UPPER SCHOOL PROGRAMS A DAISY’S PATH THROUGH SOCIAL IMPACT CONTINUES

KRAMER ELEMENTARY TUTORING

NATHAN ADAMS ELEMENTARY TUTORING

Students support the DISD district reading goal of increasing Third Grade reading mastery levels from 40.2% to 57% in all areas by June 2025. Hockaday students meet with groups of students once a week during conference time to work on reading together.

Hockaday students repurpose their conference time twice a week to work with small groups of students at Nathan Adams Elementary to reach their yearly reading goals.

Degolyer Elementary Tutoring

LEARN MORE About Social Impact in the Upper School

Once a week, Hockaday students create reading games and activities to use with Third Grade students at DeGolyer Elementary who have been identified as below grade level reading.

Intellichoice Tutoring

SUMMIT TUTORING AT T.R. HOOVER

Hockaday students work with students in Kindergarten - Eighth Grade virtually one Saturday per month to tutor students in math skills.

Uplift Education Tutoring

Hockaday students tutor in West Dallas at the Boys and Girls Club, working with students from Uplift Education in reading and math.

Girl Talk

CHAPEL HILL PREPARATORY TUTORING

Hockaday students can select to tutor students on Saturday mornings at the T.R. Hoover Center in math, reading, and science. This recurring program also tutors students from Bush Elementary School on a weekly basis.

Anne Frank Impact Program

Hockaday students lead and create activities for preschool aged students in Spanish and English as part of the Anne Frank Impact Program designed to support literacy readiness goals such as letter identification.

GOOCH ELEMENTARY TUTORING

Twice a month, Hockaday students in Forms III and IV mentor and tutor Middle School girls through curriculum that guides conversations around cyber bullying, body image, academics, identity, etc.

Wesley Rankin Community Center

Hockaday students repurpose two conference periods a week to tutor Kindergarten and First Grade students at Chapel Hill Preparatory in math and Fourth Grade students in reading.

Hockaday students can tutor once a week during the school day, or sign up to tutor on Saturday mornings to support Gooch Elementary students in reading, writing, and math.

MARCUS ELEMENTARY FOOD PANTRY (MARCUS MART)

Wesley Rankin Community Center works to bridge gaps in academics by supporting students in the West Dallas area. Hockaday students can sign up to tutor students in Kindergarten - Fourth Grade. Additionally, Hockaday students can participate in weekend projects and develop math activities for the community center.

Hockaday students created a food pantry at Marcus Elementary school that is open on Thursday afternoons for families to shop for items at no cost. Hockaday students staff the pantry, restock, build relationships, and take inventory. Students can also sign up to help restock the pantry on Tuesday mornings. The pantry receives food donations from Fine Arts events, which require a non-perishable food item as the cost of entry.

SPOTLIGHT: COMMUNITY ART

Hockaday's Advanced Studio Art, a Social ImpactDesignated Class partnered with North Dallas Shared Ministries to paint murals to brighten up the center (above). The nonprofit offers services like dental and medical care, job counseling and a clothing bank to the Dallas community, and the class was invited to visit the space and hear about its needs. The result is three colorful, fully realized murals within the main room that integrate the North Dallas Shared Ministries’ mission with native Dallas imagery.

“Comfort within an unfamiliar space makes visitors feel welcome,” said Meera Thamaran (Class of 2023) “The project focused on impacting our community through art, spreading joy, and supporting purposeful community entities. Art generates strong emotion, expresses ideas and abstract concepts, and brings color to an environment in ways that other forms of social impact cannot.”

“Art changes the way people feel about spaces or ideas and allows people to relate to the unknown by forging connections,” said Aishwarya Chandrasekaran (Class of 2023).

FINE ARTS + SOCIAL IMPACT

Fine Arts classes pair with the Institute for Social Impact to integrate elements of social responsibility into their work and share talents with other communities. “The arts are such an integral part of our society,” said Charlsie Griffiths ’98 Hockaday’s Director of Orchestral Studies. “We are educating students for careers that do not even exist yet. Arts assist with creative thinking, problem-solving, and some of the softer skills that are important in all fields. By introducing and cultivating the arts in our community, we are setting up not only our students but all students, for a brighter future.”

• The Dance, Orchestra, and Theater programs team up with local elementary schools and senior living communities to bring the joy of performance to their organizations, and students from elementary schools visit Hockaday for performances.

• The Fine Arts Board, which is student-run, partners with the Institute for Social Impact to create a food pantry at Marcus Elementary School. The students cleaned, repaired, and decorated a purposeful space and then problem-solved how to fill it with food. Olivia Park (Class of 2023) painted a custom mural (left) to brighten the space.

• Daisy Company, Hockaday’s Introduction to Drama class, creates a curriculum for Fifth Grade students to teach drama skills, language, and storytelling in local elementary schools.

ATHLETICS + SOCIAL IMPACT

Each Varsity team repurposes one of their practices to serve the community. Teammates work together to lead the practice and create activities to share with the community. Our teams:

• Share why the sport has been impactful in their lives and why playing sports is meaningful

• Model what the sport looks like through demonstrations

• Run skills clinic by breaking the students up into smaller groups to rotate through targeted stations

• Create a scrimmage for the students to try playing the game in an exciting setting with lots of cheering

• Donate equipment needed to continue to play the sport

SPOTLIGHT: SETTING GOALS

When Class of 2022 members Leena Mehendale and Jules Johnson (right) started volunteering at Foster Elementary, they realized that the students there were as passionate about soccer as they were. As members of Hockaday’s Varsity soccer team, they had partnered with DISD schools as part of their Institute for Social Impact work through repurposing practices and holding clinics. But in order for the kids to really thrive, they decided to fill a desperate need at the school – soccer goals!

“We looked into purchasing goals, but they are really expensive,” said Leena. “So we sent an email out and asked if any students wanted to participate in a STEM project!”

Leena and Jules researched the best way to build a soccer goal and had to consider multiple constraints. “We had a limited budget, so we had to figure out a way to do it economically,” said Leena.

The duo headed to Lowe’s (six times) to experiment with PVC pipe and different types of nets. Jules’s interest in engineering kicked in to figure out the best way to design the goals. “I drew out three different designs, and we worked with the school so they could pick which one they wanted,” she said.

It took a while to nail down which net worked the best. “We tried deer netting, because we thought it would be strong,” said Leena. “It ripped a week later. Now we have real soccer nets on the way that we bought online.” The project totaled about $300 for each regulation goal. For comparison, new regulation goals cost around $4,000. Leena and Jules also mowed the lawns and painted the regulation lines so the kids could play and practice.

SPOTLIGHT: ROWING + PHYSICS

Hockaday’s Rowing team learned about distance/time graphs using erg machines, and created a lesson for local students to combine rowing and Science!

“This was the perfect project for us because we have different experiences,” said Jules. “Leena handled the soccer part, and I was interested in the science and engineering. We had to problem solve and work together. We are really proud that our skills came together to build something.”

“This was the perfect project for us because we have different experiences. We really had to problem solve and work together. We are really proud that our skills came together to build something.”