By Haley Thayer

Comerica Bank unveiled an African American e-book collection on Tuesday that it has donated to the Dallas Public Library system. The bank also donated 30 new Kindle e-readers to the system, 15 to the North Oak Cliff Library branch and 15 to Polk Wisdom Library.

The donation, which was announced at a press conference at the North Oak Cliff Library, has a value of $15,000, official said.

In recognition of Black History month all the new e-books are by prominent African American writers and inspiring figures such as Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and Serita Ann Jakes. Jakes was at the press conference, where she read an excerpt from her latest novel, “The Crossing.”

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, who made it out for the press conference, said that the African American culture is “strong and vibrant in our community, so it is something that we want to honor.”

In total there are 900 e-books in the collection. The collection includes adult literature, children’s literature, biographies, non-fiction and fiction books.  All of the books will be available for download by any Dallas library patron.

Wayne Mielke, Comerica’s Vice President of Corporate Communications, said that Comerica is very proud of its partnership with the Dallas Public Library system and the nonprofit group Friends of the Dallas Public Library, which raises money for the system.

“This is a win-win for our community,” Mielke said.

Comerica made a $50,000 donation in 2010 to North Oak Cliff Library and to Polk Wisdom Library for a new financial literacy collection.  Today this free program still attracts many residents and shows that the number of checked out books has risen because of it.

“We are a community-based and relationship-based bank,” said Irv Ashford, Senior Vice President of Community Development and External Affairs at Comerica Bank.

Education takes place everywhere there is something to read and learn, and the library system is exactly that, officials said. With this donation, the 28 branches in the library system will enjoy more than 7,000 new checkouts.

Comerica Bank’s Texas Market President, Pat Faubion, said his company believes that libraries are a special part of communities. Faubion said he grew up with a strong library system.

“Libraries build strong neighborhoods, strong neighborhoods build strong communities, strong communities build first class citizens.” said Faubion

Haley Thayer, 20, is a sophomore at Southern Methodist University majoring in Journalism and minoring in Art History.

Story By Michael Hubbard & Photos By Grant Meeks

Academic achievement has been lacking at A. Maceo Smith High School for many years now.  As a Texas Education Agency “Unacceptable” ranked school, low reading and math scores have been the norm since the school moved from the old Nolan Estes Plaza in 1989 to its current location in Oak Cliff.

Two years ago the DISD Board of Trustees voted to convert the school into a New Tech campus.  The New Tech Network (NTN) is a non-profit organization that helps high school students gain the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life, college, and the careers of tomorrow.

The official re-branding of A. Maceo Smith began in December of 2011. That’s when head principal Brian Lusk, a 15-year veteran of DISD, began working with his staff and the NTN to transform the school’s culture for the inaugural ninth grade class.

Michael Hubbard is a freelance writer and blogger.  A native of Dallas, TX, he is a proud graduate of James Madison High School.  Michael brings a unique, hometown perspective to his political and social commentary.  You can follow his opinions at mikeondallas.blogspot.com, and Mike can be reached at Mhubbard23@aol.com

Businesses in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex are invited to participate in a career fair at the University of North Texas at Dallas March 1 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The campus hosts the career expo every fall to connect students with local companies where they can work after graduation or even gain experience while finishing their degrees. Patricia Quinones, career development coordinator at UNT Dallas, also said students from other local schools and the public may come to the job fair.

“This is an excellent opportunity for employers to meet a diverse set of candidates and create fruitful connections with the new university in the Metroplex,” Quinones said.

To sign up or for more information, contact Quinones at (972) 780-1JOB (1562), or e-mailjaguarjobs@unt.edu. Registration is $75 for two representatives from for-profit businesses and $35 for two representatives from nonprofit organizations.

UNT Dallas is located at 7300 University Hills Blvd. (formerly Houston School Road) one mile north of I-20, and one mile east of I-35E off Camp Wisdom.

View Map: DISD School Closings in a full screen map

Last night I attended a community meeting regarding the proposed closing and consolidation of D.A. Hulcy Middle School.  I’m not going to get too deep into the specifics with this post, but there were about 75 parents, teachers, staff and students at Atwell who heard about the proposed DISD school closings.

