Extra Credit

Fort Worth employers honored for help in education

Fort Worth had five of the 11 employers recognized by the state today for their efforts to get staff members to volunteer with local schools. This is the second year for the Employers for Education Excellence Award, which was created by the Legislature in 2007. They were:

the city of Fort Worth for its 100 Mentors in 100 Days Program, that encourages workers to volunteer as mentors so at-risk youth will stay in school.

Huckabee & Associates, Inc., where employees can take time off to attend parent-teacher conferences and school programs and to serve as tutors and role models for students in the Crowley school district. The company does bond program work for various districts in the county.

Johnston Legal Group, which started a program to help students who are struggling with reading skills at I.M. Terrell Elementary School in Fort Worth. The firm also provided attorneys to talk to students about their profession during a school-wide career day.

Texas Wesleyan University, which has endeavors to enhance academics in Fort public schools and offers employees time off to work with students on science, math and music studies.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, whose Fort Worth office sponsors an employee Pen Pal Mentoring program with fourth graders at Van Zandt-Guinn Elementary to help the students with with reading and writing skills.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Orchestra classes could be coming to Mansfield

Mansfield school administrators want to build an orchestra program a little at a time for the next few years.
A proposal to be reviewed by school trustees tonight calls for the district to add three stringed-instrument teachers next year to start a pre-orchestra program in the fifth grade. After that, the program will grow each year until it’s fully implemented in the district’s secondary schools in fall 2017, Fine Arts Director Russ Sanders said.
In the past, Mansfield’s rapid expansion kept administrators focused on maintaining the quality of current programs instead of starting new ones, Sanders said. Now that student population growth has slowed to between three and four percent a year, the district can increase its offerings, he said. Mansfield already has successful band and choir programs.
Sanders said it’s hard to estimate how much the orchestra program will cost, but adding the three teachers next year is expected to add about $150,000 in salary expenses. As for the rest of the program: “Trying to decide how much that would be is going to be a little difficult,” Sanders said. “Because we have no idea until the numbers actually materialize what that would look like. Do you plan for a middle school orchestra of 125 or 225? That is going to be the challenge for us.”

- Traci Shurley

Snow will set a holiday mood at Carroll theater's musical

Carroll's student theater department is among the first public high schools in the nation to stage Irving Berlin's "White Christmas." Southlake-based Carroll is known for special effects and elaborate sets. After all, in 2007 they staged the first high school production of Broadway's "The Phantom of the Opera," complete with a 600 pound chandelier. This time, 13 snow machines are planned to sprinkle snow over the audience, said Stacie Martinsen, theater director.

Opening night is Dec. 4 and the show runs for two consecutive weekends through Dec. 13.  Cost is $15 to $25. Officials have added an another performance on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.

Jessamy Brown

Mansfield teen's care package collection exceeds expectations

When Mansfield High School senior Charlie Jordan started the project that will help him become an Eagle Scout, he hoped to collect about 50 care packages to be sent to troops overseas through the Website www.anysoldier.com.

Jordan's father, Lt. Col. Richard Jordan, is serving with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan. It is his third deployment. Charlie Jordan wanted to honor his father's service and help other soldiers. 

The collection exceeded his expectations, by a lot. Help came from other scouts, businesses like AT&T and Federal Heath Sign, and others in the community.

On packing day "we didn't have enough boxes to put all the stuff in," Jordan said of the collection of everyday items like toiletries and snacks. "We didn't have enough customs forms to fill out. We had no idea we were going to get more than 200 ...I ended up with 314."

The overwhelming response led Jordan to send out another appeal, an e-mail to friends, family and supporters looking for help with unexpected mailing costs. That too has been answered with offers of support. Jordan is still collecting donations and said he'll use any extra funds to make and mail more care packages. For more information, e-mail him at texasscout2009-eagle@yahoo.com.

- Traci Shurley

UTA to hold Fort Hood vigil

Delta Sigma Pi, the UT Arlington Residence Hall Association and the African Students Organization is organizing a candlelight vigil Tuesday night to honor those injured and killed in Thursday's shootings at Fort Hood.

The event starts at 7 p.m. on the Libary Mall, near the the university library at 702 Planetarium Place. It's open to the public.

