DENTON ISD

District closed for Labor Day on Sept. 6

The first holiday of the year for the Denton school district will be Monday, Sept. 6, when schools will close for Labor Day.

All schools and offices will be closed in observance of the holiday.

Evers Park Elementary School

Social studies teacher wins state award

Dawn Fielder, a second-grade teacher at Evers Park Elementary School, was recently named the 2010 Teacher of the Year by the Texas Council for the Social Studies.

Fielder has been an elementary school teacher for 10 years, spending the last seven in the Denton school district. This will be her fourth year at Evers Park, which she joined after a four-year stint at Borman Elementary School.

Fielder graduated magna cum laude with her bachelor’s in independent studies from the University of Texas at Tyler.

She began her career in Palestine as a third-grade teacher.

She is a member of the curriculum committee for the Texas Council for the Social Studies and has served as a presenter for the group.

Fielder is Evers Park’s science fair coordinator, and has been a trainer for the University of North Texas’ teacher mentoring program.

Calhoun Middle School

Building recognized for design, quality

The newest building at Calhoun Middle School recently earned the state’s top design award from the Texas Association of School Administrators and the Texas Association of School Boards.

The award is part of a collaborative project of the two state groups and the Texas Society of Architects and is given to new or renovated construction projects for educational facilities. The honor takes into account the structure’s quality and design, as well as its planning.

After extensive research, VLK Architects, which oversaw design and construction of the Calhoun project, determined that remodeling the existing building from 1937 would be cost-prohibitive and began designing an addition to the campus. The award-winning, L-shaped addition includes 16 classrooms, three science labs and a staff workroom.

The addition was built using funds passed in a 2007 bond election.

Calhoun will receive a historical marker, which is being dedicated at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, in front of the school. This school year marks the second year the building will be used to house sixth-grade students.

McMath Middle School

Parent education workshops slated

The first parent education workshop for middle school parents starts at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The McMath Middle School staff is hosting parent education workshops at the school for all parents interested in developing better relationships with their middle-schoolers.

The workshops will be conducted in the following sessions:

• 10 a.m. Saturday — “How To Be a Parent, Not a Friend”

• 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7 — “Developmental Stages of a Middle School Child”

• 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 18 — “Dealing With Pop Culture in Today’s Society”

• 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28 — “Motivating Your Middle School Student To Succeed”

The seminars are free, and child care will be available during the Saturday sessions.

For more information, contact Bobbie Roberts, student assistance counselor at McMath, at 940-369-3300 or broberts@dentonisd.org.

KRUM ISD

Inaugural BEAM group completes program

The Krum school district wrapped up the first year of its Bobcats Embracing Advanced Mathematics program this month with three weeks of leadership training and a rigorous math curriculum.

The program is designed for students entering their freshman year. While the program centers on math and the development of algebra skills, it also focuses on study techniques, how to overcome hurdles while learning math, and emphasizes the importance of leadership in the classroom.

Students selected for the BEAM program attended two field trips this summer in preparation for the program. The first was a visit to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, where the students experienced a hands-on crime scene investigation scenario. The students also visited Texas Woman’s University, where they participated in a ropes course.

The program also included a special guest speaker. Jared Murdock, 2004 Krum High School graduate, visited the group on the program’s final day, and spoke to students about real-life applications for the study of science and mathematics.

As Murdock stressed the importance of study groups and building a strong math foundation based on algebra skills, he also reiterated one of the main points stressed to students: how “learning communities” could improve performance.

Murdock received a Bachelor of Science in agricultural engineering from Texas A&M University in 2008. He will graduate in December with his master’s in biological and agricultural engineering from Texas A&M. He is currently working on different aspects of using microalgae for fuel production.

Krum High teachers Lance Boxell and Gail Kinnaird led instruction for the group. Boxell said that the fun, math-based games strengthened the students’ relationships with one another.

Students were entered in a drawing to win an iPod Touch if they were on time each day for instruction and attended every activity. Three were given out, and the winners were Kayleigh Fikes, Makala Savage and Zach Thomas.