Extra Credit

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

 

Fort Worth's Trimble Tech, USPS honor Emancipation Proclamation for Black History Month

Writing and mailing letters may be a bit of a foreign concept to the text and tweet generation. But teenagers at Fort Worth’s Trimble Technical High School learned all about stamps at a Black History Month presentation last week.

Students hosted Beverly Baugh, U.S. Postal Service district manager, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that slaves in Confederate states were free.

Last month, the Postal Service issued a stamp honoring the 1863 proclamation, the first of three marking milestones in the fight for civil rights. A stamp of Rosa Parks, a Montgomery, Ala., woman who launched a bus boycott in 1955 after refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger, was issued Feb. 4.

Students are being encouraged to write letters to improve their skills and express themselves, said Kyev Tatum, who helped establish the campus’s Brilliant Bulldog Center, which provides tutoring.

“We partnered up with the post office to encourage students to talk about it and write letters and get stamps as a keepsake,” he said. “And you don’t just get on a stamp because you did something. You have to have made a tremendous difference.”

Glenn O. Lewis, chairman of the Texas Southern University board, spoke about the “legacy of excellence” at historically black colleges and universities.

Jessamy Brown

UT Arlington to host Sat. forum on deferred action program for young immigrants

Telemundo anchor Norma Garcia will moderate a forum on the federal deferred action program for young immigrants on Saturday at the University of Texas at Arlington.

The Dallas Telemundo station and the UT Arlington Association of Mexican American Students (AMAS) are presenting the free event from 10 a.m. to noon.

The event, Foro Informativo sobre Accion Diferida, will include a general session and break out discussions. Immigration attorneys are scheduled to be on hand to answer questions from people interesting in applying for the program but applications won't be filled out during the event, according to a news release.

• Details: UTA Maverick Activities Center, Lone Star Auditorium, 500 W. Nedderman Dr., Arlington
• Parking: Lot 33, north side of the Maverick Activities Center
• Info in Spanish/En Espanol

The Obama administration's deferred action program provides certain undocumented students with temporary permission to stay and work in the United States.

Jessamy Brown

Texas Education Commissioner seeking staff recommendations on improving accountability system

ARLINGTON—Texas Education Commissioner Michael L. Williams told business leaders Thursday that he has charged senior staffers with making recommendations on ways to “enhance and improve the accountability system.”  

Williams was a keynote speaker at the Arlington Chamber of Commerce annual dinner and business meeting. Eugene Powell, University of Texas System board of regents chairman, also gave a keynote address.(Photo: Williams at 2010 rally in Burleson. Special to ST/Bob Haynes)

“You’ve heard parents teachers and others say that what we’re doing is way too many tests, we’re teaching to the test, there have been benchmarks and worksheets,” Williams explained in a brief interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “We think there are some things we can do to still maintain the force of the accountability system -- because we can't retract from that. We still have to go about the business of teaching every youngster in every classroom in the school. But there may be other ways to look at our accountability system, things that are within the control of the commissioner.”

The state is phasing in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, which includes tests for students in grades 3 through 8 and new end-of-course exams for high schoolers. It replaces the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exams.

Williams added there are “things we might be able to do to release some of the anxiety in the current system but still keep the integrity of that system intact.”

Any decision or announcement based on the staff report, due in mid-November, would come several months later, perhaps by spring, Williams said.

Williams and his wife Donna own a house in North Arlington. Both Williams’ parents worked as teachers in Midland, with a combined 83 years of classroom experience.

The commissioner oversees the Texas Education Agency and the state’s 1,200 school districts and charter schools. Williams is a past chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the state’s oil and gas industry, and was assistant secretary of education for civil rights, U.S. Department of Education. He has been on the job at TEA for three weeks and three days, he told the crowd. He plans to meet with Arlington interim superintendent Marcelo Cavazos in coming days.

Also at the event, at the Arlington Convention Center, the chamber gave its Star Award --its highest honor -- to James D. Spaniolo, the University of Texas at Arlington’s seventh president, who has announced plans to retire.

Jessamy Brown

Fort Worth's Cobb Park site of a football rally, battle of the bands

TCU's 2012 football schedule inspired Cecil Collier, a member of the Friends of Cobb Park. There was a lot of buzz about TCU and the Big 12 when he first noticed that TCU was scheduled to playing a Louisana school known for their unique marching style (Ever seen the movie, Drumline?)

"They are playing Grambling university?" he asked himself. "This is historic."

Collier, a literacy advocate, started working on a plan to get the Grambling band to southeast Fort Worth so local youth could get inspired about higher education. The idea grew. And grew some more. On Sept. 8, the Friends of Cobb Park are marking the beginning of national literacy month with the SWAC Rally in Fort Worth. The event kicks off at 10 a.m.

Yes, Grambling's band is coming, but so is Texas Southern University's "Ocean of Soul." 

The event will feature a college and career fair, voter registration and food trucks. Fort Worth schools trustee T.A. Sims will be honored for 30 years of service to the district, Collier said.