- Traci Shurley

LULAC Council says Arlington should name new elementary after Chavez

Arlington school trustees just got voter okay for a $197.5 million bond issue, but one community organization is already making suggestions about what to name a new elementary school included in the package.

Trustees should consider honoring civil rights activist and labor leader Cesar Chavez when it names the school to be built in east central Arlington, Luis Castillo, president of Arlington Council 4353 of the League of the United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), said in a press release Thursday night.

"To honor Cesar Chavez in a predominantly Hispanic student population part of the school district is the right thing to do," said Castillo, a former school board candidate. "Even though construction of the new elementary school may be one or two years away, we jubilantly look forward to the grand opening of the Cesar Chavez Elementary School."

After Thursday night's school board meeting, Board President Mike O'Donnell said he expects Castillo won't be the only one making suggestions when the time comes to name the new school.

"There will be lots of community groups that will have different ideas about what we should do and I certainly welcome him being at the forefront," O'Donnell said.

- Traci Shurley

Arlington's Butler Elementary celebrates exemplary rating

Hundreds of students, parents and staff from Arlington's Butler Elementary showed up to Thursday night's Arlington school board meeting for a recognition of the school's recent exemplary rating from the Texas Education Agency.

And the party wasn't just inside the boardroom. The group filled the lawn and parking lots at the district's administrative offices on Pioneer Parkway, celebrating together and sharing a barbecue dinner before the 7 p.m. meeting.

"The Butler teachers, staff and students worked hard last year to achieve their Exemplary rating," Bart Thompson, a parent and one of the organizers of the event, said in an e-mail Thursday. "We wanted to show them just how proud we are of that hard work. They deserve it."

- Traci Shurley

Arlington, Texas Railroad Commissioner both backing propane fuel

Railroad Commissioner  Michael L. Williams and other alternative-fuel vehicle supporters stopped in Fort Worth today to talk to local municipal and school officials about turning to propane vehicles, especially school buses.

Arlington schools, which received the green-light from voters Tuesday on a $197.5 million bond package, has already signed on. The district plans to use bond funds to purchase 120 new propane buses over the next five years to update their aging fleet.

The district says it will get more than $1 million in reimbursements through government grants and manufacturer rebates to buy the cleaner-burning vehicles. One of those grant programs is a U.S. Department of Energy grant recently awarded to the Railroad Commission and 40 partner fleets in Texas.

Arlington also plans to take advantage of federal fuel rebates of 50 cents per gallon.

Williams' visit to Fort Worth was part of his seven-city "Breathe Easy" Tour. (In the picture from the Railroad Commission: Wayne Corum with The City of Fort Worth, Roy Willis, with The Propane Education Research Council,  Williams, and Jack Roush at the Propane Vehicle Tour today in downtown Fort Worth.)

“The cost savings fleets will observe with propane vehicles make them a common-sense choice.  For school districts and other public fleets, those savings taxpayers, as well as their residents to breathe a little easier,” Williams said in a statement.  “Propane is less expensive than diesel, and additional federal and local incentives for the purchase of propane fuel and propane-powered vehicles help make the financial benefits even stronger.”

- Traci Shurley

Mansfield auto-tech classes kick off Christmas bike collection

Students in automotive-technology classes at Mansfield’s Ben Barber Career Tech Academy have kicked off their yearly “Bikes for Angels” fundraiser, and they have set a big goal.
They want to raise $25,000 to buy at least 600 bikes for needy children, according to the school district. Last year, students raised $21,000 to buy 425 bikes for students in need at Mansfield’s elementary and intermediate campuses. (That's a picture of last year's collection at the left.) They also gave bikes to the Meredith Hatch Foundation in Mansfield, the YMCA of Arlington and a few other nonprofits.
To learn more, go to the district’s blog. To get involved or make a donation, contact instructor Rick Curlee at 817-299-1939 or e-mail him at curlri@mansfieldisd.org.

- Traci Shurley

 

State marching band finals wrap up in San Antonio

The Dripping Springs High School marching band was named state champions in tonight's finals. The Mansfield Legacy band placed seventh and Waxahachieplaced eighth. Here are how our area bands ranked among the 26 bands during the prelims earlier in the day. Only the top 10 advanced to the finals. Click here for complete results.