Below I posted a map that shows how students in affected neighborhoods would be dispersed to other middle schools.  The map also shows the new Zan Holmes Middle School set to open next year.

• Umphrey Lee and Martin Weiss Elementary Schools would feed into W.H. Atwell Middle School.
• Ronald McNair and Birdie Alexander Middle Schools would feed into T.W. Browne Middle School
• Students sent to Browne would eventually attend Kimball High School.
• Carter High School is not physically located in the zone with the communities slated to attend there.

Parents were left with more questions than answers. The main rationale for closing Hulcy was that enrollment currently stands at 45% capacity. The $11.5 million in district wide savings was again touted at the meeting.

But how approximately $9 million in salary dollars ($1.5 million total from Hulcy) will be saved was not well articulated.  What happens to kids who used to walk home from after school programs?  What about the campuses with students who were exceeding expectations being sent to campuses that aren’t?

More later.

Pictured Left To Right: Andrea Nelson, Principal, Amelia Earhart Learning Center: Jorge Calderon, Dallas Market President, Capital One Bank; Angie Halamandaris, President and Co-Founder of The Heart of America Foundation; Lucia Mancilla, parent; Carolina Montealvo, student; Lew Blackburn, President, DISD Board of Trustees; Christian Jones, student and La Sonya Jones, parent.

Volunteers from Capital One Bank, Heart of America and Dallas Independent School District (DISD) recently spent two days transforming Amelia Earhart Learning Center’s library into a vibrant learning center that will engage and inspire a love of reading for students for many years to come. In addition to providing more than 800 books to the library, Capital One Bank also donated books for each student to take home to begin building at-home libraries.

More than 100 students, teachers, DISD employees and community volunteers attended the opening celebration and ribbon-cutting ceremony. DISD Board of TrusteesPresident Lew Blackburn; Amelia Earhart Learning Center Principal Andrea Nelson; Jorge Calderon, Dallas Market President, Capital One Bank, Angie Halamandaris, President and Co-Founder of The Heart of America Foundation cut the ribbon officially opening the library along with other DISD staff members and community members.  Children were immediately pulling fresh books from the shelves and reading them at the new tables or standing in line to check them out and read at home with their families.  As part of the opening day celebration Capital One Bank volunteers read aloud to the children and leadclassroom financial literacy activities.

In alignment with DISD’s green initiatives for new construction and renovations, the two-day READesign® Library Makeover included the addition of unique eco-friendly features, such as low VOC paints and Greengaurd^TM certified furnishings.

“Projects like these that allow us to work alongside our fellow community members for a great cause are an essential part of what we do,” said Jorge Calderon, Capital One Bank Market President for Dallas. “We’re proud to work with Amelia Earhart Learning Center, the Dallas Independent School District and Heart of America to make this READesign project a reality for students who will benefit from this library for years to come.”

The national READesign® program works to transform school libraries by redecorating the space, revitalizingtechnology, replenishing book shelves and renewing community support of thepowerful impact of literacy. In addition to providing children with popularclassic and modern titles for their school and home libraries, the READesign® program provides teachers with resources to help enrich students’ overall learning experience. Capital One has sponsored READesign® Library Makeovers and provided volunteers at these projects across the country.

Each year, The Heart of America Foundation identifies schools across the country that are in need of a READesign®. Since the late 1980s, a significant body of research has shown a positive relationship between school libraries and student achievement. School libraries positively influence student achievement in terms of reading scores, literacy and general learning. In partnership with corporate and community sponsors, The Heart of America Foundation aims to increase the number of books in programparticipants’ libraries to the national average of 22 books per pupil.

READesign® is one of Capital One Bank’s many programs that demonstrates their “Investing for Good” approach and long-standing commitment to community programs that benefit a range of organizations.

This will be the first year that the STAAR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness) Test will be given to students throughout Texas. It will be more challenging than the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) or the TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills) has been in the past.

