August 2024

Orlando Velazquez has two interests that occupy his time: his job in the front office at Anne Frank Elementary School and his pursuit of competitive figure skating.

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Velazquez was inspired to try figure skating after watching a movie about a teenager who rose to the competitive level.

“I didn’t experience winter weather, so I was amazed when my parents took me to an ice rink for the first time,” Velazquez said.

Velazquez was hooked the second his blades hit the ice. 

“I fell in love with it because it is like a form of art that allows me to express myself and how I feel. It makes me feel free, like flying on a plane,” Velazquez said. 

In Dallas, he signed up for adult figure skating classes after the 2022 Winter Olympics. He never looked back. Monday through Friday, as soon as the school day ends, he drives about five minutes down the road to the Galleria Ice Skating Center. 

Once his Edea skates are laced up, it’s game on, as Velazquez edges closer to his goal to be the first figure skater to represent Puerto Rico at a Winter Olympic Games. The Olympic moment he dreams of isn’t a medal. It’s about putting Puerto Rico in the spotlight and skating on Olympic ice.

With few “off” days, training for the Olympics is no easy feat.

In addition to practicing drills, running programs, and finessing complex spins and jumps, Velazquez does off-ice exercises and takes both private and group lessons. On the weekends, he practices at Star Center ice rinks.

One evening, Beverly Mullins Ford, principal of Anne Frank Elementary, saw him practicing at the Galleria.

“I stopped to watch the ice skaters. I didn’t know he would be there at that time, but he was, and I was amazed,” she said. “I went to school the next day and told everyone I saw him and how good he was.”

Since skating competitively, Velazquez has performed in an exhibition and entered three competitions. He recently glided into first place at a competition in McKinney. Dressed as a gladiator, he skated to the theme from “Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.”

“I still get chills when I think about it and watch the videos. I get this mixed feeling of joy, pride, relief, and accomplishment,” Velazquez said.

His dream of competing in the Olympics is now shared by his Dallas ISD family, who have rallied behind him since day one. Co-workers attend competitions and share his skating videos in the school’s newsletter.

“The highlight of this experience is how it united the entire staff in celebration,” Mullins Ford said. “Many staff members enjoyed discussing his skating and watching his videos. During the hectic and busy end-of-school-year period, his remarkable talent provided a bright and uplifting moment for everyone.” 

His pursuit of interests outside working hours is an example to his colleagues, she added. 

“Having a passion like sports, art, and music can help with overall well-being and have a positive impact on our physical, and mental health,” Mullins Ford said. “It gives us an opportunity to connect with others and even help manage our stress. For Orlando, I know skating will allow him to fulfill his passion to celebrate life.”

With his Olympic goal in sight, Velazquez plans to find sponsorships. He continues to work on improving his skating skills, including cleanly landing the double axel jump. One of the most difficult jumps in the sport, skaters have to complete two-and-a-half rotations in the air before landing. 

“It feels like I am flying. The rush of jumping and rotating that fast in under a second always gets me emotional,” Vazquez said. 

His advice to aspiring athletes is simple.

“Don’t be too harsh on yourself, always keep trying your best, take diligent care of your mental and physical health, and have fun doing what you enjoy,” Velazquez said. “Sports should be about passion and fun.”

As the start of class approaches, Dallas ISD is getting ready to welcome students back. From teachers meeting to strategize for the upcoming year to central departments making sure everything is ready to welcome students, multiple teams across the district are working diligently to ensure a smooth and exciting start for the 2024-2025 school year. Here’s a glimpse of what’s happening:

Schools

Teachers and administrators have been gathering this week to look at last year’s data and map out strategies to continue supporting student success. Teachers also have been working to review lesson plans and set up their classrooms. 

Transportation Department

• Professional learning communities: Launched in June 2024, these communities brought together executive team members at each service center for collaborative, data-informed discussions to optimize service.
• Leadership retreat: Held on July 29, this retreat energized transportation leaders and focused on the district’s mission to Level Up. Key themes included growing leaders, responsive service, owning our work, and winning through customer service.
• Athletic coordinators training: This training ensured athletic coordinators understand how to access transportation for student athletes with guidance provided by dispatchers from each service center.
• Welcome back professional development: On Aug. 1, all drivers and monitors returned for a day of professional development, with Lawnview Service Center team members enjoying snow cones provided by Neighborhood Credit Union.

Maintenance and Facility Services Department

Summer is a critical time for the Maintenance and Facility Services Department to complete projects requiring full access to buildings. With over 300 campuses and central sites, the team is working steadfastly to ensure campuses are safe, clean, and comfortable.

Among the work performed to have facilities ready to welcome team members and students was the installation of roof-top HVAC units, emergency repairs, adding water filtration systems, replacing carpet in auditoriums and other areas, building stages and replacing flooring.

Food and Child Nutrition Services (FCNS)

FCNS is launching several initiatives to enhance the nutritional experience for students and staff:

• New Menu Items: After conducting taste tests during the 2023-2024 school year, FCNS has developed new menu items based on student feedback, including Breakfast Fiesta Nachos, CharCUTErie Smart Box, Italian Grilled Cheese, and Jalapeno Breakfast Sandwich. Notably, the new Homestyle Mac and Cheese will be made from scratch as part of the back-to-scratch initiative.
• Cooking with Chef Trina: A seven-episode cooking series featuring Executive Chef Trina Nelson will showcase Dallas ISD departments and resources, such as the Environmental Education Center and Community Resource Centers.
• FCNS Community Cookbook: Partnering with the CTE program, FCNS will create a digital community cookbook available for download on their website.
• MealViewer Software App: New for the 24-25 school year, the app will display detailed food ingredients and labels, including Added Sugar, Halal, and Kosher options.

