I hope you are able to digest just one more assessment of last month’s Super Bowl Parade. We in East Dallas and Lakewood have reason to be proud of the event.
Before the march turned into a bad remake of the finale of the film, “Animal House”, I had stationed myself at the corner of Harwood and Commerce. There, I would be sure to get a great view of our Wildcat Band, with a perspective of the Flying Red Horse.
Woodrow was one of only three schools chosen to march in the event. The band, led by a banner made by ‘70s and ‘80s PTA parent Marigold Hiser, was followed by our drill team, cheerleaders and mascot.
The mostly white, though multi-ethnic Woodrow group was greeted by loud cheers from the similar crowd – although one misguided individual next to me thought they were from Lake Highlands High. No, sir. They are the copycats. We are the Wildcats.
The mayhem began when the last unit, the all-white McCullough Junior High band from Highland Park, decided not to finish the parade. Their director, quoted in the Dallas Morning News, said they wouldn’t return to Downtown.
To observe and understand racial harmony, the media came to Woodrow.
Students Felisha Brazier and G.P. Theriot, were asked to participate in an hour-long discussion of the situation following the television news on WFAA Channel 8. Several students were interviewed by the Morning News, and Wildcat newspaper editor Allison Queal wrote a particularly insightful column for the Sunday edition. If the rest of Dallas area could just follow the examples set by Woodrow since the late 1960s, we could all live in peace.
Tomorrow, Tomorrow
One of Woodrow’s best traditions is its annual Broadway musical productions. They are the best west of the Hudson River. This year’s show, “Annie”, will be presented March 12-14.
In fact, Broadway seems to follow the lead of our director, Marca Lee Bircher, by staging revivals of shows after she does the same.
Just a couple of seasons after “Fiddler on the Roof”, “Anything Goes” and most recently “Guys and Dolls” were presented at Woodrow, those shows once again played Broadway.
Now “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”, presented by Woodrow in the late ‘80s, is in production in Australia, on its way to New York.
So what happens when our prescient producer decides to do “Annie”? A sequel entitled “Annie Warbucks” is now planned for the Great White Way.
Applause!
No, this is not another musical story. Congratulations to Woodrow Spanish teacher Betty Parrett. She has won the Texas Excellence Award for outstanding high school teachers. The honor is from the University of Texas Ex-students and UT College of Education.
Ms. Parrett is celebrating her 25th year at Woodrow, where she began teaching after earning a degree from Texas Tech. She also holds a master’s degree in Education from SMU. In addition to teaching Spanish, she teaches advanced placement U.S. History.
She is only the second sponsor of Woodrow’s Pan-American Student Forum since 1928, having taken over from an original faculty member, the late Mabel Turman. She will escort a group of students to the state PASF Convention in San Antonio in April, as she has done annually for more than 20 years.
