Staff News

Volunteer attorneys will answer legal questions at no cost from 4-8 p.m. every Wednesday in May via a LegalLine E-Clinic, sponsored by the Dallas Bar Association—a professional, voluntary organization of more than 11,000 Dallas-area attorneys. 

This month’s remaining LegalLine E-Clinics are May 10, May 17, May 24, and May 31. A volunteer attorney will call the participant to provide up to 15 minutes of free legal advice for their legal issue. 

Space is limited, and registration will close at noon on the Tuesday prior. To participate, complete the online form found here for the upcoming LegalLine. 

Please note that the volunteer attorney will remain anonymous. Participants should watch for a call from an unknown number that should be labeled “No Caller ID” or something similar. No attorney-client relationship will be established. There is no guarantee that the attorney will speak any language other than English. Individuals may also receive referrals to local, legal, or social service agencies.

For legal assistance any time, contact the DBA’s Lawyer Referral Service at www.dallasbar.org/index.cfm?pg=LawyerReferralService.

Becoming a teacher was always in the back of Allison Eddy’s mind, but she said she did not take the leap until she became a substitute teacher and saw how powerful the connections she formed with her students could be. 

“I was a long-term sub for six weeks, and it felt like my classroom,” she said. “Then one evening I got a text that I was no longer going to be their substitute. That broke my heart. I really knew my students, and I never wanted to be pulled from a class again. So I signed up and got my alternative teaching certification through the state of Texas.”

Eddy is now an accomplished eighth-grade social studies teacher at Thomas J. Rusk Middle School. She has taken on a variety of leadership roles that have made a noticeable difference in her school community. 

“Ms. Eddy has been serving our campus as the unofficial redesign coordinator, arranging all of our intervention rosters, clubs, student schedules, etc., going on two years now,” said Shannon Cagle, a fellow Rusk teacher. “She is also the eighth-grade chair, the Altruismo house leader, and still manages to rock some awesome scores. The students love her and our redesign campus would not have been nearly as successful if it were not for her diligence in organizing everything.” 

As one of Dallas ISD’s five redesign schools for the 2022-2023 school year, Rusk has reimagined every school day to include more time for teachers to collaborate and prepare, as well as more time for student enrichment and acceleration.

Eddy has been at the forefront of those efforts, creating detailed rosters that track test data to rotate students through either reading and math intervention or science and social studies intervention on Redesign Wednesdays. She also builds club schedules based on each student’s interests and club availability to give students the best experience possible during Rusk’s monthly club days. 

“Redesign is always focused on intervention,” Eddy said. “The purpose of Redesign Wednesdays is for teachers to be able to see all of their students and provide small group instruction so they can target TEKs based on the data. And it’s worked. Last year we were ranked ninth out of all middle schools in Dallas ISD.”

Eddy said she is proud to be transforming student lives at an Accelerating Campus Excellence school like Rusk. Since it became an ACE school, Rusk has gone from an “F” rating to a high “B,” and Eddy said it is “a great place to work.”

“At this point I’ve taught siblings, I’ve taught cousins—I’ve been teaching full families,” she said. “We call ourselves the Ram Fam here, and that’s one thing that I see as a success: being able to truly connect with my kids. And then once you have those relationships, that’s when I think the data shows.” 

It was a full circle moment for Maria “Lupe” Vargas Garcia, when she first came to teach at W.E. Greiner Middle School Exploratory Arts Academy to be the orchestra director—she had attended the school as a student.

When she found instruments at the school that could potentially be used to start a mariachi student program, she approached her principal about the idea and received the green light to start an afterschool program. 

“I just figured there’s a lot of Latinos in the school and thought this would catch on really well here,” Garcia said. “I expected about 10 to 15 kids to show up. On the first day, about 30 kids showed up.”

What started out as an afterschool program is now part of the academy at Greiner. Just last month, Mariachi Los Unicos performed at the Texas Association of Mariachi Educators State Festival and was selected for the Middle School Showcase group, bringing the school another award and accolades. 

“We have approximately 150 students because we have a cap, otherwise we’d have more,” she said. “Many of the students who are in the orchestra program are also in the mariachi program.” 

For Garcia, this journey of bringing a mariachi program into a school started long before she became a music director at Greiner. 

When she was a student at Moisés E. Molina High school, she was part of the Young Strings Program with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Through the program she received a scholarship for private lessons, and she credits the DSO and her parents’ support for molding her violin playing through high school. 

While Molina didn’t have a mariachi program at the time, her mom, a community activist, thought it would be a great idea for Molina to offer this to students. 