The STAAR test will require students to think more about how to find the answer than just getting the answer right. This will require a different set of skills. No one knows what will be included in the test itself, only the skills or TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) are provided, and the test is based on those TEKS.

Now that you have been alphabetted to death (had to give you some background info, sorry) let’s get to the point: Why was there a need for another test and who will be affected by it? Glad you asked! Isn’t it funny that once students of color seem to get the hang of this standardized test thing, along comes something bigger and better? Is it me or does it seem like a vicious cycle of “Raise the Bar?”

As an educator, there are two terms you should become familiar with if you have school-aged children or plan to have them in the near future: met expectations and commended. “Met expectations” is what we refer to when we say someone “passed” the TAKS test. “Commended” is the rating a student gets when he or she scores more than 85% mastery on one or more parts of the TAKS test. Why are these terms important? Because if you were satisfied as a parent with your child “passing TAKS” – you ain’t seen nothing yet!  With STAAR, what was once considered “commended” is now passing the test! That’s right; the bar has been raised to new heights!

Now, you may be wondering why they are raising the bar so high in such a short period of time. Well, there is some good news and some bad news. The good news: Your child’s school will not be rated this year on how they do on the STAAR Test. In other words, schools and school districts will be allowed to use this year as a measurement of how well their students perform.

The bad news: With the new tests, at the high school level, students will have to take four separate EOC (End of Course) exams and score and average at least 70 to graduate! That’s right, the bar has been raised to a new level to determine if your child will graduate high school or not.

These decisions were not made in a vacuum. It has been a five-year process to phase in this new exam. Yep, five years! So I leave you with this question: If it’s been five years to phase in the STAAR Test, why are you just now hearing about it? I suggest you start that conversation with your local state representative. I’m just the messenger!

Casey Thomas is the immediate past President of the Dallas NAACP and an educator at Nova Academy. He can be reached at caseyt07@sbcglobal.net.

Today, University of North Texas System Chancellor Lee Jackson, announced sitting Dallas U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson as the Founding Dean of the UNT Dallas College of Law; on schedule for the opening of the Downtown Dallas location to begin accepting students in Fall 2014.

Judge Furgeson’s appointment brings to conclusion, an exhaustive search process that began late in 2009. The appointment also marks another milestone in the creation of a public law school as a cornerstone of the overall University of North Texas at Dallas vision. Judge Furgeson will assume his duties as dean of the law school in April 2013.

“I’m encouraged by the appointment of Judge Royal Furgeson as the Founding Dean of the UNT Dallas College of Law,” said Senator Royce West. “His academic and legal career as a practitioner and most recently as a noted United States jurist brings a wealth of experience that will enable him to lead the development of the law school program.

“I’m excited and Dallas should be excited about his appointment,” said Senator West. “I look forward to working with him.”

In 2009, Senator West authored SB956, creating the city’s first and only public law school. It will be located in Downtown Dallas, at the Old Municipal Building, once Dallas’s City Hall, at Harwood and Main Streets. Efforts to secure the UNT Dallas College of Law came to be through a partnership between the City of Dallas and the UNT System. The building was donated by the City of Dallas which will provide part of the funding for its renovation, along with the state. Overall funding for the law school will be appropriated by the state.

The creation of a law school is one of two “centers of excellence” as coined by Senator West in his vision for UNT Dallas. This year, the second of those, a School of Pharmacy, began its eventual journey to brick and mortar with the Texas Legislature’s agreement for its creation as a joint venture by UNT System schools, including UNT Dallas. Making higher education opportunities accessible and affordable to all who aspire to earn a college degree remains a fundamental goal of Senator West.

Remarcus West

The University of North Texas at Dallas has announced a $100,000 gift from an anonymous donor to establish the Remarcus L. West Memorial Scholarship Fund in memory of Texas State Senator, Royce West’s late son, Remarcus, who recently passed away after a prolonged illness.

