FOCUSED ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ART, MATH SECTION B
JANUARY 2020 VOLUME 40 NO. 1
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NEWS Persons of The Year: Neighbors After the Storm 6
COMMUNITY No smoking, fly planes instead 14
LIVING WELL Volunteers run with the homeless 41
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January 2020 Vol. 40, No. 1 parkcitiespeople.com @pcpeople @peoplenewspapers
2 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
2020: FULL STEAM AHEAD
J
anuary’s issue comes with a pullout section about the importance of and opportunities in STEM/STEAM education. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. Add an “A” for art, and you get STEAM. If you are anywhere near my age bracket, you’re likely thinking, “Didn’t I have most of those classes in school?” What’s different from my school days? Rather than teaching them separately, students apply the disciplines together to tackle problems. The approach starts with the youngest students and helps teach computational thinking and attract underrepresented populations, including girls, according to livescience. com. Check Pages B10-11 for stories about efforts to draw girls into STEAM careers. The Dallas-Fort Worth area, with the seventh-highest concentration of high-tech jobs in the U.S. — 252,650 – will need an increasing number of STEAM-trained workers to meet the demands, according to the Dallas Regional Chamber. Area universities, including SMU and UT Dallas, prepare teachers to apply STEAM approaches in grade school classrooms. In 2019, I heard Marc Christensen, dean
of the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering at SMU, speak to the Rotary Club of Park Cities about research to create imaging technology that could someday allow U.S. soldiers to see safely around corners as if using a mirror. W I L L I A M TAY LO R “We have, in a sense, turned science fiction into nonfiction,” he said. That story is not in this issue, but one on Page B12 looks at how SMU, Dallas ISD, and Toyota USA Foundation will create in West Dallas a STEM campus meant to serve as a model for future schools. We could have devoted the entire section to only what SMU is doing and not had enough space to tackle all of the great work. Fortunately, we are planning on making STEAM a priority, so watch for more STEAM stories in the months ahead and another special section next January. William Taylor, Editor william.taylor@peoplenewspapers.com
Contents Crime ............................ 4 News .............................. 6 Community ................. 14 Business ....................... 18 Sports .......................... 28 Schools ........................ 31 Society ......................... 37 Living Well................... 41 Wedding ...................... 42 Obituaries ..................... 45 Classifieds .................... 47 STEAM ........... Section B CORRECTIONS: • Nell Covington, Jourdan Krueger, and Ashlee Newton competed for Highland Park at this year’s state tennis tournament where the Scots won a 20th state title. Their names were left off of a list of participants in the December newspaper. • A map in the December issue showed the
EDITORIAL Editor William Taylor Deputy Editor Bethany Erickson Deputy Editor Rachel Snyder Sports Editor Todd Jorgenson Production Manager Melanie Thornton
wrong boundaries for Highland Park ISD elementary school attendance zones for 2020-21. Please find the correct boundaries at parkcitiespeople.com. • The Nasher Prize Award Gala is scheduled for April 4. The wrong date was published in the November issues. Park Cities People regrets these errors.
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Park Cities People is published monthly by CITY NEWSPAPERS LP, an affiliate of D Magazine Partners LP, 750 N. Saint Paul St., Suite 2100, Dallas, TX 75201. Copyright 2020. All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission. Submissions to the editor may be sent via e-mail to editor@ peoplenewspapers.com. Correspondence must include writer’s name and contact number. Main phone number, 214-739-2244
4 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Crime S KU L D U G G E RY of the MONTH
UNINVITED GUEST:
SMU POLICE INCREASE PRESENCE AFTER SHOOTING AT CVS University Park remains watchful of vulnerable area near expressway By Rachel Snyder People Newspapers
S A man reported at 11:10 a.m. Nov. 23 that someone had been inside a house in the 4300 block of Armstrong Parkway he’d bought to restore. Officers found drug paraphernalia in a bedroom and made sure no one was in the house after a locksmith arrived to change the locks.
MU has increased patrols at the CVS in the shopping center at Mockingbird Lane and Central Expressway after an employee was shot there Nov. 2. And campus police will continue to assist University Park police as needed, SMU spokeswoman Dianne Anderson said. As for University Park Police, assistant police chief Jim Savage said that officers check on the CVS several times per day but haven’t changed their routine since the shooting.
NOV. 4
A man reported at 10:14 a.m. that someone damaged the locking mechanism on both sides of his SUV in the 4500 block of Abbott Avenue but nothing was taken from inside the vehicle. Time out: A man reported at 10:14 a.m. that he’d been missing his $24,995 Rolex watch from his house in the 4500 block of Bordeaux Avenue for about six weeks.
NOV. 7
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An employee of CVS store at Mockingbird Lane and Central Expressway and her newborn continue to recover after a shooting in November. (RACHEL SNYDER)
upon arrival. “He demanded money from the other store employee who was behind the cash register while the gunshot victim was on the other side of the service counter,” Savage said shortly after the incident. “The employee behind the register was having difficulty opening it, and shots were fired at that time, striking the victim in the waist area.” The other employee in the store at the time was not injured, and no money was taken.
CVS is our main point of contact because of shoplifting...it’s a 24-hour store, and it’s right off (Highway) 75. Jim Savage Police reported that Hollins and her baby were improving.
CRIME REPORTS NOV. 4 – DEC. 8
NOV. 6
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“It’s not an increase. We’re just doing what we’ve been doing,” he said. “CVS is our main point of contact because of shoplifting...it’s a 24-hour store, and it’s right off (Highway) 75.” The Nov. 2 incident proved much more dangerous than shoplifting. Officers responded at 6:39 a.m. to reports of shots fired at the store. University Park Fire Department paramedics took the injured woman, Orelia Hollins, 29, who was pregnant at the time, to Presbyterian Hospital, where she was admitted to surgery immediately
Dallas police pursued a stolen $95,000 Range Rover around 10:41 p.m. that’d been taken from the 3800 block of Gillon Avenue after confirming it was being used without the owner’s permission. Officers called off pursuit in the area of Midway Road and Walnut Hill Lane.
NOV. 12
Keep your keys: A woman reported at 6:50 a.m. that her Lexus SUV with keys inside was taken from the 2900 block of Lovers Lane.
NOV. 13
Porch pirate pilfers packages: A woman reported at 8:33 a.m. that she ordered groceries from Amazon Fresh, but when she checked her porch in the 3400 block of Harvard Avenue around 6 a.m. Nov. 14, her packages weren’t there, although Amazon showed they were delivered.
NOV. 18
A woman reported at 9:22 a.m. that someone burglarized her car in the 6400 block of Lomo Alto Drive and took a bag, identifying documents, and a credit or debit card.
NOV. 20
A man reported at 9:04 a.m. that it appeared someone pried open the door of his vehicle in the 4200 block of Lomo Alto Court, damaged the ignition and steering column, and took a cell phone charger.
NOV. 25
Reported at 12:10 p.m: an unknown woman was seen on surveillance video getting into an unlocked
SUV parked in the parking lot of the Highland Park United Methodist Church on Mockingbird Lane, taking four credit cards out of a wallet inside.
NOV. 26
A man reported at 2:36 p.m. that someone got into his storage lockers in the 4200 block of Lomo Alto Drive and took tools, Tiffany bowls, and fishing rods and reels. He also found an energy drink that wasn’t his in one of the lockers.
NOV. 29
Police responded to the 6700 block of Snider Plaza at midnight to a person sleeping near where some items were burned.
NOV. 30
A man reported at 11:18 p.m. that someone broke the passenger side window of his 2004 Ferrari while it was parked in a parking lot in the 4000 block of Villanova Drive and took a $2,500 MacBook and a check from inside.
DEC. 3
A woman reported at 8:53 a.m. that someone exploited an elderly person via bogus AC work and repairs in the 3200 block of Bryn Mawr Drive.
DEC. 5
A man reported at 6:53 a.m. that he’d been assaulted by two unknown people in the 6100 block of Hillcrest Avenue.
DEC. 7
A man reported at 8:27 a.m. that someone got into the closed playground that’s under construction at Bradfield Elementary in the 4300 block of Southern Avenue and damaged the just-installed rubber safety surface. HPISD officials are hopeful they won’t need to replace the $34,084.24 surface.
DEC. 8
A woman reported at 7:24 a.m. that someone took a firearm and a $1,500 bag from unlocked vehicles in the 3200 block of Marquette Street.
6 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
News
PERSONS OF THE YEAR: NEIGHBORS AFTER THE STORM A resilient community responds to tornado with generosity, caring
TOP and BOTTOM LEFT: A campaign initiated by the Park Cities Dads Club raised $51,000 to help Dallas ISD students affected by tornadoes. BOTTOM RIGHT: HPDPS Officer Nicholas Cox gets lemonade from Mary Martin Wick, Chloe Gillette, Alex Williams, and Avery Cutshall, who raised money for storm victims. (COURTESY PHOTOS)
By Rachel Snyder and Bethany Erickson People Newspapers
W
hen an EF3 tornado hit on Oct. 20, tearing through Preston Hollow on Oct. 20, it was neighbors and first responders who came running first. The assistance was practical – places to sleep, clearing debris, helping elementary schools forced to teach in a field house because their schools were damaged – and generous with ongoing donations large and small. Dallas is a city full of extraordinary people, and we’ve honored many over the years as our Person (or Persons) of the Year. This year, we’re honoring those neighbors, including Park Cities residents, that stepped up to help. The Park Cities Dads Club, for example, raised $51,000 to help Dallas schools. Club member Michael Denton said the money raised would help buy gift cards for onsite school staff at campuses affected by the tornadoes to allow the staff to determine individual needs. Denton said his organization felt compelled to help because many knew or went to church with people affected. “Our community has responded magnificently,” he said. “It just goes to show that
Dallas is very strong.” Highland Belles director Shannon Phillips and assistant director Emily Sanchez reached out to Dallas ISD director of theatre and dance Rachel Harrah and TJ Liberty Belles director Dutchess Gutierrez. They learned they could donate directly to the dance department, buy items from an Amazon wish list, or buy costumes. “Our goal was to handle their costume needs since those would be more difficult for the general public to purchase without a vendor account,” Phillips said. “Together with our student leaders, the Highland Belle service officers and lieutenants, we devised a grade-level competition to raise funds over a period of three days.” The Highland Belle Booster Club also created a link to share on social media. “We were so proud to notify our DISD friends that we had raised $5,040 towards their costume closet,” Phillips said. “We placed the costume order the same day, and 287 individual costume pieces were dropshipped to TJHS the following week.” Generosity from across the area drew appreciation from Dallas city and school leaders. “Donations of volunteer hours, school supplies, gift cards, and contributions to the Dallas Education Foundation Tornado Disaster Relief Effort has given everyone in
Dallas ISD the strength and spirit to move forward, especially when we were overwhelmed with the scale of the impact,” said foundation executive director Mita Havlick. “What we directly felt through all of this is that Dallas ISD and our students and schools are intertwined with this incredibly big-hearted and generous city.”
Our community has responded magnificently. It just goes to show that Dallas is very strong. Michael Denton Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson saw in the outpouring proof that Dallas is a resilient city. Johnson toured much of the area just hours after the tornado hit with city council members, including Lee Kleinman and Jennifer Gates, whose districts experienced a great deal of the impact. “The area is devastated. Many will be displaced for over a year. Plans were severely disrupted,” Kleinman said. “Nevertheless, Dallas people see a problem and work the problem and are getting on with their lives.”
Private Schools Serve After Tornado By Bethany Erickson People Newspapers
Even though many students and teachers at area private schools were personally affected by the Oct. 20 tornado, a strong commitment to public service brought them out to help neighbors in the aftermath. The storm impacted about 50 Parish Episcopal School families. Still, head of school Dave Monaco said that didn’t stop them from coming to the aid of one of their partner Dallas ISD campuses, Cigarroa Elementary. “As we offered support to our own families, we also recognized how significantly the Cigarroa community – where 90% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch – had been impacted,” he said. Students and faculty not only worked to help ready Loos Athletic Complex to house three Dallas ISD elementary schools simultaneously but also delivered more than $6,000 in gift cards to impacted families through their partnership with the nonprofit United to Learn. Episcopal School of Dallas and St. Marks students worked together to help clear yards and houses of debris, as well as transport valuables, in affected neighborhoods. Greenhill students and teachers also helped prepare Loos Field House, and Good Shepherd Episcopal School made breakfast for neighbors affected by the tornado. Ursuline social studies teacher Jeff Girard was unsurprised by the readiness of students to jump in and help – the word serve is in their motto, he said. Girard, who volunteered at Dallas ISD’s Loos Field House after the tornado despite having damage to his own home, recalled one student who took food to relief workers. “I know that many of our students and families, as well as our teachers, staff, and administrators, have been able to help families, friends, and neighbors in need,” said Ursuline principal Andrea Shurley. “I have never felt the force of Serviam as much as I have in these past few weeks.”
The Cambridge School of Dallas seniors, Nolan Runnels and Matthew Moner, cut tree limbs at nearby homes after the EF-3 tornado. (COURTESY PHOTO)
8 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Newly-named ‘Landmark Tree’ Serves New Christmas Role
Highland Park leaders could still consider larger replacement for Big Pecan
“It’s not as big as the one we had to take down, but then it’s just half the age, too, so we’re looking for great things out of this tree in the future, and we hope that we can celebrate with it for another 100 years,” she said. Still, how long that tree serves at lighting ceremonies could remain a matter of debate.
By William Taylor People Newspapers
Serving as mayor of Highland Park isn’t prestigious enough to protect Margo Goodwin from taking a ribbing from a teenage relative. “My grandson said everyone hated me for taking the tree down,” the mayor told Town Council members in December. “What did they think should happen, wait until it fell down and killed somebody?” However residents feel about the mayor or the loss of the 150-plus-year-old Big Pecan that predated the town and served as a symbol of its resilience, a large crowd turned out in the mild weather for the first tree lighting without the landmark monarch. Among those attending were members of the Cole family, whose ancestor Joseph Cole was credited with saving the sapling that would become the Big Pecan tree because he had seen too much death while serving in the Civil War. A tree grafted from Cole’s tree at the intersection of Armstrong Parkway and Preston Road and planted nearby in 1951 served for the 2019 lighting celebration. Town leaders referred to it as the “sister tree” and “new tree” leading up to the ceremony – names that didn’t fit. “That tree is no baby,” Goodwin said. “Well, it’s younger than I am.” The Town Council discussed options such as the Nobel Pecan, Cole Tree, or Civitan Tree for the Town North Civitan Club, which donated the tree. Landmark Tree, suggested by Lt. Lance Koppa, the community relations/public information officer for the town and its
That tree is no baby. Well, it’s younger than I am. Mayor Margo Goodwin
Christmas came to Highland Park even without the Big Pecan as residents enjoyed music, face painting, and a visit from Santa Claus at the annual tree lighting. (CADE HAMNER) Department of Public Safety, won consensus. “We’ll just refer to the tree as the Landmark Tree,” Goodwin said. “It sure beats ‘sister tree.’”
“Or grafted tree,” Mayor Pro Tem John McKnight added. The mayor talked about the future of the Landmark Tree during the lighting ceremony on Dec. 5.
Town Council members David Dowler and Eric Gambrell voiced interest in exploring the possibility of finding and transplanting another massive tree where the Big Pecan once stood. Gambrell asked his council colleagues, “Why would we not talk about putting a new tree there?” The plan has been to let the town get accustomed to the tree’s absence before considering options, which also could include creating a garden or park where the monarch once stood. “To me, it’s somewhat of an experiment to see how wonderful it is when we light it up on Thursday,” Dowler said of the Landmark Tree. By all accounts, it looked splendid lit up with 5,000 lights. But was that wonderful enough? That’s still for town leaders to decide. Rachel Snyder contributed to this report.