Mansfield Legacy, 5th

Waxahachie, 8th

Fort Worth's Southwest, 12th

Azle, 14th

Boswell, 16th

Saginaw, 19th

-Eva-Marie Ayala

TCU parties like a rockstar

Is that some electric guitar with that marching band? Why, yes it is. As we wait for the state high school championship announcement, the Horned Frog's band is performing their "Rockstar" show that includes music by Jimi Hendrix, Queen and the Shop Boys' "Party Like a Rockstar." The show includes a back-n-forth with electric guitar and a tuba. Way funky.

Mansfield Legacy HS makes it to the state finals

The Broncos were the only Tarrant County band to make it into the top 10 for the finals at the state marching band competition in San Antonio. Here's part of their show from the finals. The championship winner is expected to be announced later tonight at about 9:45 p.m.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Southwest High School's state UIL show

Here's the opening of Fort Worth's Southwest High School band's performance at the Alamodome today. It is the first Fort Worth school district campus to advance to that level.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Azle High School's "dancing shoes" wow crowd

Star-T reported Eva-Marie Ayala is covering the state band competitions in San Antonio. Here's footage of some of the performance from Azle High School, which features several students maneuvering a pair of giant red dancing shoes to impress the judges.

Saginaw High School in the home stretch

Saginaw High will be the last of 26 bands performing at the Alamodome today during preliminaries. Band director John Canfield had all 236 students doing breathing excercises and stretching as the prepared for their show at 4 p.m. "It helps them to have good air and air stream," he said. "Marching band is very athletic, so this loosens them up so they do not pull a muscle."

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Arlington's Sam Houston hosts life skills event

An event that showcased life skills for high schoolers and their families drew more than 100 parents, educators and students to Arlington's Sam Houston High School on Saturday.

The school district and the Arlington Coalition for Education organized the Leaders Inspiring Families for Excellence (LIFE) Academy. The coalition includes alumni chapters of several traditionally African-American sororities and fraternities and Phi Delta Kappa, an association of professional educators. The Arlington alumni chapter of sorority Delta Sigma Theta spearheaded the founding of the coalition last year.

The LIFE Academy was free and featured lessons on financing a college education, public speaking, how to help your child study, avoiding credit card abuse and several other topics. (Those are students from Martin High School at left. Thanks to the Arlington Coalition for the photo.)

A similar event is planned for February for junior high students.

- Traci Shurley

Southwest High School students inspired for state

Fort Worth's Southwest is the first from the district to make it to the state competition.
Students said the week leading up to today has been overwhelming. In fact, band alumni from as far back as 1971 sent letters praising the students' accomplishments.
"They really inspired us," senior Victor Macias said. "They showed us it's not about winning and scores. It's about what's in our heart and playing what's in our hearts and laying it all on the field. They're right."
-Eva-Marie Ayala

Boswell High School band just warming up

The Boswell High School band is back at state for the second consecutive year in 4A competition. Drum major Aaron Sanderson was a saxophone player when the band marched two years ago. He said he feels so much more pressure this year. "As a a leader, you want be sure each one s playing the best they can and set an example to so that they have a great experience and get the most out of going to state and enjoy it all," he said. Here's assistant band director Dimas Delgado warming up the band before the show.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Mom's job is never done, especially at state

Waxahachie band mom Lisa Richardson was running around the Alamodome parking lot. She was armed with a needle and thread making last-minute adjustments. Like most moms accompanying the bands in San Antonio, she tries to anticipate any need. "I got it all -- needle, thread, flushable wipes," she said.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Preparing for state marching band contest today

Hundreds of Texas teens were up before dawn today for the state marching band competition at the Alamodome. Mansfield Legacy High School students were up at 4 a.m.
"We had to try and be asleep by 9:30 last night," senior Mia Payton, tenor saxophone, said. "That was hard."
The band was able to use the North East school district's Virgil T. Blossom Athletic Center to practice at 6 a.m. Before the show, Payton said she was not nervous.
"We just close our eyes before we go out, relax our mind and see what it is we need to do," she said.

The band performed a piece called "Signal to Noise" that highlighted the progression of music from acoustic to electronic. After the show, clarinet player Jorge Morales said he thought the band's performance was amazing. "I was nervous coming here," he said. "But it's been great-- all of it building up to this performance." Legacy is the first band from Mansfield to make it to the state competition. 


