Extra Credit

Senior pranks sideline students for graduation ceremonies at Keller Central, Timber Creek

At least 13 seniors at Keller’s Central and Timber Creek high schools will not be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies this weekend for the roles they played in end-of-year senior pranks last week.

For their roles in a massive food fight at Central on Friday, nine students from Central will not be able to walk across the stage at Saturday’s ceremonies.

Four students at Timber Creek won’t be able to participate because of their role in a prank in which snakes, rats and crickets were released into hallways and stink bombs were set off throughout the school.

Keller school district and campus administrators met Tuesday to review the situations and determine consequences for those students involved.

 According to a news release, the students punished “were identified as having physically created an unsafe environment through reckless disregard for the safety of other students, and were witnessed by campus staff or administrators doing so.”

Additional students at Keller, Central and Timber Creek high schools will receive lesser punishments for senior pranks.

According to the news release, those students “will still be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies; however, they will be accompanied by their parents after arriving, be sequestered from the remainder of classmates before graduation, and will be monitored closely during the graduation ceremony.” – Lee Williams

Fort Worth students find a GREAT way to avoid trouble

Several Stripling Middle School students graduated from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program Wednesday. 

The 13-week course program, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Justice, is designed to teach students how to resolve conflicts, deal with peer pressure, manage anger, make effective decisions and positive ways to avoid involvement in gangs, crime and drugs.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A PHOTO GALLERY OF THE CEREMONY

--Maricar Estrella, @maricare

Photo by Rodger Mallison/Star-Telegram

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/02/22/3755663/great-graduates.html#storylink=cpy--
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/index.html#storylink=cp

 

Fort Worth councilman Joel Burns attends national anti-bullying conference

Here is more detail from Fort Worth city councilman Joel Burns about his Thursday trip to the White House Conference on Bullying Prevention.

In an interview with McClatchy Washington Bureau reporter Maria Recio, Burns said it was a "wonderful day."

“It’s a reminder that everyone, especially our children, deserves to be treated fairly,” Burns told Recio.

After an East Room event with the president and first lady, Burns attended breakout sessions with children who have experienced bullying and their parents.

 “It was a pretty poignant thing,” said Burns, who said he spoke very little about his own experiences from anti-gay slurs and violence. “I thought their stories were more poignant than mine.”

Burns gained national attention last year when he gave an emotional speech about being bullied as a youngster during a Fort Worth council meeting.

Read an article here.

Jessamy Brown

 

Educators group to host parent workshops on Saturday

The National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE) is hosting a day of workshops for area parents as part of the group's 38th annual conference.

One workshop at the Parent Day Summit will cover what's new in special education and how to understand and monitor your child's Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Other workshops will cover topics such as parents' rights under No Child Left Behind, how to be engaged at school, Texas academic standards and student and family health issues.

Keynote speaker is Zollie Stevenson Jr., former director of student achievement and school accountability programs at the U.S. Department of Education, responsible for Title I and Title III programs. He is now an associate professor of educational leadership at Bowie State University in Maryland.

About 350 people are pre-registered for the event, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Fort Worth Convention Center. Onsite registration begins at 8 a.m. Cost is $90 (includes lunch). The Summit was organized by NABSE board member Anthony White Sr., a retired administrator for Newark public schools who is now chief executive officer of Parental Involvement Exchange.

Jessamy Brown

Parents against school bullying to hold candlelight vigil

The Fort Worth/Dallas parent group Families Against Bullying will host a Tuesday candlelight vigil in Joshua to honor of bullied children who have been lost to suicide because of harassment and assault.

The location of the DFW Stand for the Silent event was held under wraps until this week. It is at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at R.C. Loflin Middle School (old campus), 520 Stadium Dr., Joshua.

The vigil is in honor of students Montana Lance, Jon Carmichael, Hunter Layland, Ty Field-Smalley and others, a group news release said.

"Please set this evening aside and come to share the love and prayers for survivors and support the local families who are tirelessly working toward effective implementation of safe Texas schools," the news release said.

The event is being held in conjunction with a similar one in Oklahoma City.

