Staff News

Coach Freddie Harris, a physical education teacher at Annie Webb Blanton Elementary School, says his favorite memory of his time at Dallas ISD has been seeing his first group of pre-K students graduate to middle school.

Having taught them from a young age, their transition was a heartfelt moment filled with tears and pride, he said. Harris values the personal relationships he can build as a PE teacher, mainly the opportunity to support and influence students on a one-on-one basis.

Harris, who has been a Dallas ISD team member for 10 years, is originally from Mississippi and studied in Carrollton. He chose to remain a PE teacher after earning a master’s degree in educational leadership from Lamar University, because of the personal connection and impact he can have on students over the more formal role of a principal.

“I like to have the opportunity to be myself and the ability to grow with the district if I choose to,” said Harris. 

One of Harris’s significant accomplishments is becoming a master-level teacher after starting his career through the alternative certification program. He is also proud of his involvement in the “Kids Teaching Kids Activity Challenge.” 

The program is a 21-day challenge in which students teach other students about healthy eating. The initiative is a partnership with Medical City that encourages students to engage in healthy habits and creative activities. Normally, the challenge includes cooking videos or cooking recipes of kids teaching kids. This year, the challenge was extended to physical activity with different categories. Harris chose the rhythm category as part of the physical activity.  

During COVID, Harris started a YouTube channel and uploaded workout videos because he had experience making videos. So, for the 21-day challenge, his students helped him come up with a video idea, which he submitted. Click here to watch the video. 

“We are working to come up with a challenge for the whole district, so stay tuned,” Harris said. 

In addition to participating in the 21-day challenge, Harris has organized an annual Turkey run to help students and families have a wonderful thanksgiving. Click here to watch last year’s Turkey Run at Blanton Elementary. 

“Now it’s a yearly tradition and we get Turkeys donated from different stakeholders in the community & friends.” said Harris. 

He lives by the mantra “Iron sharpens iron, as one man sharpens another” and believes that “dreams are just dreams until you apply action, and then they become a reality.” Beyond his teaching role, Harris is also a member of the USA bobsled team, aspiring to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. 

Through his work, Harris emphasizes the importance of putting love and effort into everything, believing that the energy you give is what you receive in return. 

Making the transition from being a Dallas ISD  interpreter and tutor to a math teacher was a challenge that Ndayishimiye Innocent embraced. Innocent, who just started his second year teaching at Francisco “Pancho” Medrano Junior High School, had been working in the district’s Translation Services Department for five years before diving into teaching. 

Innocent, who speaks five languages fluently,  Kirundi, Kinyarwanda, Swahili, French, English – and is in the process of reaching fluency in Spanish – is committed to making sure all of his students feel welcomed and seen. 

“As a novice teacher, I got to learn on the spot. You learn by experiencing a challenge that was needed,” Innocent said.  Being in the classroom and working with students of different backgrounds, cultures, and different needs, makes it more challenging and very different from being a tutor, Innocent said.

Having gone through his first year of teaching in the 2023-2024 school year, Innocent realized that teachers needed support beyond the classroom, and felt it  was the responsibility of the community to do their part as well. This inspired him to found a math readiness program this summer, a collaboration between the Northwest Community Center and the Dallas Burundian Community (Dabuco), where he serves as the president and one of the co-founders.

Innocent volunteered his time teaching, with the help of community volunteers, to prepare students for middle school and receive the instruction in their native language. Students learned math vocabulary, work strategies, and technology use in the classroom, which students from refugee backgrounds struggle with, he said.

This summer he also partnered with ACT AFRICA, a group of dentists, dental and medical students at Texas A&M University and a non-profit organization named Beauty Out of Dust, created by former Dallas ISD and Fort Worth ISD graduate students. Innocent allowed the group to use his family-owned health center in Bujumbura, Burundi. 

“I wanted the students’ learning experiences to not be limited by geographic boundaries, but to be able to work on international missions such as this one,” Innocent said. He facilitated the mission trip of eight students with their two professors and two professional dentists to go practice at his family’s clinic.

Innocent has had the experience of being both an immigrant and a refugee to this country and knows the challenges that newcomers and students from underserved communities face. He said that having gone through these challenges and different life lessons was the charge and call to action that made him realize that he could use his life experiences to help students make changes in their lives and have a better future. 

“As someone from parents who managed to escape the intellectual genocide and was able to go to school, I feel like I have a duty to help this community,” Innocent said. One of the reasons why Innocent said he became a teacher is because most of the people in his Burundian community, have not had the chance for an education because of their background and history, he said. 

Having been a teacher in the past in Tanzania, he had seen the fruits of his teaching career. One of his former students who had been in a refugee camp where Innocent taught became a doctor. His student stayed in touch and was featured in the local news media for the work he was doing in Tallahassee, Florida to help others. 

Innocent is no stranger to the health industry, as one of his bachelor’s degrees is in public health, along with a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. Education and public health go hand in hand, he said. When a student’s family is struggling with sickness or when a student is sick due to a disease that can be preventable, it interferes with a student’s learning success, he said. 

His organization, Dabuco, has partnered with Dallas County Health and Human Services to provide health literacy education to improve health,  which he called a solid foundation for the learning success of a student. 

