Students and staff at four Dallas elementary schools have joined with community volunteers over the past few months to transform part of these campuses into learning gardens. Together they are creating outdoor classrooms that provide green spaces and teaching elements to facilitate hands-on learning in nature. Underwritten by a grant from REAL School Gardens, a nonprofit organization that works with underserved elementary schools in North Texas, schools are creating gardens to engage students, promote learning, and encourage parental and community involvement. Gardens are under way at Victor H. Hexter, Robert E. Lee, Alex Sanger, and Harry C. Withers elementary schools. RSG also is providing support for Stonewall Jackson Elementary School’s existing garden.

Nick Donias, a young man who went from living on the street in Fort Worth to academic success at Brown University, shared his experiences and decision-making strategies with students at W.W. Samuell High School. Students were inspired by his dedication to achieve and how he has learned to accept, and even ask for help, from his teachers along the way.

Thanks to Target Stores, Inc. for donating mountains of spiral notebooks to more than 20 district schools. Stores throughout the Metroplex provided pallets stacked high with school supplies to nearby campuses whose campus coordinators had completed needs surveys at the beginning of the school year.

The Little Kids Rock Foundation, now in its third year of providing support to Dallas students and school music programs, has generated excitement from others as well. At Esperanza “Hope” Medrano Elementary School, the Texas Hippie Coalition and Carved Records donated an electric guitar to the school’s LKR program. Also, through support of DonorsChoose.org, the Quincy Jones Musiq Consortium and The Dallas Foundation funded electric guitars for Harold W. Lang Sr. Middle School’s program.

More than 300 students from Martin Luther King Jr. Learning Center and more than 400 from Lisbon Elementary School have help staying warm this winter thanks to the Keeping Kids Warm program, supported by the Charming Shoppes, Inc. family of brands (Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, and Catherines). The Keeping Kids Warm project is a national program that will donate 10,000 coats to elementary school students across the country this year.

For 10 years, the HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry has provided dental sealants to second-grade students at 25 Dallas ISD schools. The college soon will expand the program to an additional 22 district schools. According to a National Center for Health Statistics report, about 50 percent of second-graders are affected by tooth decay, resulting in absenteeism and a disruption of learning.

The Roadmap to Tree Planning & Planting program kicked off last year with more than 300 volunteers planting 100 trees at Skyline High School. The program continued this year as students, faculty and staff at W.W. Samuell High School worked with community members to plant 50 new trees on campus. Based on the environmental benefits, these trees have an estimated economic value of more than $100,000 and planting them helps the schools become negative carbon footprint schools. A carbon footprint is a calculation of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced measured in units of carbon dioxide. Samuell was chosen as a tree planting site by the Texas Trees Foundation and AMEC Earth & Environment under the Roadmap to Tree Planning and Planting initiative.

IBM donated computer learning centers for preschool programs at 40 district schools as part of a $100,000 grant. The IBM KidSmart program includes the Young Explorer computer, a computer housed in kid-friendly furniture and equipped with software to help children learn concepts in math, science, and language. IBM launched the initiative as part of its commitment to generate interest in math and science for all students and to ultimately increase the number of young people entering careers in science, math and technology.

Music students at Thomas Jefferson High School received a special gift from Fidelity Investments. Approximately 130 music students were treated to brand new, much needed musical instruments. The donation, valued at nearly $25,000, is made on behalf of Fidelity FutureStage, a community arts education initiative of Fidelity Investments, designed to support school music programs and encourage the musical talents and interests of local students.

Volunteers with the Justice Revival sprang into action on a Saturday in November beautifying and improving select Dallas ISD schools as part of their citywide service day. Projects included landscaping at Boude Storey Middle School and Billy Earl Dade Middle Learning Center, construction of a community garden and landscaping at Barbara Jordan Elementary School, and painting at Charles Rice and Amelia Earhart Learning Centers and L.G. Pinkston High School.

Office Max sponsored a "Bookcation" with a Hawaiian theme at César Chávez Learning Center. Joining with Half Price Books, Office Max was able to donate 1,700 books. In addition, the school received $1,800 in Office Max gift cards. Employees from stores across the metroplex brought leis, played a variety of games, and helped students select two books each.

Each October, Office Max joins with the “Adopt-A-Classroom” project to treat Dallas ISD teachers to a Day Made Better. This year, the teachers benefiting from a gift of Office Max school supplies totaling $1,000 each were from Chávez Learning Center and Edwin J. Kiest, Elisha M. Pease and John H. Reagan elementary schools. For more information about how your classroom can benefit from Adopt-A-Classroom, go to www.adoptaclassroom.com.