10 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Park Cities Indictments Serve as Reminder of Opioid Dangers
Texas sees increasing number of overdose deaths from fentanyl, similar drugs
A U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency photo of fentanyl pills and crystals. (COURTESY DEA)
By Rachel Snyder People Newspapers
The indictment this fall of two Park Cities residents in an alleged drug trafficking operation involving fentanyl, among other drugs, showed the area isn’t immune from the national opioid epidemic. Texas, like the rest of the country, has seen a trend of rising opioid-involved overdose deaths in the last decade. Specifically, deaths in Texas involving fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid developed initially for uses like pain management for those with cancer, tripled from 118 in 2007 to 348 in 2017, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In all, 2017 saw 646 deaths linked to prescription opioids. “(Fentanyl) can be used out of the hospital setting with fatal results,” Dr. Kenneth Rothfield, of Medical City Dallas, said. In response to the trends of increased opioid abuse, Rothfield said doctors are changing the way they use opioids because of the risk of addiction. “(Doctors are using more) multimodal pain therapy and non-opioid therapy,” he said. “The opioid crisis has affected every (part) of our community.” The indictments of Park Cities residents Gary Collin Bussell, 50, and Gina Corwin, 51, and eight others came after a Fairview man’s death in December 2018 was linked to the use of fentanyl and Alprazolam from the suspects, according to the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas. Bussell was described as the ring leader in court documents filed Nov. 6. “(A task force officer’s) investigation revealed that defendant supplied the narcotics, which contained fentanyl, that resulted in the overdose death on Dec. 28, 2018,” the court filing reads. “(The officer) testified that defendant was aware of the fatal overdose (as well as other multiple non-lethal overdoses) associated with the narcotics he was distributing, but notwithstanding defendant and his drug trafficking organization continued distribution.” Authorities estimate Bussell is responsible for the distribution of approximately 3,000 oxycodone pills per month and 2,000 counterfeit Adderall pills per month, records state. Law enforcement also alleges he told others he intended to flee the country and made efforts to get a false passport, according to court records. The defendants face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, and those indicted in relation to the death face at least 20 years in prison if convicted, according to the indictment. While trafficking in opioids has become a more significant issue, Drug Enforcement Administration Dallas division spokeswoman Elaine Cesare said despite this uptick, methamphetamine is still the most common illegal drug authorities see in North Texas.
Letter to the Editor
Cathy Wheat Story
I absolutely love this (“Wheat Still Teaching Girls to Dance for Life,” November issue, Page 16). I am 52 and was a member of the first squad of the Highland Belles. My daughter, Caroline Yarbrough, was also on the Belles (2015 HP grad). Cathy Wheat has also lived in my back house since 2012. She is just there a few days a week so she can continue to teach at HP Dance Company. Great article. Great teacher. And an even better person. She is like a grandmother to my three kids. Ann Yarbrough University Park
12 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Families of Two ‘Best Friends’ Sue NorthPark After Collision
Lawsuit seeks $1 million for each family, closure of mall parking lots for a year By Bethany Erickson
“While NorthPark remains deeply saddened by this incident, NorthPark unequivocally denies all claims of wrongdoing asserted in the lawsuit. Beyond that, NorthPark cannot comment at this time on pending litigation.”
People Newspapers
Yu Luo and Shiguo Wang were, by most accounts, best friends. Yu, a triathlete who competed in IronMan competitions, and Wang, a tech executive, found themselves at NorthPark Center one March evening when disaster, in the form of a speeding driver, struck. The two had, according to their attorney, Marc Lenahan, headed to the mall to grab a bite to eat on March 11. They parked in the garage nearest Nordstrom. As the two stepped off the curb to follow the crosswalk toward the other skywalk, Christopher Ryan Shaw, 29, reportedly struck them both with his Dodge Charger, killing the 42-year-old Yu who was thrown into a brick wall and gravely injuring the 41-year-old Wang who was launched over the edge of the garage, falling two flights. Shaw, police reports said, had THC and amphetamines in his system at the time of the crash. He was also hospitalized for a time and is charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The suit not only alleges that
LEFT: Yu Luo (center left) and Shiguo Wang (center right) were hit by a car driven by Christopher Shaw (above). (COURTESY PHOTOS)
Shaw intended “to do a highspeed run from the ground floor of the parking garage, upwards ramp to ramp to ramp until he reached the open expanses of the rooftop where he would burn celebratory donuts,” but that NorthPark’s parking lots and structures have been long regarded as hot spots for “joyriding.” “For at least the eight years preceding, other joyriding drifters had done the same,” the suit says. “The NorthPark Defendants made no efforts to warn the best friends nor any of NorthPark’s guests that, when they stepped off of the curb,
they were walking onto a de facto race track. Grotesquely, the NorthPark Defendants intentionally hide this from their customers.” Lenahan said he has been unable to get NorthPark representatives to meet with the families — Yu leaves behind a wife, child, and his father, and Wang has a wife and child — to discuss the situation. “I have invited NorthPark’s representatives to meet with the families three times, three times before we filed this lawsuit,” he said. “And three times they said, ‘No’, and denied the request.” “Had they accepted our request,
there would have never been a lawsuit,” he added. Named in the suit are NorthPark, NorthPark Security, NorthPark Land Partners, and NorthPark Management. Shaw, who is awaiting trial on manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges, is also named. “NorthPark is in receipt of a lawsuit filed against it related to the tragic incident on March 11, 2019. Following the incident, NorthPark immediately began its investigation alongside legal counsel and local authorities,” the mall said in a provided statement.
The NorthPark Defendants made no efforts to warn the best friends nor any of NorthPark’s guests that, when they stepped off of the curb, they were walking onto a de facto race track. A lawsuit against NorthPark Center The suit seeks at least $1 million for each family, as well as the closure of NorthPark’s parking lots for a year.
14 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Community FOR THE LOVE OF FLYING, NOT CIGARETTES Rhodes, 74, enjoys continued success in aviation
LEFT: Tom Rhodes prepares to compete at the National Aerobatic Competition, where he won the intermediate division this fall. RIGHT: Three generations of Rhodes enjoy flights together. FROM LEFT: Jackson, Thomas, Jonathan, Tom, and Tucker. (COURTESY PHOTOS)
By Tanika Turner People Newspapers
W
ho knew an incentive for not smoking would lead to such a rewarding
hobby? But that’s how the love of flying began for the award-winning Tom Rhodes. He grew up in Highland Park and finished his secondary education at Highland Park High School, where he had the pleasure of escorting the homecoming queen. She just so happened to become his wife. Flying became his hobby after his father made a deal with him. If Tom refrained from picking up
a cigarette before the age of 21, his father would pay him $500. Rhodes mowed lawns that summer for extra money and had already earned $300. The lawn care money paired with the $500 from his father was enough to pay for flying lessons. “I never had any plans to pick up a cigarette, so it was really like a gift,” Rhodes said. Rhodes graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with a bachelor’s degree in economics and was commissioned in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served until 1972 as a radar intercept officer in F-4 Phantom fighter jets. Sitting behind the pilot, he handled such responsibilities as operating aircraft
weapons systems and navigation equipment. When not behind the control wheel of a plane, Rhodes works in residential real estate at The Rhodes Group. According to his Rhodes Group biography, Tom believes that the best work comes from a passion for what he does. That has bled over into flying. His passion and dedication to the hobby earned him first place this fall in the intermediate division at the National Aerobatic Competition at the age of 74. The competition categories range from primary (the easiest) to advanced and unlimited. Rhodes considers himself lucky. He credits support and guidance
from Bill Denton, Tony and Julia Wood, Curt Richmond, Mike Gallaway, John and Linda Morrissey, and John Ostmeyer with helping him reach his goal.
I never had any plans to pick up a cigarette, so it was really like a gift. Tom Rhodes Rhodes has been flying competitively for 27 years, and his involvement in the International Aerobatic Club, a division of the Experimental Aircraft Association,
dates back about that long. He’s been judging competitions also for a decade. Rhodes encourages his children and others to try out flying. His son, Thomas Rhodes, recalls his father taking him and his brother flying around the age of 14. “Imagine flying an airplane before you can drive a car,” Thomas said. The EAA program Young Eagles offers children ages 8 to 17 their first free ride in an airplane and helps introduce and encourage them to learn more about aviation. Rhodes expects to continue flying for a long time more. How long? “Until they put me in the ground,” he said.
Thank You, Thank You Very Much For Writing This Book
Dallas author tackles the good and bad about the King of Rock and Roll By Kirk Dooley
Special Contributor In a vast sea of Elvis Presley books, Highland Park author Gene Wilson has plunged in with his take on the King. Elvis Aaron Presley – The People’s Star is a 152-page quick read that offers never-before-published tidbits and insights on Elvis, who Leonard Bernstein once said was “the greatest cultural force of the 20th Century”. Wilson’s 14th book is available for $24.95 through Amazon or by calling the author at 214-497-4223. Wilson is a former Dallas Morning News sportswriter who created and co-hosted a Channel 8 show that focused on high school football, and it continues today. He later left sports and joined New York’s Fairchild Publications in its Dallas office. For nine years, he wrote business stories, retail stories about men’s fashions, and in-depth
sports profiles. He recently retired from The Wilson Company, a Dallas public relations, sports marketing, and sports representation firm that he founded in 1980.
This book is the truth about Elvis. Gene Wilson His affinity for Elvis Presley runs deep. He was a youngster growing up in New Boston, Texas when the pre-famous Presley performed at the high school gym in February 1955. Tickets were 50 cents each. Wilson purchased an autographed 8.5 by 11 photo of Presley for 50 cents. The next June, Presley blew through New Boston again, this time selling out the high school stadium. Wilson met him and shook his hand. A few years later, Elvis would be the most famous star in the world.
In his 14th book, Gene Wilson writes about Elvis. “Several years ago, Elvis’ ex-wife Priscilla Presley said that someday someone would write the truth about him,” Wilson said. “This book is the truth about Elvis. It points out the good and the bad: his overuse of prescription drugs, his inability to manage his fortune, and his refusal to listen to anyone, not even his father.”
(PHOTO COURTESY KIRK DOOLEY)
Over the years, Wilson interviewed Elvis insiders, and today most of them are gone. But their insights live on in his book. Wilson notes how Elvis routinely went to bed around 5:30 a.m. and slept until 1 p.m.; how he gave his friends Cadillacs, Rolex watches, and houses; how Colonel Tom Parker padded his own wallet with
millions of dollars while managing Presley’s fortune; how Elvis appeared in 32 movies including Jailhouse Rock and Love Me Tender that combined for $254 million when adjusted for inflation. In 1957, Dallas radio tycoon Gordon McClendon paid Elvis $50,000 to play in the Cotton Bowl. A crowd of 30,000 saw the show. Only two years earlier, he played the Sportatorium for $50. In 1968, Elvis did a national television show that left him feeling that he wanted to perform once again before a live audience. In 1969, he opened in the new 2,500seat auditorium at the Hilton Inn in Las Vegas and sold out every show until he died in 1977. Reading about Elvis is always fascinating. What makes Wilson’s book fun to read is his passion for the subject, his Dallas Elvis stories, and his quest to write the truth about the King.
January 2020 15
2020: Perfect Vision
2020. It conjures up perfect vision. Wouldn’t that be nice in the new year? Ye t for m a n y, the world seems strangely out of focus. 2020 will LEN BOURLAND be an unusual year. On Feb. 29, the ladies can do the romantic ask since it’s a Leap Year. It’s an Olympic year with the summer games in Tokyo. In the Chinese calendar, it’s the year of the Rat, specifically the White Metal Rat ( Just Google it. I can’t explain). And for all of us, it’s drumroll… a Presidential Election Year as if anybody could forget that. The number twenty signifies completion in numerology, but methinks double twenties mean volatility: in geopolitics, the weather, the stock market, and just everyday life. Stock up on Maalox. Then here comes the Great Migration. Buckle up. It’s now not just Central America to the south; California is headed here. It seems “Go West young man” was heeded, and it got crowded for the manifest destiny folks. So many businesses are putting GTT on their doors like pioneers of old and are headed not only to Texas but specifically Dallas. Already, like Los Angeles, we’re becoming one big freeway. Will the Red State turn purple? Will Valleyspeak infect our Texas twang? Will the buckle of the Bible belt be replaced by sansabelt? Dunno. But since it’s New Year’s, let’s give everybody a big Texas “Howdy” and drawl on. They’ll acclimate. How much more “new normal” can you take? I used to believe that the old French maxim, “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” Now I’m not so sure. On the upside, maybe in 2020, there will be significant scientific breakthroughs and more kindness as everybody sees the Mr. Rogers movie. Maybe the Presidential Medal of Freedom will be awarded for the person(s) who stop robocalls. Maybe there will be a nationwide one-day cellphone hack that causes all phones to lock up, and people will actually look up and look around. But with all the alertness that comes from our January obsession with cutting back on food and drink and pumping iron, it’s an excellent time to clean out, throw out, reboot, and lighten up. My 20/20 vision predicts change is coming. Reach columnist Len Bourland at lenbourland@gmail.com.
16 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Young Artists, Letters to Santa, and Free Tacos
Mild weather brings out crowds for plenty of fun at Snider Plaza
Thank you to all who came to our booth during the University Park Tree Lighting in Snider Plaza. We could tell by the work your children did decorating Christmas ornaments that the youngsters of our community are overflowing with creativity and artistic talent. Their letters to Santa proved remarkable, too. Sources tell us that in addition to the annual mix of popular toys, the children requested hugs, good grades, and to be filled with kindness. Check out some of the letters at parkcitiespeople.com. We’re not sure what to make of those who inquired about the marital status of Santa’s elves, but we were excited to see
some aspiring writer ask for a typewriter (Please send us a Letter to the Editor). And as for the youngster who wrote “Joe Mama” in his letter: We may not know who you are, but we suspect that Santa does. Each year, the People Newspapers staff enjoys our booth location across from the tree and next to the Rotary Club of Park Cities, which presents the annual festival along with the Snider Plaza Merchant’s Association. We get an excellent view of the performances on stage and salivate at those walking past us with their free tacos. We look forward to seeing you again at our Fourth of July booth. Happy New Year!
(COURTESY PHOTOS)
18 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Business
BUCKNER GIVES RETIREES A TASTE OF HIGH-RISE LIVING Ventana aims to set new standards in senior accommodations
Tanika Turner
People Newspaper Bitsy Kirk sat at a table in Ventana by Buckner’s café-style dining area, looking out the window while waiting for her to-go order. She moved into the retirement community in September 2019, and she most enjoys the spectacular view from her 12th-floor apartment. “It’s like living in a hotel,” Kirk said. “I love hotels.” Ventana, as part of a 10-year plan by Buckner Retirement, broke ground on April 20, 2017, and its first members moved in on Aug. 19, 2019. The 12-story creation has enough glass windows, or ventañas as they say in Spanish, to cover the area of three football fields. “We are setting a new standard of living for seniors in America,” said Chuck Childress, executive director of Ventana by Buckner. To that end, Ventana has paired up with top brands. Master chef Stephan Pyles provides culinary consultation while Cooper Clinic and Baylor Scott & White deliver world-class medical care and guidance.
It’s like living in a hotel. I love hotels. Bitsy Kirk Ventana connected with Cooper Aerobics for its health and wellness program to improve the quality and quantity of life. Drs. Kenneth and
The $136 million Ventana by Buckner continuing care retirement living community includes two highrise towers, an onsite health center, three dining areas, a wellness center with heated indoor pool, a multipurpose Grand Hall, salon and spa, roof garden terrace, outdoor lounges, patio grilling area, and underground parking. (PHOTOS COURTESY BUCKNER)
Tyler Cooper have created a plan that is a duplicate of the work they perform at the Cooper Center to teach members about the value of exercise. “They can reverse or slow down the aging process,” Cooper said. “They have the ability to get healthier as they grow older if they follow the guidelines.” With the help of Elizabeth Niksich, director of wellness for VentanaFit, residents can take advantage of personalized workout plans. Using a personal key fob, members can view data specially programmed for them for a custom workout. The gym connects their medical care with their personal fitness goals. The luxury living community provides a continuum of care for its members with a mix of options: independent living units, assisted living units, nursing units, and memory care units. For those who require medical assistance, Ventana is collaborating with Baylor Scott & White Health. Along with a medical director, BSW also offers coordination of care and provides a fulltime chaplain who will serve a wide range of traditions and fellowship to meet the spiritual needs of Ventana members. From the dining rooms to the gym, the attention to detail is apparent. With amenities such as valet parking, spacious common areas, indoor pools, movie theaters, and more, Buckner officials expect there will always be things to keep Ventana members entertained.
20 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Snider Plaza Antiques Owners Retire After Three Decades Woodcooks consider future of store building, possibility of online business By Rachel Snyder People Newspapers
Allan and Martha Woodcook of Snider Plaza Antiques have been a fixture of the business community in University Park for more than 30 years. They retired from the shop at 6929 Snider Plaza the week of Nov. 25, but shoppers can still enjoy offerings from the more than 20 dealers. They have everything from English, French, Italian, and Asian antiques to art, books, jewelry, clocks, and more.