-Eva-Marie Ayala

Legacy High School prepares to compete

Star-T education reporter Eva-Marie Ayala is in San Antonio this morning covering the state marching band contest. She spoke with this Legacy High School band member, who is pumped as she prepares to take the stage.

Fort Worth celebrates the spirit of Poly

Today hundreds of students, faculty, alumni, parents and other supports came to Polytechnic High School's community party to celebrate the dramatic gains students have made to turn the school around. Last year, the East Fort Worth campus faced state closure because of years of poor academic accountability ratings. But students made double-digit gains in every portion of state testing to keep the school open. Reporter Anna Tinsley covered the party and will posting pictures soon. Here's some video from the event including part of Principal Gary Braudaway'sspeech about the "spirit of Poly." In it he notes how the football team rarely won a game three years ago but pushed on anyway. Now, in the wake of their academic success, the Parrots' football team is heading into the playoffs for the first time since 1990.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

A nod to bands state bound

This morning Azle mayor Russ Braudisread a proclamation in on honor of the Azle High School band (pictured here at the reading) declaring next Tuesday as "Marching Green Pride Day." The Hornets will be in San Antonio with four other local bands competing in the state marching band contestat the Alamodome. Click here to see the band's first-place performance at last weekend's area finals in Odessa (it has red shoes!).

Also going to state are: the Mansfield Legacy High School band, the first band from that district to attend state; the Boswell High School band; the Saginaw High School band; and Southwest High School, Fort Worth's first band to make it to the contest in San Antonio.

I'll be blogging from the Alamodome all day Tuesday, so check here for updates and pictures throughout the day. Until then, here's Southwest's video of that band's area final performance.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

El Paso, Wichita Falls educators are state Teachers of the Year

Names of the two top teachers in Texas were unveiled at an Austin lunch today. Yushica Walker, who teachers sixth grade science in El Paso was named the 2010 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year.

The Elementary Teacher of the Year is Donna Patrick, a math and language arts teacher in Wichita Falls. 

The Texas Education Agency honored 39 regional teachers of the year. Four state finalists - including Carroll schools biology teacher Keeley Lowery - won a $750 cash prize and a commemorative trophy. The other regional teachers got a $500 award.

The top teachers were awarded prizes including a $5,000 award and laptop computer. Walker will go on on to compete for the national title.

Jessamy Brown

Nominations for new Roanoke school due now

Fast-growing Northwest school district is looking for help with naming a new campus. An accelerated high school is to open in August 2010 at the site of Roanoke Elementary School, 606 N. Walnut St., Roanoke. The elementary will relocate to a new site in the Briarwyck neighborhood.

Under district rules, names of  proposed honorees "shall not be considered while living."

Friday - that's today - is the deadline to nominate names for the high school. Electronic nomination forms are posted on the district’s Web site. Trustees are expected to settle on a name in December.

Or e-mail suggestions to: schoolnames@nisdtx.org.

Jessamy Brown

Northwest students honor memory of former classmate

Students at two Trophy Club campuses joined children in several states Thursday to salute a former classmate who died in a summer bus crash.

 The “Maggie Lee for Good” project challenged young people to do a good deed on Thursday, which would have been Maggie Lee Henson’s 13th birthday. Maggie Lee attended Lakeview Elementary four years ago before her family moved to Louisiana, Northwest school district officials said.

Campuses in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas organized events Thursday.

Lakeview Elementary students are holding a food drive this week and staffers wore t-shirts in her honor.

Students at Medlin Middle School are collecting MP3 players, iPods and iTunes gift cards to donate to hospital intensive care units and are hosting a Thursday evening birthday celebration at the elementary campus. The event was organized by the seventh grade Destination Imagination team, who knew Maggie Lee when she was a team member as a Lakeview Elementary third grader.

 Maggie Lee died in August from injuries after her Shreveport, La., church bus flipped over on its way to a Georgia youth camp.

Jessamy Brown

Westlake Academy trustee feted for fundraising work

Westlake Academy school board president Laura Wheat has been chosen as an "outstanding volunteer fundraiser" by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The group’s greater Dallas chapter will honor volunteers and philanthropists at a Nov. 10 luncheon in Dallas.

Wheat, who also serves as Westlake mayor, has served as chair of the non-profit Gilda’s Club Worldwide, a support organization for those affected by cancer and their families and friends. It's named for comic Gilda Radner. Wheat also chaired a campaign to raise funds for the municipally operated charter school’s Sam and Margaret Lee Arts & Sciences Center, which opened in September.

