Articles about Education
Moss Haven Elementary Establishes a Farm
We sent intern Michelle Saunders out to cover the groundbreaking celebration of Moss Haven Elementary’s new farm. See her report below.
A student rubs an herb to release the fragrance on his fingers.
Last spring, while eating a salad for lunch, Kim Aman, a Moss Haven Elementary veteran of 17 years and the “Lead Weed Teacher” as her peers fondly refer to her, was surprised to find that her students had no idea what the radishes in her bowl were. She instantly identified a need for nutrition education and the idea of creating a garden was born. “My grandfather was a farmer and he was always teaching me about vegetables,” she says. “So it’s in my blood.” Living in an urban setting, however, most of these kids don’t get that experience.” So, along with Tiffany Walker, a first-grade parent currently serving as the Outdoor Learning Environments committee chair, they brainstormed a garden, drafted a business plan in the summer, and presented it to the school board and the American Heart Association. Less than a year later, the garden is a reality. “We had a combination of right connections, passion, and community support to create the perfect recipe for growing,” Walker says.
TEDxSMU and D Magazine Present an Education Forum
On May 12, the election for school board positions for Districts 1, 3, and 9 will take place. You may remember that last year, there wasn’t an election, because there was only one person interested in running for each position. Apathy in school board voting is so high that it takes merely a few hundred votes to win a position (if an election even takes place). I’ve run into a few people in the past year who’ve thought that’s unacceptable. They’ve made it their goal to ensure people are not only running for school board positions, but that people are getting out to vote. One such group is the Chamber’s EducateDallas, which has endorsed Elizabeth Jones, Dan Micciche, and Bernadette Nutall in the upcoming election. Another group is Dallas Kids First. To learn more about them, check out their video. They’re finalizing their scorecards and will release who they’re endorsing in a week or so. The teacher’s union has already released its endorsement, which included praise for a 20-year-old Lincoln High graduate, which has resulted in at least one unhappy person.
Our friends at TEDxSMU recently approached us and asked what we could do to help spread the word about May’s vote. So we decided to host an education forum at the Kessler Theater on April 10. All the candidates (yes, all eight of them) have agreed to be there. We’re going to give each of them three minutes to answer a question pulled from a hat. We’ve asked all of them to stick around and mingle, in case we miss a question or two. It’s free. (Though bring money for the cash bar.) And you’ll be taking part in something that can make a huge impact on the city. Go here to register.
How Many Strip Clubs Does Dallas Have?
Yesterday I pointed you to a story our friend Sarah Hepola wrote for the Times Style section. Today I bring you an essay she wrote for Salon about an online dating experience that did not exactly work out for her. It’s a good read, recommended.
But after I read the story, Sarah and I had an email exchange that I asked her if I could share. It’s about topless bars.
TIM: When you write for New York, you aren’t afraid to play up the Dallas stereotypes, are you? Steakhouses and silicone … Ubiquitous strip clubs … Etc. You watch yourself, missy.
SARAH: Wait a minute. Strip clubs ARE ubiquitous. That’s not a stereotype — that’s reader information. The steakhouses and silicone line might be considered a stereotype, though I could point you to a handful of D Magazine pieces that characterize the city in the same way. I’m only allowed to poke fun at Dallas if I’m writing for a Dallas magazine?
ESD Reaches Sex Scandal Settlement
Last year a jury awarded about $10 million to the family of a student who had had a sexual relationship with her teacher at Episcopal School of Dallas. Claire St. Amant told the tale of the whole sordid affair, and ESD’s attempts to make the matter go away quietly, in our October issue.
Today the Dallas Morning News reports that the family and the school have reached a settlement in the civil suit. Both sides declined to disclose the amount of the settlement, but reporter Diane Jennings notes that they had earlier agreed that $6 million might be more appropriate.
Why is This Dancing Apes Video From Arby’s Considered Racist by DeSoto ISD?
Unfair Park’s Patrick Williams is criticizing DeSoto school officials for reprimanding a principal for circulating a video (embedded above) of an old commercial depicting chimps dancing in the Irish Riverdance style to his staff. I agree that it’s hard to see what the clip has to do with race, but Williams is seemingly ignoring what was noted near the bottom of today’s Dallas Morning News article about the incident:
[West Middle School principal Kevin] Dixon said he first discovered the video in an online school leadership newsletter he received that featured the short clip. His email to his staff said that assistant principal Audrey Barnes, who is black, would lead the school in an Irish dance to celebrate the beginning of spring break.
Are some people being overly sensitive? Perhaps. But I’m not sure they deserve to be dismissed as “humorless dicks.”
