcast live on Irving Schools Television (ISTV), which can be viewed on Time Warner Cable Channel 98 and Verizon FiOS Channel 33. Winners will advance to the Dallas County Spelling Bee competition.

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Early Dismissal/Holiday Schedule

This is a reminder that Irving ISD will have semester exams for grades 6-12 this week and early dismissal Thursday and Friday.

The early dismissal schedule is as follows:

• Early Childhood Schools:  7:45-10 a.m. and 11 a.m.-1:15 p.m.

• Elementary Schools: 7:45 a.m.-noon

• Middle and High Schools (except The Academy of IISD): 8:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

• The Academy of IISD: 7:35 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

In addition, a student/teacher holiday will be observed Monday. Also, a campus work day will be held Tuesday, which will be observed as a student holiday.

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Hammond Scholarship to be Dedicated

The Irving Schools Foundation (ISF) will honor the memory of Judy Hammond by dedicating an endowed scholarship established in her name on Wednesday, January 24. The ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m. in the IISD Administration Building.

Hammond was associated with Irving schools in various positions for 28 years prior to her retirement in June 2005. She became secretary for the Athletic Department in 1987. Hammond also attended Irving schools and was a graduate of MacArthur.

At the ceremony, her name will be inscribed on the Perpetual Giving Tree sculpture, signifying the perpetual nature of her endowed scholarship. A reception for family, friends and donors to the scholarship will be held prior to the ceremony.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Philipp, ISD executive director, at 972-215-5018.

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ISF Awards $1,809 in Teacher Enrichment Grants

Irving Schools Foundation (ISF) has awarded $1,809 in Teacher Enrichment Grants to 10 teachers. The grants provide teachers with professional development opportunities to attend seminars and workshops. Applications from teachers are due by the 10th of each month. Grants are awarded up to $500 each.

Recipients for the month of December were as follows (including topics to be covered by grant): Lynette Bachand, Travis, Working Successfully with Difficult & Disruptive; Yvette Brown, Gilbert, Advances in ADHD; Maggie Cole, Farine, Positive, Effective Discipline for Young Children; Amy Graem, Brandenburg, How to Handle to Hard-to-Handle Student; Gini Hainley, Farine, Survival Skills for Principalship; Laura Holliday, Farine, Conference for Kindergarten Teachers; Hope Krum, Bowie, Bringing Boys and Books Together; Renee Light-Vergara, Farine, Kindergarten Conference for Texas Kindergarten; Karen Lowman, Schulze, Texas Music Educators Conference; and Susan Vaughan, Townsell, Practical, Innovative Strategies for Using Technology.

For more information about ISF or Teacher Enrichment Grants, please visit www.irvingisd.net/foundation.

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Athletes of the Month

The Irving ISD Athletes of the Month are Ronal Rivera of Irving High and Odyssey Sims of MacArthur.

Rivera, a senior, is a member of the swimming team. He also practices regularly with a club team to improve his times and work on his technique. Rivera is a member of the National Honor Society and ranks sixth in his graduating class.

Sims, a freshman, plays guard for the girls’ basketball team and scored a season-high 30 points against Rockwall. She is the first girl to play in the Irving Boys Basketball League and was nominated for the Junior National Honor Society.

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Speakers Still Needed for Business Exchange Days

Business professionals are invited to share their knowledge with high school juniors and seniors during next month’s Business Exchange Days, sponsored by the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce.

The event will take place February 8 at Irving High and MacArthur, and February 8-9 at the Academy. It gives students the opportunity to hear from local business professionals about their careers. More than 160 speakers have been requested by teachers this year.

For a complete list of speaker topics, refer to www.irvingisd.net/pie/articles/HSCareerDays.htm.  For more information about the specific classes, contact Thelma Cantu at tcantu@irvingisd.net.

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Teachers Invited to Water Education Program

Educators are invited to attend a daylong workshop January 20 at the Irving Arts Center for the City of Irving’s WET in the City program.

WET in the City stands for Water Education for Teachers, an environmental education program focused on promoting water education among youth through curriculum activities.

The program is designed to help educators implement activities from the WET in the City Curriculum & Activity Guide in their classrooms.

For more information or to register, contact the City of Irving’s Public Works/Water Utilities Department at 972-721-2281.