I was surprised and saddened to hear that they’re retiring. They’ve always been there. Melanie Keltner The Woodcooks, who were longtime Park Cities residents before moving to Dallas in recent years, opened Park Cities Postal Center in 1986 in Snider Plaza before they got into the antiques business in 1989 in the location at 6929 Snider Plaza. Allan, who was also in the home building business, said they sold the postal center about three years ago.
Martha and Allan Woodcook retired from Snider Plaza Antiques. (COURTESY PHOTOS)
“The community really embraced us,” Martha said. “We’ve had great (customers).” Over the years, such celebrities as Don Henley, Meredith Baxter, Cloris Leachman, Greer Garson, and Mickey Rooney visited the shop, according to a Dallas Morning News article from 2012. People Newspapers readers picked Snider Plaza Antiques as their favorite antique mall during the 2018 People Choice award voting. Martha Woodcook said she and Allan decided to retire to have more time to do things like travel and visit family and friends out of state. “The (shop) keeps us so busy,” Martha said. Melanie Keltner has worked in a doctor’s office in Snider Plaza for 15 years and said she was sad to hear of the couple’s retirement. “Everyone seemed to know them… Their son babysat for my kids … they’re very kind people,” Keltner said. “I was surprised and saddened to hear that they’re retiring. They’ve always been there.” Martha said she and her husband are contemplating an online store but haven’t made a decision about it yet. She also wasn’t able to talk about the future of the building the shop was housed in as of press time but said she should know about that early in 2020.
22 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Comings and Goings COMING
Saturday and Sunday and Monday appointments are available.
Audemars Piguet
Lela Rose
Highland Park Village The luxury Swiss watch manufacturer plans to open in early 2020.
NOW OPEN
Highland Park Village The luxury clothing store recently opened a bridal boutique next to their ready-towear boutique.
Away
Pilates By Nature
3109 Knox Street The pop-up shop the luggage manufacturer opened will stick around until Jan. 5, offering a variety of travel products from 11 a.m.8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays. Plans are in the works for a permanent store to open in the same space in early 2020. Visit awaytravel.com.
CYL SAUNA
2222 McKinney Avenue, suite 160 The exercise studio offers contemporary and suspension method Pilates classes, infrared saunas for 10-to-45 minute increments, chromotherapy lights, cold brew coffee, and kombucha on tap.
(COURTESY PHOTOS)
Sinai Urgent Care
CYL Sauna
5500 Greenville Ave. No. 214 Park Cities residents Lyle Scovell and Tory Foster opened the luxury infrared sauna studio, which offers clients individual infrared sauna pods for 30-minute sessions.
Goyard
Highland Park Village The luxury French trunk and leather goods maker’s rare Dallas storefront is one of only 32 boutiques in the world and six in the U.S. The store features vintage furniture and rare pieces from the Goyard Heritage collection in marble and mahogany, as well as three salons, including a collection of luggage,
AWAY handbags, and small leather goods, as well as pet accessories from the Chic du Chien range and their unique hand-painted personalization.
Hopemore Specialty Spa
1603 Commerce St. The spa, which offers facials, dermaplaning, LED light therapy, makeup application,
HOPEMORE SPECIALTY SPA and a suite of specialty services for those with skin conditions, recently opened in the sixth-floor salon area of Neiman Marcus’ downtown Dallas flagship store. The spa also offers services for clients undergoing cancer treatment, including oncology facials, scalp treatments, hand treatments, and wig services. Spa hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
3414 Milton Avenue The clinic, the third in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. The facility takes walk-in patients and offers online booking. The clinic has X-ray imaging equipment and an on-site laboratory equipped to provide physicals, immunizations, occupational medicine, and other services.
Venture X
8350 North Central Expressway, Suite 1900 The 24,000-square-foot coworking space opened by Park Cities residents Casi and Jason Bowers offers private offices, a community lounge space with a café, podcast, webcast, and green-screen rooms, meeting rooms, and event space.
Common Unknown REASONS Why People Fall Or Have Balance Problems. It’s Never Because Of Age... There’s Always A REASON! – Now What To Do About It? By Leading Balance Expert, Dr. Jeffrey Guild, Physical Therapist Are you worried about losing independence because of falls? Are you seeing your friends around you falling and losing their independence? Are you becoming increasingly frustrated with your doctors and kids telling you not to fall (Ok… How?). Here are some common unknown reasons why people fall, and a SOLUTION to prevent it from happening. 1: Vertigo/Inner Ear Balance Problems: Problems with vertigo and dizziness are symptoms that put older people at fall risk. These symptoms are so common that 1/3rd of people over the age of 70 and 50% of people over the age of 85 are experiencing dizziness and/or vertigo right now! These conditions are usually very treatable! 2. The Legs Losing Perception Of Where They Are (Proprioceptive Loss): As a balance specialist I see this problem ALL THE TIME. This is a problem that largely goes unrecognized & people have no idea it’s happening to them. I often see this when people are falling or having balance problems for what seems like NO APPARENT REASON. This is simple to find out and there are ways around the problem. 3. Walking Slowly & Furniture Walking: Walking slower makes older people
less balanced, but this is a common strategy to falls and balance problems. Touching furniture and walls while walking is a sign that something is wrong and immediate action is needed to prevent this from becoming a fall! Want more information & solutions? My new special report provides Actionable Tips that will help you keep or regain your independence. And the best thing is it’s 100% FREE, and you’re under no-obligation to buy anything when you call. IMPORTANT: For obvious reasons, my offer to send you this report FREE must come with a restriction on the number I can mail out… so it’s critical that you call TODAY and request your free report now. What To Do Next? Call: (214) 712-8242 (Leave a Message 24/7) & Choose: • Option 1: Have your FREE Report mailed or emailed to you • Option 2: Free Report + FREE Balance/Fall Screen Or Discovery Visit Author Dr. Jeffrey Guild, Physical Therapist is owner of Optimove Physical Therapy & Wellness. You can contact him at (214) 712 – 8242 or email at J.Guild@OptimoveDFW.com
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parkcitiespeople.com | January 2020 27
HOUSE OF THE MONTH 4304 Belclaire Avenue
PHOTOS COURTESY ROGERS HEALY
T
he talented team of builder Christine Goff and architect Will Snyder created this classic and timeless estate on one of the most prestigious French streets in Highland Park. Native limestone wraps the exterior with large windows and wellmanicured landscaping. Inside find an ideal floorplan totaling 7,398 square feet with five large bedrooms, 5.1 bathrooms, and an elevator. The chef ’s kitchen is complete with
a built-in Sub-Zero refrigerator, Wolf range, wet bar with dual wine coolers, butler’s pantry, and a casual dining area. The main living area, with fireplace and large Frenchdoors, overlooks a covered patio, pool, and spa, providing the perfect setting to relax or entertain. The spacious master retreat on the second floor includes a fireplace, Juliet balcony, and an incredible master bathroom with marble throughout.
28 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Sports
FORMER HP LINEMAN LEADING RESURGENCE WITH MUSTANGS Coxe brings winning attitude, performance to SMU football team
Scots. He’s up to 250 pounds now, but is also more versatile, lining up as an outside linebacker and edge rusher, with some pass coverage responsibilities. During the regular season, Coxe was seventh on the team with 41 tackles, including 6.5 tackles for loss. A personal highlight came during a road win over rival TCU in September when he had six tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble.
Highland Park standout Turner Coxe (No. 97) is one of the leading tacklers and pass rushers for SMU, which went 10-2 this season.
By Todd Jorgenson People Newspapers
G
iven its proximity to his Park Cities home, SMU immediately was an attractive choice for Turner Coxe to play college football. But that’s not the only reason he chose the Mustangs. “It’s really cool to play here, obviously, because my family can come to games,” Coxe said. “But it’s really cool to win, too, and we’re doing that now.”
The 2017 Highland Park graduate has emerged as one of the top defensive players during a breakthrough season for SMU, which enjoyed its first 10-win season since 1984 and will cap his sophomore campaign in a bowl game over the holidays. The Mustangs had been mired in an extended period of mediocrity when Coxe arrived on campus in 2017. The defensive lineman picked up some late recruiting interest after earning co-MVP honors during
HP’s win over Temple in the Class 5A Division I state championship game in 2016. He redshirted during his first year, in part to gain strength and agility, and watched as SMU reached the Frisco Bowl in 2017. Coxe was recruited by the staff of former SMU head coach Chad Morris, the father of current HP quarterback Chandler Morris. However, Morris left for Arkansas before Coxe even played a snap for the Mustangs.
(COURTESY PHOTOS)
Nevertheless, Coxe emerged as a contributor as a redshirt freshman in 2018 under new head coach Sonny Dykes. After that season, in which the Mustangs finished 5-7, the defensive unit committed to extra offseason strength workouts. “We put high expectations on this season as a team,” Coxe said. “We’re more confident. Everyone has kind of bought in.” Coxe was an undersized nose tackle as a two-year starter for the
It’s really cool to play here, obviously, because my family can come to games. But it’s really cool to win, too, and we’re doing that now. Turner Coxe “We’ve been really successful this year, and now people are putting expectations on us,” Coxe said. “We just have to take that, keep moving forward, and continuing this success.”
Scots Turn to Future After Playoff Loss Ends Incredible Title Run By Todd Jorgenson People Newspapers
Dynasties can’t last forever. Neither can remarkable streaks like three consecutive Class 5A Division I state championships or 20 straight playoff wins. When Highland Park fell to Frisco Lone Star in an overtime heartbreaker on Nov. 29, it didn’t signal failure on the part of this year’s team to live up to such lofty standards. Instead, it merely amplified the unprecedented string of recent success that HP has added to the state’s most storied high school football legacy. The Scots (11-2) only lost to one team all season, and that was the Rangers, who beat them twice — including at Highlander Stadium in September. The second defeat ended HP’s campaign without a state title for the first time since 2015.
“When you play your heart out, and you give it all you’ve got, it’s so hard to let go, and it’s hard to end the journey,” HP head coach Randy Allen said. “We got beat by a good football team. They made some plays at the end.” It was the final game in an HP uniform for several key contributors. Chandler Morris passed for 239 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for a game-high 83 yards and a score. Defensive lineman Prince Dorbah, who has verbally committed to Texas, had a sack and multiple tackles for loss. Hunter Heath, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards this season, played through a minor injury and recorded 76 all-purpose yards. “They left it better than they found it,” Allen said of the seniors. “They’ve conducted themselves in a way that brought pride back to our school and our community.
2 0 1 9 R E S U LT S NONDISTRICT Rockwall Mesquite Horn Frisco Lone Star
Wide receiver Case Savage will be one of the top returnees on offense next season for Highland Park. (PHOTO CHRIS MCGATHEY) They beat some really good football teams and had a great year.” The departure of other key seniors such as Drew Scott, Ben Smith, Paxton Anderson, John Beecherl, Cal Hirschey, and others means that a group of fresh faces will get a turn in the spotlight in 2020. Such is a hallmark of HP’s
consistent success. A few days after their season ended, the Scots found out they will remain in Class 5A for all UIL-sanctioned sports for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. Once again, HP will be among the largest 5A schools in the state. That’s great news for HP as it
W, 66-59 W, 52-25 L, 30-19
DISTRICT 6-5A DIV. I Bryan Adams W, 62-0 Woodrow Wilson W, 66-0 Mansfield Legacy W, 76-6 Samuell W, 56-6 Sunset W, 79-0 Lancaster W, 42-35 (OT) Mansfield Timberview W, 43-21 REGION II PLAYOFFS Frisco Wakeland W, 33-10 Magnolia W, 63-28 Frisco Lone Star L, 33-27 (OT) looks to keep the momentum going. District alignments for the next two years in football, basketball, and other team sports will be announced on Feb. 3.
30 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Volleyball, Soccer Stars Lead Latest College Signees from HP Girls lacrosse hits team-record with four committing to college programs By Todd Jorgenson People Newspapers
You can’t come within one victory of a trip to the Class 5A state volleyball tournament without a squad of individual standouts. That was the case for Highland Park, which saw three seniors sign scholarships to play college volleyball starting in 2020. Kendyl Reaugh signed with Alabama, while teammate Lauren McMahon will head to Wichita State, and Avery Hellmuth will play for Oklahoma Baptist.
Wichita was where I felt at home. I wanted to experience a different state and how it would be away from home. Lauren McMahon The trio was among 15 student-athletes at HP recognized for their college commitments during a recent ceremony. The others include soccer players
Highland Park honored several athletes during a fall signing ceremony. FRONT ROW, FROM LEFT: Ava Craycroft (crew), Presley Echols (soccer), Megan O’Neal (soccer), Katie Corey (crew), and Dawson Dabboussi (softball). BACK ROW: Randall Fojtasek (golf), Lauren McMahon (volleyball), Avery Hellmuth (volleyball), Kendyl Reaugh (volleyball), Josie Gooch (lacrosse), Emily Baird (lacrosse), Parker White (lacrosse), Sloane Kipp (lacrosse), Corbin Montayne (baseball), and Scott Roden (golf). (PHOTO MELISSA MACATEE) Presley Echols (Texas) and Megan O’Neal (Georgia); golfers Scott Roden (Texas) and Randall Fojtasek (Texas); rowers Ava Craycroft (Texas) and Kate Corey (Northeastern); softball catcher Dawson Dabboussi (St. Edward’s);
and baseball catcher Corbin Montayne (Howard College). Plus, the HP girls lacrosse team had a program-record four signees, including Josie Gooch (Michigan), Emily Baird (Bucknell), Sloane Kipp (Denver), and
Parker White (Sewanee). Reaugh, a four-year starter for the Lady Scots, became enamored with Alabama when she first visited the Tuscaloosa campus in September 2017. One coaching change later, she’s eager to join a
program on the upswing in the Southeastern Conference. “Right when I got on campus, I knew it was home,” Reaugh said. “They have a really good family aspect and really want their athletes to succeed.” McMahon committed to the Shockers about a year ago, after a busy summer of attending camps and making visits around the country. “Wichita was where I felt at home,” she said. “I wanted to experience a different state and how it would be away from home.” Echols, who was the top scorer on HP’s state championship team last season, has been committed to play soccer at Texas since the end of her freshman year. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a while,” she said. “It’s the right place for me. Since I committed, it’s grown to be better and better every day.” O’Neal said Georgia was the only school she visited that provided the right balance between athletics, academics, and social life. “They all perfectly fit,” said O’Neal, who committed to the Bulldogs in October 2018. “I fell in love with the program and the school — everything about it.”
parkcitiespeople.com | January 2020 31
Schools
MATH TEACHER CHANNELS YOUTUBE TO HELP STUDENTS
Creative approaches earn middle school instructor Presidential Award By Rachel Snyder People Newspapers
H
ighland Park Midd le School math teacher Jean Streepey started a YouTube channel around 2010 to help one ill student keep up with lessons. The channel has since grown to 192 subscribers and become one of Streepey’s favorite projects. Such creative approaches and hands-on projects helped her get named a Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching awardee. Streepey is one of up to 108 teachers selected nationally for the award in 2019 and one of only four in the state.
You can’t replace handson activities. It’s about using technology to support students. Jean Streepey The award is the nation’s highest honor for K-12 science, technology, engineering, math, and/ or computer science teaching. Recipients receive a certificate signed by the president, a trip to Washington D.C., and a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation. “It was totally humbling to
TOP, FROM LEFT: Karen Marrongelle, of the National Science Foundation Directorate for Education and Human Resources; Jean Streepey; Kelvin K. Droegemeier, of the White House Office of Science and Technology; and F. Fleming Crim, of the National Science Foundation. BOTTOM: At Highland Park Middle School, teacher Jean Streepey works to identify what will help individual students understand math. (COURTESY PHOTOS)
(visit) Washington,” Streepey said. Streepey has been an educator for 13 years and started at McCulloch Intermediate School
before joining Highland Park Middle School. “I always wanted to be a math teacher,” Streepey said. “I think
that’s the part I like best… finding out what makes (individual students) understand (math).” She said the experience of
having both her daughters go through HPISD, where she first volunteered at Armstrong Elementary, helped inspire her to go into teaching. “I’m thankful we have schools here that create a sense of community,” she said. “I think I’ve learned something from everyone in this building.” Highland Park Middle School Principal Jeremy Gilbert praised her work and leadership with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) instruction. “She works to improve her program... she’s a positive influence on her colleagues,” Gilbert said. “Because (STEAM) is causing some teachers to think differently, some might shy away from it. It’s classic Jean that she would jump headfirst into it.” W hile Streepey embraces technology with her YouTube channel and Google classroom, she says nothing can replace faceto-face instruction. “You can’t replace hands-on activities,” she said. “It’s about using technology to support students.” She’s also served as a team lead and a critical friend for the U.S. Department of Education’s Teach to Lead Summits on innovation and STEAM. In 2016, Streepey was the secondary teacher of the year for Texas Region 10, which represents 80 school districts and over 50,000 teachers in the Dallas area. She also served as a project manager for her district’s STEAM design team.