Remarcus West graduated from Duncanville High School in 1997 and attended the University of North Texas and Prairie View A&M University.  He is remembered as a talented coalition builder among his peers.  “He was a person who would often bring people with multiple, even opposing interests together,” said his father.  Remarcus had hopes to continue his education by studying photography in New York, but his illness prevented him from achieving that goal.  “He would always take one step forward with his education and then two steps back when he would get sick,” said Senator West, “He knew what it was like to have to overcome obstacles to complete his education and so creating a fund that will help others surmount barriers to their dreams is a significant way to honor him.”

“We are all very saddened to learn of Remarcus’ passing.   My heart goes out to his family and friends,” said Dr. John Ellis Price, president of UNT at Dallas.  “We are privileged to be able to create this memorial fund in Remarcus’ name, and deeply appreciative of the anonymous donor’s generous lead gift.  With the Remarcus L. West Memorial Scholarship Fund, we can help students attain the educational goals that were a challenge for him, and continue his legacy by teaching others the art of building coalitions.”

“We hope that the lead gift to endow this Scholarship Fund at the University of North Texas at Dallas in memory of Remarcus will encourage others to contribute,” said Douglas Smith, vice president for university advancement of UNT at Dallas.  “Providing educational opportunities for the young people of greater Dallas, Best Southwest Cities and the North Texas region is of paramount importance to the West family, and a most fitting tribute to Remarcus.”

In working jointly with state and local officials to establish UNT at Dallas, Senator West is credited with being the driving force in bringing the first and only four-year state university to the City of Dallas.   Legislation was passed in 2001 which called for the creation of the new Dallas university, and the first building was completed in 2006.

Donations to the scholarship fund may be made by check and mailed to the University of North Texas at Dallas, Office of University Advancement, Attn:  Remarcus L. West Scholarship Fund, 7300 University Hills Blvd., Dallas, TX, 75244, or online ­­­­at https://development.unt.edu/givenow/dallas.htm .   If you wish to make a wire transfer, please contact Douglas Smith at Douglas.Smith@unt.edu or call (972) 780-3616.  For additional questions, please contact Ana Rodriguez at Ana.Herrera@unt.edu or call (214) 536-0655.

By Sydney Giesey

Seventeen-year-old Jeffrey Ray walked into his principal’s office one day recently grinning from ear to ear. He shook Principal Rawly Sanchez’s hand as Sanchez congratulated him and said, “The big UTeeeeeee.”

Ray had just been accepted to the University of Texas. He is the first student at H. Grady Spruce High School to be accepted to a university in the last four years. He is also a member of the first class to graduate from Spruce since 2008.  Ray and his senior class of about 300 students will graduate in May 2012.

“It feels like a big honor,” Ray said. “I’m going to be known like a legend at this school.”

Starting Over

On July 26, 2008, the Dallas Independent School District voted to reconstitute Spruce because it had received an Academically Unacceptable rating from the Texas Education Agency for the previous five years. Ratings are based on the school’s TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) scores. The school had to start over from scratch.

Buses lined up. Students were shipped to other schools. One hundred percent of the staff was fired. Only 25 percent could be hired back. All athletic events were cancelled for the 2008 to 2009 season. The only students at Spruce were incoming freshman and any seniors who wanted to graduate.

“The school felt empty,” Ray said, who was a freshman at the time.

Every year the school added a grade. Ray and his classmates were the leaders throughout his entire high school experience. When he was a freshman, there were no sophomores to show him the way. When he was a sophomore, there were no juniors. When he was a junior—no seniors.

“It felt different because you really didn’t have anybody to look up to, you had to set an example for the rest of the classes,” Ray said. “It would have helped if we’d had upperclassmen, but we just took it into our own hands.”

However, looking back, Ray wouldn’t change anything. If Spruce hadn’t been reconstituted, he said, the school might have closed down, and students wouldn’t have the good grades they have now.

“I think it was a good decision,” he said.

Building Students, Building Relationships

World history teacher, Jim Harp, agrees, even though he admitted the reconstitution came as “a real shock” to him.

Harp has been teaching at Spruce for the last 13 years. He was part of the 25 percent of staff Dr. Lucy Hakemack, the principal at the time, was allowed to bring back. Seventy-five percent of his colleagues were gone.

