12 Aug 2004
Emmy Award-winning DISD Television show Highlights the Best of DISD
DALLAS--School Zone Dallas, the Dallas Independent School District's Emmy Award-winning television show hosted by high school students, will begin its third season with a special edition presented during prime time on WFAA-TV (Channel 8).
The program will air on Monday, September 13 at 6:30 p.m. prior to the premiere of ABC's much-anticipated new show The Benefactor, starring Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. School Zone Dallas is being presented by John Eagle Dealerships.
"School Zone Dallas highlights the unique people who are making a difference throughout the Dallas Independent School District," said DISD Superintendent Mike Moses. "On any given program, you will meet outstanding teachers, volunteers and students. I am especially pleased that Mr. John Eagle, who is himself a DISD graduate, has stepped forward to underwrite the cost to air this program on WFAA." This is the second time in less than a year that Eagle has underwritten the program on WFAA.
"We are proud to be associated with a program that showcases to the general public the positive things that are taking place in the Dallas Independent School District," said John Eagle. "Our community's future is directly tied to the quality of its public schools and we want to do everything within our power to support the efforts of our students, teachers, parents and volunteers."
The special edition of School Zone Dallas will be broadcast from the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center in Oak Cliff, home of six DISD schools rated "exemplary" by the Texas Education Agency. DISD students host the show: Chase Brown of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and Abe Hernandez of Bryan Adams High School.
Chase and Abe are joined by eight student reporters including: Cari Abuanza, Thomas Jefferson High School; Edward Bailey, School of Science and Engineering at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center; Saúl Casteñeda, Woodrow Wilson High School; Leah Gerchario, Booker T. Washington High for the Performing and Visual Arts; Rafael Fields, South Oak Cliff High School; Lyann Fortner, W.T. White High School; Ivan Jones, Skyline High School; and Choree Russell, David W. Carter High School.
The special edition program will feature a student-produced play at the Sidney Lanier Vanguard for Expressive Arts, a school volunteer known as the Butterfly Guy and DISD's Teacher of the Year, Kendall Hasse of Woodrow Wilson High School.
School Zone Dallas appears on the first Sunday of each month throughout the school year at 9:30 a.m. on Dallas' KERA Public Television (Channel 13). In October 2003, it became the first program produced by a school district in Texas to receive a Lone Star Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. In June 2004, School Zone Dallas received the Award of Excellence from the National School Public Relations Association.
"School Zone Dallas is a unique way to tell the public about what is taking place in their schools," Moses said. "We think everyone should make it a point to see that our public schools are working, thanks to the efforts of a lot of dedicated people."
John Eagle Dealerships include John Eagle Lincoln Mercury Isuzu, John Eagle Honda of Dallas, Aston Martin of Dallas, René Isip's Toyota of Lewisville and John Eagle Sport City Toyota. For more information, go to www.eaglelincoln.com
For more information about School Zone Dallas, go to http://www.dallasisd.org/schoolzone.htm. Story ideas can be sent to schoolzone@dallasisd.org