"The main thing we are happy about is that we are going to change some kids' lives," Collier said.

 

(Photo provided by Grambling State Media Bureau)

-Diane Smith

Texas A&M tops list of schools being sent ACT scores by Texas test takers

Which colleges and universities are Texas seniors sending their ACT college admissions test scores?

The Texas Education Agency has listed the top 10 schools where college-bound seniors from the Class of 2012 are having their scores sent as part of admissions applications. All 10 are in Texas. Two are in the Metroplex: University of North Texas and TCU. Number 1 is Texas A & M University's main campus in College Station.

They are:

1. Texas A&M University – College Station
2. The University of Texas at Austin
3. Texas Tech University
4. Texas State University
5. Baylor University
6. The University of Texas at San Antonio
7. The University of Texas – Pan American
8. University of North Texas
9. University of Houston – Main Campus
10. Texas Christian University

Jessamy Brown

Fort Worth regional Spelling Bee winner to make second trip to nationals

Mark De Los Santos, an eighth grader who won the Fort Worth area regional spelling bee in 2010 and came in second place last year, won the event again on Wednesday, and advances to compete at the national level.

De Los Santos, 13, from Arlington's Holy Rosary Catholic School, bested 24 other students at the TCU College of Education Regional Spelling Bee, sponsored by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

He powered through 15 rounds of competition and eventually won the championship after spelling "retrocedence" and "desertification."

Runner-up Benjamin Benjadol, 11, of Wilshire Elementary School in Euless, misspelled "litany" before De Los Santos spelled the winning words.

De Los Santos wins an expenses-paid trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 27 through June 1 in Washington, D.C., plus a trophy, dictionary, subscription to Encyclopedia Brittanica Online, $200 cash, a $100 award and $20 Amazon gift card.

De Los Santos can also audit a TCU course for free. Since he hopes to one day be a neurosurgeon, he said he wants to take a science class.

-- Jessamy Brown

17 arrested in TCU drug sweep, including 4 football players

Texas Christian University has never experienced such a wide spread arrest of students at this magnitude, chancellor Victor Boschini said in a statement. Police said those arrested today were drug dealers who sold illegal and prescription drugs across Fort Worth. Those arrested include football players Tanner Brock (linebacker), D.J. Yendry (defensive lineman), Tyler Horn (offensive tackle) and Devin Johnson (cornerback).

According to an affidavit, head football coach Gary Patterson surprised the team with a drug test on Feb. 1. Johnson told an undercover officer that 82 players failed, documents show. Read the full story here

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Texas education leaders bracing for tough budget cuts

The first draft of the state's budget came out this week, and education leaders say it doesn't look good for them. Under the proposed plan, future college students couldn't tap state financial aid and four state community colleges would close as higher education would take a $1.7 billion hit.

But the hardest hit could be Texas public schools, which could lose $5 billion in funds. The Legislative Budget Board recommends eliminating funds that help pay for pre-kindergarten, arts education, teacher incentive pay and technology. School leaders fear that will also translate to job cuts. The plan could force a school finance reform show down as the LBB recommends cutting districts' funds by 14 percent and districts at the low end of "target revenue," such as Fort Worth and Crowley, have vowed to fight. (Target revenue is the per-pupil amount of state funding schools get that is different for each district.)

Fort Worth officials have said the recommended cuts would mean about a $75-80 million loss for the district, which could likely mean job cuts. Additionally, the cut in teacher incentives could drastically affect the district's PEAK program, which offers sign-on and performance bonuses aimed at getting the best teachers to the district's most struggling schools. Officials have credited dramatic gains at those schools to the PEAK program. But losing $4.8 million in state aid is a big hit, chief financial officer Hank Johnson said. He said Fort Worth could try using federal funds to make up for it, but those monies have different rules and standards attached that the district will have to research.

Keller recently opened a new early childhood center that serves 3- and 4-year-olds. Officials there said the loss of pre-kindergarten funds would not affect their program. However, other districts have said they may have to consider cutting back to half-day classes or reduce offerings if the LBB recommendations go through. Keller officials are worried what a loss of technology funds would mean to them.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Texas governor Rick Perry to attend first graduation at Westlake Academy

Heavy hitters are planning to come to the very first graduation for Westlake Academy on May 23. Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Education Commissioner Robert Scott are among the dignitaries scheduled to attend the event at the Marriott Solana, schools officials said.

Former Westlake mayor Scott Bradley and the first head of school Barbara Brizuela are also on the list.

Westlake Academy, which opened in 2003 and is the only municipally operated charter school in the state, expects to graduate a class of 24 seniors at the ceremony. 

Update: All of Westlake Academy's 24 seniors are headed to college and have been offered $3.7 million worth of college scholarships. They plan to attend various colleges, including Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, Brandeis University and University of Colorado, Boulder.

Also, Brizuela isn't going to make it to the ceremony after all.

Jessamy Brown