32 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Highland Park ISD Construction Updates
Progress continues on campuses across the district
Multi-use facility re-installing the existing lockers in the new space.” He said concrete work between the stadium and the new addition, as well as exterior landscaping, are still in progress and set for completion. Hyer Elementary School. (COURTESY PHOTOS)
By Rachel Snyder People Newspapers
As the district’s fifth elementary school prepares to open next August, other projects across the district near completion. The renovations and new construction are part of the $361.4 million bond package passed in 2015. HYER ELEMENTARY Superintendent Tom Trigg said garage walls are about 30% poured at Hyer Elementary, and the foundations for the south and east walls are in progress. The underground storm drainage pipe there is about 95% complete. “We’ve made a lot of progress on Hyer Elementary,” Trigg said. He said the Hyer Elementary School building is on schedule and set to open for the 2020-2021 school year.
MCCULLOCH INTERMEDIATE/ HIGHLAND PARK MIDDLE SCHOOL The playground installation at McCulloch Intermediate/Highland Park Middle School is almost finished. “Playground surfacing is in progress,” Trigg said.
NORTHWEST ADDITION AT HIGHLAND PARK HIGH SCHOOL With work nearly finished, the basement and gymnastics spaces have been occupied and in use for weeks, “which is great,” Trigg said. “All floors have been released for occupancy… The district is removing and
HIGHLAND PARK HIGH SCHOOL RENOVATION “Interior demolition work is nearing its completion and, most importantly, the fiber data, fire sprinkler, and plumbing lines have been relocated. The waterproofing for the exterior demo… is now complete; the exterior demolition where the new student entry is ongoing,” Trigg said. MULTI-USE FACILITY “All major steel has been erected, waterproofing on the exterior walls is ongoing, first and second-floor framing is complete,” Trigg said. “Exterior masonry at the pool is ongoing…The electrical room equipment is installed, and a conduit is being run.” He said the building is on schedule to be finished in April 2020.
McCulloch Intermediate / Highland Park Middle School
HIGHLANDER STADIUM Lastly, Trigg said construction is set to start on the Highlander Stadium renovation project in the first quarter of 2020.
34 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Skilled Programmer Gets Lessons in Entrepreneurship
With Studiously, St. Mark’s student looks to revolutionize how people study By Mitch Gruen
Special Contributor Sahitya Senapathy is not your average high school senior. He’s got programming chops and an entrepreneurial spirit, and he wants to change how we learn. The 17-year-old Senapathy started an edtech company in his spare time as a student at St. Marks School of Texas. His AI-driven study platform, dubbed Studiously, aims to promote understanding over memorization by guiding students through targeted study sessions that cater to an individual student’s needs. Studiously can even analyze photos of difficult homework and automatically generate additional problems that help students solidify their understanding. As Senapathy puts it, he’s “doing for education what Google maps has done for driving.”
When I first started, I was really focused on how technology could better learning. Sahitya Senapathy Senapathy was inspired by problems he encountered as he navigated the perilous world of high school education. During his junior year, he noticed a shift in the curriculum that made high levels of deep understanding more important than they had been in prior years. The days of being able to score straight-A’s by pounding facts into your head with flashcards began to fade. Though flashcard apps like Quizlet worked fine for learning the state capitals and cell organelles,
Sahitya Senapathy created an app to help with more advanced studying. (COURTESY PHOTOS) higher-level subjects that required synthesis and critical thinking were not well suited to the classic flashcard format.
Taking matters into his own hands, Senapathy began researching the psychology of learning and brainstorming alternatives to
tried-and-true studying techniques. As any inventor or entrepreneur will tell you, coming up with an idea is the easy part. All of the value (and all of the difficulty) lies in the execution. To turn his idea into a saleable product, Senapathy had to teach himself business skills, learn the process of working with investors, and research how technology affects individuals. He already had impressive coding skills — he won a $5,000 grant from the U.S. Army for a mobile application he worked on in the sixth-grade — but AI was a new area for him, and he had to selfteach in that realm as well. His hard work paid off in spades when, earlier this year, Senapathy took home first prize in the i.Invest National Youth Business Competition. Now seeking outside funding for the app, Senapathy has had to learn to see things from the perspective of investors. “When I first started, I was really focused on how technology could better learning. But when it comes down to funding, entrepreneurs should be able to communicate the product in a way that anyone can understand regardless of how complex the technology is,” he said. Senapathy hopes to have Studiously ready for a public release next year. The platform is in its beta testing stage, where in an initial trial, 96% of students surveyed preferred Studiously over Quizlet. Senapathy thinks that the benefits of Studiously could extend beyond the high school classroom and imagines a world where it is used in elementary schools, colleges, and corporate environments. He plans to attend college in the fall, and though he hasn’t decided on a school, he hopes to share the benefits of Studiously with his college classmates.
36 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
SPECIAL ADVERTISING CONTENT WESLEY PREP
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Students and faculty gathered in the main quad on Dec. 2 for a celebration of lights. (PHOTO COURTESY SMU) ensemble of theology and sacred music students, and the Perkins community in a program of Christmas music during the last chapel service of the fall semester.
Difference-Making Scientist
A December to Remember
SMU marked the Christmas season with multiple events in early December. Students and faculty filled the main quad on Dec. 2 for a celebration of lights sponsored by the Student Foundation and supported by the Student Senate and the Michael F. Miller Endowment. SMU President R. Gerald Turner read the Christmas story and participants enjoyed hot chocolate, cookies, and carols at the lighting of the campus Christmas tree. Three days later, another celebration marked three milestones: the 60th anniversary of Perkins’ Master of Sacred Music program, the 80th anniversary of the Seminary Singers, and the 60th anniversary of the Advent service itself. “This legacy revolves around the idea of a community gathered to ‘await together’ the coming of the one who is Emmanuel,” said Marcell Silva Steuernagel, assistant professor of church music and director of the sacred music program at Perkins. “As we wait, we sing our expectation together.” The Advent service was instituted in 1959 by professors Grady Hardin and Lloyd Pfautsch and is closely tied to the development of Perkins’ Master of Sacred Music Program. A forerunner to this tradition was established in 1948 when Perkins professor Fred Gealy led the Seminary Singers, a non-auditioned
the ingenuity, commitment, and perseverance of the fastest-growing, privately-held entrepreneurial businesses in the Dallas area. HTS was started at Rome’s kitchen table seven years ago. He now oversees five offices throughout Texas. “We are a company founded on the philosophy of caring about all the people with whom we work, a value I learned from one of my professors while at SMU,” Rome said.
Arts Center Renovation
Fossils found by paleontologist Myria Perez are on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. (COURTESY PHOTO) SMU paleontology graduate Myria Perez was one of 125 women across the country selected to be an AAAS IF/THEN ambassador. As an IF/THEN ambassador, the goal is to tell their stories and serve as a role model for girls to encourage women involved in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Read more about the program on Page B10. “ We firmly believe that if we support a woman in STEM, then she can change the world,” said Lyda Hill, founder of Lyda Hill Philanthropies. Perez, now a fossil preparator at the Perot Museum, worked with paleontologist Louis Jacobs and others to unearth never-before-seen fossils from Angola. View them at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
A $34 million renovation of the Owen Arts Center will improve academic spaces in the north wing for visual arts, art history, and creative computation. With three interconnected buildings, the 25,000-squarefoot Owens Center is the largest academic building on the SMU campus. With a $1.8 million-dollar gift, former SMU parent G. Marlyne Sexton hopes to encourage others to contribute to help raise the remaining amount needed to revitalize the art hub. “The improvements will serve as a catalyst for Meadows (School of Arts) to attract the next generation of talented and diverse visual artists, art historians, and multidisciplinary creatives and draw scholars and visitors from across the region and around the world,” SMU President R. Gerald Turner said. Visit smu.edu/TransformOwenArts. – Compiled by Tanika Turner
SMU Cox Dallas 100
Preston Hollow resident and SMU graduate Trey Rome, founder and CEO of Home Tax Solutions (HTS), accepted an award from the Cox School’s Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship as one of SMU’s Dallas 100. The 29th-annual awards honored
Trey Rome
parkcitiespeople.com | January 2020 37
Society
PARTY LIKE IT’S 1661 Dallas couple attends fundraiser at historic French chateau
FROM LEFT: John and Susan Cox, Alexandre de Vogüé, and Sophie and Eric Le Calvez. Susan Cox shares an interest in pottery with the Le Calvezes, who live in London but own Bourg-Joly Malicorne, a faiencerie in France that dates back to the late 1600s. Much like an infamous 1961 party at the Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte, a recent dinner featured fireworks. (COURTESY PHOTOS)
By Susan Cox
Special Contributor
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magine thousands of flickering candles, a grand piano accompanying four talented vocalists, and a perfect dinner paired with flowing, fine red and white Bordeaux wines. The French Room in Dallas? Non. Count Patrice and Countess de Vogüé hosted the Oct. 20 affair with fireworks set to music at the 17th-century French Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte, an architectural jewel built as the home of Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV’s superintendent of finances. Fouquet was said to have given painter-decorator Charles Le Brun, landscape architect Andre Le Notre, and architect Louis Le Vau a free hand and unlimited funds with only one requirement: Build something beautiful and never before seen.
In 1661, as completion of Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte was nearing, Fouquet hosted a soirée in honor of Louis XIV. The party and fireworks display meant to honor Louis must have surpassed the splendor of even the king’s parties. Jealous of Fouquet and desiring his position in the Court, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, convinced the king that Fouquet was stealing from the treasury. With Fouquet imprisoned, work ceased, leaving portions of the chateau and grounds unfinished. The vaulted ceiling of the salon was never painted according to Le Brun’s original design. Louis XIV confiscated specially-designed and commissioned tapestries, statues, and orange trees and commissioned Le Notre, Le Vau, and Le Brun to begin working on a palace fit for a king at Versailles. Vaux-le-Vicomte eventually passed
from the widow Fouquet to two more owners, then fell into neglect for 30 years. In 1875, Alfred Sommier, a patron of the arts and great grandfather of Count Patrice de Vogüé, purchased it at public auction and spent lavishly to bring the chateau back to life. The three sons of Count Patrice and Countess de Vogüé – Alexandre, JeanCharles, and Ascanio – are the fifth generation of their family to oversee the estate. A year or so ago, my husband and I attended a talk given by Alexandre at the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, and Alexandre and I have stayed in contact since then. He will return to Dallas this spring. This inaugural fundraiser dinner drew 140 guests coming from France, the U.S., Canada, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Funds raised from this and subsequent
dinners will go toward the restoration and decoration of the elliptical ceiling in the salon. The original drawing for the salon’s ceiling by the master decorator Le Brun is in the chateau archives and will be followed to complete Le Brun’s vision. The October evening at Vaux-le-Vicomte may have approached the elegance, splendor, and magic of Fouquet’s soirée. As divine and memorable as that evening was, one can only imagine that this inaugural event will become a much-anticipated annual event for many years to come. Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte, near Paris, is undoubtedly one of the jewels in the crown of La Belle France, and its splendor should be preserved for many generations. Susan Cox, who lived in the Park Cities for 28 years before moving to Preston Hollow, has visited Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte several times and considers it her favorite.
38 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
CRYSTAL CHARITY SOUTH AMERICAN BALL
Anne and Jeremy Besser Lisa Cooley and Patti Flowers
Charles and Pat McEvoy, Morgan Malone, and Marianne and Kory Lynn
Pam McCallum and Ball Designer Tom Addis
Annette Simmons and Jerry Fronterhouse
“Jaguar” at hotel entrance Laura and Jason Downing
Kevin and Francie Moody-Dahlberg
Former Crystal Charity Ball Chairmen with 2019 Chairman Pat McEvoy
Kenny and Lisa Troutt P H O T O S B Y D A N A D R I E N S K Y A N D H O LT H AY N S W O R T H
Pat and Charles McEvoy
Diane and Hal Brierley
Richard and Jennifer Dix
Crystal Charity Ball event chair Pat McEvoy promised a lively, fun, elegant evening, and delivered on Dec. 7 with the South American Mosaic-themed affair at the Hilton Anatole. Models dressed as animals greeted ballgoers to a night of music, auctions, and dancing, and a flower made of chocolate petals with a coffeeflavored center closed out dinner. The ball raised $6.8 million-plus for children’s charities.
40 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
WILD AT HEART RAISES $1 MILLION +
Julie Ford with Rich and Tucker Entoven
Brooks Morrow and Deve Sanford
Steve and Dawn Moore
Michael and Brittany Glendenning with Alex and Clayton Snodgrass Susie Oszustowicz
Lydia and Matt Stubbs
Dallas Zoo CEO Gregg Hudson PHOTOS BY THOMAS GARZA AND MONIKA NORMAND
Jenna Owens and Franciso Rizo
Guests enjoyed face-painting
This year’s Zoo To Do: Wild at Heart fundraiser Nov. 2 saw about 700 guests come through the front gates of the Dallas Zoo. They were welcomed by animal ambassadors including flamingos, an anteater, and penguins. The Phase Two after party included face-painting, carousel rides, networking, and cocktails. Proceeds from the event help support the Dallas Zoo’s dedication to providing the best animal care, deliver unique educational offerings, and strengthen its wildlife conservation efforts.
Truluck’s Lisa DeMeyer
Zoologist shows Boa Constrictor to guests
Deirdre Robinson and Derya Deniz
parkcitiespeople.com | January 2020 41
Living Well VOLUNTEERS HELP BY RUNNING WITH THE HOMELESS Back on My Feet gets needy moving toward independence By Bethany Erickson People Newspapers
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t may not seem like an immediate fit, but one organization is helping homeless individuals get jobs and housing – by first encouraging them to lace up their running shoes. Since 2007, the national nonprofit Back on My Feet has helped participants obtain more than 6,500 jobs and homes, logging in a collective 925,000 miles of running in 13 cities along the way. But how does running translate to jobs and homes? “We use running and community support and community engagement to help our members move towards independence and make their way out of shelters, essentially,” explained Emily Johnson, a program manager with the Dallas chapter. “Our primary focus is employment. A lot of people know Back on My Feet for our running and our races and things like that, but we definitely have a very strong emphasis on the workforce development side of things with our members.”
Johnson said that members run three mornings a week, and if they’ve maintained a 90 percent attendance rate, at the 30-day mark, they can qualify for workforce training. “We really use that to kind of help instill discipline and then just remotivate them, help them clear their minds through their running, and just create a new vision for themselves and for their future,” Johnson said. “And then as long as they’re active in our program, they’re maintaining that attendance, and they’re engaging with us, we move them into what’s called our Next Steps program.” The Next Steps program is designed to help homeless individuals become more independent. Accenture has partnered with Back on My Feet to provide job readiness classes, and ACE Cash Express offers financial literacy classes. And while members are picking up practical skills, they’re still running three days a week, with volunteers who run, walk, and power walk alongside.
We really use that to kind of help instill discipline and then just remotivate them, help them clear their minds through their running, and just create a new vision for themselves and for their future. Emily Johnson
COURTESY TWITTER
Back on My Feet works with the homeless through running and job and financial literacy training. (COURTESY PHOTOS) “We’re combining the best of the health and wellness world with the workforce world,” Johnson said. “It’s really a unique approach because it also helps restore their confidence, their self-esteem, and it just gives them a lot more confidence to be able to tackle the barriers that they need to, knowing that they have the community support to back them in that way.” Anyone 18 and older can run with the groups. The Dallas chapter has three that meet at Dallas LIFE, the Salvation Army Carr P. Collins Social Center, and the
Salvation Army Recovery Center – and Johnson said they like their volunteer runners to commit to one morning a week. And the pace of the runs, Johnson said, makes it an excellent option for someone who wants to be more active, but doesn’t want to run a marathon, either. “We definitely tell all of our volunteers like this is not going to be your marathon training,” she said. “We have power walkers; we have joggers; we have guys that can leave you in the dust and take off flying. But we definitely have a wide range of abilities.”
