Students at Dan D. Rogers Elementary are receiving help from Hillcrest High School athletes who chose to give up their study hall to tutor three days a week.
“I think it’s better to help out the kids,” says 18-year-old football player Greg Tyson, a junior who tutors a Rogers kindergartner in writing skills.
“You need to give back to the community.”
Hillcrest’s athletic department launched a tutoring program this year at DISD elementary schools feeding into the high school. Tutors are junior and senior athletes who have passed TAAS. Sophomore athletes can tutor if they are in honors-level classes.
“We enjoy having the Hillcrest students,” says Sue Wyrick, Rogers’ volunteer coordinator. “They’re young and enthusiastic.”
“I didn’t think tutoring would be this fulfilling,” says senior Josh Hill, a football and baseball player who tutors a Rogers math student.
“You get a lot more out of it than you put into it. When you leave the (elementary) school, you’ve done something for a kid. You’ve made their day by showing up.”
Woodrow Musical ‘Sugar’ Set March 2-5
At its annual musical March 2-5, Woodrow Wilson High School’s Fine Arts Department will present “Sugar,” a musical based on the movie “Some Like It Hot,” which stars Marilyn Monroe.
About 150 students have been rehearsing for three months. The musical production has been a Woodrow tradition since 1958, when students performed “Oklahoma.”
“The students learn about everything from the sets to costuming,” says Woodrow librarian Bradley Sue Howell, who helps out with the musical.
“They see the value of all the little pieces and all the work that goes into a production.”
Parents help make costumes and sets, graduates return for the event, and neighborhood residents look forward to the performance, Howell says.
“It’s better than Broadway,” Howell says. “We have a lot of followers.”
The show runs March 2-4 at 7:30 p.m. with a 2:30 p.m. matinee March 5. Advanced general admission is $6. At the door, admission is $6.50. Call 823-8663 for tickets.
News & Notes
ZARAGOZA AWARDED FOR ACHIEVEMENTS: Ignacio Zaragoza Elementary received $12,626 from the Texas Education Agency for school-wide improvement on TAAS. Zaragoza students scored higher in all three skill areas in the 1993-94 school year. Twelve DISD schools received cash awards for TAAS improvement. Zaragoza received the largest award among DISD schools. The money will be used to buy classroom materials, such as textbooks and encyclopedias, says Principal Ramon Guerrero.
WINNING THE ODYSSEY: Several neighborhood schools recently placed in the academic contest Odyssey of the Mind, advancing to the regional meet March 4 at Mountain View College. The schools were: Lakewood, Stonewall Jackson, Alex Sanger, Fannin and Robert E. Lee elementaries, Alex W. Spence Middle School and Woodrow Wilson High School.
Calendar
March 2 – Lakewood Elementary PTA kindergarten round-up at the school, 3000 Hillbrook, 6:30-8 p.m.
March 3-5, 10-12 – “Damn Yankees” performed by the Blackfriars Guild of Bishop Lynch High School. For information: 324-3607. Tickets $5.
March 9 – Alex Sanger Elementary, 8410 San Leandro, new student roundup, 7 p.m.
March 15 – The Lakewood Early Childhood PTA “day of fun” at Kid’s Town, 10 a.m.
March 17-18 – Bishop Lynch High School Band Booster “Spring Sweep” garage sale. For information: 328-6691.
March 30 – The Lakewood Early Childhood PTA meeting, 7 p.m. at the Lakewood Country Club, 6430 Gaston.