Dallas Teacher Union Numbers Revealed
For the first time ever, the Education Intelligence Agency — which until now I did not know existed — has released numbers on the top teacher unions in the country. Dallas ranks 14th, with annual dues income of $4.8 million. Payroll is $1.2 million or 29%. The chart lists 22 union employees in Dallas, although we are warned here that those numbers can be squirrelly because of the way the IRS requires unions to report employment. If the union does indeed have 22 employees, they are making an average of $56,000 each. Odds are they have fewer employees, so the average is higher.
Leading Off (3/12/12)
DART Service Extends to Mesquite at a Steep Discount: Some neighboring cities are not happy that Mesquite is getting bus service today for the first time. Mesquite doesn’t participate in the 1 percent sales tax that funds the public transit organization.
Woman Files Title IX Complaint After Girls Left Out of Movie Trip: Remember that flap over Dallas ISD bringing the boys to the movie Red Tails, and leaving the girls in school to knit, or make cupcakes, or something? Well, now a mother, Lysandra Dial, has filed a Title IX complaint for gender discrimination.
For New Congressional District Hopefuls, Hope Springs Eternal: Here’s a complete rundown of candidates for statewide and local offices. That new district 33 has 14 individuals vying for the seat, including 11 democrats. I say we adopt a bracket system for determining the winner, because, hey, it’s March.
Bieber Tweets Phone Number, Dallas Man’s Week Ruined: If you are a young girl who finds Justin Bieber dreamy and follows his every move, then perhaps you were one of the thousand or so people who harassed a poor Dallas man whose phone number was one digit off from the one Bieber tweeted last week.
Ebby Still Bullish on Namesake School
When someone proposed naming something like a street after him, Stanley Marcus used to decline with thanks. He’d hate to hear, “Man murdered on Stanley Marcus” on the evening news, the retailing legend would chuckle. Then he’d add, “I’d much rather have a statue” — which only the pigeons could desecrate.
Ebby Halliday showing off "Golden Ruler"
Mr. Stanley’s view came to mind when businesswoman Ebby Halliday helped dedicate the relatively new Ebby Halliday Elementary School in southeast Dallas today, on the occasion of her 101st birthday. That school, you might recall, was rocked last year by allegations of abuse by staffers against some of its Hispanic students.
School Board Candidate Has a Curious Logo
Elizabeth Jones is running for the District 1 DISD trustee seat. She sounds like a smart lady and an interesting candidate. She’s a visiting professor at the UTD School of Management, where she is the co-founder and associate director of the Center for Finance Strategy Innovation. You can read more about her here. She might wish to have a word with her political consultants, though. Because to my eye, they’ve ripped off the logo of a former school board candidate, Sally Cain. She ran for the District 9 seat back in 2009. Now, was Cain the first candidate ever to run for a school board seat and use a pencil in her logo? I doubt it. But the similarities (down to the typeface) are striking. Here are the two logos. Judge for yourself.
60 Minutes Features Dallas Mom Critical of ‘Redshirting’ for Kindergarten
Last night CBS’ 60 Minutes reported on an issue I first remember hearing about from Merritt Patterson in Park Cities People a few years ago: holding your 5-year-old back a year from starting kindergarten so that he or she will be among the oldest, rather than the youngest, in the class.
Holly Korbey of Dallas was interviewed for the 60 Minutes report. (You can first see her at about the 2:50 mark in the video embedded above).
Anyone who’s read Outliers by the great Malcolm Gladwell has learned how the month of a child’s birth can confer academic and athletic advantages because of the way we structure our calendars to determine who’s ready to start school, or slot children into age groups for sports leagues. When you’re 5 years old being 7-10 months older than some other kids in your class can mean a huge difference developmentally. Those older kids then tend to get treated like the top students and receive extra attention, and extra coaching, which further compounds the advantage over the years.
Leading Off (2/27/12)
Trinity River Project Backers Find New Ally in Sen. Cornyn: No matter who wins Sen. Kay Bay Hutchison’s senate seat, backers of the Trinity River Corridor Project will have Sen. John Cornyn stepping up to take her place as the project’s champion in Congress. Cornyn, clearly not speaking with Jim Schutze in mind, told the Dallas Regional Chamber Friday that “there is a lot we can do with the Corps of Engineers and with the regulatory part of this to help remove obstacles and help expedite the Trinity River Corridor Project.” I hope those “obstacles” don’t include the corps’ general opinion that building a toll road in the river bed is a really dumb idea.
Will Dallas ISD Teachers Follow Through With Sickout? This Wednesday is supposed to be the day when Dallas teachers bang-in sick en masse to protest the school board’s decision to extend the teachers’ workday. But will the educators keep their nerve? On the blog Teachers for Change, the anonymous organizer writes, “I am disappointed in how many of you are giving in to the fear.” It is illegal in Texas for employees to strike or organize work stoppages against school districts.
