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Schools
UNITED TO LEARN, UNITED TO LAUNCH
Dallas nonprofit supports public schools with volunteers, funds
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Visit unitedtolearn.org/ learninglaunch where donations of any amount before Sept. 24 will help fulfill teachers’ wish lists. Donations of more than $500 made by Sept. 1 include tickets to the second annual Back to School Learning Launch Fiesta on Sept. 9 at Greenway Parks.
By Bethany Erickson
bethany.erickson@peoplenewspapers.com
At the beginning of every school year, for the past five years, United to Learn has helped Dallas ISD students and teachers get off to a good start by making sure they have the supplies they need.
The effort, called Learning Launch, isn’t just about pencils and paper, though.
The organization aims to make the ethos behind “a rising tide lifts all ships” a reality by providing additional tools — and volunteers — to make sure that students are ready to learn and teachers are ready to teach.
United to Learn president Carol Goglia, a Preston Hollow resident, called it heartening to see the volunteers coming from private schools like Parish Episcopal, St. Mark’s, and Hockaday, and public high schools like W.T. White, to work with children.
During the immediate aftermath of the 2019 tornado, many student volunteers showed up at Loos Field House to assist teachers as students from several of the elementary schools in the hardest-hit neighborhoods reported there for class.
“From a literacy perspective, we moved our tutoring — and we normally have thousands of tutors in the schools from
Dallas ISD trustee Edwin Flores was on hand when United to Learn liaisons William and Cally Taylor welcomed Nathan Adam’s new
principal, Maria Calixto, with a cookout. (PHOTOS: COURTESY UNITED TO LEARN)
neighboring high schools — we used an online tutoring platform,” she explained.
This year, the need is greater and different, thanks to the pandemic. Some Dallas ISD schools experienced an 18% decrease in math skills and a 10% in literacy skills, with only 60% of students meeting state standards versus 75% in 2019.
“The last year and this year, there’s just a lot more need,” Goglia said. “Things like individualized supplies, because there can’t be much sharing, and additional digital supplies.
“And then more SEL (social and emotional learning) materials, because of the trauma that a lot of our students experience every day, but with this year of additional pandemic woes … it’s been important,” she added. “How can you self-regulate? How can you create a calm down corner?”
The organization has supplemented what math and science materials the district provides teachers and helped schools like Nathan Adams Elementary add leveled libraries to improve literacy outcomes.
And as the schools they partner with continue to navigate what will likely be another strange and eventful year, their principals and staff said the organization’s assistance is appreciated.
“United to Learn is the heart of grassroots education advocacy in Dallas,” said principal Phillip Potter at Walnut Hill Elementary. “With programs like Learning Launch, U2L steps in to fill the gaps that we cannot fill and ensures that we are equipped to bring the very best to our learning communities.
“Moreover, U2L has partnered with us to think of innovative ways to strengthen our instruction program and support learning in a way that is truly caring and innovative,” Potter said.
Read more of our conversation with Goglia at peoplenewspapers.com.
Possibilities Await You at Parish Episcopal School.
Hillcrest (PreK 3yrs old - 2nd grade) Midway (3rd - 12th grade)
Sunday, October 24 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 13 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Visit us online at parish.org or contact our Admission office at 972.852.8737
Facemasks in Fashion on First Day of School
(PHOTOS: KATHRINE DAVIDSON, BETHANY ERICKSON, AND COURTESY UNITED TO LEARN)
Dallas ISD students returned to their campuses for a new academic year.
We were there on Aug. 16 to catch the arrival of pupils for the first day of school at Preston Hollow Elementary, Prestonwood Montessori at E.D. Walker, and Pershing Elementary.
Arriving elementary students were met with balloons, hand-made welcome signs, red carpet treatment, applauding high school students, and enthusiastic faculty.
Decades-old traditions remained, including farewell kisses from parents and one last photograph before heading to class, greeting familiar friends, and meeting new ones.
Students came prepared with new school clothes, backpacks full of paper and pencils, and that more recent must-have accessory, masks.
Did you know facemasks now come with school colors and logos?
See more photographs at peoplenewspapers.com.
Have an awesome and safe year! – William Taylor
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34 September 2021 | prestonhollowpeople.com High School Musicians Heal With Harmonies Students from several campuses team up to tour senior-living communities
By Maddie Spera
maddie.spera@peoplenewspapers.com
On the first Sunday of August, mellifluous notes from stringed instruments drifted delicately through the hallways of The Juliette Fowler Communities.
The source? Quartets of students from Highland Park High School, Greenhill School, Ursuline Academy, and other North Texas schools.