Jessamy Brown

Carroll schools chief to match wits with Southlake gifted students

Can super smart kids best the leader of one of the state's few exemplary-rated school districts? The Carroll schools superintendent will take on students enrolled in district gifted programs in an unusual matchup. It is billed as a local version of the TV show, called “Is Dr. Faltys smarter than a CISD fifth grader?”

The event featuring David J. Faltys will take place at 4 p.m. on Nov. 7 at Barnes and Noble in Southlake Town Square. The Southlake Association for Gifted and Talented is hosting the game as part of a weekend fundraiser. 

Jessamy Brown

Rain cancels Northwest High's homecoming festivities - again

Northwest High School's actual homecoming game was on Sept. 18. But the community parade, fireworks show and pep rally were called off because of rain. They were going to try again tonight. But, the gloomy, wet weather has caused a second rainout for the festivities. The Texans are scheduled to take on football powerhouse Euless Trinity at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at NISD Stadium.

Jessamy Brown

Arlington's Martin High School wins rating appeal

The Texas Education Agency has granted Martin High School's accountability ratings appeal. It is now a recognized campus.

The west Arlington high school was rated academically acceptable when ratings first came out this summer. However, the district challenged that finding, saying that some of the students the state counted in the "economically disadvantaged" subgroup did not belong there based on district records. 

- Traci Shurley

Keller ISD wins ratings appeal to return to recognized status

Keller school district is once again rated "recognized," the second highest level on the state's four-tier education accountability scale. The district had lost its rating earlier this year when the Texas Education Agency gave it a rating of "academically acceptable." Keller officials had appealed the decision because of a discrepancy between the the district and the state about data on the school district's completion rate.

Jessamy Brown

Principal appointed for Fort Worth's all-girls school

Trustees named Mia Hall as the first principal for its new all-girls school set to open next year. The Young Women's Leadership Academy will begin with a sixth grade class (maybe seventh as well) and add a grade a year through high school.

Hall grew up in Arlington and is a graduate of Lamar High School. She received her bachelor's from the University of Texas and her master's at UT-Arlington. For the last two years, she has been principal of the district's New Lives Center, an alternative school for parenting or pregnant students.

She began teaching as a substitute while attending Texas Wesleyan University Law School and decided to be an educator. She taught at J.P. Elder Middle School and has been an assistant principal at Eastern Hills High School.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Mansfield trustees to consider career school changes

Changes could be coming to Mansfield's Ben Barber Career Tech Academy.

During a school board meeting Tuesday night, administrators and a committee of teachers at the school made a presentation detailing a proposal for the school’s future. Currently, students from the district’s four high schools travel to Ben Barber throughout the day to take a variety of career-oriented classes, like hospitality and tourism, engineering and radio and television production.

In the future, the school could be refocused to also include an "academy" where students would take all their classes at Ben Barber. Academy students would be admitted through a application process and a lottery. They would graduate from Ben Barber.

Principal Jerri McNair said the changes would yield "a very different Ben Barber campus."

“It is very innovative to the extent that it doesn’t look like the highs schools that most of us attended," she told the board. "It’s exciting and it fits with Mansfield and the diverse population that we have.” 

Trustees will consider the proposal at their meeting next month. They could vote then.

- Traci Shurley

Upgraded ball field for Arlington Heights?

UPDATED: Trustees approved accepting the donation.

Trustees are debating whether or not to accept a donation from the Arlington Heights High School baseball boosters to pay for a new artificial turf, new backstop and press box at the field.

At issue is whether doing so would be fair to the district's other 12 high schools, which some trustees worried do not have parents with the ability to raise enough funds for improvements. Trustee Carlos Vasquez said he did not want to take anything away from the school for having such involved parents but worried about them providing what he said was a "district responsibility to take care of basic needs" when other schools weren't up for such improvements. The district would have to pay for about $165,000 worth of related improvements.

Officials noted that the field would be available to all the high school teams in the district for various reasons, including making up rained out games. Heights made it to the state's semifinal rounds last summer.

Walter Dansby, who is overseeing the district's bond program, said the district is working to make athletic improvements in the bond and in the past, has accepted private donations at Heights. Boosters paid for the new field in 1990 and later for a new track. Officials said other schools later received similar improvements at their campuses at district cost. They noted that the board could consider using any left over bond money to athletic facility improvements if they wanted to consider that later.