“My senior year, my mom was able to advocate for the mariachi program, and they started the program at Molina. I worked really hard as a music student as well as in my academics and sports, as I graduated fourth in my class.” Garcia went on to graduate magna cum laude from The University of Texas at Arlington. She taught at Harry C. Withers Elementary and Nathan Adams Elementary School before coming to Greiner. 

Garcia has worked for the district 16 years, 14 of those at Greiner. She learned to play all the mariachi instruments with the help of her husband, who is part of a mariachi group with Garcia. 

“Being an orchestra director, I knew how to play a lot of the band and orchestra instruments already, but now I can now play or have an understanding of all the mariachi instruments—about eight instruments or so,” she said.

There’s a story about how Mariachi Los Unicos got their name. In choosing the name, Garcia wanted one that represented the school. 

“Our mascot is the yellow jacket, but could not find a name that represented that, and then I thought of the name los únicos (which translates to the only ones or unique), because we were the only middle school in Dallas ISD at that time that offered mariachi. We were the first ones, so that is a unique part of our story,” Garcia said.

Garcia says part of her No. 1 rule is that all of her students are required to not only sing, but to play an instrument in the mariachi group.

“In our program, violin and guitar are the most popular, but we give students the option after they’ve been educated as to what is needed in the mariachi band, and a lot of them choose their instruments,” she said.

Garcia is thankful not only to have a supportive principal and school, and a very knowledgeable and seasoned co-director, but to also have the support of the Greiner parents and community as well. 

“Many of the parents support the program through the booster club. They run errands, pick up uniforms from the dry cleaners, raise money for uniforms and food, and make themselves available to help.” 

Garcia has also received a lot of positive feedback from her colleagues at Greiner and from other directors.

“They say that they really appreciate the program because the students help put Greiner on the map, because these kids are doing such a great job representing us as they perform at the many events. They also need to be in good academic standing and have good discipline. In turn, this helps the students grow as a person,” she said.

Another thing that Garcia has heard parents express is their appreciation of culture through music. 

“I’ve heard comments like a parent who told me she heard her son singing her favorite song El Rey, and that’s something that makes the family feel proud and honored,” she added.  

But beyond that, Garcia believes that music defines culture and identity.

”It’s the basis of our civilization, and what better than to not just listen to it, but to be able to actually produce it and play it?” she said. “That’s exciting for them and for me to be able to instill this culture in them. Music can play an important role in a child’s development.”

One of the favorite things about being an orchestra and mariachi director for Garcia is seeing the students blossom. She said she loves to see their growth when they are up on stage performing for their parents and the community and know she had a part in it. 

Mariachi Los Unicos is busy at events throughout the year, in events such as Hispanic Heritage, Dallas ISD celebrations,DeSoto Teen Expo, the convention of police department chiefs, state fair performances, and others. 

While the group volunteers its time, donations to the booster club help support these community performances. 

One of the greatest rewards of Garcia’s work is seeing her former students go on to pursue careers in music like the student who graduated from Texas State University with a performance degree in violin and is now auditioning to get into the top mariachi group in California. Another former student became a conductor of a symphony orchestra, and yet another student is in the New York Philharmonic.

“I’ve run into several former students who are now playing mariachi professionally in Oak Cliff and throughout the Dallas area. I’m just very proud to see them out in the community performing and doing what they love.”

To catch Mariachi Los Unicos in their next performance, visit their social media page at: https://www.facebook.com/Mariachi-Los-Unicos.

Mental Health Awareness Month was first celebrated in 1949 to highlight the importance of maintaining overall health and well-being, and Dallas ISD’s Mental Health Services and Human Capital Management are sharing resources for team members throughout May. 

This year’s Dallas ISD theme, “More than enough,” speaks to the importance of unique individuals accepting who they are despite their challenges in life.

Mental Health Services resources 

Mental Health Services invites all students, team members, and community members to join the district in fighting the stigma around mental health by posting the ways you celebrate your mental health on social media. Don’t forget to use the hashtags #dallasisd and #morethanenough. You can also check the @TeamDallasISD Twitter page for daily mental health tips throughout the month.

Be on the lookout for Dallas ISD’s Mental Health Awareness Month Recognition Activities, which include: 

• May 3 — Begins “wear green” Wednesdays / Mental Health Services-guided mindful meditation
• May 17 — Create a self-care collage
• May 24 — Mindful exercise, yoga, and Mental Health Services’ Walk-for-Mental Health
• May 31 — “Mental Health Matters,” a Mental Health Services roundtable talk

Another way you can participate in the celebration is by taking advantage of Mental Health Services’ Mental Health Month Toolkit, where they have provided activities and resources to raise awareness about mental health. 