The instrumentalists joined forces earlier this summer and dubbed themselves Musical Melodies. With enough members for two string quartets, they seek to bring joy and comfort to residents of nursing homes and retirement communities, a demographic that
FROM LEFT: Justine Choi, Ayana Dalley, Jessica Liang, Irene Kim, Christopher Dyeus, and Hannah Joung
perform at the Juliette Fowler Communities. (PHOTOS: CHRIS MCGATHEY) may have felt forgotten and isolated last year with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We love chamber music, and we wanted to find a way to perform for these people,” said violinist Justine Choi, a junior at Highland Park High School.
All members are from high school orchestras or the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra. “We decided to combine and wanted to use this to spread chamber music in the community,” Choi said. Their performances have been well-received so far. They visited The Memory Care in late July and intend to share their love of music with more senior living communities soon. “I think people enjoy it,” said Christopher Dycus, cellist and senior at Greenhill. “A lot of them always come up afterward to us and say thank you and that they loved it. I’ve played for seniors before, and they always like when kids come visit and are very appreciative of the music.” The quartets play a mixture of songs by different artists to appeal to a variety of tastes. Some pieces they perform include “Time” by Hans Zimmer and “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” by Mozart. “I really love coming and sharing music with people who may have been cast aside by society or a little bit isolated,” Choi said. “It’s nice to come and remind them that they’re not forgotten, and people still care.” TWO TIMES FOUR
Brumalis Quartet: • Justine Choi, violin, junior, Highland Park High School
• Jessica Liang, violin, senior, Coppell High School
• Hannah Joung, viola, junior, Allen High School
• Christopher Dycus, cello, senior, Greenhill School
Ampelia Quartet: • Ayana Dalley, violin, junior, homeschooled
• Irene Kim, violin, junior, Ursuline Academy
• Madeline Chun, viola, junior, The Hockaday School
• Aadi Khasgiwala, cello, junior, St. Mark’s School of Texas
Email pakclaudia@hotmail. com to book a performance.
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Acceptitas Aids in College Consulting Jesuit alum founds organization, shares importance of a passion project
By Maddie Stout
People Newspapers
Emmet Halm arrived at Harvard for his freshman year and discovered something unexpected.
Like many high schoolers, he had operated on the belief that the key to attending a top university was a relentless devotion to test scores, extracurricular activities, and grades. However, once in college, the 2019 Jesuit Dallas graduate realized most of his peers had done the opposite.
2021 People Newspapers Ad - 1:8 pg.pdf
“Instead, they did something completely independent of their school that really showcased their passions and interests,” he said. By conducting a randomized research study of fellow Harvard undergrads, Halm discovered that just over 75% of those surveyed had completed a “passion project” during high school, with examples ranging from starting nonprofits to self-publishing novels or short stories. These “overwhelmingly high” numbers sparked a fire inside him, and he knew he wanted to bring his findings to high school students. With Harvard off-campus due to COVID-19, he took a leave of absence and founded Acceptitas, a college consulting program run entirely by Harvard students. The program begins with a mentor matching process, pairing high school students with Harvard undergrads who share similar backgrounds or experiences. Students and mentors work together to think of ideas for passion projects, meeting once a week for an hour at a time and setting action steps in between to avoid procrastination. “The main thing about coming up with a project is discovering what a student is really interested in, whether that’s a topic, an issue, or an activity, combining that with something else they like, and then An Acceptitas student completes a passion project centered around coding. (PHOTO: COURTESY OF EMMET HALM)
finding a way to make that both fun and give back in some tangible way,” Halm said.
After the student has finalized an idea, the mentor aids in creating a “business plan” for implementation.
Finally, once the project is complete, the last step of the Acceptitas process is publicity: Mentors aid in social media growth, outreach, and sending out press releases to make Sign in Sign up sure students receive the recogni2021 People Newspapers Ad 1:8 pg.pdf tion they deserve. Since its founding in August 2020, Acceptitas has grown from
just Halm to more than 20 Harvard students working for the program in various ways, from social media management to mentorship.
This past year, students were admitted to seven of the eight Ivy League schools, Stanford, Georgetown, and all the University of California schools, among others.
In the future, Halm hopes to expand mentorship to students from other top universities and continue to grow on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
“We’ve definitely struck a chord
Details with some people, and students are realizing that there’s a better way to do this,” Halm said. “In the future, we just want to reach more people and show them they can have a more fulfilling high school experience.”
LEARN MORE
Follow Acceptitas on TikTok and Instagram at @acceptitas and visit acceptitas.com.
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www.pheca.org/join phecamoms@gmail.com
The Preston Hollow Early Childhood Association (PHECA) is an organization for families with children from birth to five. PHECA strives to enrich the lives of neighborhood children by encouraging friendships among families and providing community support.
MONTHLY MEETINGS • MONTHLY CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES CHILDREN'S PARTIES • PLAYGROUPS • E-NEWSLETTER NEW MEMBER COFFEE/HAPPY HOUR • MOM'S NIGHT OUT COUPLES' NIGHT OUT • DAD'S NIGHT OUT
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Shelton School and Evaluation Center 17301 Preston Road, Dallas, TX 75252 SHELTON.ORG
I’ll be honest: I’m feeling half-and-half about going back to school in person.