Harp remembers some of the changes that were made during the reconstitution. He said Dr. Hakemack looked for teachers that were willing to put in the extra work and extra time. If not, “you don’t need to be back,” Harp said she told him.

“We were all focused on one thing,” Harp said, “to raise up those scores.”

And they did. When he first came to Spruce, the pass rate for social studies was 53 percent, Harp said. Last year, the pass rate was 94 percent.

After the reconstitution, there were a limited number of students. Teachers could devote all of their attention to the incoming freshman. As a result, teachers like Harp built relationships with those students.

“You get real close to those kids,” Harp said. “We feel a lot of pride that they’re going to graduate.”

Even new teachers feel a sense of pride for this year’s graduating class.

“I’m going to be a hot mess at their graduation, tears and all,” English teacher Bailey Holyfield said.

Holyfield graduated from SMU in 2010, joined Teach for America, and ended up at Spruce where she said she “fell in love with a bunch of angry 11th graders.”

Holyfield wrote Ray’s recommendation letter for UT.

“UT has been his dream since he started, and to see him have that dream,” Holyfield said, “it’s incredible. It’s almost indescribable.”

Getting connected

Principal Sanchez wasn’t around for the reconstitution. He started at Spruce in August, but said he already feels connected to the students. His eyes lit up when he got a text about Ray’s acceptance letter. He said the emotions never go away; he tears up every time.

“I absolutely love what I do,” Sanchez said. “When I look into the eyes of these kids, that’s me, that is absolutely me.”

This isn’t Sanchez’s first job as a principal. He was principal at W. H. Adamson in Oak Cliff for five years, from 2004 to 2009. In his first two years, the school was Academically Acceptable. In his third year, Adamson was Academically Unacceptable. By his fifth year, the school had a Recognized rating. Adamson’s drop out rate also decreased from 57 percent to 15 percent in those five years.

Even with his experience, Sanchez said Spruce is a learning process for him. He said people sometimes don’t understand the gravity of what happened to Spruce.

“When you shut a school down and start all over again, you have to rebuild,” Sanchez said. “You rebuild culture, you rebuild climate and you have to put a sense of worth and belief in the kids at the school.”

You also have to rebuild athletic programs.

Ray was a linebacker on Spruce’s football team. His team of sophomores in 2009, and sophomores and juniors in 2010, had to play against varsity teams with juniors and seniors. This season was the first season in four years that Spruce had seniors on their team. The Timberwolves went three and six this year. They only won one game in 2010.

Despite the obstacles, Spruce has made great strides in the past few years. Even since August, tardies have been reduced by two-thirds. But the school’s work is not over. It was Academically Acceptable for the 2009 and 2010 school years, but will have an Academically Unacceptable rating for the 2011 and 2012 school years.

In order to be Academically Acceptable, all students, and each student subgroup meeting the minimum size, must meet specific TEA standards for the reading, writing, social studies, mathematics, and science portions of the test.

There are four subgroups defined by TEA: African American, Hispanic, White and Economically Disadvantaged. Not all high schools meet the minimum size requirements for subgroups. Spruce, however, does meet the requirements and received its current Unacceptable rating because of its math scores among African American students.

In 2012, there will be a new challenge, not only for Spruce, but for all Texas schools. The STAAR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness), a new standardized test, will be introduced in the 2012 to 2013 academic year. Harp said it will probably take teachers a year or two to figure out the new test.

“I think the STAARs test has kind of got everybody worried,” Harp said.

Sanchez said he looks beyond the scores.

“My goal for this school,” he said, “is to help kids realize the value of an education.”

Sanchez said students like Jeffrey Ray have an opportunity to change the course of life for themselves and their families. Sanchez has already seen this in his own family. He said one night, as he and his family sat at the dinner table, they discussed their futures.

His 10-year-old daughter asked him, “Do you know what I want to do when I grow up?”

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

“I’m going to be the principal of Adamson,” she said.

Sydney Giesey is a senior at SMU graduating in Dec. She will receive a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with an English minor. She also served as a video editor for The Daily Campus and will be a part-time writer for CW33 News once she graduates.