Feel free to click on the links, download the articles, videos, and more, and use them with your students, family members, or for yourself. Mental Health Services is encouraging every member of the Dallas ISD family to look within and embrace all of who you are. 

Dallas ISD’s Employee Assistance Program

Dallas ISD is committed to the four pillars of its wellness program—health and wellness, mental health, social health, and financial health. Mental Health Awareness Month is a great time to focus attention on the resources available to district employees to ensure their mental and emotional well-being.

The May Mental Health Awareness Month campaign is focusing on the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which is free for employees, 100 percent confidential, and available to all employees and their dependents. 

Sessions through the EAP are available by phone, virtual, and in person. Employees can also find tips, articles, self-assessments, and topical features focusing on specific EAP resources available through the EAP smart App.

To start on your wellness journey please visit dallasisd.lifeworks.com and follow these instructions:

• Select ‘Sign up’ in the top right-hand corner of the page.
• Alternatively, you can download the free LifeWorks mobile app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store on your smartphone and enter the invitation code in the ‘Sign up’ section. 

If you have already registered, you can download the free LifeWorks mobile app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store on your smartphone and press ‘Log In’. You can also visit LifeWorks on one of the supported browsers (Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome, or Edge) and log in.

If you need additional support, reach out to EAP by calling 972-925-4000 and selecting option 3 for EAP. And remember, you are more than enough! 

Gerardo Hernandez, principal at Thomas J. Rusk Middle School, was born and raised in East Dallas. He attended school in Dallas ISD, moving from Mount Auburn Elementary School to J.L. Long Middle School and graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School. 

As a proud product of Dallas ISD, he said he wanted to give back to his community, so after college he began teaching at Oran M. Roberts Elementary School for seven years as a fifth-grade science/social studies teacher before continuing on as a school administrator. 

He has since dedicated 16 years to education, with seven total years as a teacher in Dallas ISD and seven years as an administrator in the district. 

Hernandez’s passion for student success has been at the heart of his career, and he said he is grateful to have received the Master Principal designation for the 2022-2023 school year and to be among the top 10 percent of Dallas ISD principals in three categories: neighborhood elementary schools, neighborhood secondary schools, and choice schools. Learn more about his educational philosophy below. 

What drew you to education? 

A proud product of Dallas ISD, I wanted to give back to our communities what was once given to me: a great education. Providing students with a great education and additional opportunities to grow as individual leaders is still the driving force for me today. 

What qualities make a great principal? 

Great principals have a clear vision and mission, are active listeners, are supportive, develop leaders, collaborate without hesitation, are continuous learners, and more.

What is your educational philosophy or a motto by which you work? 

Student success is the only option. 

What inspires you about your position? 

I am inspired by the teachers’ and students’ growth, development, and endurance as learners. I began this journey as an educator because of a teacher who inspired me as a student to push myself as a learner. I want to be that for someone else. I hope I have inspired others to do the same for themselves. 

Her students don’t just learn to speak conversational Korean. They also practice arts and crafts and make pottery, kites, ethnic masks, fans, and other artifacts. And they are introduced to Korean foods – all the while learning about the country and its traditions. “I give them rewards, like Korean snacks or different cultural activities, to make it as enjoyable as possible,” she said.

Sometimes Nah brings guests to her classes, to acquaint students with different aspects of the culture. For example, “I had a tae kwon do instructor come and teach the students ways to defend themselves in a physical situation. And last year we had a visitor who brought a jikji, which was the first system in the world for mass printing. The Gutenberg Bible is known as the first book in the world, but the Korean jikji is the first mass printing system in history. A jikji ambassador came and brought printing samples, to teach students how to do traditional calligraphy. She brought the brushes and special paper to demonstrate.

More than the language

“It’s definitely about more than just learning the language and reading comprehension,” Nah says. “Language is maybe 60 percent of it, and the other 40% is fun activities” to teach the students about the culture. “We have fun games and activities because learning a non-alphabet-based language can be very hard.”

The Korean language system, called Hangul, is made up of 14 consonants and 10 vowels. It is the official writing system in South Korea and North Korea and is used by the Korean diaspora across the world. Some non-natives struggle to master it because it’s really different from the English alphabet.

“It can be especially hard for those who have never been exposed to cross-cultural experiences. Those who already have bilingual exposure at home (for example, parents who speak Spanish) find it much easier to learn another language than those who have never had that experience. It takes longer and is more difficult for those who are not exposed to other languages.“

This is Nah’s fifth year in the district, making her the longest-serving teacher in the relatively new Korean language program. Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, she came to the U.S. as an adult a little over 30 years ago, after growing up in a family of educators.

