Extra Credit

Pat Boone to perform National Anthem at UNT's new Mean Green Stadium

Music legend Pat Boone will sing the National Anthem during pregame ceremonies at UNT's new Mean Green Stadium during an inaugural game on Saturday, Sept. 10. For more information about the opening game, visit: www.MeanGreenSports.com.

On Sept. 11, Boone will share stories about his life and career. He will also perform some hit songs. "An Evening with Pat Boone" will take place in the Murchison Performing Arts Center, located on the north side of Interstate 35E at North Texas Boulevard. Tickets are $25 and $45 and will go on sale Aug. 1 at www.thempac.com.

Pat Boone studied at UNT from 1954 to 1955 before he became famous.  He graduated from Columbia University.

 -Diane Smith

 

 
(Photo provided by UNT)

Pat Boone pictured with UNT music professor Floyd Graham.

Fort Worth's Trimble Tech principal to retire

Manuel Cantu jokes that he's only known life in a school since he was 6 years old. But after recovering from a heart attack he suffered Easter Sunday, Cantu recently decided it was time to retire after nearly three decades in education.

"I'm really sad myself, but it has been a good ride," Cantu, 53, said. His last day is Aug. 31. A new Trimble Tech High School principal has not been selected yet.

Cantu, the top Bulldog for four years, said he wrestled with the decision for weeks. But he said it was time to move to Corpus Christi to be closer to grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Always busy with his own high school's hectic schedule, Cantu said he's missed so many of his nephews' football games that he'd like to make up for now.

A surprising factor tipping the scales toward retirement for Cantu was the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR tests, that will be used for the first time this year. The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests students in math, science, reading, writing and social studies in various grades. The STAAR test will include end-of-course tests taken when high school students have the corresponding class, such as chemistry or geometry.

Cantu said such tests will heightened the accountability of how well individual teachers are doing.

"I thought, 'Do I really want to go into a new stage of education to that level of accountability for teachers and will we really have the support we need to remove the teachers that are not effective?" Cantu said. Ultimately, he decided a new generation of educators should usher in the changes.

Cantu has been with the district since 1999, previously serving as principal of Rosemont 6th Grade Center. He started his career in Midland and worked in Dallas schools.

Cantu said he is ending his career on a high note. A former student from his time in Dallas recently asked him for help in landing a teaching job, a difficult task as many districts are scaling back on hiring. Though Fort Worth has had some layoffs, the district is hiring teachers and Cantu recommended his former student for a job in the district.

"So he's coming in, and I'm going out," Cantu said. "I'm glad I had the opportunity to help a student one last time like that. That's a good way to end my career."

Photo from Star-Telegram archives. In 2002, as Rosemont 6th principal, Cantu and others opened a time capsule that was uncovered at the school during construction that contained newspapers, campaign advertisements and other mementos from 1922 and 1949.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Aledo names finalist for superintendent

This week Aledo trustees named Dan Manning as the lone finalist for superintendent. He has been serving in the post on an interim basis since Don Daniel retired in May.

Manning had been executive director of administration for Aledo since 2008. He has 27 years in public education.

"The reputation of quality in Aledo has been well earned through the hard work and dedication of our outstanding board, district leaders, staff and students, matched with the support of our community," Manning said in a news release. "I am committed to continuing and raising that standard of excellence so our students will graduate with not only a diploma, but also with exciting options for their futures."

He began his teaching career in Arlington and later served in administrative positions in Crowley, including as a principal and director of curriculum and professional development. In Keller, he was the executive director of intermediate and middle schools. His wife, Becky, is a teacher in Keller. The couple has four grown children, two of whom are teachers.

Manning will have public meetings to meet community members, the first of which will be at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 1 at Stuard Elementary. Another will be Aug. 8 at the Daniel Ninth-Grade Campus.

His contract is expected to be finalized next month.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Fort Worth teen wins first Google Global Science Fair

A Fort Worth teen took the first Google Global Science Fair grand prize last night for her research on
ovarian cancer.

Shree Bose, 17, (pictured at far right) found that a metabolic enzyme affects ovarian cancer cells that can cause them to become resistant to certain treatments and discovered a way to improve cancer treatment when such resistance happens.

The Fort Worth Country Day senior wins $50,000 in scholarships, a trip to the Galapagos Islands for her project and a three-day internship to the prominent European Organization for Nuclear Research near Geneva, known by its French acronym as CERN. Fair winners were announced last night at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

Bose was inspired to research cancer after her grandfather died from the illness two years ago. She has presented related work to various science fairs, winning some top honors in the Fort Worth Regional Science and Engineering Fair and the Exxonmobil Texas Science and Engineering Fair. She was one of 15 finalists in the Google competition.

She did her research for the project as part of a larger research with Alakanada Basu, a professor of molecular biology and immunology at the University of North Texas Health Science Center who is studying drug resistant cancers. Basu said the teen approached her about two years ago to help in her lab.

"I'm so proud of her," Basu said. "We really challenged her on this project, and she just excelled. She’s doing not only well in science but in swimming and violin. Whatever she does she has the desire to excel."

Bose has spent many years competing in science fairs. In 2008, for example, she invented a new railroad tie aimed at reducing toxins. She was a finalist for the national Society for Science and Public Middle School Program competition for that project and had a minor planet named in her honor for it. She told the Star-Telegram then that she had been inspired to take on ambitious projects when she was 10 and her older brother Pinaki was competing in national science competitions.

“It was just surprising to me to see kids close to my age doing some really amazing things. ... I wanted to do something big like that,” she said at the time.

Learn more about Bose's project here.

Photo courtesy of Google.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Residents welcome Fort Worth's new interim superintendent

Introductions were hardly needed for Walter Dansby, a well-known educator who grew up in Stop Six. 

But today a coalition of black and Hispanic leaders held a welcome reception to for the new interim superintendent. The atmosphere was more of a family reunion with long-time friends, colleauges and supporters stopping by to offer up best wishes along with those who wanted to meet the new boss.

Campus monitor Elvin Bennett said in one fell swoop Dansby garnered a lot of confidence from staff when he canceled the annual convocation event, a back-to-school pep rally of sorts for school staff. He said many thought the event was too time-consuming when trying to get ready for school.

"That kind of action comes from within," Bennett said. "You can't move in off the street and know what the people need. You have to be able to consider your workforce as a whole. He did."

Many at the reception said they wanted Dansby to be named to the post permanently, though he wouldn't answer when asked if he wanted the job full-time. He was named interim last month after superintendent Melody Johnson announced her resignation.

"I'm excited about this," Dansby said. "It's one of the things I've always wanted to do."

Dansby did say it was time to stop criticizing Johnson's adminstration so that the district can move forward. The school board and some community members had long been split in their support of Johnson and some of her decisions.

Those in attendance seemed unified in what they wanted Dansby to focus on as he steps into the district's top spot -- improving struggling schools and getting more community involvement. The district expects 23 academically unacceptable schools when state ratings are released later this month.

Longtime school volunteer Eddie Griffin, who supported Johnson and Thomas Tocco before that, also noted that the community has to be willing to work with a superintendent even through differences.

"If you keep communication open, you can work through anything," Griffin said. 

Junichi Lockett said Dunbar High School graduates such as himself can't help but feel some pride with Dansby, who graduated from the east side school in 1969. Lockett once taught at A.M. Pate Elementary and now is in the Everman school district, though he said he still does consulting work with Fort Worth.

"It makes a difference because you can't help but get a sense of hope and pride because he came up from the same community to accomplish all he has," Lockett said.

-Eva-Marie Ayala