With school around the corner, the demand for passports generally declines and so does travel, which makes this a great time to renew yours. 

The University of Texas at Dallas has a U.S. Passport Acceptance Office that is open to the public. First time applicants and renewals are welcome. The office also offers photo services for most passports, visas, and immigration related needs. Applying for a passport during off-peak travel times saves time, money, and stress. The UTD U.S. Passport Acceptance Office is equipped to assist any individual applying for their passport. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are located at 17217 Waterview Parkway, Dallas, TX 75252 in office ROC 2.092. To make an appointment or view walk-in times, visit https://oics.utdallas.edu/passport-services/ or call 972-883-4715.

Dallas ISD’s Athletics Department fired up their approximately 750 coaches, trainers, and various team members at their annual back-to-school event at Skyline High School last week.

“Meeting with all the coaches to kick off the year provides us with a great opportunity to connect and share as an entire team our goals and initiatives for the upcoming year,” said Vince Reyes, assistant director of Athletics. According to Reyes, the theme for this year is Play BIG Dallas. 

“For all coaches to hear at the same time the expectations on how we all need to step up and Play BIG is exciting,” he said. 

Athletics provided workshops for UIL sports that are offered, said Cinnamon Sheffield, assistant director of Athletics over volleyball, track and field, and compliance and eligibility. The workshops were mostly led by the district’s veteran coaches and a few alumni and coaches from the area.

“We had great positive feedback from the coaches,” she said.

The sessions included how to improve as a coach, what to do in off-season strength conditioning, and other topics. Theyalso heard from veteran coaches on how to progress in the profession.

Among the guest speakers and panelists were members of school leadership, UIL representatives, and Dallas ISD departments, such as media relations and the police department, which presented on safety and security at venues. 

Cedrick Patterson, the new assistant director of Athletics over boys and girls basketball and baseball, said one of the things he was most looking forward to this school year was being an advocate for student athletes in basketball and baseball.

One of the  breakout sessions for basketball included a presentation by one of the high school girls coaches as well as the head basketball coach from SMU. 

Superintendent Stephanie S. Elizalde closed the event by sharing some encouraging  words to those who motivate others. For more information about the district’s Athletics Department, visit https://www.dallasisd.org/athletics. 

A love of gardening, a love of science and nature, and a need to learn more about where the two intersect are what motivated teacher Rikki Schramm to become a master gardener.

Schramm, a teacher at the Environmental Education Center, already had a love of gardening, but when she was put in charge of the district’s gardening website and a newsletter—Garden Club Newsletter—open to anyone in the district, she wanted to learn the correct way to do things, she said. She applied to the Dallas County Master Gardeners program and completed it this spring. 

“It’s almost like a college level course that you take that’s all about growing plants,” she said. “You learn what’s native and what’s not native, how to grow food, how to grow fruit, and all this lovely stuff, and I was able to do that,” Schramm said. 

The program is also a volunteer organization, so in addition to attending all the classes and passing all the tests, participants must complete 50 hours of volunteerism during their first year of membership at master gardener approved events, according to Schramm. She was able to complete that and graduate.

Schramm—whose little duck Poppy won The Beat’s spring pet photo contest—has worked for the district for approximately 10 years, first at Leila P. Cowart, teaching first and second grades and gifted and talented. 

Schramm, who grew up in Illinois, knew she wanted to teach in a place with warmer temperatures like Texas and learned about the job opportunities with the district when she was visiting a friend who had already made the move. She checked out a job fair and “half an hour later, I had a new job offer and a new plan,” Schramm said. 

Growing up, she wanted to become an interior designer and attended summer camps in that field. After her freshman year of college, she went to her hometown for summer and taught tennis lessons to students of different age groups. She realized she loved working with students. 

“I changed my major that summer and didn’t look back,” she said.

Schramm said the favorite part of her current job is sharing her love of nature and animals with kids. Schramm gets to experience this journey through the eyes of the students. 

“With pre-K, you bring them into the forest, and they think it’s like a fairy tale, a magical place, so that’s really exciting,” she said. “I love getting to share that with them.” 

For the older students, Schramm said that they enjoy seeing things like the rings of Saturn with their big telescopes, as well as the Galilean moons around Jupiter when they are doing a lesson on astronomy. 

One of the unexpected joys of her job is that she’s learning a lot of Spanish just by practicing with bilingual students who visit EEC, she said. ECC does offer bilingual lessons by a teacher who is fully bilingual, and Schramm is motivated to get to that level of fluency someday. 

One of the things that Schramm has enjoyed most about her job is the memories that she has created with her students and former students. 

“When I was at Cowart, I had either taught everyone’s brother or cousin or little sister or best friend, so I really got involved in the community,” she said. Now she sees some of her former students that are now in middle school or high school go on field trips to EEC. 

“They look a little older,” she said. “But it’s so exciting when you see a kid that you remember when we do district outreach events, like school jams, and I run into former students. It’s super awesome.”