“My father was a professor, and so are a lot of my family members. My sister is a professor, as was my late brother. My husband’s family members were teachers and professors, and as a youth pastor, my husband also taught. It really runs in the family. And my daughter, Phoebe, is a music teacher at Preston Hollow Elementary School in Dallas ISD.”

Nah first settled in the Los Angeles area, where she worked for the California Employment Development Department, conducting workshops for job seekers who needed to be retrained to join the workforce. “It was job coaching in a classroom setting. I traveled to classrooms in different communities for about 10 years. After I relocated to Carrollton, Texas, I worked as an education center director in Plano, hiring tutors to make sure students achieved their academic goals.”

She learned about the Korean language teaching job through Dallas ISD’s alternative certification program. “It was something I knew I could do well as a native Korean speaker.” She is the only Korean teacher at Skyline. And because there are very few Asians in the district, she says, her students are 100% non-Korean-heritage. But they are eager to learn. Skyline’s Korean language program is growing and more students are coming back for the next level, Nah says.

Vanessa M., a sophomore in her second-level class, is one of those students. “The class is very comforting and welcoming. I feel like I can be myself when I am in this class. The subject itself is very interesting to me, and Ms. Nah makes it easier and so much more fun to learn. I am honored to be a part of this class.”

Sparking interest in another culture

The students are really motivated and enjoy the classes, Nah said. “And that is something that motivates me to go on. Also, some students are very much interested in Korea. They want to visit there, and they are applying for different opportunities to do so.”

One such opportunity is the Hanbok photo contest, where students dressed in traditional Korean clothing that Nah provided and took photos at landmarks around Dallas to enter a photo contest in Korea. If they are selected, they will have their photos featured in the Korean news.

In another project, some of Nah’s students are participating in a joint class with a school in South Korea. Through a program that matches schools in Korea and the United States, they are reading a story together and sharing reflections, using Padlet as the sharing platform. “We will read O. Henry’s ‘After Twenty Years’ and discuss friendship – what is a good friendship, what is a bad friendship – with Korean juniors and seniors. It is a remarkable thing that we are actually connected with students in Korea.”

“My students are interested in visiting Korea and applying globally for different things, so they are thinking a lot more internationally,” Nah said. “They have better exposure to expand their lives and pursue different opportunities through photos or video contests and the like. They are enriching and expanding their lives, rather than limiting themselves to what is local.”

Dallas ISD is joining a 50-year celebration on May 10 that recognizes school nurses and promotes a better understanding of the role they play in education—National School Nurse Day.

Zelda Saxton has been a school nurse at Obadiah Knight Elementary School for the past 14 years, and she said she has loved every moment of it. She previously worked in oncology and hematology units with a focus on cancer patients, so she said it wasn’t until she came to Dallas ISD that she fully understood the importance of supporting education.

She recalls working with a student who had dyslexia and was struggling with reading, so when testing came around, he told Saxton that he was going to fail. He did not because he received the academic, physical, and mental support he needed from team members at Obadiah Knight and was commended in reading. 

“As soon as he got the notification that he did well, he told his fifth-grade teacher, ‘I have to go talk to Nurse Saxton right now,’” Saxton said. “It brings tears to my eyes because I heard him running down the hall. He ran into the clinic and said, ‘Guess what? I passed.’ And I just broke down and cried. That was amazing.”

Saxton wears many hats to ensure her students remain safe and healthy. She said she works on the frontlines of mental health, identifying potential concerns and referring students to the school counselor as needed. At the same time, Saxton keeps health records and works with families to get their students the care they need as soon as possible.

“Nurse Saxton is a wonderful mentor to our students, team members, and visiting nurses as well,” said Principal Blanca E. Rojo. “Many of our students see her as a second counselor that they can lean on in times of trouble. She also spreads her TLC when we are feeling under the weather. We are very fortunate to work with a school nurse who goes above and beyond the call of duty and who is resourceful, helpful, and kind.”

Obadiah Knight also has a partnership with Children’s Health that enables students to have telehealth visits with medical providers without leaving campus, which Saxton supports by contacting families and registering their students for the program. 

“It’s a really great program for us,” Saxton said. “If our students are cared for on campus and at home, then we know there’s a higher potential for them to come to school every day and have a really good attendance record. And while they’re sitting in class, they’re going to learn something, and it’s going to stick.”

Saxton said she sees an average of about 40 students a week with everything from illnesses to broken bones, but she does not stop transforming student lives when the work day ends. She tutors students after school, attends basketball games, serves as the soccer team manager, and more, and she said it’s all because of her love for her students.

