Extra Credit

Winning Fort Worth student artwork to be on sides of The T buses this summer

Ten pieces of award winning artwork from Fort Worth school district students will be shown on the sides of public buses starting in June.

The students won The T's year-long Expressions That Move You art contest, for students in the school district's Fort Worth After School program.

In all, 86 pieces of artwork were submitted. Students could enter a drawing, painting, photograph or collage. Here was their assignment: "Express what moves you about The T – what it means to you and your family, the city of Fort Worth and our environment."

This year's winners:
• Julissa Sandoval, 4th grade, MH Moore Elementary School – Grand Prize
• Cung Nei Sang, 3rd grade, L. Clifford Davis Elementary School
• Joycelyn Garza, 3rd grade, Charles Nash Elementary School
• Ashley Houze, 3rd grade, E.M. Daggett Elementary School
• Binh Le, 8th grade and CharmaineThomas, 7th grade, Handley Middle School – Grand Prize
• Monica Johnson, 8th grade, William James Middle School
• Dekota D’Brell, 8th grade, Monnig Middle School
• Jocelyn Hernandez, 12th grade, Dunbar High School – Grand Prize
• Criseida Valdez, 11th grade, Paschal High School
• Manuel Valdez, 9th grade, International Newcomer Academy

Jessamy Brown

 

Three Fort Worth high schools rank among top urban schools in North Texas that serve students from low income backgrounds

Three Fort Worth high schools got a nod from a Houston-based research and advocacy group as among the top urban high schools in North Texas that serve low-income students.

Children At Risk this week posted a list of rankings of comprehensive high schools that are located in urban school districts that also have a high concentration (74 percent or more) of students from economically disadvantaged families.

There were 22 North Texas neighborhood schools (not magnet schools or charter schools) evaluated for this list, of which eight were considered the top, said Caroline Neary, a data analyst for Children at Risk.

Read the sub list for North Texas here.

Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School was ranked first on the list. Carter-Riverside High School ranked seventh and North Side High School ranked eighth. The sub list also included four Dallas ISD schools and Irving High School.

Schools in other metropolitan areas were ranked on separate lists, Neary said.

The group performs an annual study issuing letter grades and rankings for public and charter schools in major metropolitan areas in Texas. On the group's overall list, Diamond Hill-Jarvis High was ranked 101st among 191 schools in North Texas and 591st among 1,171 high schools statewide.

Carter-Riverside High ranked 149th in North Texas and 926th statewide and North Side High was ranked 154th in North Texas and 964th statewide. 

All three schools were given C grades. The highest ranking Fort Worth ISD high school was Paschal High School, which ranked 69th in North Texas and 333rd statewide. The population of economically disadvantaged students there is 46 percent; it is 86 percent at Diamond Hill-Jarvis, according to the Texas Education Agency.

The North Texas region includes nine counties: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Rockwall and Tarrant.

More on Star-Telegram.com. 

Jessamy Brown

Fort Worth senior wins new car in Words for Wheels essay contest

A senior at South Hills High School in Fort Worth won a new Honda Civic LX by penning the best essay in the annual Words for Wheels contest.

BreAvery Simpson got the keys to the vehicle on April 29 at a ceremony at Frank Kent Honda. He chose a red one.

Read his essay here.

More than 200 students wrote 1,000 word essays on the role of technology in society and how they plan to use technology in the future to promote and help Fort Worth.

BreAvery's essay "My Vision for an Innovative Future" was judged the top one by a panel that included Frank Kent Honda owners Will Churchill and Corrie Watson. (r: Will Churchill hands car keys to BreAvery Simpson/photo from Mike Zukerman, FWISD)

The cost of the car's taxes, title and license were covered by the Educational Employees Credit Union (EECU). BreAvery and two runners up received a $250 savings account.

From a news release: "Last year’s winner Robyn Sims says winning the Honda Civic changed her life tremendously.

“The car has allowed me to work in Fort Worth and commute to Denton where I go to school,” said Sims. “This would not have been possible had I not won the essay contest!”