"We are way behind everybody in the neighborhood," said Dansby, a former coach.

The board is expected to vote on the matter later tonight.

Eva-Marie Ayala

Mansfield plans Vernon Newsom Stadium ceremony

Mansfield schools will honor its former superintendent, Vernon Newsom, during a stadium naming ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Vernon Newsom Stadium, 3700 East Broad Street.

Newsom was superintendent in Mansfield for 13 years and retired in June. He died this summer from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in South Dakota.

The ceremony will take place at the west stadium entrance area. There will also be a ceremony on the football field, prior to the 7:30 p.m. game between Mansfield’s Timberview and Legacy High School.

- Traci Shurley

Arlington bond backers close in on goal

Expect to hear more in the coming weeks from Citizens for Arlington, the political action committee formed to support Arlington’s $197.5 million bond issue.
Craig Forster, treasurer for the group, said Wednesday the group has raised more than $31,000 for automated phone calls, mailers and other publicity. Forster previously said the group hoped to raise about $50,000 to use on promoting the bond. The election is Nov. 3 and early voting is going on until Oct. 30.

- Traci Shurley

Arlington citizens committee to look at budget

Arlington school trustees appointed a 30-member citizens committee Thursday night to help them find ways to save money or generate additional revenue. Arlington has an operating budget of $438.6 million for the 2009-2010 school year and expects to have to take about $12 million from its savings.

The district typically appoints a Financial Futures Committee in the spring to suggest possible savings. The new committee will meet for several months and report back to the board. They can suggest ideas for the current year and future budgets.

A motion to add three representatives from staff professional organizations to the committee failed by a vote of two to five. Trustees Wayne Ogle and Peter Baron were the only board members who voted in favor of adding staff to the committee membership.

- Traci Shurley

H-E-B Coordination School Health Program

 

 

Find tips on how to stay healthy physically, mentally and socially in our monthly District CSH Newsletter located on the CSH Website.

HURST-EULESS-BEDFORD ISD

Coordinated School Health

Did you know our district has a Coordinated School Health Program? You can access more information about it on the website. Go to:

1. www.hebisd.edu

2. Click on “Inside HEBISD”

3. Scroll down to “departments/contacts” then click

4. Click on Coordinated Health Education

Find out more about CSHP, parenting information and much more!

Feel free to download newsletters and activity calendars.

Read about the School Health Advisory Council (SHAC).

SHAC meets from 4:15-5:45

at Pat May Center, Media Room.

The council has a membership of 30 representatives from community, parents and District personnel.

A SHAC is a group of individuals representing segments of the community, appointed by the

school district to serve at the district level, to provide advice to the district on Coordinated School Health programming and its impact on student health and learning.

SHAC meets on:

Sept. 21, 2009

Nov. 2, 2009

February 1, 2010

March 1, 2010

April 5, 2010 (make up day if needed)

May 10, 2010

Check the Website for

information about:

Parenting Classes offered

Social Services available

Nutrition Tips

PE Fitness Gram

Counseling

SHAC meetings

Newsletters

Activity Calendars

 

Fort Worth officials revising joint school, community center project

A planned gas well site has city and school officials working to adjust plans for a new elementary school and community center at Rosemont Park in south Fort Worth. Officials said the school will be set further into the park to move it at least 600 feet from the wells. Click here for the original plans for the school, which includes an attached community center and shared space for the school district and city.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

MedStar wants CPR lessons to remain in Fort Worth schools

Two Trimble Tech coaches and an athletic trainer were honored at last night's board meeting for saving the life of 15-year-old Luis Rubio (center), who suddenly collapsed at practice last month. The trio used CPR and an automated external defibrillator to revive the teen. Dr. Jeff Beeson, associate medical director for MedStar EMS in Fort Worth, presented them with a Community Hero Award at the meeting but also used the time to address the board about one concern. As the state is no longer making health classes a high school requirement, school districts are deciding what to do with the classes and whether or not to require them locally.

Beeson said MedStar has used the class to teach CPR to more than 50,000 students. "All I ask is that you provide us a place and time and we will be there," Beeson said. "You never know what life might be the next one saved." 

-Eva-Marie Ayala