JOHN ERICKSON
Last year, I went online and learned virtually. Some of my classmates had a hard time learning virtually and went back to in-person as quickly as they could. But I feel like I did OK. I made good grades. I got to be in the Lone Star Challenge and came in seventh in the whole school district. I still had fun.
But I missed my friends.
But I also was a little worried about wearing a mask the whole time. I believe in science, though, and it just makes common sense that a mask works to help prevent COVID.
This year, I don’t have a choice. I will be going in person. And that’s OK. My mom bought me plenty of masks and pocket hand sanitizer. I plan on wearing two masks because I’m not old enough to be vaccinated yet.
I’m only 10 years old. I don’t know why they haven’t figured out how to give me that shot yet, but I want it soon because I like feeling and being safe.
My mom told me I shouldn’t argue with people who tell me I don’t need to wear a mask. I’m just going to tell them, “You, do you. I’ll do me.” My mom says that’s a nice way of telling people to mind their own business.
I’m supposed to be trying to be nice even when I don’t want to be, which seems like a violation of free expression, but some people cannot handle being told they are wrong.
I don’t know what the new year will look like. I hope that everyone feels like I do and wants to stay safe. I am glad that my school district is telling everyone to wear a mask. I feel safe when everyone is wearing a mask, or at least doesn’t give me a hard time about wearing mine. I will also feel safe if my school can make sure kids are far apart, because some kids sneeze for distance and wear their masks
Like it or not, Preston Hollow People’s “youngest intern” heads back to
school with a plan for double masking. (PHOTO: TOM ERICKSON) weird (I saw on my Zoom last year), and I did not work this hard all last year to get COVID my first week at school. I will be so mad if I get COVID. It sounds awful even if
I can’t believe you get it a little bit. I’m not particularly excited about the fact it a 10-year-old has can kill you, either. It might not to say this, but if kill me, but if I get it and accidentally give it to my friends and kids can’t get a family, it could kill someone else. vaccination yet, That’s not cool, either. In conclusion, if I have to go everyone should to school in person in the midbe working very dle of a pandemic, I’d like the grown-ups to help us be safe. I hard to keep can’t believe a kid has to say this, them safe. but if we can’t get a vaccination yet, everyone should be working very hard to keep them safe. John Erickson, the son of digital editor Bethany Erickson, is a fifth-grader at Chapel Hill Preparatory in Dallas.
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Hockaday grad first female to achieve rank in Elm Fork District
By Maddie Stout
people newspapers
Maya Dattatreya has been a part of Boy Scouts since 2018. Well, not exactly.
Dattatreya, who graduated from The Hockaday School this year, first participated in a Boy Scouts event the summer after her freshman year by assisting her brother in leading a summer camp for younger Scouts.
She said she felt drawn in by the outdoor activities and emphasis on leadership.
Dattatreya continued to volunteer but wasn’t yet able to officially join since the organization was not open to girls.
But then she was introduced to two adult leaders who wanted to start a girls troop in 2019, the first-year girls could join the Boy Scouts.
“I went to this first meeting, and it really seemed like we would get to lead the troop and pick what we wanted to do,” Dattatreya said.
She began her ascent towards the Eagle Scout rank, learning such skills as outdoor cooking, knot tying, and orienteering while her troop went on camping trips throughout the year, her favorite part of the experience.
When it was time for Dattatreya to begin her Eagle project, the service project required to achieve the award, she already
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: LaSheryl Walker of the St. Phillip’s School and Community Center receives donations from Maya Dattatreya for the campus’ annual coat drive; Dattatreya’s Boy Scout uniform is full of badges earned while working towards Eagle Scout; she collected
dozens of coats for South Dallas students. (PHOTOS:
COURTESY OF MAYA DATTATREYA)
had an idea in mind.
“I did my project during the pandemic, and I had noticed that St. Philip’s School and Community Center, which is an elementary school in South Dallas, wasn’t able to do their annual Christmas fundraiser,” Dattatreya said. “They didn’t get to start on time like they normally do, so I chose to help out there throughout the year.”
Dattatreya held a coat drive for St. Phillips and worked with other troop members, friends, and family to create flyers, post advertisements on Nextdoor, sort, and deliver coats.
By the end of it, she remembers boxes of coats filling her house before she dropped them off in December.
The project gave her the final boost she needed to achieve her Eagle Scout rank, making her the first female Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts of America Elm Fork District, Circle Ten Council.
To Dattatreya, the rank means more than just being about her.
“I know that there are so many other girls in my troop who want to reach Eagle Scout, and I think being the first shows that we can definitely all do it, despite how intimidating the process can seem,” Dattatreya said. “I’m glad that other girls can see what I’m doing, and hopefully, that inspires them to do the same.”
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