While completing his studies in Kenya in 2007, he noticed that students who were HIV positive, whose parents were HIV positive, or who had lost one or both parents because of HIV/AIDS were being discriminated against and stigmatized by community members. 

To bring the students and the community together he co-founded an organization, which not only brought the students to play together, but brought forth education to help dismantle the misinformation in the community. Innocent and his team built playgrounds and partnered with the Right to Play organization – and together, this helped the students and the community unite.

Whether he is leading and connecting his community to resources, or leading his students in the classroom, Innocent said that empathy, compassion, and understanding are what gets him through challenging days. He said he is inspired by the words “primum non nocere,” which is a Latin phrase that translates to “first do no harm.” 

“This includes other people’s dreams,” he said. “All of my students have a dream, and I have a mission to help them achieve their dreams.”  He said there was a time when not many believed that he could be somebody. He said that even if a student was struggling, that did not define them. “The student might be struggling now, but they can achieve their dream. Each child has a dream and we must support them,” Innocent said. 

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.”

Don’t forget to join Superintendent Stephanie S. Elizalde and special guests on Monday, Aug. 5, for Dallas ISD’s 2024 Convocation. Together, we are making student success happen, and this virtual event will celebrate the efforts team members make every day.

Team members are encouraged to watch as a group at their campus or department to join in on the festive and inspiring kick off to the 2024-2025 school year. Streaming will begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 5, and will be available with closed captioning in English and Spanish subtitles. A countdown video will air 30 minutes before the official start time so schools and departments have time to set up and test the video streaming before the event starts.

Although food will not be provided for convocation, campuses can take the opportunity to plan welcome-back events or meetings around the virtual event.

Things to know about the event

• Each full-time team member will receive a branded fanny pack and a car visor.
• The items will be delivered to campuses and departments by Aug. 5 for distribution.
• Each campus and department is encouraged to choose a point person to distribute the items.
• The commemorative items for campus-based central employees will be delivered to their department for distribution.
• The number of items each school and department will receive was determined based on the number of full-time team members under the org.

 Things to know about streaming

• The streaming will begin at 10 a.m., and those who join after that time will join the streaming in progress.
• You will have the ability to go to a full screen to improve your viewing experience.
• Although we want everyone to join for the celebration at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 5, those who miss the event or want to watch it at a different time in conjunction with a school or department event will have access to a recording after the livestream.
• If you have any problems setting up for a group to watch or can’t access the livestream, you can contact the Help Desk at (972) 925-5630 so a Help Desk agent will enter a ticket on your behalf and deploy an available technician assigned to your location.
• Remember, a set up video will be provided 30 minutes before the livestream begins.

Where is my swag?

We are doing our best to deliver two items per person to each of the team members listed for the org numbers, but people who only receive one of the items or none can fill out a form that will be available on the convocation website. Remember that if you are a campus-based central employee, your items were delivered to your department. Check with your supervisor before filling out the form.

Where do I watch?

The link to the livestream of the convocation will be available at www.dallasisd.org/convocation. On that site, you will also find a fun playlist created to inspire you, a section with frequently asked questions, and more.

If you have any questions, email staffnews@dallasisd.org.

Because students who have access to better nutrition tend to perform better academically, are more attentive in class, have better attendance, and fewer disciplinary issues, Dallas ISD will continue to serve free meals to all students under the Community Eligibility Provision for the 2024-2025 school year.

The Community Eligibility Provision allows eligible schools to serve free meals to all students regardless of income. Under the CEP Schools receive funding based on a formula that relies on data from other sources, so families no longer have to submit applications reporting their household income if they want to take advantage of free school meals.

This program is important because access to nutritious food is the foundation of student success, Food and Child Nutrition Services said in its announcement. Additionally, FCNS recognizes that the free meals program is an important lifeline for the Dallas ISD community because it ensures students get at least two nutritious meals every day at school.

By eliminating the out-of-pocket costs for families and reducing the stigma associated with traditional free school meal programs, the CEP has become an engine for equity, said Melinda Hillis, assistant director, Food and Child Nutrition Services.

In Dallas ISD, according to FCNS, the CEP also eliminates many overhead costs like processing school meal applications, eliminates school meal debt, and increases participation. The program also enables school nutrition staff to streamline meal service, making it easier to implement innovative service models like meals in the classroom. 

Dozens of Dallas ISD team members are preparing to host a new event that will reach out to families whose children receive certain special services in the district. The Special Populations Back to School Expo will include 22 vendors and offer a variety of resources.  

Parents of students who receive districtwide services from programs such as adapted physical education, assistive technology, deaf or hard of hearing, music therapy, orientation and mobility, occupational therapy/physical therapy, speech, and vision will benefit from participation in the expo. The event focuses on students who receive the specific services mentioned and will not include a wider array of resources for all families receiving other services. The free event will be held from noon to 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 2, at the Forester Athletic Complex.

“Our vision is to create endless opportunities to ensure that all students in special education  can have access to resources available in the district. We hope this becomes an annual event,” said Kelli Hackney, one of the organizers and representative in the Adapted Physical Education Department.

Families are encouraged to register in advance so that their services can be verified. In addition to access to resources, families will receive free school supplies, backpacks, and giveaways while they last. A sack lunch will be provided to students who participate.