Extra Credit

Fort Worth nixes plans for joint community center, elementary school

The idea was to bring the community into a school and a school into the community. Officials imagined a place where youngsters could mingle with senior citizens for art projects. Just last week, school trustees said the project at Rosemont Park would be the envy of other cities as Fort Worth created a unique building that would house both an elementary school and community center. But late yesterday afternoon, the project was ditched after concerns persisted that the building would take up too much park space and be located too close to planned gas wells.  Click here to read  Councilman Joel Burns' letter explaining why he withdrew his support.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Fort Worth employers honored for help in education

Fort Worth had five of the 11 employers recognized by the state today for their efforts to get staff members to volunteer with local schools. This is the second year for the Employers for Education Excellence Award, which was created by the Legislature in 2007. They were:

the city of Fort Worth for its 100 Mentors in 100 Days Program, that encourages workers to volunteer as mentors so at-risk youth will stay in school.

Huckabee & Associates, Inc., where employees can take time off to attend parent-teacher conferences and school programs and to serve as tutors and role models for students in the Crowley school district. The company does bond program work for various districts in the county.

Johnston Legal Group, which started a program to help students who are struggling with reading skills at I.M. Terrell Elementary School in Fort Worth. The firm also provided attorneys to talk to students about their profession during a school-wide career day.

Texas Wesleyan University, which has endeavors to enhance academics in Fort public schools and offers employees time off to work with students on science, math and music studies.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, whose Fort Worth office sponsors an employee Pen Pal Mentoring program with fourth graders at Van Zandt-Guinn Elementary to help the students with with reading and writing skills.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Orchestra classes could be coming to Mansfield

Mansfield school administrators want to build an orchestra program a little at a time for the next few years.
A proposal to be reviewed by school trustees tonight calls for the district to add three stringed-instrument teachers next year to start a pre-orchestra program in the fifth grade. After that, the program will grow each year until it’s fully implemented in the district’s secondary schools in fall 2017, Fine Arts Director Russ Sanders said.
In the past, Mansfield’s rapid expansion kept administrators focused on maintaining the quality of current programs instead of starting new ones, Sanders said. Now that student population growth has slowed to between three and four percent a year, the district can increase its offerings, he said. Mansfield already has successful band and choir programs.
Sanders said it’s hard to estimate how much the orchestra program will cost, but adding the three teachers next year is expected to add about $150,000 in salary expenses. As for the rest of the program: “Trying to decide how much that would be is going to be a little difficult,” Sanders said. “Because we have no idea until the numbers actually materialize what that would look like. Do you plan for a middle school orchestra of 125 or 225? That is going to be the challenge for us.”

- Traci Shurley

Snow will set a holiday mood at Carroll theater's musical

Carroll's student theater department is among the first public high schools in the nation to stage Irving Berlin's "White Christmas." Southlake-based Carroll is known for special effects and elaborate sets. After all, in 2007 they staged the first high school production of Broadway's "The Phantom of the Opera," complete with a 600 pound chandelier. This time, 13 snow machines are planned to sprinkle snow over the audience, said Stacie Martinsen, theater director.

Opening night is Dec. 4 and the show runs for two consecutive weekends through Dec. 13.  Cost is $15 to $25. Officials have added an another performance on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.

Jessamy Brown

Mansfield teen's care package collection exceeds expectations

When Mansfield High School senior Charlie Jordan started the project that will help him become an Eagle Scout, he hoped to collect about 50 care packages to be sent to troops overseas through the Website www.anysoldier.com.

Jordan's father, Lt. Col. Richard Jordan, is serving with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan. It is his third deployment. Charlie Jordan wanted to honor his father's service and help other soldiers. 

The collection exceeded his expectations, by a lot. Help came from other scouts, businesses like AT&T and Federal Heath Sign, and others in the community.

On packing day "we didn't have enough boxes to put all the stuff in," Jordan said of the collection of everyday items like toiletries and snacks. "We didn't have enough customs forms to fill out. We had no idea we were going to get more than 200 ...I ended up with 314."

The overwhelming response led Jordan to send out another appeal, an e-mail to friends, family and supporters looking for help with unexpected mailing costs. That too has been answered with offers of support. Jordan is still collecting donations and said he'll use any extra funds to make and mail more care packages. For more information, e-mail him at texasscout2009-eagle@yahoo.com.