Jessamy Brown

Fort Worth trustees approve discipline program changes

Trustees approved a policy change in a split vote that would mean changes to the district's alternative placement policies for discipline reasons.

The change will eliminate the Tier 1 sites, which are located on six campuses throughout the district but serve all middle and high schools, and cut 44 employees. Students assigned to the alternative placement work with teachers in the program and can be placed there for up to 30 days. Under the changes, they now will be placed in their own campuses' in school suspension room, which is for students who need to be removed from regular classes throughout the day. The teacher overseeing in school suspension will work with th students assigned to both. Students will work on their studies via online programs.

Three trustees voted against the changes, including trustee Carlos Vasquez.

"We are rushing and not taking the time to understand what the changes will do," he said.

Students can be placed in Tier 1 sites for various discipline reasons for up to 30 days. The sites are located at six campuses throughout the district. Administrators noted that most placements are discretionary and that there was a high rate of repeat offenders in the program.

But J.R Miller, a teacher at Dunbar's Tier 1 site, told trustees that students have a better chance of correcting their behaviors and maintaining academics by working closely with qualified teachers. Without the Tier 1 programs, Miller worried students could be subjected to the more severe punishments.

He said he rarely works with same students.

The district has Tier II and Tier III placement sites, including the Middle Level Learning Center and Horizons, at which students are placed for up to 180 days for more serious discipline issues. Students can be placed at Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Programs for felony-related discipline issues.

Steven Poole, deputy executive director of the United Educators Association that represents some district employees, spoke out against the changes saying not enough time has been spent examining the recommendations and its possible implications.

"It's a rush plan," he said, noting that staff was recommending trustees adopt the policy change in one reading rather than the traditional two it would have needed.

The Tier 1 programs cost the district $3.1 million a year.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Area educators named Best of Texas for dropout prevention work

Two top area educators have been honored with Best of Texas awards from Communities in Schools.

Communities in Schools is a dropout prevention program administered by the Texas Education Agency.

Deborah Merki, principal of Roanoke Elementary School in Northwest school district is the program's principal of the year. The group said Merki emphasizes the value of parents, promoted college awareness and implemented a Latino Literacy Night to teach Spanish-speaking parents how to help their children learn to read by incorporating their culture.

Honored as staff member of the year is Leigh Ann Armendariz, who one year ago was tasked to develop a program at Tarrant County College. She previously worked at programs at North Side High School in Fort Worth and the KEYS Learning Center, an alternative high school in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford schools.

Jessamy Brown

Teens say violent behavior and breaking the rules is sometimes okay

Junior Achievement and Deloitte recently released results from surveying 750 teens and found some disturbing trends. Nearly one in four questioned thought it sometimes, often or always acceptable to behave violently, and 20 percent of them said they had behaved violently toward another person in the last year. Just less than half (49 percent) said lying to their parents was acceptable. On the upside, 97 percent said they never have stolen from a store, and 81 percent said they have never cheated on a test. Click here for the complete survey results.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Teens and mental illness

Teens are being urged to learn more about mental health disorders as part of an anti-stigma campaign called Friendships Count. The campaign includes a Web site, music video, bookmarks and posters.

The posters explain various mental health disorders explained by teens. Click on each poster to get a better look.

     

The campaign was produced by Mental Health Connection of Tarrant County and Community Solutions of Fort Worth. The idea is to build a sense of understanding among young people so that teens with mental health disorders won't feel stigmatized. 

_ Diane Smith

Watch the video:

Frank advice for parents of teens at Sex, Drugs seminar

What shocking shenanigans are hot with today's teens?

Find out at "Sex, Drugs, Rock & Rules," a Tuesday seminar billed as a frank conversation about what youth are really up to.

"In earlier days, there was 'mooning' and 'smoking behind the bleachers'," a flier says. "You will be shocked to learn what is new among our youth."

Professional counselors and family therapists will offer advice for parents. The free seminar, sponsored by Southlake group Students and Parents Against Risks to our Kids (SPARK), is open to adults only. It starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Carroll Senior High School, 1501 W. Southlake Blvd., Southlake.

Jessamy Brown