ICE Awards Set
for Thursday
The
Eighth Annual ICE Awards will be held Thursday, February 28 at Nimitz
High School Auditorium. A reception at 6:15 p.m. will kick-off the event
with the formal ceremony beginning at 7 p.m.
Hosted this year by Rene Castilla, the Irving Celebration of Excellence
Awards recognizes outstanding achievements by IISD staff, faculty and
students in the areas of humanities, fine arts, math/science, athletics
& physical education, community service/citizenship, and special
campus/district. The Board of Trustees will also present the annual
Golden Apple Awards, and students who have garnered prestigious state
and national accomplishments during the past 12 months will be
recognized. An ensemble from the Nimitz orchestra will entertain during
the reception and the Irving All-City Stage Band will perform during the
ceremony. All-City Concert Band member Katy Lowman and All-State
orchestra member Daniel Oh will also be featured.
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Athletes of the Month
Jenise Gentry |
Jenise
Gentry, junior at MacArthur High School, has been named IISD
female athlete of the month for February. A forward for the
lady Cardinals, Gentry scores an average of 10 points and
eight rebounds per basketball game. She is in the top 10
percent of her class and is a member of Peer Assistance and
Leadership (PALS). Gentry was named as MacArthur’s student
of the month for November, is a member of the student
council, and is also active in her church. |
Antonio Burns |
Antonio
Burns, senior at Irving High School, has been named IISD
male athlete of the month for February. Since transferring
to Irving High from Louisiana during his sophomore year,
Burns has become a strong leader as a point guard on the
basketball court. As a senior, Burns is averaging 14.1
points per game, 3.8 rebounds per game and 3.3 steals per
game. |
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Schools Win Corporate Award
The
Academy of Irving ISD has been awarded $10,000 and four other schools
received $2,000 awards as part of a competition sponsored by Best Buy
Co., Inc. The four schools are MacArthur High School, Travis Middle
School, and Farine and Thomas Haley elementary schools.
Tom
Gear, law specialty teacher at the Academy, entered the contest on
behalf of the Academy. The company started its Best Buy Teach Awards to
reward innovative use of technology in K-12 classrooms and the Academy
was only one of four schools in Texas to win the top award of a $10,000
Best Buy gift card. With the Academy’s win of a top award, they are
eligible to compete for the $100,000 top national prize in Best Buy’s
competition.
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Students
Achieve Success at SkillsUSA
More
than 30 IISD students won top awards in the regional SkillsUSA
competition in Waco. SkillsUSA is a national organization for students
enrolled in training programs for technical, skilled and service
occupations.
Students now look toward state competition in Corpus Christi, March
27-29. For a complete list of students advancing to state, please visit
www.irvingisd.net/ppage/skillsusa.htm.
|
IISD Cosmetology students won SkillsUSA gold
medals for their community service project with Brighter
Tomorrows, an organization providing shelter and assistance
to victims of domestic violence. Students are Ivonne
Gonzalez, The Academy of Irving ISD; Nubia Duron, Nimitz
High School; and Ana Lozano and Mary Cruz Lozano, Irving
High School. |
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MacArthur Forensics Excels
The
MacArthur High School forensics (speech & debate) team earned top honors
in various events at the Nimitz Valhalla Speech & Debate Tournament.
Jason Douglass finished with first place in prose interpretation and
Raven Garcia took home first place honors in poetry interpretation.
Adaobi Anyiwo received a third place overall speaker award in
Lincoln-Douglas style debate. Cameron Ingram, Crysta Vera and Trey
Reynolds qualified for the semifinal rounds of prose and poetry,
respectively.
In
the team’s second February tournament, Canton Rike UIL Invitational,
Douglass and Garcia again garnered first place finishes in their
respective events of prose and poetry with Douglass besting 35
contestants and Garcia edging out 28. Reynolds won second in prose
interpretation, Ingram won third place in poetry interpretation, and
Anyiwo placed seventh in Lincoln-Douglas debate.
The
students now prepare for the District 7-5A Academic Championship on
March 22 at South Grand Prairie High School.
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Public Information Wins State Awards
The
IISD Public Information Department won 13 state awards for excellence in
school communications at the annual Texas School Public Relations
Association (TSPRA) Conference.
Six
entries received Gold Star awards: Teacher Job Fair (flyer), Teacher
Recruiting Brochure/CD, IISD Website Design, Academic Decathlon (video
story), Fire Safety House (video story), and SITE (public service
announcement). Public Information also won seven Silver Star awards.
In
addition, Tony Thetford, director of public information, served as a
member of the national accreditation faculty during the conference.
TSPRA is a professional organization with more than 900 members
dedicated to improving public education in Texas by promoting effective
communication.
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Students Attend Leadership Conference
A
delegation of 45 students and faculty from The Academy of Irving ISD,
MacArthur, Irving and Nimitz high schools, and Union Bower Center for
Learning, attended the Family, Career, & Community Leaders of America (FCCLA)
Region III conference and competition February 7-9 in Waco.
J.D.
Lees, senior at the Academy, lead the general sessions and the House of
Delegates as Region III president. Amber Gill was elected to the state
executive council as vice president of Students Taking Action for
Recognition (STAR) events, the competitive portion of FCCLA for
2008-2009.
Academy students Jerrett Ervin and Jennifer Reyes earned silver medals
and Deanna Johnson earned a bronze medal. Irving High students Karen
Lopez, Brittany Parks, and Denise Serna all earned gold medals. Nimitz
students Missy Renfrow, and Erika Eggins earned bronze medals and Luisa
Hernandez earned a silver medal. MacArthur students Sarah Gonzalez,
Bhumi Patel, and Cheryl Chamathil each earned bronze medals.
Several Academy students placed in the STAR events: Erica Castillo,
Amparo Ramirez, and Alicia Martinez placed third in the chapter service
manual event; Iva Royce, Yuriko Lopez, and Valery Escobedo placed third
in the illustrated talk event; Megan Howell placed first in the stories
that teach event; Autumn Field placed second in the early childhood
event; and Lindsey Gillespie placed second in the job interview event.
All
students qualified to advance to the FCCLA State Conference in
Galveston, Texas on April 3-5.
|
Students
from Irving ISD participated in the FCCLA Region III
conference and competition February 7-9. Students from all
IISD high schools vied for elected positions within the
region as well as competed in various events. |
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