Nimitz Wins 20^th Regional Decathlon

The Nimitz High School Academic Decathlon Team won its twentieth Regional Academic Decathlon Championship in 23 years and its fifth consecutive regional victory at Richland High School January 30.  

With a point total of 43,796 in the large school division, the team earned a total 71 medals in 10 events. The team was led by David Orozco and Chris Rohrs who each won 11 medals, and Orozco was the meet’s top “B” student. Additional medals won by Nimitz decathletes include the following: Ana Ibanez, nine; Genesis Sanchez, eight; Joel Garcia, eight; Edgar Ibarra, seven; Ashlyne Menchaca, seven; Linda Dao, six; and Maggie Stiggleman, four. For “A” students, Rohrs won second place and Sanchez was third. Among “B” students, Ana Ibanez won second place and Linda Dao was fifth. Among “C” students, Edgar Ibarra won fourth place, Ashlyne Menchaca was fifth, and Joel Garcia won sixth place. The Nimitz team won the Super Quiz and Super Quiz Relay events with Ibarra, Orozco, Rohrs and Sanchez earning perfect scores in the relay.

The Nimitz High School Academic Decathlon Team won the Regional Academic Decathlon Championship for the fifth consecutive year, and a total of 20 wins out of 23 years. Pictured are team members (back row, from left) Chris Rohrs, David Orozco, Genesis Sanchez and Edgar Ibarra. (Front row, from left) Ana Ibanez, Ashlyne Menchaca, Linda Dao, Joel Garcia and Maggie Stiggleman.

MacArthur High School finished the meet with 35,209 points and placed third in Super Quiz. Pearl Choi was fifth place “A” student at the meet and was the team’s top scorer. Choi won first place in the Essay event, second in Music and third in Literature. Karissa McCalip and Zach Brown won first and third place, respectively, in Interview, and McCalip was MacArthur’s top “C” student. Andrew Ellington won third place in the Super Quiz and was MacArthur’s top “B” student. In the Art event, Jinae Saki won third place. Other contributing team members were Jason Ikpatt, Brenda Amata, and Theo Beyene. 

The Irving High School team was led by Jane Lee who won the interview category. Lee was the team’s top “A” student, Luis Nambo was the team’s top “B” student, and Edgar Cortez was the team’s top “C” student.

In the regional medium school division, the Singley Academy team finished 10th out of 14 teams with 28,912 points and scored a team-high 20 points in the Super Quiz Relay.

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Middle School Region Choir

Choir students from IISD middle schools traveled to Red Oak High School January 23 to compete among 600 other students in the Texas Music Educators (TMEA) Region 20 Middle School Region Choir.

Eighteen students from Bowie Middle School, Houston Middle School, Lamar Middle School, and Travis Middle School earned spots in one of three choirs. The three choirs are Sixth Grade Honor Choir, Seventh & Eighth Grade Honor Girls Choir, and Seventh & Eighth Grade Honor Mixed Choir. The three choirs will perform in a concert February 6 at Duncanville High School, with the first group scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

TMEA Region 20 aligns with University Interscholastic League Music Region 20 and is comprised of school districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. For a complete list of students who earned seats in region choirs, access www.irvingisd.net/articles/msallregionchoir2010.htm.

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Cardwell Students Admitted into Professional Organization

The American Water Works Association (AWWA) has announced that the first high school chapter to be admitted into the nationwide professional organization will come from the newly renamed Cardwell Career Preparatory Center (CCPC).

Announced during the last week of January, students in the Applied Technology career pathway at CCPC will have membership dues for this year paid for by the national organization. According to Katie McCain, past president of AWWA, the organization became very interested in bringing CCPC students into the industry, and felt this was a way to make them feel welcome.

A member of City of Irving Water Utilities Department demonstrates how city utilities operate for members of the Applied Technology career pathway at Cardwell Career Preparation Center.

Terri Buckerfield, applied technology teacher at CCPC, will speak about the school’s water program at two industry conferences. Buckerfield will present at the Texas Water 2010 Conference in Corpus Christi in April and the American Water Works Association annual conference in Chicago in June. The announcement by AWWA comes following several years of a successful partnership between City of Irving Water Utilities Department and the Applied Technology program at CCPC. For more information about AWWA, access www.awwa.org.

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UIL Places Irving in New District

In an announcement by the University Interscholastic League (UIL) February 1, Irving High School, MacArthur High School, and Nimitz High School have been placed in District 6-5A effective for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years.

Reassignments announced February 1 are for football and basketball, and other district alignments will be released by the UIL no later than April 15. In addition to IISD high schools, other members of District 6-5A include Bell High School, Colleyville Heritage High School, Grapevine High School, Haltom High School, Richland High School, and Trinity High School.

For more information about the UIL district realignments and reassignments, access www.uil.utexas.edu.

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STAAR to Replace TAKS

Commissioner of Education Robert Scott announced January 26 that the next generation of student tests will be called the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness or STAAR.

STAAR will replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), which is the criterion-reference assessment program that has been in place since 2003. The STAAR name, pronounced the same as star, will be used for the 12 end-of-course assessments mandated by SB 1031 in 2007, and the new grade 3-8 assessments mandated by HB 3 in the 2009 legislative session.

The new tests will be used beginning with the 2011-2012 school year. Students in the graduating class of 2015, who are currently in seventh grade, will be the first students who must meet the end-of-course testing requirements, as well as pass their classes, in order to earn a diploma. The new tests will be significantly more rigorous than previous tests, and will measure a child’s performance as well as academic growth. The grade 3-8 STAAR tests in reading and mathematics, by law, must be linked from grade to grade to performance expectations for the English III and Algebra II end-of-course assessments.

During a speech at the Texas Association of School Administrators’ Midwinter Conference in Austin, Scott also said the last TAKS-based school accountability ratings will be issued in 2011. Ratings will be suspended in 2012 while a new accountability system is developed and the new state rating system will debut in 2013.

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MacArthur to Present Shop of Horrors

MacArthur High School Theater Department will present Little Shop of Horrors at 7 p.m. February 4-6 in the MacArthur Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults, and $5 for students. For more information, call 972-261-2138.
 

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Help for Haiti

Students, staff and community members from Stipes Elementary School raised $708 to be donated for Haiti relief efforts as a result of Hats for Haiti day.

Students in Erin O’Connor’s third grade gifted and talented class at Johnston Elementary School collected $765 through a coin collection January 25-29. Pictured are Stephen Mitchell, MacKensie Hicks and Cierra Barker-Colquitt.

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Seventh and eighth grade cheerleading squads from Travis Middle School won second place for the middle school/junior high division at the NCA Texas Cheerleading Championship December 13, winning in all three Game Day divisions in which they participated: second in Dance, third in Cheer, and third in Fight Song.

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