Mayor (Betsy) Price and Superintendent (Walter) Dansby agreed the contest is a reflection of the city’s commitment to inspire the youth with leadership and community service opportunities. 

“Words for Wheels is an exciting opportunity for kids to share their ideas around emerging technology and showcase their writing skills — something that is vitally important for their future success,” said Mayor Price. “We thank all of the partners involved, especially Frank Kent Honda for their support for education. These partnerships are building a better city and a better tomorrow for all of us.”

Here's a link to more Fort Worth ISD pictures from the event. 

Jessamy Brown 

Fort Worth students put language studies to use at Kimbell Art Museum's gallery night

Fort Worth school district students who are taking foreign languages will put their knowledge to use at Global Gallery Night at the Kimbell Art Museum on Friday.

The teens, who have taken at least three years of language studies, will serve as docents or tour guides, sharing their insights about the artwork in the permanent collection at the museum. The event is sponsored by the museum and the Fort Worth school district's world languages department. Students have taken part for eight years, according to a news release. 

Students had a mandatory orientation at the Kimbell.

The school district offers instruction in several languages, including French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, German, Latin, Chinese and American Sign Language.

Global Gallery Night:

• Kimbell Art Museum, 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth
• Friday, April 19, 6 to 8 p.m.

Jessamy Brown 

When is my kid taking the STAAR test?

Testing under the state's standardized exam program known as STAAR starts this week and school districts are taking to social media to remind parents. 

Last week, the Fort Worth school district posted on its website a list of tips to help children prepare for the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests and the program's End-of-Course tests for high school students (EOCs).

Children should get a good night's sleep and eat a good breakfast.

This morning, Fort Worth ISD tweeted: "EOC and STAAR tests this week. Take your time and think. You can do this."

High school freshmen and sophomores will take STAAR end-of-course tests in certain subjects. Juniors and seniors are still tested under the Texas Assessments of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) program.

Here's the STAAR 2013 schedule as posted by the Texas Education Agency:

Monday: High school English 1 and 3 writing

Tuesday: High school English 1 and 3 reading; grades 4 and 7 writing day 1; grades 5 and 8 math

Wednesday: High school English 2 writing; grades 4 and 7 writing day 2; grades 5 and 8 reading

Thursday: High school English 2 reading

April 23: Grades 3, 4, 6 and 7 math

April 24: Grades 3, 4, 6 and 7 reading; grades 5 and 8 science

April 25: Grade 8 social studies

May 6 to 17: High school end of course tests

Jessamy Brown

 

 

Young chefs from Byron Nelson High win state contest, headed to nationals

A team of students from the Academy of Culinary Arts and Hospitality at Byron Nelson High School won the state title at the Texas ProStart Invitational and are headed to a national competition in April in Maryland, according to a news release.

The team prepared a three course meal in 60 minutes. Students were also judged on knife skills, chicken fabrication and safety and sanitation. 

The team includes Chef James Neel, Allison Bode and chef Steve DeShazo, LaKoda Sailer, Lyric Gibson, Trenton Shank, Nathan Young, Emily Baker. (R: Culinary team/Photo from NISD)

A second team from Byron Nelson High, a campus in Trophy Club that is part of the Northwest school district, took second place in the restaurant management competition. Those teams had to develop a restaurant proposal and give a presentation about it. Their concept was City Park Smoke House. A team from Rockwall High School placed first in that category.

A restaurant management team placed first at the national competition last year.

The state event was hosted by the Texas Restaurant Association Education Foundation. The competition is open to students enrolled in high school culinary arts programs that use the Texas ProStart program and curriculum.

Jessamy Brown

Donation will fund four billboards to publicize Fort Worth schools May 11 walk

Four billboards touting the Fort Worth school district's District Walk are going up next month.

The school district on Monday was given a $15,000 donation to help pay for and publicize the annual walk, scheduled for May 11. Participants will meet at athletic tracks at Fort Worth ISD high schools and walk. The event is 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

The Humana Foundation's donation will pay to buy water, water bottles, t-shirts and other expenses. It will also cover the costs of four billboards.