- Traci Shurley

UTA to hold Fort Hood vigil

Delta Sigma Pi, the UT Arlington Residence Hall Association and the African Students Organization is organizing a candlelight vigil Tuesday night to honor those injured and killed in Thursday's shootings at Fort Hood.

The event starts at 7 p.m. on the Libary Mall, near the the university library at 702 Planetarium Place. It's open to the public.

- Traci Shurley

LULAC Council says Arlington should name new elementary after Chavez

Arlington school trustees just got voter okay for a $197.5 million bond issue, but one community organization is already making suggestions about what to name a new elementary school included in the package.

Trustees should consider honoring civil rights activist and labor leader Cesar Chavez when it names the school to be built in east central Arlington, Luis Castillo, president of Arlington Council 4353 of the League of the United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), said in a press release Thursday night.

"To honor Cesar Chavez in a predominantly Hispanic student population part of the school district is the right thing to do," said Castillo, a former school board candidate. "Even though construction of the new elementary school may be one or two years away, we jubilantly look forward to the grand opening of the Cesar Chavez Elementary School."

After Thursday night's school board meeting, Board President Mike O'Donnell said he expects Castillo won't be the only one making suggestions when the time comes to name the new school.

"There will be lots of community groups that will have different ideas about what we should do and I certainly welcome him being at the forefront," O'Donnell said.

- Traci Shurley

Arlington's Butler Elementary celebrates exemplary rating

Hundreds of students, parents and staff from Arlington's Butler Elementary showed up to Thursday night's Arlington school board meeting for a recognition of the school's recent exemplary rating from the Texas Education Agency.

And the party wasn't just inside the boardroom. The group filled the lawn and parking lots at the district's administrative offices on Pioneer Parkway, celebrating together and sharing a barbecue dinner before the 7 p.m. meeting.

"The Butler teachers, staff and students worked hard last year to achieve their Exemplary rating," Bart Thompson, a parent and one of the organizers of the event, said in an e-mail Thursday. "We wanted to show them just how proud we are of that hard work. They deserve it."

- Traci Shurley

Arlington, Texas Railroad Commissioner both backing propane fuel

Railroad Commissioner  Michael L. Williams and other alternative-fuel vehicle supporters stopped in Fort Worth today to talk to local municipal and school officials about turning to propane vehicles, especially school buses.

Arlington schools, which received the green-light from voters Tuesday on a $197.5 million bond package, has already signed on. The district plans to use bond funds to purchase 120 new propane buses over the next five years to update their aging fleet.

The district says it will get more than $1 million in reimbursements through government grants and manufacturer rebates to buy the cleaner-burning vehicles. One of those grant programs is a U.S. Department of Energy grant recently awarded to the Railroad Commission and 40 partner fleets in Texas.

Arlington also plans to take advantage of federal fuel rebates of 50 cents per gallon.

Williams' visit to Fort Worth was part of his seven-city "Breathe Easy" Tour. (In the picture from the Railroad Commission: Wayne Corum with The City of Fort Worth, Roy Willis, with The Propane Education Research Council,  Williams, and Jack Roush at the Propane Vehicle Tour today in downtown Fort Worth.)

“The cost savings fleets will observe with propane vehicles make them a common-sense choice.  For school districts and other public fleets, those savings taxpayers, as well as their residents to breathe a little easier,” Williams said in a statement.  “Propane is less expensive than diesel, and additional federal and local incentives for the purchase of propane fuel and propane-powered vehicles help make the financial benefits even stronger.”

- Traci Shurley

Mansfield auto-tech classes kick off Christmas bike collection

Students in automotive-technology classes at Mansfield’s Ben Barber Career Tech Academy have kicked off their yearly “Bikes for Angels” fundraiser, and they have set a big goal.
They want to raise $25,000 to buy at least 600 bikes for needy children, according to the school district. Last year, students raised $21,000 to buy 425 bikes for students in need at Mansfield’s elementary and intermediate campuses. (That's a picture of last year's collection at the left.) They also gave bikes to the Meredith Hatch Foundation in Mansfield, the YMCA of Arlington and a few other nonprofits.
To learn more, go to the district’s blog. To get involved or make a donation, contact instructor Rick Curlee at 817-299-1939 or e-mail him at curlri@mansfieldisd.org.

- Traci Shurley