Fourth-grader Kathleen Donovan recently sat in the principal’s chair at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School for a day.
Donovan gave students an extra recess and visited classrooms toting candy. She supervised lunch, wrote memos, showed parents around the school and led a faculty meeting.
“She was excellent,” says regular Principal Carole Stabile. “She started off shy, then got into the groove and took right over.”
This was the first year St. Thomas allowed a student to be principal for a day. The school plans to make it an annual event, says administrative assistant Louise Bartosik.
“The kids now look at being principal as a possible career choice,” Stabile says.
The principal’s job was auctioned at St. Thomas’s annual fund-raiser held earlier this year. Donovan’s parents paid $500 for it.
“It was a hot item,” Bartosik says. “The bids went up and up and up.”
Community Volunteers Honored by Chamber
The East Dallas Chamber of Commerce presented awards last month for neighborhood community service in education in categories of individual, business and group.
MEPC American Properties received the business award for its work with Alex Sanger Elementary School, which the company adopted 10 years ago.
MEPC has provided the school with computers, books and student prizes for attendance and good grades.
Second place went to Allianz Life Insurance for its work at Mt. Auburn Elementary, and third place went to “The White Rocker” newspaper.
The group award went to a student organization at Bryan Adams High School called Peer Assistance Leadership. Students in PAL present drug prevention programs at Dallas elementary schools and mentor children at Kiest Elementary School.
Second place went to the Lake Highlands Exchange Club for support of Lake Highlands High School, and third place went to La Onda Nueva, a student group at J.L. Long Middle School.
The individual award went to Chuck Farmer, a tutor at Lake Highlands High School who helps students who failed the math section of the TAAS test.
Second place went to Betty Lou Suther, a volunteer at Edna Rowe Elementary, and third place went to Betty Hersey, a volunteer for the Lake Highlands Community Project.
News & Notes
WOODROW GOLF WINS DISTRICT: The varsity and junior varsity boys golf teams at Woodrow Wilson High School placed first and second, respectively, at last month’s championship for District 12-4A. Both teams qualified for regional competition in Denton.
Varsity team members include Jason Hill, Ryan Looper, Zach Redington, Andrew Robbins and Brian Bilnoski.
Junior varsity team members include Maclain Looper, Kevin Johnson, J.W. Casey, George Velasco and Jonathan Roberts.
In the individual rankings, Hill placed second and Redington placed third.
Woodrow’s girls team received third place, with Emily Renda placing second in the individual rankings. Although the team does not advance, Renda qualified for regional competition. Other members of the girls team include Alicia Surratt, Amanda Mabry, Stacy Melios and Tiffany Hensley.
PTA FOR LIFE: Stonewall Jackson Elementary PTA members Cindy Hess, Pam Norman and Judy McMillen recently received honorary life memberships, the highest form of recognition for PTA service.
Hess and Norman received state life memberships. Hess is the PTA’s current president and past vice president. She has served on the Dallas City Council of PTAs. Norman has served on Stonewall’s PTA as director of organization and as membership chair.
McMillen received a national life membership, one of five individuals to receive this honor in the history of Stonewall PTA. She has been on the PTA since 1983 and was given a state life membership in 1992. She is a Girl Scout leader and has been PTA president, treasurer, membership chair and director of organization.
DISD IMPROVES: According to statistics from DISD and the Texas Education Agency, DISD schools improved in many areas in 1994 compared to 1993.
Attendance rates went up at 156 DISD schools and the overall dropout rate declined, now standing at 4 percent.
In 1993, the average Scholastic Aptitude Test score was 767. In 1994, the average rose to 775. Ninety-three percent of seniors passed the Texas Assessment of Academic Standards test in 1994, improving in 11 of 12 comparisons with 1993 results. The state passing rate for the TAAS is 92.5 percent.
Last year, 26,191 students enrolled in advanced placement and honor courses, an increase of nearly 10 percent.
Crime on DISD campuses dropped 31 percent from 1991/92 to 1993/94.
WOODROW POET PUBLISHED: Jennifer Gibbs, a Woodrow Wilson High School sophomore, recently had a poem published in “Journey of the Mind,” an anthology compiled by the National Library of Poetry. Gibbs’ poem is entitled “An Emotional Feast.” She has been writing for eight years.
CALENDAR
May 11 – Suzy Frasco from the Dallas Association for Parent Education speaks on “Summer Sanity” at the Stonewall Jackson Elementary’s Early Childhood PTA meeting at 7:15 p.m. in the school library, 5828 E. Mockingbird.
May 19 – DISD’s last day of school.
May 25 – Stonewall Jackson Elementary’s Early Childhood PTA takes a children’s outing to Fair Park at 3:30 p.m. Call Jan Neal at 824-5788.
