Lamar Student
Flexes Mental Muscles
At
a time when most middle school students are heading out to enjoy the
start of Spring, eighth grader Joel Sam from Lamar Middle School is
hitting the books even harder.
Along
with 99 other students from Texas, Sam is advancing to the state finals
of the National Geographic Geography Bee, scheduled for April 4 at the
Pat May Center in Bedford. This is Sam’s second trip to the state
contest, and the winner will travel to Washington, D.C. for the national
finals May 20-21.
|
Joel Sam, eighth grader at
Lamar Middle School, won the Dallas County Spelling Bee at
Eastfield Community College February 26. He advanced to the
Dallas Morning News Regional Spelling Bee March 17,
and will compete at the Texas Geography Bee April 4. |
In
addition to testing Sam’s geography knowledge, he – along with fellow
middle school students Leyda Medrano from Crockett and Chibueze
Umeakuana from Houston – won their respective cluster spelling bees and
traveled to the Dallas County Spelling Bee held February 26 in Mesquite.
Presenting the correct spelling of “terrazzo“, Sam advanced to the
Dallas Morning News Regional Spelling Bee held March 17. Sam finished in
the top ten out of the field of 30 spellers.
Back to
top
Athletes of the
Month
|
Emily
Copeland |
Emily Copeland, senior at Nimitz High School, is the IISD female athlete
of the month for March. Copeland is a four-year player on the girl’s
varsity golf team and has been instrumental in recruiting others for the
lady Viking squad. She helped develop the Nimitz athletic booster
program and is working to establish a Fellowship of Christian Athletes
chapter at Nimitz. Copeland is also involved in student leadership in
school and in church activities. She recorded her best finish as a high
school golfer by winning the silver medal at the Ponder Invitational.
|
John
Smart |
John Smart, senior at MacArthur High School, is the IISD male athlete of
the month for March. Smart is a catcher on the baseball team and a
returning letterman. He was selected to First Team All-District at the
catcher position in 2007 after hitting .423 for the season. Smart
participates in "Athletes for Literacy" every Wednesday at Hanes
Elementary School, has earned a 3.80 GPA, and plans to play baseball in
college next year.
Back to
top
Teachers Receive ISF Enrichment Grants
Twelve
IISD teachers have been awarded enrichment grants from the Irving
Schools Foundation – totaling more than $3,011 – for use in attending
various professional development workshops.
Elementary teachers from IISD schools receiving grants are: Maria
Garcia, bilingual teacher, Pierce; Shalaka Gupte, counselor, Melinda
Redding, kindergarten teacher, and Rosemarie Klassen, librarian, Hanes;
Joy Morris, second grade teacher, Stipes; Jodie McConnell, librarian,
Good; Enri Butler, ARI/AMI specialist, Farine; Ann Hoang, Read Right
teacher, Keyes; Sarah Erlandson, special education teacher, Britain.
Middle school teachers receiving grants are Terrie Huff, reading
teacher, de Zavala; Megan Duranleau, Reading/ARI teacher, Crockett;
Gayle Benage, librarian, Austin.
ISF teacher enrichment grants are awarded monthly to IISD teachers to
attend workshops not usually funded by the school district. For teachers
interested in more information regarding applying for an enrichment
grant, access
www.irvingisd.net/foundation/teachenrichoverview.html.
Back to
top
Staff Development Receives Grant
The IISD Staff Development Department was selected to receive the
Beginning Teacher Induction & Mentoring Program cycle two grant.
The grant includes an award amount of $309,553 and will be used to train
selected master teachers to be mentors. Mentors will be paired with a
first-year teacher at the same school and in the same grade level or
subject area.
Scheduled to begin in May and continue through February 2010, the
following schools will participate: MacArthur and Nimitz high schools;
Union Bower Center for Learning; all IISD middle schools; and
Brandenburg, Brown, Elliott, Farine, Johnston, Keyes, Lee, Lively,
Schulze, Stipes, Thomas Haley, and Townsell elementary schools.
Back to
top
Voter Registration Deadline
The
deadline for registering to vote in the May 10 IISD Board of Trustees
election is April 10. If mailed, the registration application to the
Dallas County Elections Department must be postmarked no later than
April 10.
Applications are available at the Dallas County Tax Office, city halls
in Dallas County, public libraries, Department of Public Safety, major
post offices, and most governmental agencies. The voter application may
also be printed from the Dallas County Elections Department website at
www.dalcoelections.org.
Access
www.irvingisd.net/page/election.htm for more IISD Trustee election
information.
Back to
top
Student
Councils Host Senior Dance
IISD high school student councils sponsored a senior citizen country-
and western-themed dance March 11 at the heritage Senior Center. For the
third year, the student councils cooperated to sponsor the event,
providing refreshments and joining seniors in the Cotton-Eyed Joe
line dance and others.
Back to
top
Dental Health
Presentation at Lively
“Molar Man” from Six Day Dental & Orthodontics visited Lively Elementary
School March 14 to review dental hygiene practices with kindergarten,
first and second grade students. Students were reminded to brush their
teeth twice daily for three minutes and each student received a
toothbrush, toothpaste sample and timer.
Back to
top