Animated Short Doesn’t Get Into USA Film Festival, Goes On To Win Oscar: Last night’s Oscar winners included Deep Ellum-based Reel FX’s co-founder (and Traveling Man co-designer) Brandon Oldenburg’s animated short, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.” Curious fact: the Oscar winning short was rejected from the USA Film Festival.
D Magazine’s Most Memorable Intern Applications
Not all interns are created equal.
Over the years, we have had some amazing interns. We’ve also had some pretty amazingly bad intern applications. It’s truly astounding what applicants reveal in answering questions such as “what makes you stand out?,” “give three words that describe you,” and “what are your strengths and weaknesses?” Someone on staff had a great idea to pull some of the most amusing answers and print them in the magazine. (Zac will try to steal the credit for it, even though it wasn’t really his idea. He just tried to enhance the idea, but that didn’t really work out, so it’s actually the original idea, which wasn’t Zac’s. But, again, he’ll tell you it was.)
Read some of the responses below. For historical accuracy and out of respect to the applicants, all creative grammar and spelling were left untouched. And know this: we didn’t make any of these up.
To whom it may concern: My major integrated marketing, advertising and public relations and I am very interested in obtaining a marketing internship at D Magazine. I have attached my résumé and cover letter for your consideration and I have filled out and submitted the online questionairre. Additionally, I believe on the survey question 5, I wrote in Texas Monthly at the end of the paragraph instead of D Magazine. I truly apologize for this error and it does not in any way effect my commitment to obtaining in internship at D Magazine. Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you!
Highland Park Star Basketball Player Arrested For DWI: When is a Kid No Longer a Kid?
Today’s news that the star basketball player for Highland Park High School was arrested by University Park Police for driving while intoxicated raises a couple old questions from my past life as a community newspaper publisher, editor, and reporter:
1. When should a kid stop getting treated like a kid?
2. Is a high school athlete a public figure?
I know my responses to both those questions, mostly. And we know how both People Newspapers and the Dallas Morning News would answer those questions, since both outlets today reported the arrest of the 18-year-old player, David Allen. But there are many, most especially people in the Park Cities, who feel differently. I know this because I’ve been through a similar situation before.
Leading Off (2/13/12)
Mayor Reveals Southern Dallas Plan Today: Lots to sort through regarding Mayor Rawlings’ new Southern Dallas initiative, “GrowSouth,” which he will formally announce this afternoon at South Side on Lamar. The Dallas Morning News praises it in this editorial as “exactly the kind of enthusiastic and bold approach we’ve been seeking,” while News reporter Rudy Bush notes (paywall) South Dallas plans are a staple with mayors while actual progress remains elusive. Still, there are some tangibles in the plan, like $600K for tearing down dilapidated and abandoned houses. The mayor also wants to help promote new neighborhood associations, “adopt” four schools, and has identified nine “opportunity areas,” such as Jefferson Blvd., which he called “our complete street . . . Let’s just make this thing come to life.” In other words, the vocab sounds right, but the challenge, as always, will be getting investors and competing interests on the same page.
Fort Worth Girl Kidnapped By Mother Found: Daughter and mother, who was feared to be mentally ill and suicidal by relatives, were found near a National Park in New Mexico. Both were tired and hungry, but safe.
Credit Agency Fitch Fears American Airlines Layoffs Impact on DFW: In a message released last Thursday, the credit agency Fitch suggests the 13,000 jobs AA plans to eliminate may have a detrimental effect on the airline company’s home region, where it employs 25,000 people. But the agency did throw in a caveat: it “anticipates limited negative effects to individual cities given the breadth of the employment base.” So there’s that.
Derek Holland’s Harry Carry: Funny or Obnoxious? The Rangers’ pitcher brought his Harry Caray impression to WFAA, where, accompanied by Dale Hansen’s cackles, he delivered Mavs and Stars news. Funny or not? You decide.
Michelle Obama Should Focus on the Teachers, Ctd.
An alert FrontBurnervian points us to this survey, which says: “Based on a health and wellness self-assessment survey, 74 percent of [DISD] employees are at risk for high blood pressure, 74 percent at risk for obesity, 67 percent do not get enough exercise, and more than 48 percent have four or more risk factors” (see item No. 16). In short, the people who work for DISD are not a healthy bunch. That’s not good for the teachers (obviously). But it’s also not good for students (lost productivity due to teacher absenteeism as a result of illness, bad examples being set), and it’s not good for taxpayers (we’re paying for part of their healthcare).
I would think that an incentive program could easily be designed to make a huge impact on teacher health. Set a target BMI and then reward teachers for making progress toward that goal. Give them paid days off. Free lesson-planning periods. Hell, even cash. It would pay for itself in saved health-care costs. Even better, you can enlist the kids as a the support group, turn the thing into a class project of sorts. Get all of Mrs. Smith’s students invested in improving her health (and, by extension, the class’s health).
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