Home   |   Search Articles   |   Past Issues

Nimitz Team Wins Regional Meet

On January 18, the Nimitz High School Academic Decathlon Team won their 18th regional championship in 21 years with a total of 72 medals and 46,001 points - more than 1,000 points ahead of second place finisher Marcus High School from Lewisville ISD. MacArthur High School hosted the event for the second year in a row, this year consisting of 13 large school teams and 12 teams from medium schools.

Each member of the Nimitz team medaled in at least five categories with senior Austin Christenberry winning 13 medals, named as the meet’s top “A” student and the top scoring student overall. Also finishing in the top five in their divisions were Emarric Zipper, Cory McMullen, Celeste Martinez, Kevin Perkins, Patrick Lewis, Murtaza Jafferji, and Sara Enriquez. Perkins, Zipper, McMullin and Martinez each won nine individual medals; Lewis earned eight; Jafferji, Enriquez and Hyungoo Kang won five medals each. Nimitz won the Super Quiz and the Super Quiz Relay with Martinez, Kang and Perkins posting perfect scores in that event.

Irving ISD Board of Trustees President Michael Hill awards a medal to Austin Christenberry, senior at Nimitz High School, during the awards presentation following the Region 9 Academic Decathlon held at MacArthur High School on Saturday, January 19.

“We knew going into the competition that Marcus, Flower Mound, and Creekview [high schools] would be very formidable…I knew that our kids had great talent, but I had not yet seen the tangible results of that talent,” according to Greg Jackson, math teacher at Nimitz and academic decathlon coach. “Needless to say, they performed brilliantly this weekend, and I could not be prouder of them.”

MacArthur’s team finished seventh with 36,873 points, increasing its point total from the previous year by 7,013. Irving High School finished 11th with 29,282 points and the Academy placed tenth among the medium schools with a point total of 29,264.

The Nimitz team now looks toward the large schools’ Texas Academic Decathlon, scheduled February 29 through March 2 at Plano West High School in Plano.

“We know that Pearland presents a huge challenge for us, and I know that few people will give us any chance of catching them and winning the state meet,” Jackson said. “But I have faith that all of us will do whatever we can do to be at our best on that weekend.”

Parent Center Unites Volunteers, School

Schulze Elementary School will be holding a grand opening event for its newly completed parent center from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., January 24, at 1200 S. Irving Heights in Irving.

The Schulze parent center will condense all of the school’s parent volunteer and information into one location, display school communications and notices, post teacher/parent communications, include Spanish-English dictionaries and other educational material, and provide supplemental material for parents to help their child at home.

According to Cheryl Jennings, IISD elementary teaching and learning director, the center will be one of the few of its kind in the district.

Maria Ostiguin, third grade bilingual teacher and chairperson of the project, said the Schulze Campus Improvement Committee initiated the project in late November at the request of Schulze’s principal, Erin Yacho. Ostiguin also said no additional funding was required to build the Parent Center because the necessary materials already existed.

Maria Felix Ostiguin, third grade bilingual teacher at Schulze Elementary School, speaks to a reporter from WFAA Channel 8, the Dallas ABC news affiliate, regarding the opening of Schulze’s parent center.

“In alignment with district philosophy, parent involvement is important to our campus, thus we are committed to creating change in that area,” Ostiguin said. “Our vision for the Parent Center is to create a culture of sustainable parent involvement that promotes and maintains academic and social achievement for all students.”

Following the parent center opening, Schulze will host a school science and technology night from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for the school’s students and parents.

Sign Language Class Offered

Intermediate sign language classes will be held on Mondays from 5:30 p.m.-6:45 p.m., January 28 through March 10, at Britain Elementary School cafeteria, located at 631 Edmondson in Irving. The class is free to families of deaf students, $10 for IISD employees, and $20 for all others. For more information, please call 972-554-3800.

Counselors Host College Planning Meeting

Middle and high school counselors in Irving ISD will be hosting a college early planning meeting at 6:30 p.m., January 29, at the Irving High School auditorium.

The planning meeting is centered on information provided by the Texas Gear Up project, a grant funded endeavor of the Texas Education Agency. Information from the meeting is designed to help students and families understand the type of information that colleges will need as part of their application processes. IISD counselors are targeting eighth and ninth graders and their parents, however the meeting is open to the public.

“The beauty of a college planning portfolio is that it provides an easy way for students and families to organize and store vital college application information in a single place,” says Priscilla Flores, state Gear Up director. Instructions for keeping a portfolio, checklists and resource materials, will be provided in English and Spanish. Attendees will also view a video created specially for the Gear Up program that explains why planning early, such as during the middle school years, can make a difference in a student’s readiness to succeed in college.

For more information about the meeting, contact Paula Barnhouse, IISD director of academic and career counseling, at 972-215-5025 or use the links below: 

Planning Ahead for College  (in English)

La planificación anticipada para la universidad  (en español)

Back to top