The East Dallas Police Storefront awarded 80 students with new bicycles last month for perfect attendance in school.
Ten schools benefited from the project, including Mt. Auburn, James B. Bonham, James W. Fannin, William Lipscomb and Ignacio Zaragoza elementaries. Each participating school received eight bikes.
Schools held raffles to determine which students would receive the bikes, says Dallas Police Department’s Sr. Cpl. Lynne Albright, who helped organize the bike giveaway. To participate in the raffle, students had to have perfect attendance. At some schools, hundreds of students qualified for the raffles, Albright says.
Thirty-five used bikes also were awarded to members of Boy Scout Troop 245, a neighborhood troop that meets at the police storefront. The troop held fund-raisers and helped organize the bike giveaway for the elementary schools.
The bike giveaway was made possible through donations.
Neighborhood Teachers Receive Grants for School Projects
Teachers at two neighborhood schools were among the recipients of American Airlines Mini-Grants awarded last month by the Dallas Board of Education.
Eleven grants were given to fund classroom projects not included in school budgets. At Alex Sanger Elementary, teachers Christine Deliman, Thom Moton and Tommie Lydia will use their $313 to pay for science projects at White Rock Lake. Students will learn a hands-on lesson about invertebrates, vertebrates, plants and organisms through four outdoor labs, during which they will collect, classify and study specimens from the lake.
At J.L. Long Middle School, teachers Sally Eshtary and Jean Northington will use their $368 to teach deaf education students about photography as a visual form of communication. The students will visit with a hearing impaired professional photographer and take a trip to the Dallas Arboretum, where they will snap their own pictures. These pictures will be organized into a Life in a Garden display.
Funding for the grants, which are given annually, comes from the interest earned on $100,000 donated to the school district 11 years ago by American Airlines. To obtain a grant, teachers submit proposals for projects, which are judged by other teachers.
Seven Candidates Try for Peavy’s Seat
Seven candidates will face off in a Jan. 20 election to serve the unexpired term of former Dallas school trustee Dan Peavy.
The candidates for the District 3 seat, which represents far East Dallas, are college professor Lois Parrott; small-business owner Nancy Powell, who chairs a school centered education committee; lawyer Deborah Wilson, who participates in the district’s teen court program; homemaker Donna Wigley, a former president of the Dallas Area Council of PTAs; small-business owner William E. Grant, a former school board member; Angel Noe Gonzalez, a retired deputy superintendent from Houston who served as a Dallas assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction; and Lester Davis Scott, a sales representative for an agricultural chemical company and a former PTA president.
The school board called the election rather than appointing a replacement for Peavy. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the two top candidates will compete in a runoff election in February.
Peavy resigned in October after secretly recorded tapes were released of him making racist, sexist and anti-gay statements. His term did not expire until May 1997.
The winner of the upcoming election will have to run again in May to keep the District 3 seat.
The Lakewood and East Dallas chambers of commerce will sponsor a candidates forum for the January election on Jan. 17 at the Lakewood Country Club, 6430 Gaston. There will be a buffet breakfast at 7 a.m., and the program will begin at 7:30 a.m. The public is invited, and the cost is $10. Reservations must be made by noon on Jan. 16. Call 321-6446.
News & Notes:
FUNDS AWARDED TO INNOVATIVE TEACHERS: The Junior League of Dallas recently awarded 45 Grants for Innovative Teaching to a select group of Dallas educators, including four from our neighborhood. The grants, which totaled $45,000, are designed to encourage and support excellence in teaching and will fund original and creative projects not provided for in school budgets.
Lakewood Elementary School teacher Yvette Keller, Alex W. Spence Middle School teacher Jennifer Parvin, William Lipscomb Elementary School teacher Gretchen J. Peterson and James W. Fannin Elementary School teacher Christina Maria Fox-Balli were among the grant recipients.
HONORING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: Students from several Dallas schools will participate in the sixth annual tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, 1819 N. Washington. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Passing the Torch, Igniting the Vision of a New Generation.” The program will consist of student orations and music, including a performance by the Elementary All-City Honors Choir.
PTA SPONSORS BREAST CANCER SEMINAR: The Lakewood Early Childhood PTA meets Jan. 18 at 9:45 a.m. at the First Interstate Bank Building, Gaston and Abrams. The Susan G. Komen Foundation will make a presentation on breast cancer prevention. To make child care reservations call Lori Tatum by Jan. 16 at 10 a.m. at 827-8283. For information on the event, call Patty Barteau at 503-9803.
HOME TOUR TOP SALES PEOPLE: Four neighborhood residents won prizes for being the top ticket saleswomen for the Lakewood Early Childhood PTA’s recent home tour, which benefited Lakewood Elementary. They were Mary Beth Shapiro, who sold 53 tickets to win a gift certificate for an 8-foot Christmas tree from Patton’s Corner; Carol Fletcher, who sold 36 tickets to win a Sony Walkman; Corrine Donica, who sold 31 tickets to win dinner for two at Mattito’s; and Ann Gaspari, who sold 26 tickets to win a manicure at Nail Expertise.
RECYCLING OPPORTUNITY: Two neighborhood boy scout troops will collect pellets used for packaging at Lakewood Elementary, 3000 Hillbrook, as a recycling project on Jan. 9. Bring your packing pellets to the front or the back of the school between 7:40-8:15 a.m. to contribute. Mail Boxes Etc. in Lakewood Shopping Center will buy the pellets and the proceeds will benefit the school. Pellets must be clean and reusable and should be assorted according to the color and size.
NEIGHBORHOOD STUDENTS HONORED FOR MUSICAL TALENT: Four neighborhood students from George B. Dealey Montessori Academy, a Dallas public school that enrolls students from all over the City, received awards in the Middle School Region XX UIL Solo and Ensemble Contest held recently at Greiner Academy. Bradley Romney and Megan Chisom were first place recipients, and Heather Thomas and Kisha Faggett were second place recipients.
Chisom also was selected to be in the Dallas Middle School Honor Choir. She and another neighborhood student, Phillip Luna, were chosen to perform for the Board of Directors of Fulton Montessori Academy as part of an all-region orchestra.
LEARNING ABOUT AMERICAN FACTORIES: Alex W. Spence Middle School teacher Jim Lewis participated in What’s Up in Factories?, a national program developed by the PBS flagship station in New York. The program, which was recently brought to Dallas, is designed to introduce secondary teachers and their students to manufacturing careers. Lewis took part in a workshop to learn hands-on, interactive methods for teaching about American factories and went on a tour of Fujitsu Transmission Networking Systems in Richardson. He was provided with classroom materials and a list of factories available for field trips. The program is sponsored in Dallas by KERA, Channel 13, and KDTN, Channel 2.
ST. THOMAS OPEN HOUSE: St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School, 3741 Abrams, holds an open house Jan. 30 from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. and Jan. 31 from 8-11 a.m. as part of Catholic Schools Week. The open house will include tours of the school, a review of textbooks and school policies, and refreshments. For information on the open house, call Louise Bartosik at 826-0566.