BY THE NUMBERS 70% of members employed and housed 83% of members maintain employment 44% receive a raise within six months 21% get a Promotion $12.75 an hour average hiring wage for members, versus $7.25 minimum wage 6,500 Jobs and homes achieved
42 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
‘Lusty Texans of Dallas’ Coming Home to The Mansion
Sebastien Archambault, executive chef of The Mansion Restaurant for 18 months, grew up eating a combination of pork sausage and oysters in southwestern France, a dish that inspired a memorable item on his menu. (ARCHAMBAULT PHOTO COURTESY OF KEVIN MARPLE, OYSTER PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MANSION) In the 1951 tome The Lusty Texans of Dallas, written as part of The Society in America Series, John Rogers describes DalKERSTEN RET TIG las as a frontier where the abundance of “gamblers, dance hall girls, and outlaws” rivaled those found in western mining towns and founded by “one of the strangest and most visionary colonies of Frenchmen that ever migrated to the New World.” In 2020, one could describe Dallas the same way, especially the restaurant scene. It’s been 18 months since Sebastien Archambault joined Dallas’ cadre of gamblers and Frenchmen as the executive chef of The Mansion Restaurant at Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. Leading this fabled restaurant is a gamble. There have been seven executive chefs
in its nearly 40 years of operation, some more memorable than others, each one leaving their marks, for better or worse. What’s different about Sebastien is that this visionary Frenchmen would rather be a restaurant-driven chef than lead a chef-driven restaurant. It’s about respect, he said. “Respecting (Caroline Rose Hunt, The Mansion’s founder), the memories here, the team, the suppliers, and the guests.” Maybe it’s because he has Texas roots, but Sebastien has a warmth and openness that isn’t immediately noticeable in some of his countrymen. He has twinkly brown eyes, an easy smile, and a clear affection for the work family that surrounds him. Early in 2019, the restaurant received a review that was personally devastating to Sebastien. He apologized to the entire staff, front and back of the house, and accepted full responsibility. Trust and harmony among the team are of utmost importance
to him. His leadership style of humility and accountability has served the restaurant well. The Mansion fare is exceptional, unpretentious, and well-prepared using the finest ingredients. Not wanting to label the cuisine, Sebastien calls it neo-classical. I’ll translate. It’s approachable and relaxed – not avant-garde tweezer-plated dishes that need to be Googled. The seasonal menu includes three different cuts of organic, all-natural Texas beef; pasta, fish, duck, salads, soups, and artful vegetable dishes. One item that blew me away is the oysters served with fennel sausage, bread, and mignonette. The chef grew up eating this combination of pork sausage and oysters in southwestern France, and this, friends, is travel on a plate, especially when paired with champagne. The Mansion is worthy and relevant in this dynamic, hyper-competitive market. In
the tyranny of January, with the local landscape a washed-out grey, deciduous, and bleak, it’s warm, gracious, even comfortable. Service is attentive, not fussy, or arrogant. Like all best-in-class restaurants, prices are commensurate with quality, but by no means what I call “Dallas steak house extortion.” Full disclosure, I handled PR for Rosewood Hotels for several years and, for a time, was directly responsible for The Mansion. I consider the staff there, family and the hotel itself, home. Every one of us “Lusty Texans” of Dallas should. Follow Kersten Rettig, a Park Cities-based writer with more than 30 years’ experience in food and beverage marketing and PR, on Instagram @KickshawPapers.
S O N G PA I R I N G “Coming Home” by Leon Bridges
WEDDING
CYNTHIA LAMBERT & JOHN RUBARTH
C
PHOTOGRAPHER / STUDIO: THISBE GRACE
y n t h i a “ C i n d i ” J on e s Lambert and John Andrew “Jack” Rubarth exchanged wedding vows on Saturday, May 4, 2019, at Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. The Reverend Greg Pickens officiated the ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Dr. Ronald C. Jones and the late Jane Allison Jones of Dallas, Texas. The groom is the son of Mrs. Clara Jane Rubarth and the late Robert Frank Rubarth, Jr. of New Braunfels, Texas. The bride chose a fitted gown from New York designer, Madeline Gardner. The ivory crepe was hand-embroidered with pearl beading and diamante crystals. The mermaid silhouette featured a V-neck and a plunging low back with a sheer, semicathedral train. Cindi’s daughters, Caroline
Allison Lambert and Katherine Elizabeth Lambert, attended her as co-maids of honor. Bridesmaids included Caroline Lambert, Kate Lambert, Kelly Day, and Heather Kemble. Natalie Jones and Alanna Schodowski served as members of the house party. Andy Rubar th, Char lie Rubarth, Oliver Rubarth, and Artie Lambert attended Jack as groomsmen. Ushers included J i m R u b a r t h - L a y, M a r k Akerman, Tim Weissman, Jonah Weissman, and Kyle Jones. Cindi is a graduate of The Hockaday School. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Southern Methodist University and a Juris Doctorate degree f rom Northwestern University School of Law. She is employed as an attorney with Hagan Law
Group, L.L.C. Jack is a graduate of Canyon High School in New Braunfels, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering f rom Rice University and a Master of Business Administration degree f rom the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is the managing director of Valasso Partners. Jack and Cindi met through the Northwestern University Alumni Club of DFW, and the “Northwestern Fizz” was the specialty cocktail they served during their reception at the Dallas Petroleum Club. The newlyweds honeymooned in Venice, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Santorini, Greece; Athens, Greece; and London, England and now reside in Highland Park.
parkcitiespeople.com | January 2020 43
THINGS TO DO
Lone Star Christmas (COURTESY PHOTOS)
Lone Star Christmas
The Trains at Northpark
When: Dec. 21 - Jan. 6 Where: Perot Museum of Nature and Science Cost: Included with the price of museum admission Come to the Perot and experience the tech side. The museum will be having techthemed activities such as augmented reality (AR), robot hockey, polar pulleys, coat designing, and snowflake races, plus chats with paleontologists as they unearth Arctic dinosaur fossils. Visit perotmuseum.org for more information.
When: Until Jan. 5, 2020 Where: NorthPark Center Cost: $7 for adults, $4 for children (2-12) and senior citizens (65+), children under 2 are free Since 1987, the Trains at Northpark has helped more than 39,000 families by raising more than $13 million for Ronald McDonald House of Dallas. Every year, the largest miniature train exhibit has featured recreations of notable cities such as Dallas, New York City, Washington D.C., and San Francisco. While making rounds Christmas shopping, bring the children in to see this exhibit. For tickets and more information, visit www.thetrainsatnorthpark.com.
Lone Star Christmas
Day 1 Dallas
The Trains at Northpark
Tech The Halls!
When: Until Jan. 5 Where: Gaylord Texan Cost: Ticket prices vary The Gaylord Texan’s annual Lone Star Christmas includes many festivities such as ICE! featuring “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Snow Tubing, Merry Snoopy Christmas Scavenger Hunt, Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Traditions, Breakfast with Charlie Brown & Friends, Gingerbread Decorating Corner, and Ice Skating! Guests can also enjoy more than 2 million Christmas lights decorating the resort. For more information and tickets, visit www.christmasatgaylordtexan.com.
Day 1 Dallas
When: Jan. 1 Where: Dr. Pepper Ballpark, Embassy Suites Convention Center, Frisco Cost: $5 for everyone 2+ Historically held in Fair Park in Dallas, Day 1 Dallas is moving to Frisco. From 3 to 7 p.m., guests can enjoy classic fair activities: magic acts, bounce houses, games, and activities, face painting, live bands, and fireworks. This event benefits Vogel Alcove, a nonprofit educational and therapeutic center for homeless children and their families in Dallas. For more information, visit www.Day1Dallas.com. — Compiled by Liliann Albelbaisi
44 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
Homemade Bread Rises To The Occasion If you’ve ever strolled past a bakery as loaves come out of the oven, you know the irresistible draw of freshly-baked bread. I’ve been privileged to know three master bread bakers. CHRISTY ROST Two are faHOME + KITCHEN mous cookbook authors – Rose Levy Beranbaum of The Bread Bible fame, and Peter Reinhart, author of Bread Revolution and The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. The third never wrote a book and is known only to his friends and family. Al was a neighbor and dear friend, and I always called him “The World’s Best Bread Baker.” Until recently, Al and his wife Liz lived next door to us in Colorado. I learned of Al’s bread baking prowess soon after Randy and I purchased Swan’s Nest – our historic 1898 home. We were deep into the house restoration process when we received a dinner invitation. That was the night we realized dinner next door would always be a culinary feast. Making yeast breads in Dallas is a fairly straightforward process. Still, when the challenges of
Ingredients: 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat flour ½ cup spelt flour ½ cup old-fashioned oats ¼ cup rye flour 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed 1 package active dry yeast 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt 1 ¼ - 1 ½ cups warm water 2 tablespoons canola oil
Directions:
In the large bowl of an electric
LEFT: Christy Rost’s Rustic Multigrain Bread. RIGHT: Her late friend Al Wickert works some dough. (PHOTOS CHRISTY ROST) baking at high altitude are thrown into the equation, even the most accomplished baker can encounter less than stellar results. Al had the process nailed. Whether he was baking ciabatta or a huge multigrain bread garnished with whole grains and seeds, each loaf had a beautifully crisp exterior and a perfectly balanced soft and chewy crumb. Al often brought a loaf when invited to dinner. His bread was
a gift I always treasured, but Al’s greatest gift to me was a private bread-baking lesson in his kitchen on a snowy winter day. I learned about proportions of whole wheat flour to other grains, how to overcome high altitude’s dry atmosphere so the texture isn’t dry, his secret to a crisp outer crust, and a solution to a problem I had already experienced – placing a sheet of greased plastic over the dough before the towel so the dough won’t
dry out while rising. January’s cold and blustery days offer an ideal setting for bread baking. After the Holiday festivities, a quiet day of mixing and kneading dough, seeing it rise, inhaling its intoxicating aroma as it bakes, and biting into that first warm slice, is a welcome respite from December’s intensity. The whole grain recipe I’ve developed here requires no special equipment and features easy steps
mixer fitted with a dough hook or in a large mixing bowl, stir together the flours, oats, brown sugar, yeast, and salt. Pour in 1¼ cups of the water and oil and mix on slow speed. If the dough feels dry, add remaining water, a little at a time, to form a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth and bounces back when pushed with a finger. Transfer it in a greased bowl, turning it over once to grease the surface. Cover
with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and a light towel. Place the bowl in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Punch down the dough, gather in the edges, and transfer it to a lightly floured surface; knead 1 minute. Roll it out with a rolling pin to a 13 by 11inch rectangle. Tightly roll the dough with your hands into a log, seal the bottom edge, and turn the ends under. The log should measure 12 by
4 inches. Place it on a greased cookie sheet, cover it with greased plastic wrap and a towel, and set it aside in a warm place until it is doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and place an empty baking pan on the bottom rack. Using a sharp knife, cut 5 to 6 slits across the top of the loaf. Drop a handful of ice cubes into the empty baking pan to create steam, and bake the bread on the middle rack for 12 -15 minutes
that even a novice bread baker can accomplish with confidence. That first taste… heavenly! Christy Rost is the author of three cookbooks, television chef on PBS stations nationwide, and longtime resident of the Park Cities and Preston Hollow. For additional recipes and entertaining tips, please visit her website at christyrost.com or follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @ChristyRost. to brown the crust. For an extracrisp crust, spritz the bread with water every 5 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees, cover the bread with a tent of foil if it begins to brown too much, and bake 15 – 20 minutes more, or until an instant-read thermometer reaches 210 degrees when inserted into the middle of the loaf. When it is done, remove it from the oven and transfer the bread to a rack to cool. Yield: 1 16 by 6-inch loaf
parkcitiespeople.com | January 2020 45 O B I T UA RY
O B I T UA RY
AMANDA MAGNER WARING
T. C. “TAV” LUPTON JR.
10/08/1957 - 07/30/2019
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t is with tremendous sorrow that we announce the death of our mother, Amanda Magner Waring. Born Amanda Mary Magner, she passed away peacefully on November 5, 2019, in Dallas, Texas at the age of 62. Diagnosed in 2012 with Stage IV breast cancer, she significantly beat the odds of survival. Under the circumstances, it is easy to feel as though our prayers have not been answered, but truly we were blessed to have enjoyed nearly eight years with her after her diagnosis, during most of which she was completely free of pain or symptoms of any kind. An intensely private person, few of her family and friends knew of her illness, much less the gravity. We are grateful she was able to find solace in her final days with family and friends, of whom she had many. A pious Catholic, Amanda was particularly devoted to Bl. Father Francis Seelos, a Redemptorist priest who shepherded St. Mary’s Assumption Parish in New Orleans through the yellow fever epidemic of 1867. Her lifelong devotion to Father Seelos was due to her grandfather, John Ferran, with whom she regularly attended Mass at St. Mary’s Assumption. Her grandfather was a defining force in her life, and she departed this world with the full faith that he would be awaiting her with open arms. Amanda was born in New Orleans and graduated from Archbishop Chapelle High School and Louisiana State University, where she was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha and a Phi Kappa Theta sweetheart. She remained a loyal Tigers fan for life, and on her deathbed continued to respond to the LSU fight song. She was an avid skier and tennis player in her youth. After working several jobs, she devoted herself wholly to the care of her home and children. She provided them an idyllic childhood, with summers filled with golf followed by swimming and family dinner beneath the New Orleans Country Club oak tree. She used
to enjoy listening to the afternoon rain on which one can depend in New Orleans, in the company of her children. She endured a divorce and Hurricane Katrina, after which she and her children relocated to Texas. She remained a proud New Orleanian to her death, and freely offered travel and dining advice to her attending physicians and nurses in Dallas. She was particularly fond of Angelo Brocato’s desserts. She shared many laughs with many friends and was always ready to help others at any expense. She possessed the unique ability to make everyone feel loved, in no small part because she genuinely loved most people. She also had a tremendous sense of humor. She was the most wonderful mother anyone could wish for and we will miss her dearly. We consider ourselves blessed to have shared nearly 30 years with her, and we trust her spirit will continue to comfort and guide us until we meet again. Amanda was active civically and socially everywhere she lived. She was a member of New Orleans Country Club and the Orléans Club of New Orleans. She particularly enjoyed Carnival balls, Mardi Gras parades, and leading the second line anytime, anywhere. She was a maid in the now-defunct women’s Krewe of Venus. Amanda was a member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League, the Thalia Club of Dallas, the Calliope Club of Dallas, the Women’s Council of the Dallas Arboretum, the Southern Methodist University Mothers’ Club Board, Chi Omega Mother’s Club, P.E.O., and the Salvation Army Dallas. She was formerly a member of Westwood Country Club and Lost Creek Country Club in Austin, Texas. Amanda was preceded in death by her grandparents, John Patrick Ferran and Pearl Semel Ferran and Alvin Gerard Magner, Sr. and Nora Johnston Magner. She is survived by her parents, Alvin Gerard “Sonny” Magner, Jr. and Joan Ferran Magner; her sisters, Melinda Magner Andrews (Patrick) and Samantha Magner Burkhardt ( Jeffrey); her adoring children, Houstoun Gerard Waring and Hayley Cecilia Waring; and her ex-husband, Patrick Houstoun Waring, M.D. She is also survived by her nephews, Travis Magner Andrews, Tyler Magner Andrews, and Johnston Jeffrey Burkhardt. Amanda was particularly fond of her ex-father-in-law, William Winburn Waring, M.D., who was likewise fond of her. They remained close until her passing. Dr. Waring survives her as well. A memorial Mass was celebrated at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans on Friday, November 15, at 1:30 p.m. Her family received guests at the Cathedral from 1:00 p.m. until Mass, and a reception followed the Mass. A memorial reception for her many Texas friends was held in Dallas on Tuesday, November 12.