Starting on April 14, the billboards will be located at:

• Beach Street and Elinor Street (south facing)
• Berry Street and Mississippi Avenue (east facing)
• North and Pharr Street (north facing)
• Vickery Boulevard and Lovell Avenue (east facing)

Jessamy Brown

 

Mansfield ISD student, 8, is youngest competitor at Wednesday's regional spelling bee

Eight-year-old Kailey Choi, the youngest winner of a Mansfield school district spelling bee, will compete in the regional bee at TCU on Wednesday.

Kailey, a third grader, correctly spelled some tough words during the district event last month, including influenza, ominous, refugee, arsenal, piccolo and monotonous.

She topped runner up Jeremy Pham, a fifth grader, who misspelled etymology in the 24th round of competition. Her winning word was exuberant.

(R: Kailey Choi wins Mansfield spelling bee/MISD)

Here's a video of the Mansfield district competition:

ORIGINAL POST

How do you spell V-I-C-T-O-R-Y?

Twenty-five students from North Texas --including one who is just eight-years-old -- will square off on Wednesday at the annual regional spelling bee.

The winner will advance to the national Scripps National Spelling Bee, scheduled for May 28 to 30 near Washington, D.C.

Students from 457 schools participated in the TCU College of Education Spelling Bee, sponsored by the College of Education's Center for Urban Education and the Star-Telegram. The 25 students qualified for the regional bee by winning their campus bee and then their district or area bee, said Jan Lacina, associate dean at the TCU college of education.

In addition to the expenses-paid trip to the finals, the regional winner gets a trophy, dictionary and the chance to audit a TCU course.

Two students who competed in previous regional contests are returning on Wednesday and the youngest contestant is Kailey Choi, a third grader at Anderson Elementary School in the Mansfield school district.

Last year's winner, Mark De Los Santos, is not eligible to compete again because he is in ninth grade. He advanced to the sixth round of the national spelling bee semi-finals but did not spell himation correctly.

The regional bee is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon at the TCU Brown Lupton University Union, 2901 Stadium Drive, Fort Worth.

Jessamy Brown

 

Young Women's Leadership Academy to move to downtown Fort Worth

Renovation on a building on the eastern edge of downtown Fort Worth is to begin shortly to turn it into the new campus for the Young Women's Leadership Academy.

Tarrant County commissioners on Tuesday agreed to sell the Tarrant County Education Center building at 401 E. Eighth St. to the Fort Worth school district, said Superintendent Walter Dansby.

"I’m really happy that were going to have a presence in downtown Fort Worth," Dansby said. "This is a beautiful setting for our girls."

Trustees last month agreed to pay $5.8 million for renovations to the four story building once the sale was complete. The funds are left over from ad 2007 bond program for capital improvements.

The all girls school has outgrown its current location, a converted building on West Magnolia Avenue, where it has been since it opened in 2010.

Jessamy Brown

Paschal, Everman High students take first place in physics, earth science in competition

Students from Everman and Paschal high schools were among the top finishers at the Fort Worth Regional Science and Engineering Fair, held on Monday at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Read more about the contest here. (R. Dominic Yurk. ST/Joyce Marshall)

The event drew more than 550 middle and high school students.

The top three Best of Fair finishers were from the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Sciences.

Other first place finishers were from Summit International, Harmony School of Innovation, Harmony Science Academy, Northstar School, Liberty Christian School, North Joshua Elementary and Westlake Academy.

Paola V. Gonzalez from Everman High School took first place in the earth and planetary science division. Students from Everman took second and third place in that division as well. The school had 34 students at the competition, said Larry Ritchie, advanced placement chemistry and physics teacher.

Dominic Yurk, from Paschal High School in Fort Worth, took first place in the physics and astronomy division. And Ryan P. Parkey from Westlake Academy took first place in the medicine and health division.

In an interview with the Star-Telegram, Yurk said he is graduating in the spring and plans to attend the California Institute of Technology and study physics and computer science. Yurk, 16, is a Benbrook resident.

Jessamy Brown