Christenberry Named National Merit Scholar

Austin Christenberry, senior at Nimitz High School, has been awarded a $2,500 scholarship funded by National Merit Scholarship Corporation through the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Christenberry, named as a National Merit finalist earlier in the spring, is among 1,100 high school seniors winning scholarships sponsored by companies, foundations and other business organizations. National Merit scholars are chosen from more than 15,000 finalists.

At the conclusion of the 2008 program in June, about 8,200 finalists will earn the title of National Merit Scholar and receive more than $36 million in scholarships.

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Early Voting Continues for Election

Early voting by personal appearance began Monday and will continue through May 6 for the IISD Trustee Election May 10.

Ballots for early voting may be cast at Irving City Hall, Irving Arts Center, and Dallas County Records Office. This week through Saturday, early voting will be from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., on Sunday from 1-6 p.m., and Monday and Tuesday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

A list of polling places for May 10 is available by accessing www.irvingisd.net/ppage/election.htm. Candidate interviews can also be viewed on the website and on Irving Schools Television via Time Warner Cable Channel 98 and Verizon FiOS Channel 33 through May 8. Interviews are broadcast daily at 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.

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Elementary Students Go Green

Students from Lively Elementary School, Gilbert Elementary School, and Wheeler Development Center took active rolls to support projects for improving the environment during April.

The Lively 21^st Century Green Team sponsored a phone book collection contest for the 2008 Irving ISD Green Principal Award. Students challenged the local community to bring in used phone books for recycling, and collected more than 3,200 books.

In observance of Earth Day April 22, kindergartners at Gilbert pulled weeds around the Robyn Noneman Memorial Tree, picked up trash, replaced wood chips on the school playground, and released lady bugs in the school’s courtyard.

At Wheeler, teachers have been working with students on a “save the earth” philosophy. The school received donated flowers and trees from the city of Irving, and fourth and fifth graders celebrated Arbor Day April 25 by planting the trees and flowers around the school.

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Remembering Through Art

Each year the Texas Coalition for Holocaust Education sponsors an art and writing contest to encourage middle and high school students to learn about the Holocaust that occurred during World War II. Three Academy of Irving ISD students will be recognized for the work they have produced.

Entries were submitted in the areas of middle school writing, middle school art, high school writing, and high school art. Among the submissions received, Stephanie Rogers, senior, won first place for art; Aaron Ansley, junior, placed third for his illustrated original poem; and Savanah Uturia, sophomore, won honorable mention for art.

Students will be recognized at 2 p.m. May 4 during the Yom Hashoah ceremony at Congregation Tiferet Israel, located at 10909 Hillcrest Road in Dallas.

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Summer Programs Scheduled

Academic and athletic programs for IISD students have been scheduled to begin in June with many programs continuing through August.

High school tuition summer school registration will be June 16 from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Irving High School in the main foyer. Late registration will be June 17 from 2-5 p.m. by appointment only as space is available. Middle school registration will be June 12 from 7 a.m.-1 p.m. at Irving High. Tuition for middle and high school summer school must be paid at the time of enrollment.

Eighth grade summer TAKS academy is available at no cost for students at risk of retention as recommended by the campus and who have not passed the second administration of the TAKS reading and/or math test. Summer TAKS is also free of charge for high school students who have not passed one or more parts of the TAKS test. For more information regarding summer TAKS, call Secondary Teaching & Learning at 972.215.5040.

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Job Fair to Focus on High School Grads

Irving ISD will be hosting a city-wide job fair from 3-6 p.m. May 15 in the Fellowship Center of South MacArthur Church of Christ. IISD is presenting the job fair in collaboration with Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, Irving Public Library, Irving Cares, and Urban League of Greater Dallas.

The job fair is free and has been organized to help graduating IISD high school students locate part-time or full-time employment after graduation. The fair is also open to the public and organizers say it will become an annual event.

Companies with job opportunities available are encouraged to register for the job fair. Exhibit space is free of charge and businesses wanting to reserve space should contact Thelma Cantu, partnerships in education coordinator, at 972-215-5017 or via email to tcantu@irvingisd.net. For a list of exhibiting companies, access www.irvingisd.net/ppage/GraduateJobFair.htm. Deadline for reserving exhibit space is May 2. South MacArthur Church of Christ is located at 1401 South MacArthur Blvd. in Irving.

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High School Teams, Individuals Tally Success

The MacArthur High School Cardinal Baseball Team and gymnasts from MacArthur and Irving High School have reason to celebrate as they see their efforts pay off in advancement through post-season competition.

The MacArthur baseball team has advanced to UIL bi-district playoffs for the first time since 1987. The team will face Arlington Martin High School in the bi-district round in a best of three series on Friday and Saturday. Game one will be at 7 p.m. Friday at MacArthur. Game two will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Arlington Martin. If a third game is necessary, it will begin 30 minutes after the second game.

In addition to the school’s success on the diamond, MacArthur junior Breanna Fields qualified for the Texas High School Gymnastics Championships. The meet was held April 24-25 in Garland and Fields placed 25th.

Salomon Murillo, senior at Irving High, also advanced to the state gymnastics meet. Because of his performance in the vault event, Murillo was invited to represent the state of Texas at the National High School Gymnastics Meet May 16-17 in Memphis, Tennessee. According to Coach Mark Ragar, Murillo follows Irving High’s Wendy Cannon in becoming only the second Irving High gymnast to advance to the national competition.

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GT Association Presents Scholarship, Drummer

Irving Association of Gifted & Talented has scheduled its last general meeting of the 2007-2008 school year at 7 p.m. May 12 at Travis Middle School.

The meeting will be held in the Travis cafeteria and will feature entertainment from interactive drummer & percussionist Len Barnett. The meeting will be highlighted by the awarding of the Lori Lorenz Memorial Scholarship.

Travis is located at 1600 Finley in Irving. For more information about the association, access IAGT website at www.irvinggt.org.

Lively Elementary School students and staff hosted a pep rally in preparation for TAKS testing. Participants included The MacArthur High School M5 band, MacArthur cheerleaders, and MacArthur and Irving High School basketball team members who competed in a slam dunk contest. Lively Partner in Education General Electric provided "Team up for TAKS" t-shirts for all of the students.

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