11/17/1927 - 11/30/2019
T
.C. Lupton, Jr., farmer, avid outdoorsman and businessman died on November 30, 2019, at the age of 92. He owned and operated a family farm that his parents started in Sunnyvale, Texas in 1919. Over many seasons of raising cotton, corn, wheat, and cattle, he watched the town of Sunnyvale grow from sleepy gravel roads to a vibrant community. He resided in Highland Park and loved to spend time with his family at Buck Spring Ranch in Llano, which he built in 1987. T.C. worked in the Coca Cola bottling business for over 40 years, working all aspects of the business from delivery to executive management. Together with his
cousin, John T. Lupton, they sold the family-owned bottling companies in 1986 to Coca Cola Enterprises, Inc. T.C. served on the first Sunnyvale City Council in 1954 and for many years, served as Town Marshall, Fire Marshall and Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department. He purchased and donated the first fire engine to the town in 1971. Married in 1949 to his high school sweetheart, Carolyn Canfield, they raised three children, enjoyed eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, and were blessed with twins twice. He is survived by his wife Carolyn, their children and spouses: Carol and Dr. Bill Huckin, and Tav and Maureen Lupton of Dallas, and Laurie and Blake Liedtke of Houston; eight grandchildren and their spouses: Will and Marisa Huckin, Stuart and Merrick Huckin, Matthew Huckin, Blake Liedtke, Jr. and twins, Rachael and Andrew Lupton of Dallas, Lacey and Ross Brunner of Midland, Taylor and Devon Liedtke of Houston; and eight great-grandchildren: Hunter, Weslyn, Liam and Caroline Huckin, Laurie and Ross Jr. Brunner, and twins Olivia and Elizabeth Liedtke. Visitation is from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, December 4, 2019, at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home. A Memorial Service is planned for Thursday, December 5, 2019, at noon at Sparkman/Hillcrest Chapel with private interment at Hillcrest Memorial Park.
46 January 2020 | parkcitiespeople.com
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Unique opportunity to own in-town vineyard estate
ALLIE BETH ALLMAN
looked. Paneling, stone and hardwood floors. Formal living with beamed ceiling, stone fireplace and bar, gorgeous dining room
Visit grandviemagazine.com to view the fall/winter 2019 edition of Grand Vie: Luxury in Living magazine. The fall/winter 2019 edition of Grand Vie: Luxury in Living magazine, the luxury-home publication of Ebby Halliday Realtors, recently mailed to homes across North Texas. The 28th edition of Grand Vie features some of D-FW’s premier luxury properties for sale and inspiring editorial content, including “The Art of Table Setting,” featuring ideas to elevate your tablescapes and entertain in style; “Weekend Getaways: Waco,” offering tips for a visit to the Central Texas city with small-town charm and vibrant local businesses; “Houses of Art,” highlighting some of the top cultural events of the season; and special sections for lake, farm, ranch and recreation properties. Also, in the fall/winter edition: “All About That Paper: Not Your Grandmother’s Style,” features wallpapering advice from local designers Shay Geyer and Tiffany McKinzie. In addition to the exposure received from Grand Vie, Ebby Halliday luxury listings benefit from national and international exposure provided by luxury marketing partner Luxury Portfolio International and its website, luxuryportfolio.com, one of the most-visited luxury home sites in the world. To view the digital version of Grand Vie, visit grandviemagazine.com. To learn more about Ebby Halliday Realtors, its Associates and all of the homes available for purchase in North Texas, visit ebby.com.
ALLIE BETH ALLMAN
New Strategies Nets Real Results
A Premier Neighborhood in the Heart of Dallas
with butler’s pantry. Fantastic kitchen with stone counters, superior custom cabinetry, Wolf ovens and stove, a keeping room with dining area and fireplace hearth. Basement level boasts an incredible media-recreation room, wine cellar and dining space. On the 2nd level is the Master BR Suite featuring a beamed, vaulted ceiling, sitting area and fireplace. Two other master suites and an exercise room on this level. 4th bedroom on 1st floor. Pool & cabana with fire pit. For more information please contact Trey Bounds (214) 883-4600 or Kyle Crews (214) 538-1310.
ALLIE BETH ALLMAN
Supporting our Community
The holiday season is a time for giving. It’s when we express gratitude and celebrate the unity of the human spirit. By working together and looking out for our neighbors, we can make the world a better place. Allie Beth Allman & Associates was founded with a goal of serving the community. That spirit is exemplified every day by agents who donate their time, talents and money to local schools, churches and civic organizations. One cause near to their heart is the S.M. Wright foundation. This faith-based initiative supports efforts to help local children and families in need. For more than 15 years, the Allman team has partnered with the foundation to bring holiday cheer. It started with a conversation about making sure everyone had a proper Thanksgiving meal. Today, the annual Thanksgiving feast feeds upwards of 3,000 people. Then came Christmas in the Park. The celebration at Fair Park hosts over 40,000 people annually. Guests get a meal, food to take home, toys, clothes, books and more. For many attendees, this is the only Christmas celebration they will have. And every year, Allman agents are there to serve. “People want to be involved,” Allie Beth Allman said. “It feels good to do something and know that it’s helping.”
ALLIE BETH ALLMAN Today’s marketing departments must innovate to survive. Finding home buyers in the modern world involves more than a list of leads. It requires cutting-edge technology that brings buyers and sellers together. Thanks to targeting, retargeting, behavioral and geographic targeting to specific audiences, this is now done on a larger scale. From a marketing standpoint, technology has long been able to gather information on a vast scale. Until recently, understanding that information required time-intensive labor. Now, technology not only gathers information, but also mines that data. Allie Beth Allman & Associates has invested heavily in artificial intelligence in order to connect with global buyers. Instead of casting a wide net, this high-tech approach helps agents focus efforts where they will most likely find success. Known for neighborhood knowledge, now their agents can gather and evaluate relevant data at a new level. Make no mistake, AI targeting will not replace real estate professionals, but to only improve knowledge and yield better results. However, messaging, creativity and design are essential with any campaign. Modern marketing is multidimensional, and companies need more than one platform. The key to success is allocating resources to reach targeted audiences. Armed with these tools, Allman agents are prepared to achieve goals of clients with trust and integrity.
With the only active, professionally managed vineyard in the city of Dallas, 8123 Inwood Road (8123inwood.dpmre.com) is a rare find. Offered by Cassie Bledsoe for $2,995,000, the recently updated 5,165-square-foot home (per appraiser) is set on 1.6 lush acres. The home combines urban living in the heart of Dallas with the feel and privacy of a country home. It’s also one of only six homes on Inwood Road with front and back driveway access. The four-bedroom, 4½-bath estate is deeply set on the lot. Mature trees offer shade in all the right places, while its 10-foot wrought-iron and wood fence and two electric gates provide security. The family room with large fireplace offers a full view of the vineyard, the professional kitchen has been recently remodeled, and the dining room has a custom-designed 400-bottle wine cellar. Other highlights: fully renovated first-floor master suite and newly constructed three-car garage and guest house. To schedule a showing, please contact Bledsoe at 214-536-2416 or cassie@dpmre.com. Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate (daveperrymiller.com) is a division of Ebby Halliday Real Estate, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, with four locations that specialize in Preston Hollow, Park Cities, North Dallas, Lakewood, East Dallas, Uptown, Kessler Park and Farm & Ranch properties.
People on the Move to Dallas Caruth Homeplace, a pocket neighborhood in the center of Dallas, is part of a great legacy of one of Texas’ founding families. A quarter mile southwest of the intersection of Central Expressway and Northwest Highway, the Caruth Homeplace neighborhood has about 90 high-end homes, built between 1979 and 1990, on small lots. Considered one of Dallas’ best neighborhoods, this gated and guarded community is perfect for buyers looking to downsize to an elegant, well-located home. Its homeowners association, which provides common area and exterior maintenance and landscaping, organizes frequent parties and events. Allie Beth Allman & Associates, the leader in sales for homes in the Park Cities and for estates in Dallas County, is an expert in Caruth Homeplace. Allman associates are listing six homes there and have sold five of nine homes in 2019. Homes available include 13 Saint Laurent Place, 7711 Caruth Boulevard, 7706 Caruth Boulevard, 7 Saint Laurent Place, 7611 Marquette Street and 10 Lakeside Park. Caruth Homeplace is part of the original home site, a 30,000-acre farm, founded in 1852 by William Barr Caruth. A pioneer family that came to the Dallas area in 1848, the Caruths have been major philanthropists, building hospitals, schools and youth camps. In 1911, they donated land to establish Southern Methodist University.
The start of a new year means another influx of people moving to Dallas. Those planning to sell their homes soon should get to work now. Over the past eight years, the North Texas region has added over one million people, including more than 130,000 in 2018 alone. Job opportunities continue to attract growing numbers of people. Through November 2019, DFW added 115,800 jobs, the most of any region in the country. The area’s 3.1 percent job growth during that time is the highest among the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan area. If you are planning to sell your home, keep in mind that it needs to be presented in a way that emotionally connects with buyers. They want homes updated that are ready to move into. Begin preparations by inspecting interior and exterior to identify work that needs to be done. Keep in mind that mind that corporate relocations are not the only thing driving people to Dallas. During the first quarter, scores of families seek out premiere neighborhoods close to the best schools. Whether for work or family dynamics, all signs point to more people moving Dallas. Therefore, imperative that sellers prepare today. Opportunities abound for those ready to seize them.
parkcitiespeople.com | January 2020 47
New Year’s Resolution: Break Free of All This Stuff Mother’s vintage china that the kids don’t want. His bowling shoes. How long ago did he quit the
league? The old filing cabinet full of warranties for products replaced long DINA TAYLOR ago. These are only a fraction of the contents of our garages, spare bedrooms, and closets. Where did it all come from? We remodel rooms, the children
move in and out, we inherit Aunt Sally’s antiques, and we can’t bear to part with those sentimental knickknacks gathering dust and sending pangs of guilt every time we think of disposing of them. Postponing the purge — a tempting yet ineffective decision — results in overflowing, unsightly homes, garages, or offsite storage units sitting idle for years and costing a small fortune.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Before downsizing, we must ask ourselves some crucial questions: Do we really need all this stuff? Have these items outlived their purpose? Can I afford to postpone dealing with treasures that are transforming to burdens? Am I comfortable with family members — or even strangers — going through my things if I am one day unable?
And here’s another critical question: Is now the time to break free — free of all this stuff? Let this New Year be a time to be good to you and take action. Decide to cut ties and free up time, money, and energy to enjoy today without the burdens and clutter of the past. Dina Taylor, owner of Easily Organized in Dallas, works with clients in Texas and Florida. Visit easilyorganized.com.
CLASSIFIEDS To place your ad in People Newspapers, please call us at 214-523-5239, fax to 214-594-5779, or e-mail to classified@peoplenewspapers.com. All ads will run in Park Cities People and Preston Hollow People and online on both websites. Pre-payment is required on all ads. Deadline for our next edition is Monday, Jan. 6. People Newspapers reserves the right to edit or reject ads. We assume no liability for errors or omissions in advertisements and no responsibility beyond the cost of the ad. We are responsible only for the first incorrect insertion. HOME SERVICES
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Premier Family Estate burial property at Sparkman/Hillcrest with Internment Rights for up to Twelve individuals. Property is private, hedged and landscaped, and carries forward a Forever Perpetual Maintenance agreement. For further detail please contact owner by telephone 214.585.2609 or via email: fmafg@mac.com HEALTH
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SCIENCE • TECHNOLOGY • ENGINEERING • ART • MATHEMATICS
Helping Today’s Youth Become Tomorrow’s Future JANUARY 2020
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FOUNDATION HELPS HPISD TAKE STEAM TO EVERY CLASS
DALLAS ISD CENTER OFFERS 500 ACRES OF SCIENCE
AMBASSADORS GIVE GIRLS ENGINEERING ROLE MODELS PHOTO BY KAITLYN KILPATRICK/PEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE
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DALLAS BUILT IMPRESSIVE HIGH-TECH ECONOMY
But more training needed to keep up with workforce demands By BILL MILLER
Special Contributor
D
allas is known for its heritage of cattle barons, big oil, and “America’s Team,” but some historians give Big D credit for launching the “Information Age.” In 1958 Jack Kilby, an electrical engineer at Texas Instruments, invented the integrated circuit, also called the “microchip.” Today, according to the Dallas Regional Chamber, the Dallas-Fort Worth area has the seventh-highest concentration of high-tech jobs in the U.S. — 252,650 of them. Many Dallas businesses, therefore, are champions for education programs that blend science, technology, engineering, and math — called “STEM.”
The thing I lose sleep over is, ‘Can we reach the kids who don’t have a computer at home?’ Drexell Owusu “We think it is a sizeable universe of companies contributing to this work,” said Drexell Owusu, the chamber’s senior vice president
Business leaders say STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education is vital, so Dallas can keep attracting companies like Uber Technologies. The 23-story Uber headquarters is expected to open in late 2022 in The Epic, an 8-acre mixed-use area under development by Westdale Real Estate Investment and Management beside Deep Ellum. (PHOTO COURTESY WESTDALE) of education and workforce. “But the reality is the pressure is going to accelerate.” A STEM curriculum is interdisciplinary, providing coursework that simultaneously teaches the fields represented in the acronym. It’s designed to nurture a student’s ability to draw upon all four of them to think deeply and solve problems. There are other variations of this concept, like “STEAM,” which adds an “A” for arts. For example, a graphic design student must
master modern software to create the cutting-edge designs demanded in competitive advertising markets. The various STEM/STEAM paths draw numerous other advocates, including the Dallas Independent School District, the Dallas County Community College District, Southern Methodist University, The United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, and the Community Council of Greater Dallas. Earlier this year, Dallas philanthropist Lyda Hill announced a $25 million commitment to inspire girls
in STEM through “IF/THEN.” This new initiative is from the mantra, “If we support a woman in STEM, then she can change the world.” Owusu recently chaired a roundtable discussion for Dallas Innovates about STEM/STEAM education. Panelists included local stakeholders who shared their organizations’ efforts. Sorabh Saxena, president of global operations and services for AT&T Business, said the company gave $2.4 million to STEM
education in Dallas-Fort Worth during the past four years. Hilary Jackson, vice president of technology at Capital One Financial Services, said her company advocates STEM/STEAM through its Future Edge Initiative, National Academy Foundation, and Capital One Coders program. Oswaldo Alvarenga, executive director of Dallas ISD’s STEM department, described the schools’ STEM Expo, held in January, to showcase student projects involving high-tech fields like artificial intelligence and robotics. About 5,000 attendees, including parents, have seen what students can do, and realize the potential for their children, Alvarenga said. But even with so much attention and money for STEM/ STEAM, Owusu warned about a possible gap. “The thing I lose sleep over,” he said, “‘Is can we reach the kids who don’t have a computer at home?’” He praised Dallas ISD for recently winning a grant from the 1Million Project Foundation. The money pays for 5,000 mobile LTE hotspot devices for high school students who previously had no Internet access at home. “This generation of students is more digitally savvy than ever before,” Owusu said. “But above and beyond that, we want to ensure these skills reach everyone.”
Community Council To Launch ‘5,000 Jobs 2020’ Initiative
Nonprofit provides technical skill training needed to earn livable wages By BILL MILLER
ON THE WEB
Special Contributor The Dallas mom’s stress was enormous. SheDarrylle Davis was raising two children on her own but had no education to qualify for a “middle-skills” career like nursing. It’s a familiar story in Dallas where, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 22 percent of residents live in poverty. Meanwhile, Dallas has tens of thousands of unfilled middle-skills jobs. These occupations require education or training beyond high school, but not a four-year college degree. School children get technical training through specialized curriculum involving science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). But adults aren’t alone in their hopes for a better future. The Community Council of Greater Dallas helps unskilled people become able workers who can earn a “livable wage.” “That’s about $24.24 an hour in Dallas,” said Janie Bordner,
Community Council of Greater Dallas https://www.ccadvance.org/ 5,000 Jobs 2020 https://www.dallas5000jobs.org/ Interfaith Family Services https://interfaithdallas.org/ United Way of Metropolitan Dallas https://unitedwaydallas.org/ Clients get tips on improving their resumes. (COURTESY PHOTO) the council’s president and CEO. “And if you’re not making that, you’re not making enough to squeak by. You better not have an emergency of any kind.” Numerous nonprofits have joined the fight against poverty inNorth Texas, including Interfaith Family Services, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, and the Child Poverty Action Lab, to name a few. The Community Council, however, has been in the fight for nearly 80 years. It offers a wide range of
services, first helping clients with necessities so they can focus on skills training. Financial assistance helps cover childcare, transportation, food, utilities, and even temporary housing, Bordner said. Next, is a wide range of training through the program “Skill QUEST,” taught at the council’s offices, 1341 Mockingbird Lane. For example, people interested in information technology (IT) careers can learn “full-stack” web
Child Poverty Action Lab https://childpovertyactionlab.org/ development, the Python programming language, and cybersecurity. “Once you graduate, you get a certificate,” Bordner said. “And, all this training is project-based, so you can make a portfolio as well.” The council wants to connect 5,000 people with middle skills jobs in 2020. This “5,000 Jobs 2020” initiative launches in January with a goal to raise $3 million for skills training and other services. The money is intended to
match a $3 million Community Services Block grant, Bordner said. Visit dallas5000jobs.org to donate. Helping people escape poverty improves their households but also gives them spending power that boosts the local economy, Bordner said. And, she noted, helping 5,000 adults will have spin-off benefits for an estimated 20,000 people, considering many of the clients have families. “They’re not asking for a handout,” Bordner said. “They want to get working and to give back to the community.’” One such resident is the afore-mentioned single mother, SheDarrylle Davis. The council helped her become a nurse. “They took care of everything, from tuition, to books, to uniforms,” she said. “Keeping up with my studying and assignments was stressful enough. Skill QUEST gave me peace of mind by eliminating my financial worries. I really thought (it) was too good to be true. I’m forever grateful.”
