Dachshund Greta Van Susteren makes her entrance into Lakewood Theater at the 2010 Oscars party.

Mount Auburn Elementary celebrated its 90th anniversary Jan. 6. The school originally opened on Jan. 2, 1921, with 12 teachers and 375 students.

Pictures and happenings, like the sixth-grade football team at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School winning this year’s Catholic Bowl.

Standard poodles Trixie and Woody play in the snow. Their people are Lochwood residents Cliff and Cindy Hume.

Pictures and happenings from around our neighborhood.

Seven of our neighborhood’s best teachers (click on each photo above for a full-frame version) were honored this week by the Greater East Dallas Chamber of Commerce during the group’s annual Teacher of the Year Awards luncheon, held at Lakehill Preparatory School’s Alice and Erle Nye Family Environmental Science Center.

Honored as outstanding teachers in the public elementary/middle school division were Stonewall Jackson Elementary’s Mary Ann Trapalis, Susan Clegg and Margaret Sorrells for their teamwork with the school’s fifth graders.

Outstanding public high school teacher was Brook Varner with Woodrow Wilson; Varner is a science teacher honored for her dedication to students, including visiting the homes of at-risk students.

In the private school division, two Lakehill teachers were honored: Lou Wilkin was recognized for a 24-year career teaching elementary students Spanish language, history and culture, and Bryna Thomson was honored for helping foster her middle school students’ interest in science. Also, Dallas Academy’s Bettye Davis received an award for dedicating 45 years to the school’s students.

Chamber chairman Roger Perry presented awards to public and private school teachers who were selected from among nominations by Chamber members and neighborhood residents. Scott Manis with Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake was chairman of the luncheon, which was sponsored by Comerica Bank, which was represented by senior vice president Jim Weber. Dr. Sarah Maxwell, assistant dean of the University of Texas at Dallas and a Lakehill parent, was the keynote speaker.

The Woodrow Wildcats beat Molina 49-0 Friday to win the bidistrict playoff championship. The Wildcats play Highland Park High School at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wildcat-Ram Stadium in Lake Highlands for the area championship.

That puts the team two wins away from the District 4A quarterfinals. Check out their bracket here.

Woodrow alumnus Kyle Rains sent us this slideshow from Friday’s game against Molina. All photos are by Rains, Gloria West and Russ Kelemen.

Northridge Presbyterian Church members traveled to Joplin last month to aid recovery in the tornado-stricken town. Church member Sally Rodriguez grew up in Joplin. The group went to the street where her grandparents lived, but all that was left of their home was a garage her grandfather had built.

“Everything else was gone,” Rodriguez says.

The group of 16 spent one week in Joplin, working on a single house, repairing a back room and installing vinyl siding.

Magdalen House held their 19th annual ‘Maggie’s House Golf Tournament’ Friday, Oct. 28, at Sherrill Park Golf Course in Richardson. The Magdalen House is a detox center open to women with alcohol dependency. Advocate photographer Ben Hager shot photos of the event and put together this video slideshow. Read more … more

A 1936 Bauhaus and Herbert Marcus’ 1927 abode, these two houses on this year’s home tour have stories to tell.