“I love school nursing, and I love working with kids,” Saxton said. “I could arrive in a bad mood, and just seeing these students gives me a high every day. You can make school nursing anything you want it to be, and I want it to encompass as much as I can and keep my students healthy, mentally and physically. When we do that, our kids are going to do their best.” 

Several Dallas ISD facilities will serve as voting centers during the joint election on Saturday, May 6. Department heads, principals, and office managers of the 98 facilities assigned to serve as polling locations are asked to prepare and staff their facilities accordingly.  

Team members are reminded of election laws related to political electioneering and political advertisement. Although district employees do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate, neither an employee nor anyone else has an absolute constitutional right to use all or parts of a school building or its immediate surrounding areas for unlimited expressive purposes. Therefore, the time, place, and manner restrictions outlined in this memo are imposed regarding electioneering on district property. 

All listed facilities should be opened promptly at 5 a.m. on May 6. Election judges will need access to the buildings until 10 p.m. or until the election staff is finished for the evening.

Please ensure that school team members cooperate with the election judges regarding set-up requests and that polling locations are presentable. At no time should a district facility be left unattended by district personnel.

A custodian will be required to work overtime on May 6. Two custodians may split the time, but there should be no overlap of time between the custodians. Custodial team members must use the supplemental pay icon on the biometric time and must clock in and out, using the activity code 131904.  

To see all the assigned facilities, click here. Contact Orlando Alameda at (972) 925-5142 or OAlameda@dallasisd.org with additional questions. 

Van Harris, a fifth-grade science teacher at Maria Moreno STEAM Academy, knows how to motivate his students to go above and beyond. For example, he had a student miss just one question on her common assessment test last year. As he was guiding his class through setting goals for their upcoming State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test, this student decided she wanted to aim for a perfect score. 

“I said, ‘OK, we’re going to focus on that goal,’” Harris said. “So I got her packets on the one TEKS she missed, and from that point on we did packets and different activities on that TEKS over and over. Then on the STAAR test, she got them all correct. I’ve never seen that before in my life.”

Harris, who is Maria Moreno’s 2022-2023 campus teacher of the year, said he credits his passion for education and transforming student lives to his family. He comes from a long line of teachers, starting with his great-great-grandfather and continuing onto one of Harris’ own daughters. 

After 24 years of teaching, Harris has countless student success stories. Some of his top classroom strategies include creating clear procedures for his students’ day-to-day operations, modeling behaviors he wants to see from them and taking advantage of resources and partnerships to increase engagement. 

Maria Moreno has a partnership with OutTeach, a nonprofit that trains teachers to use the outdoors to improve math, science and language arts instruction, and Harris said he has loved incorporating outdoor activities into his lesson plans.

During a weathering and erosion activity, he had his students gather rocks and put them in tubes of water. He then played Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” while his students danced and shook their closed tubes. By the end of the song, he said his students poured out the rocks and were able to see how “smooth and shiny” they were.

“When you make those connections hands on, the students are committed and they never forget,” Harris said. “That’s why I enjoy this particular subject. Students are interested in space and the world, and they’re always asking questions.” 

While teaching can be challenging, Harris said he is thankful for the opportunities he has had to make memorable moments in the classroom and ensure that his students are on their way to being college and career ready. 

“I love teaching science because science is life,” Harris said. “My students have learned a lot, and they are proud of that. I am pretty proud of them, too.”

World Immunization Week is recognized annually during the last week of April to promote the use of vaccines and the protection they provide against vaccine-preventable diseases. Dallas ISD’s Health Services department offers a range of services to meet the mental and physical health needs of students and families in the district, including immunizations. 

According to Jennifer Finley, executive director of Health Services, the district’s partnerships with the Dallas County Health Department and Parkland Health have provided more than 10 mobile immunization clinics throughout the district. 

“We are so fortunate to have medical community partners that provide opportunities for students to receive school-required immunizations,” Finley said. “Staying up to date with routine immunizations protects against diseases such as measles and whooping cough.”

Dallas ISD offers two ways for district students to receive immunizations:

• Families can make an appointment at a Youth and Family Center to receive immunizations for as little as $5.
• Families can receive immunizations at no cost from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Care Van, a mobile immunization clinic that visits schools and serves families at community events throughout the year. Contact your school nurse to find out when the Blue Cross Blue Shield Care Van is scheduled for your child’s campus.

Learn more about the available health services in Dallas ISD by visiting https://www.dallasisd.org/Page/952, and help spread the word about World Immunization Week  to help keep students, team members and families safe.