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Highland Park Makes Every Class a STEAM Class Moody Foundation funded curriculum changes, new high school center By Rachel Snyder People Newspapers
Highland Park ISD incorporates STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) in all classes. The district has expanded its STEAM-related curriculum in recent years thanks to a fiveyear, $5.8 million grant from the Moody Foundation. HPISD’s STEAM initiative began about three years ago, with 26 pilot teachers creating lessons across campuses and grade levels. “We have been very pleased with the early impact of our STEAM program on students and teachers across the district,” said Geoffrey Orsak, executive director of the Moody Innovation Institute. STEAM jobs are expected to account for 60 percent of new jobs created in the U.S. this century with jobs requiring advanced STEAM education expected to grow by as much as 45 percent in the same time frame, according to HPISD’s website.
We have been very pleased with the early impact of our STEAM program on students and teachers across the district. Geoffrey Orsak “We want to show students the career options that are out there,” Orsak said. STEAM coaches Ashley Jones and Ericca Vandagriff work with teachers across the district to incorporate STEAM concepts and activities into lessons, even in classes people may not expect, like foreign language classes. For example, Orsak said they’ve included lessons about disaster response in France in French courses. Jones has worked for more than 12 years in education in various positions in Garland ISD,
McCulloch Intermediate and Highland Park Middle School students work on projects. (COURTESY PHOTOS) Richardson ISD, and Georgetown ISD before joining HPISD as a STEAM coach. Vandagriff has worked in HPISD for more than 12 years and taught fifthgrade science at McCulloch Intermediate before becoming a STEAM coach. Jones said projects they’ve worked on recently include
building a life-sized gingerbread house for the holidays. One of the projects Vandagriff is most proud of is McCulloch fifth-graders’ winning best overall exhibit at the Earthx2019 Expo for their project that showed how plastics get into watersheds and oceans and the impact that has on ecosystems.
MAPS Center Offers College-Level Classes, Expert Speakers By Rachel Snyder
from the business world,” Howland said. “I feel I’m a better teacher.” Lauren Hickey, a student, said she enjoys the speakers and experience the MAPS Center offers. “It provides a different learning experience than any other class,” Hickey said. “It’s an interactive experience.”
People Newspapers
The new Moody Advanced Professional Studies (MAPS) Center in Highland Park High School offers students the opportunity to take college-level classes and learn from experts in the fields of science, technology, engineering, the arts, math (STEAM), and business. Juniors and seniors get the opportunity to combine traditional coursework with college-level classes, including business design and leadership, and engineering design. The MAPS Center has 10 3D printers, six plug-and-play monitors for students to work collaboratively on projects, upto-date software, a laser etcher and cutter, and other technology. Students began using the center this fall. The business design and leadership class incorporates entrepreneurship, AP Microeconomics, and Economics Advanced Studies, and the Engineering Design class combines the practices and procedures used in engineering and in making aesthetic decisions. “You’d have to be crazy to put engineering and design in the same class at the same time unless you wanted to do something remarkable,” Moody Innovation Institute executive director Geoffrey Orsak said. “We’re mixing two classes at the same time, so (students) can see how these two ideas intersect together.” MAPS Director Michael Warren said
You’d have to be crazy to put engineering and design in the same class at the same time unless you wanted to do something remarkable. Geoffrey Orsak
Students, faculty, and staff attended the opening of the Moody Advanced Professional Studies Center at Highland Park High School in October. (PHOTO BY RACHEL SNYDER) the district developed the curriculum and built the space based on student interests and preparing them for the workforce. “It takes a lot of support and buy-in from more than the school district,” Warren said. “It leans on the support of the community;
it leans on the support of professionals.” MAPS Business Design and Leadership teacher Jerry Howland said the new curriculum and facility allows him to take a different approach with his students. “We try to bring a lot of guest speakers in
Adelaide Aiken said she uses programs like the 3D modeling program SketchUp, MATLAB, Adobe Photoshop, and InDesign in her Engineering Design class. The center is also home to the EarthX globe until around February. “Our hope is (students) can use (the globe) in their lessons,” STEAM Coach Ericca Vandagriff said. The globe can enhance lessons on a wide range of topics, from climate to bird migration. Original funding for the MAPS program came in the form of a $5.8 million STEAM grant from the Moody Foundation.
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500 Acres and Endless Science Lessons
Learning gets real at Dallas ISD STEM Environmental Education Center By Bethany Erickson People Newspapers
More than 20,000 students come to Dallas ISD’s STEM Environmental Education Center in Seagoville each school year. However, administrators still view it as one of the best-kept secrets in the district. “I try to advertise we’re here as much as possible, but somehow, some people just don’t know we’re out here,” said Mark Broughton, the center’s director. The center sits on 500 acres and offers teachers and students opportunities to do field and lab research and get hands-on science lessons they might not be able to recreate easily in their school classrooms. It employs four teachers, plus Broughton, supervisor Bob Gorman, and administrative and other staff. “ We have 300 acres of forest preserve, and then the other 200 acres is mostly farmland,” Broughton explained. “Students mostly from Dallas ISD – but any ISD or charter school can visit - come out, and they do mostly field investigations for science.” The center sees up to 240 students per day, who go through a mix of self-guided instruction with their classroom teacher, and programmed lessons with the center’s instructors. “We could take them to the forests and do forest ecology. We have a couple ponds so we can do aquatic science,” he added. “We have a working farm with some cows and pigs and ducks and chickens and turkeys, a sheep, and a goat, so they could see what a working farm is like.” Broughton said that for many of the students, it’s their first time to visit a forest or a farm. “I can tell when I talk to them, because I’ll ask them if they’ve been in a forest before and they’ll tell me, yes, but they’re thinking about the five trees that grow close to each other at the park,” he said. “Then we get a quarter-mile into a real forest, and their eyes kind of get wide and they get real quiet and start asking questions like, ‘Are we going to see monkeys?’ “Or I’ll ask them where milk comes from, and they just say Wal-Mart,” he said. “So then we introduce them to our dairy cow.” The facility also has a fossil pavilion for studying geology, an observatory for nighttime astronomy classes, three nature trails, four science laboratories, a 70-seat theater, gardens, outdoor classrooms, and a planetarium. An indoor facility includes interactive exhibits and space to interact with live amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds. “Depending on the grade level, we offer
Or I’ll ask them where milk comes from, and they just say Wal-Mart. So then we introduce them to our dairy cow. Mark Broughton
anywhere from three to like eight different programs, so the visiting teacher will choose the program they want for their kids,” Broughton said. “They just get to come out and do all kinds of science,” Broughton said. “We see all grades, too, from as young as 3 years old up to seniors in high school.”
DISD’s STEM Environmental Education Center sees up to 240 students a day. (PHOTOS COURTESY DALLAS ISD)
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Dallas ISD STEM Expo a Family Learning Opportunity By Jordan Kiefer
enough time to see and do everything!” The expo started in 2014 at Skyline High School, and in the seven years since, has grown and developed exponentially. With more than 5,000 in attendance last year, the expo is now the biggest STEM event in Texas. “We try and switch things up and update based on what people say,” Alexander said. “What can we do differently? We always seek to make things better for everyone involved and grow an interest in STEM in our community.” The 2020 activities and organization will include Dallas Zoo, T-Mobile, wellness booths, national and international engineer organizations, coding exercises, Girl Scouts, aviation organizations, and the planetarium. Scheduled sessions include Robots on the Move, 3D Printing, Concrete Bowling, Build Your Own Flashlight, and Green Screen Tech.
Special Contributor The purpose of the annual Dallas ISD STEM Expo is to pique interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, get children excited about learning, and show students just how impactful STEM is in the world. The motto of the 2020 expo, scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Kay Bailer Hutchinson Convention Center: “Come, explore, design, build, and create.” Organizers expect museums, STEM-focused organizations, engineering organizations, and local colleges and universities to provide more than 150 hands-on exhibits focused on STEM-related careers and coursework. Visitors will get the chance to learn about collegiate academies, STEM/ STEAM campuses (the “A” is for art), and the technical and career education pathways. The expo also serves as the culminating event for these district championships: Lego Robotics Competition. VEX Robotics Competition, Science Fair, Mathematics Olympiad Video Challenge, and Mathematics Bridge Building Competition. “It’s chaotic, but to see all the smiling faces and seeing everyone having a good time, being excited while learning or being a part of a new experience is amazing,” said Crystal Alexander, STEM manager for Dallas ISD. “The only complaints I hear are from people saying that they didn’t have
R E G I S T R AT I O N O P E N WHAT: Dallas ISD STEM Expo, a free event open to Dallas area students and families WHEN: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 18 WHERE: Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas Visitors to the Dallas ISD STEM Expo often don’t have enough time to see and do everything.
ONLINE: dallasisd.org/stem
(COURTESY PHOTOS)
The Robots Are Coming Dallas to host championships again beginning in 2021 By Maddie Spera
Special Contributor Robotics fanatics, gear up! The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation’s VEX Robotics World Championship, presented by the Northrop Grumman Foundation, will return to Dallas from 2021 to 2024. The week-long event celebrates hands-on STEM learning as the world’s top teams gather to compete in robotics competitions focused on creative design and problem-solving. The championship showcases students’ technical skills and accomplishments through the following programs: the VEX IQ Challenge (elementary and middle school), the VEX Robotics Competition (middle school and high school), and VEX U (college/university). “Robotics teams from across the world compete in these programs on a local level throughout the year, culminating in 1,650 teams who qualified to attend the VEX Robotics World Championship based on their success at
the regional championship,” said Monica Paul, executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission. The competition will kick off with opening ceremonies, then move to high-energy matches where students put their custom-built robots to the test with the help of mentors, educators, and professional engineers. “Over the course of four days, the different divisions compete in robotic engineering challenges to ultimately be crowned World Champions,” said Jenn DeBarge-Goonan, CEO of Rocket Social Impact. “Spectators get immersed into the highly dynamic environment and will experience innovation, teamwork, and creative problem-solving at its best.” Local schools are welcome and encouraged to participate in the competition. A World Champion crowned in 2019 was from Flower Mound High School, and the REC Foundation hopes to see more local schools vying for championships, Paul said. “This competition has grown significantly over the years on a local level because it has been an
Louisville, Kentucky, hosted the 2019 VEX World Championships. (PHOTO COURTESY THE REC FOUNDATION) inspiration for fellow students to be a part of a highly rewarding experience,” Debarge-Goonan said. “Nothing gets people fired up like the excitement of head-to-head competition. Either in the classroom or after school, students are given a chance to create and design a robot, build it, program it, and compete with other teams in their community. By building a robot,
students open their eyes to exciting career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.” The championship will take place at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas. Dallas hosted the competition in 2009 and 2010, and Paul said the REC Foundation is excited to bring it back to the area and extend the
STEM education and opportunities here within our community. “As a hotbed for STEM jobs and the home of the REC Foundation, based close by in Greenville, Dallas is the perfect choice for the competition,” DeBarge-Goonan said. “We know firsthand how committed the city is to innovation, STEM education, and the future workforce.”
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IF/THEN Program Gives Girls Role Models
Lyda Hill CEO: STEM examples will help students believe By Lisa Ferguson
Special Contributor As the daughter of a physician, Nicole Small was exposed to science at an early age. “I was always interested in it, but I didn’t know my career options,” Small said. She went on to study political science and business in college before becoming the CEO of Dallas-based Lyda Hill Philanthropies, which in 2019 announced a $25 million commitment in support of the IF/THEN initiative.
We want to create a cultural shift about the perception of what a scientist or engineer looks like. Nicole Small Designed to help advance women “innovators” in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), IF/THEN is working to “inspire the next generation of pioneers,” namely middle school-age girls, by raising awareness about the growing number of occupations and fields that require such knowledge and skills, including social media, fashion design, and professional sports.
FROM LEFT: Former first lady Laura Bush, Lyda Hill, Geena Davis, and Nicole Small attend the IF/THEN Ambassador Summit in October. (PHOTO COURTESY GOODMAN MEDIA) “STEM is everywhere, in almost every career at this point,” explained Small, who for a dozen years served as CEO of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science before joining Lyda Hill in 2013. Founded by Dallas entrepreneur Hill, the organization is “committed to funding transformational advances in science and nature, empowering nonprofit organizations” and improving communities in North Texas as well as in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, in 2015, only 24 percent of all STEM jobs nationwide were held by women. Whether it is climate change or cancer research, “We need every mind at the table to try to solve these issues, and we need it fast,” Small said. “If you’re leaving a good part of the population out from the conversation, are you getting the best ideas?” As part of the IF/THEN initiative, “We’re listening to what these women have
faced as women in science, and we’re looking at these kids not really seeing a lot of women in science. … You come back to the age-old (adage), `If you can see it, you can be it.’ “If you’re going to school, you’re watching TV, you’re watching YouTube … and you don’t see a wide variety of people who look like you, you don’t begin to associate yourself with those opportunities,” Small explained. “Conversely, if … you are experiencing and interacting with people who look like you, you begin to believe, `If she can do it, I can do it.’” To demonstrate this, 125 female STEM professionals from throughout the U.S. were selected in 2019 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science to serve as IF/THEN ambassadors. Small said the hope is that they will be “high-profile role models” who empower girls to pursue STEM careers. Ten women from throughout North Texas were appointed ambassadors. The initiative is also co-producing “Mission Unstoppable,” a weekly children’s program that airs Saturday mornings on CBS. It highlights the work of female scientists and others in STEM professions. IF/THEN also has paired with organizations including Girl Scouts of the USA and Teach for America to help further its mission. “We want to create a cultural shift about the perception of what a scientist or engineer looks like,” Small said.
Makins Finds Beautiful Learning in Failure
OTHER NORTH TE X AS AMBAS SADORS Minerva Cordero, UT Arlington, associate dean of science
Newly named ‘ambassador’ leads NASA Rover Team at Parish By Lisa Ferguson
Special Contributor As director of the STEM Education program at Parish Episcopal School, Jennifer Makins knows that failure can be just as valuable a lesson for students to experience as success. Earlier this year, she applied to be an ambassador for the IF/ THEN initiative, which is working to expose middle-school-age girls to STEM-related careers. It is supported by a $25 million commitment from Dallas-based Lyda Hill Philanthropies. As part of the application process, Makins opted to highlight challenges her students have faced over the years, as well as the few victories they’ve savored. “A benefit to STEM (education) … is the beauty and the learning that comes through failing,” she said. “I think the more that kids have that tenacity and the mindset of, `All right, let’s figure it out, and let’s not be afraid,’ especially girls, the better the world will be.” Makins was among the 125
“women innovators” from throughout the nation, including 10 from North Texas, who were selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science to serve as IF/THEN ambassadors. They represent a variety of STEM-related professions – from medicine and sports to fashion – and act as role models for girls by demonstrating the growing number of math and science-related career opportunities that are available. In October, nearly all of the ambassadors convened in Dallas for media and other training at the IF/THEN Summit. Raised in Dallas, Makins has been on staff at Parish for more than a decade. A graduate of Texas A&M University, she studied space policy at George Washington University and formerly worked as an education associate at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. She began her teaching career at Good Shephard Episcopal School in Dallas and helped found its Lower School Science program. At Parish, Makins co-leads the Rover Team. Each year, the
Julie Mirpuri, UT Southwestern Medical Center, assistant professor Becca Peixotto, Perot Museum of Nature and Science, director, Center for the Exploration of the Human Journey Myria Perez, Perot Museum of Nature and Science, fossil preparator Members of the Parish Episcopal School Rover Team, led by Jennifer Makins, prepare to drive the vehicle they built for a NASA competition. (PHOTO COURTESY JENNIFER MAKINS)
mostly female team competes in NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge in Huntsville, Alabama. The students design and construct a vehicle that is put through paces on a course meant to mimic the out-of-this-world terrain of other planets. In 2014, during the Parish team’s first appearance in the elite competition, the wheels of its rover literally fell off during the contest. The group finished 47th out of 50 international high school teams. However, as a result of their determination, Makins’ students were invited the following year to speak about their experience as part of
the TedxSMU lecture series (it can be viewed on YouTube. Search for “Daunted & Lost”). She said NASA had featured a video of the students’ speech at workshops. “To find out that … NASA has been using it to inspire other teachers and kids – that doesn’t happen every day,” Makins said. When the Rover Team returned to the competition in 2015, it finished in seventh place and took home several awards. “I do on a daily basis (at Parish) what they are hoping to do at the (IF/THEN) initiative,” Makins said. “We just teach all kids how to think like a problem solver.”
