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Thank You Dallas ISD Partners/Volunteers

The ladies of the professional service organization Altrusa Dallas partnered with uniform-specialists Academic Outfitters of Plano to deliver 2,262 items of clothing, including pants, shirts, shoes, and jackets, to the children at Frank Guzick Elementary School. This is the second year students at Guzick have benefited from the Dallas Uniforms for Needy Kids project. Money for the project was raised from the Altrusa Dallas annual shopping bazaar and from generous contributions from the members of Dallas Area Paralegals Association, Academic Outfitters, and individual contributions.
 

DEA and Sequoyah Learning CenterTen students from Sequoyah Learning Center traveled to Austin for Red Ribbon Week. The trip was sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration, one of the school’s Partners in Education, and the Texas Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. While in Austin, the students saw how bills are made and passed in the legislature; participated in a march against drugs; and presented to the legislature a drug prevention bill they had drafted. For more than 15 years, the Drug Enforcement Administration has assisted the Sequoyah Learning Center and its students by providing school supplies, tutors, and mentors.
 

Members of the Dallas Retired Teachers Association visited students at Umphrey Lee Elementary School and gave each student a new book. More than 550 books were donated to students during DRTA’s visit, which was to promote the importance of reading and literacy.
 

Dallas OutlawsFor more than 15 years, the Dallas Area Chess-in-the-Schools has provided an opportunity for Dallas ISD students in kindergarten through eighth grade to learn to play chess and to participate in its annual chess tournament. The organization uses chess as a tool to build self-esteem and enhance the academic skills of school-age children from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds in the greater Dallas area.

In addition to offering in-class chess instruction, DACIS provides chess equipment to the schools participating in the program and arranges at least two interschool chess tournaments each year to further stimulate students' interest and horizons. As a result of an alliance initiated in 1997 with The University of Texas at Dallas, UTD chess players serve as instructors in the DACIS program and the winner of the DACIS' annual championship tournament receives a full, four-year scholarship to UTD.
 

Gap EmployeesAbout 1,600 Gap Inc. employees from across the United States and Canada gathered at the Gaylord Texan Convention Center to stuff more than 1,000 backpacks for students at Thomas C. Marsh and E.D. Walker middle schools. Students from the Marsh Middle School cheerleading squad, JROTC, and other school organizations served as runners at the stuffing event. The GAP employees donated the backpacks to the middle school students at special events held at the schools.

In addition, the GAP Foundation is donating a $25,000 grant to the district's Its All About Our Community program. It’s About Our Community, a safety and academic initiative started by Texas Senator Royce West, provides job opportunities for youth 16 to 18 years old and career exploration, job shadowing, and safety pledges for youth under age 16.
 

Sculptures created by students from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts are on display at Bryan Tower in downtown Dallas through April 30. The Scrap Can Be Beautiful sculpture exhibit is the third in a series hosted by Spire Realty Group to raise more awareness among tenants and visitors about the variety and quality of the arts available downtown. The exhibit also welcomes students back to the school's original Arts District neighborhood.

The scrap in the student artwork comes from Commercial Metals Company of Dallas. For 29 years Commercial Metals Company has sponsored the metals sculpture class at Washington High School.  At the beginning of each school year, metal is selected from the scrap metal recycling plants in Dallas at no cost to the students. These pieces of scrap are sculpted by students to form creative works of art and then judged by Commercial Metals for prize money.
 

E-Mentoring ProgramThe Dallas YMCA donated $40,000 to underwrite school costs for staff, supplies, and program activities for the 2007-2008 Dallas YMCA After-School All-Stars program at James Bowie Elementary School.

Since its launch in July 2001, Dallas After-School All-Stars has served a total of about 8,600 children through partnerships with 50 Dallas ISD schools and a dozen community- and faith-based organizations in the southern sector and West Dallas. 

The Dallas After-School All-Stars program strives for excellence in five major disciplines: sports and recreation, educational programs, technology training, arts and culture, and life skills and service learning.

For the past six years, participants in the James Bowie Elementary School After-School All-Stars program have benefited from activities and ongoing relationships that increase confidence and encourage success.