The Parent-Teacher Association at William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted raised $35,000 to provide an outdoor sport court with basketball and volleyball equipment for the school. In addition, the materials to replace the chain link fence that surrounds the school grounds with a wrought iron fence were paid for by the Uptown Public Improvement District.

National Basketball Association star Kenyon Martin from the Denver Nuggets and The Kenyon Martin Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to the Bryan Adams High School basketball team for the purchase of uniforms. In addition, the KMF donated an autograph lighted sign that is currently on display in the Bryan Adams’ Trophy Case. Martin is a graduate of Bryan Adams High School and was inducted in the BA Pro Hall of Fame in October.

Staff and students from Roger Q. Mills Elementary School, along with The Heart of America Foundation and Target volunteers celebrated the unveiling of the elementary school’s redesigned library in September. As part of the Target Volunteers School Library Makeover program, the school’s library received a complete transformation, including new books, furniture, shelving, carpet, and reading corners.

Many schools in Dallas are in desperate need of a facelift—of new plants and trees, paved walkways to replace muddy paths, and lights to brighten the façade. Relying on partnerships that include Mayor Tom Leppert, Dallas ISD, local businesses and organizations, and the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, Operation Front Door is a project to transform the "front doors" of Dallas ISD schools, creating welcoming environments for learning as well as campuses that students, parents, school staffs, and the surrounding community can be proud of. Operation Front Door matches Dallas ISD schools with businesses that donate funds and organize their employees to donate time to clean up, redesign, and landscape the fronts of the schools. Business and school partnerships that have been formed so far include:

• Atmos Energy and James Madison High School
• CityPlace TIF District and North Dallas High School
• Deloitte & Touche and Thomas Jefferson High School
• Southwest Airlines and Thomas J. Rusk Middle School
• The Gables and William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted
• ValleyCrest Landscaping Development and South Oak Cliff High School
• Victory Partners LLC and Dan D. Rogers Elementary School

In preparation for the new school year, several area businesses and community organizations have stepped forward to collect and donate school supplies and uniforms for district schools and families in need, including:

Temple Emanu-el Dallas underwrites a food and clothes closet at the Fair Oaks Youth and Family Center, located at Emmett J. Conrad High School. In addition, the organization provides tutors and funding for special programs at Jill Stone Elementary School at Vickery Meadow, including the monthly Fun Saturday Program, which provides entertainment for children while their parents attend workshops facilitated by the principal.

Thirty-one students from Charles A. Gill Elementary School got an early start on their back-to-school shopping and it didn't cost them a dime. As guests of the Mesquite Academy Sports + Outdoors, they got to go up and down the aisles, stuffing big plastic Academy bags with items they had selected. Each child got to pick out two school uniforms, a backpack, a pack of socks, a belt, and a pair of school-approved shoes. Dallas County Schools provided the bus that took the students and their parents to the store.

For more than 50 years the St. Simon’s after-school program has supported elementary school children and their families who are challenged by economic and family situations by providing a safe, familiar, nurturing place for children to be after school. The program is available to students, preschool through third grade, whose families qualify for free lunch and who do not have an adult available to care for them after school. Since 1957 the program has served more than 12,500 Dallas children.

The Rotary Club of Dallas has partnered with Woodrow Wilson High School’s administrative staff, counselors, and teachers over the last five years to design and operate a mentoring and scholarship program. The Rotary Dream Team mentoring program is designed to help high school students with financial need stay in school, prepare for and enter college on scholarships, graduate from college, and enter the workforce as productive citizens. In May, a mentoring photography portrait exhibition by Debra Shore Photography featured photos and thoughts of the Wilson High School students and their mentors from the Dream Team. According to the Rotary Club’s records, 100 percent of the students who remain in the Dream Team program have gone to college on scholarships. At a June luncheon, the Rotary Club presented $32,000 in scholarships to the Woodrow Wilson High School graduating seniors in the program.

Throughout the year, Dallas ISD schools host college and career days to give students a first look at their futures. Members of the Dallas community give their time freely to participate in career days. Their knowledge and insight help students get a better understanding of what is involved in performing specific jobs, the education and training needed, and how to set goals and career paths. Louise Wolff Kahn Elementary School hosted a career week in May. Participants included, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, members of the Dallas Fire-Rescue and Police departments, Dallas Deputy Marshals, Univision-23 anchor and reporter Wendy Cruz photojournalist Edgar Solis, and members of the Dallas business community.