Danielle Robertson, UT Southwestern Medical Center, associate professor Nina Niu Sanford, UT Southwestern, assistant professor Nicole Sereika, Southwest Airlines, aviation maintenance technician Kirsten Tulchin-Francis, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, division director of movement science Jennifer Stimpson, The Hockaday School, middle school educator, innovator, scientist
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Girls Who Code Aims to Address Gender Gap
Activist alerts parents, their daughters to opportunities in computers By Bethany Erickson People Newspapers
Reshma Saujani is on a mission to bring up a worldwide cohort of girls who can code – despite not knowing how to do so herself. And while that might seem like a mind-bender, the Girls Who Code founder said that her situation is actually a great way to illustrate to the parents of her core audience that just because they don’t know how to code, doesn’t mean they can’t encourage their daughters to get involved. “I just don’t feel like it’s a prerequisite that we have to know how to do it for our kids to learn how to do it,” she said during a break in Comerica Bank’s recent Dallas Women’s Business Symposium, where she was keynote speaker. “It’s economic opportunity – take, for instance, how much you make as a software engineer, something like $120,000 a year. “Those are the conversations I have in those communities where they’re like, ‘Wait, my kid can make what?’” Saujani, an attorney and activist,
first gained notice when she ran for Congress in 2010. That foray into politics led her to the classroom, where she saw a gender gap in computing classes that led to the start of Girls Who Code.
You have to let your girls get dirty and use their hands to fix things and to break things. You have to let them learn how to solve problems. We need to be very intentional about what we put in front of our girls. Reshma Saujani Saujani points to the ongoing gender gap in the computer science
MORE ONLINE • Visit our website to read more of our conversation with Reshma Saujani. • Check out GirlsWhoCode.com to learn more about the organization she founded.
Reshma Saujani visited North Texas in the fall. (COURTESY PHOTO) field as the driving force behind her organization, which has now served more than 185,000 students to date. It has more than 700 clubs in Texas and roughly 11 in the Dallas area, including clubs or programs at the Hockaday School, some Dallas ISD schools, and the Dallas Public Library. “Dallas is actually one of our largest networks of Girls Who Code,” she said. The link between learning to code and changing the world,
Saujani said, is also something she hopes her organization can demonstrate. “Girls want to change the world – they think about things like ‘my friend’s being bullied at school,’ or ‘my brother’s dyslexic,’ and a lot of other things they want to solve,” she said, adding that showing girls how to use technology to address those problems is paramount. The organization’s other aim is to get more women in computer science fields.
“When we started in 2012, people talked about this issue like there was a pipeline problem – there’s just not enough women, there’s just not enough people of color,” Saujani said. “And now, seven years later, we’ve taught a lot of that, but now the challenge is, ‘Will you hire them?’” So what do you do, if you’re a parent of a girl, to make sure they at least know that coding is an option? “To me, it’s even deeper than that,” Saujani said. “You have to let your girls get dirty and use their hands to fix things and to break things. You have to let them learn how to solve problems. We need to be very intentional about what we put in front of our girls.”
B12 January 2020 | STEAM | peoplenewspapers.com
‘Alignment of the Stars’ To Create STEM Campus
SMU, Dallas ISD, Toyota unite for pioneering school in West Dallas By Mitch Gruen
Special Contributor When Stephanie Knight became the dean of SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development in 2017, she had a vision for a campus that would integrate everything she had learned in her decades-long career as an educator and education researcher. She imagined a mold-breaking school, deeply involved in its surrounding community, and using evidence-based education research to prepare students, parents, and teachers for success. But Knight never expected that all the pieces of such a massive project would materialize and fall into place during her first year at SMU.
STEM is everywhere. Even if you don’t go into a STEM field, you’re going to live in a STEM world. Dr. Richard Duschl After helping to create the MLB Youth Academy in 2017, the Toyota USA Foundation wanted to continue its involvement in the West Dallas community. It sought guidance from the Simmons School and SMU’s Budd Center.
Plans include remodeling Dallas ISD’s soonto-be-former Pinkston High School to open in 2021 as a new STEM campus in West Dallas. Pinkston High is moving into a new campus.
Richard Duschl
(PHOTOS COURTESY DALLAS ISD)
Stephanie Knight
Once a private nonprofit and now a subsidiary of Simmons, the Budd Center has spent the past decade in West Dallas, focusing on students who live in marginalized and low-income communities. Its mission: creating a social safety net that prevents students from falling through the cracks on their way to high school graduation. After a series of meetings and input from Dallas ISD and the West Dallas community, Simmons received a $2 million grant from Toyota for planning a new
STEM school in West Dallas. Since 2018, design teams comprised of representatives from SMU, Toyota, Dallas ISD, and the West Dallas community have been hard at work completing models for curriculum and community engagement, laying the foundation for the school to open its doors to the inaugural class in the fall of 2021. The range of contributors, all leaders in their fields and passionate about education, have given the project an extraordinary feel.
Dean Knight refers to their collaboration as an “alignment of the stars.” Toyota brings insights for educating today’s children for tomorrow’s jobs and a desire to provide a pathway by which West Dallas students can come into STEM fields via college, community college, or vocational work. The Budd Center’s intimate relationship with West Dallas will help the school to achieve the vision of a school involved in its surrounding community that provides opportunities and support for parents and students. Leaders at SMU — from Simmons, Dedman, and the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education — play a crucial role in shaping the curriculum and guiding teachers. Dallas ISD has provided the soon-tobe-former Pinkston High campus as the site for the new STEM school, and an architecture team is planning a remodel that will transform the former high school into a learning environment suitable for students ages 3 through 14. Dallas ISD will also name the school. The benefits of STEM education are numerous, regardless of the career path these future alumni ultimately take. “STEM is everywhere. Even if you don’t go into a STEM field, you’re going to live in a STEM world,” said Dr. Richard Duschl, executive director of the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education.
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Innovative Private School Approaches Coming in Many Forms Dean’s Choice Award, which recognizes students for exhibiting excellence in a diverse array of categories.
Early childhood is the perfect time to introduce the magic of STEAM to a child. Katie Zeller
Ursuline students utilize a virtual 3D dissection table to better study anatomy. (COURTESY PHOTO) What does STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) education look like at private schools? We checked around for a sampling of what they offer. Ursuline Academy Ursuline was one of the first six schools in the U.S. to pioneer the 1:1 laptop program in the U.S. in 1996, so the school’s ties to the tech world are long and storied. Nowadays, the school offers such classes as Engineering Design Innovation and anatomy – where they even have an Anatomage Table – a virtual 3D dissection table – and a Virtual Tee that, when paired with an app, helps students visualize various organs in the body. The school boasts that 100 percent of faculty completed training to become Microsoft
Innovative Educators and that the school was named Microsoft Showcase School for September 2019. That emphasis on STEAM education is paying off for alumnae. Dr. Allison Mathews, who graduated in 2003, is now a postdoctoral researcher at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Department of Social Medicine and the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Disease, and serves at the director of the 2BeatHIV project, and founded Community Expert Solutions. In 2017, she was awarded the Dr. Hatch Early Career Professional Award at the North Carolina Health Equity Impact Awards. Jacqueline Gibson, who graduated in 2015 and went on to attend the University of Texas, was awarded the College of Natural Sciences
Good Shepherd Episcopal Twenty-five years ago, Good Shepherd Episcopal School launched Classroom of the Earth, which takes students on everything from nature hikes to 10-day adventures in the Rocky Mountains, all the while following ecologically friendly principles to leave the sites as pristine as they were when they arrived. Students also learn to use cutting edge and innovative tools to create and learn and also have access to personalized learning programs through child-centered technology offerings. Winston School Rather than teaching a fixed curriculum, the Winston School prides itself on aligning with a student’s learning style. The school offers specialized academies, including the Winston Solar Science Academy. Interested students get in-depth, hands-on learning by building, maintaining, and driving a solar car raced on a closed track and the open road in a cross-country race. Last year, the team raced at Texas Motor
Speedway, creating a car that completed 144 laps around the track. St. Michael Episcopal School Established in 1986 as a ministry of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, the school now serves more than 195 families with students ranging from toddlers to kindergarten. Among learning the basics of math, the school has partnered with the nearby DaVinci School to offer Science Explorers, which promotes STEAM concepts through hands-on learning and simple science experiments and explorations. In the summer, the school offers age-appropriate summer camps that can explore everything from the life cycles of bugs, Lego engineering, the five senses, and more. The Day School at Highland Park Presbyterian “Early childhood is the perfect time to introduce the magic of STEAM to a child,” said Katie Zeller, office and technology coordinator at The Day School for students ages 12 months through kindergarten. “Our interactive and hands-on program captures students’ imaginations and unleashes their creativity.” After reading about the Brooklyn Bridge, students might build their own, and teachers take advantage of what is going on near them to expose students to new occupations. “For example, we are watching and documenting the construction that is happening in our building, and our children now know all about architects, engineers, and electricians,” Zeller said. – Staff report
B14 January 2020 | STEAM | peoplenewspapers.com
Perot Museum Makes Science Fun Renovated hall becomes technological wonderland
I F YO U G O WHAT: The renovated Engineering and Innovation Hall features interactive exhibits. WHEN: Museum hours, 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. through 5 p.m. on Sundays.
By Dalia Faheid
People Newspapers Inviting curious learners of all ages, the newly expanded Engineering and Innovation Hall at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science intends to bring out the innovator in every child and the child in every adult. Partnering with the Texas Instruments Foundation, the renovated exhibition spurs curiosity through fun stations, allowing visitors to explore their inner engineer and become inspired by local engineers. “You’re going to have an opportunity to engage in science in this really risk-free way, and find out that it’s fun, which is what you don’t learn in classrooms,” Perot’s CEO Linda Silver said. At the center of the 4,500-square-foot hall, two stations allow hands-on learners to play with robots using controllers to complete missions collaboratively. For visual learners, an attention-grabbing music coding sequencer stands out with a colorful LED display, allowing visitors to create music using light-up buttons.
You’re going to have an opportunity to engage in science in this really risk-free way, and find out that it’s fun, which is what you don’t learn in classrooms. Linda Silver
WHERE: Perot Museum of Nature and Science, 2201 N. Field St. TICKETS: $13 for children, $20 for adults, and $18 for seniors. ONLINE: Visit perotmuseum.org. EXTRA: Exhibits are in Spanish and English.
Visitors interact with exhibits. (PHOTO BY KAITLYN KILPATRICK/PEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE) Technology fanatics might look forward to a real-life ‘Snapchat filter’ with the facial recognition station, customizing their avatars and characters to use for themselves and friends. If you’re up for a challenge, the hall also features the 1,400-square-foot “ChallENGe
Lab,” where visitors engage in timed, thought-provoking engineering challenges such as a high-tech egg drop, where they work analytically and creatively on finding a solution. For younger learners, watching objects flow through the 23-foot “Amazing Airways”
wind tube can be exciting. Officials hope the hall will nourish young minds, igniting future innovation. “It’s certainly our sincere hope that this inspires some young minds to choose engineering as a profession and innovation as a passion,” Terry West, chair of the TI Foundation, said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “But I think regardless of what young minds choose, this is a place that will inspire curiosity and a desire to help make our world just a little bit better through technology.”
Check It Out: Libraries Offer More Than Books STEAM kits, classes, events help make learning fun By Tanika Turner People Newspapers
Overheard at the Preston Royal Branch of the Dallas Public Library: a mother suggested to her daughter a trip to the State Fair of Texas, but the little girl had other ideas.
We provide a place for kids to blow off steam…no pun intended. Connie Maxwell “But what about STEM?” she asked. “I want to go to STEM.” Libraries have always been goto places when seeking knowledge and now also offer programs that
Children learn about the stars with a Night Sky Kit that includes a telescope. (COURTESY HIGHLAND PARK PUBLIC LIBRARY) cater to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) or STEAM (the “A” is for art) education. Of the five years Connie Maxwell has managed the Preston Royal Branch, the STEM program has been hosting STEM & Stories for four. The goal is to expose
school-aged children to STEM in fun ways. Laura Collins, the youth services librarian at the Highland Park Harvey R. “Bum” Bright Library, has noticed an equal interest from both girls and boys in the STEAM program there. The library has 11 STEAM kits
thanks to grants from La Fiesta de las Seis Banderas. The kits, available for children as young as 3, include a Night Sky kit, which contains a telescope and helps teach children about constellations and planets. With the Dash! robot kit, users do basic coding to make the robot respond to voice, surroundings, and other inputs. The Highland Park library also hosts events such as the Codea-thon and a Star Wars-themed technology lab for children, ages 9 to 14, who are interested in tech and coding. The library frequently combines old crafts with new technology such as virtual reality headsets. “We see a lot of people come in during finals,” Collins said. “We provide a place for kids to blow off steam…no pun intended.” University Park Public Library has been hosting STEAM Station
and Elementary Explorers for a year. While the STEAM Station is more interactive and hands-on, Elementary Explorers is more like a class where children ages 6 and older learn new concepts and how those ideas are used in everyday life. “I try to give them visuals to understand the concepts,” said Zoe Williams, University Parks youth services librarian. While the libraries may not tie into schools’ curriculum directly, librarians stay in touch with teachers to promote what the libraries have to offer. While the programs are there to engage students, librarians stressed the importance of parental or guardian involvement. Learning is a group sport, and the STEM/ STEAM programs are opening the minds of students to prepare them for a lifetime of learning, they said.
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UT Dallas Aims To Teach Younger Students, Too
Programs offered include Techtalks, workshops, annual engineering day
Explore Engineering Day draws thousands of families to UT Dallas each year. (COURTESY PHOTOS)
By Liliann Albelbaisi People Newspapers
The University of Texas at Dallas, known for its programs for undergraduate and graduate college students, also aims to impact grade school students in the areas of science, technology, engineering art, and, mathematics (STEAM). The Science and Engineering Education Center (SEEC) works with community partners and
corporations to provide accessible learning opportunities meant to expand the knowledge of students in kindergarten through 12th grades. UT Dallas wants to “teach kids how everyday life relates to math and science,” explained Lolani Connolly. She has worked at the center since its founding in 2008 and served as its director since 2013. Explore Engineering Day – one of the center’s most popular events
– introduces children to how engineering helps everyday life and connects them with engineers so students can learn more about what engineers do for the community. Registration is free. The day’s activities line up with courses taught at the university and are interweaved in current events, Connolly said. She described it as a powerful family event that caters to children’s passions and curiosity and helps
parents figure out how to help their children succeed. The center also works with student volunteers to successful Dallas professionals to offer workshops and Techtalks. Techtalks, offered for older students, feature professionals and professors who speak about the big problems and challenges the engineering world is facing at the moment. “It’s important to educate the public about what we are doing in North Texas,” Connolly said. “Why not have those conversations with those kids early on?” The center provides learning opportunities to more than 150,000 students a year. Of those, “85% feel better informed about the roles engineers play,” she said. “What we are finding
is that this is a critical part of the recipe: to experience math and science in the everyday.”
E XPLORE ENGINEERING DAY WHAT: A free family event featuring opportunities to meet engineers and learn about what they do WHEN: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Feb. 15 WHERE: University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Road REGISTRATION: utdallas. edu/evites/exploreengineering-day/registration. html