25 Aug 2008
District Back to School Kickoff Presented by Merrill Lynch
DALLAS—More than 17,000 voices chanted and cheered at the American Airlines Center last week, not for sports but for education, as Dallas ISD rallied to kickoff its 2008-2009 school year.
Teachers, principals and other campus support staff gathered during the Dallas ISD Back to School Kickoff presented by Merrill Lynch. Held once every two years and underwritten completely by corporate sponsors, this year's theme was Believe/Achieve. Merrill Lynch, lead supporter of the event, aimed to demonstrate Dallas' business community investing in today's youth.
The morning's highlight came when Charles Rice Elementary School fifth-grader and keynote speaker Dalton Sherman took to the stage and challenged teachers to believe in their students.
"Do you believe in my classmates?" challenged Sherman. "You better. Because next week, we're all showing up in your schools—all 157,000 of us—and what we need from you is to believe that we can reach our highest potential."
During the two hour, supercharged pep rally, bands played, students danced and cadets performed to an enthusiastic crowd of Dallas ISD teachers, faculty and staff. Superintendent of Schools Michael Hinojosa spoke to attendees about the district's successes and challenges of the last school year.
The crowd became jubilant as he announced that, through the efforts of the Dallas Achieves! initiative and the work of teachers and principals, 103 Dallas ISD schools were now rated either Exemplary or Recognized by the Texas Education Agency.
"The back to school kickoff is a great opportunity to gather all campus employees under one roof so that they understand the district's direction," said Hinojosa. "These are the valued staff members who reach students where they are, the ones who put in endless hours trying to ensure that students are performing at their highest level. It's important to let them know that they are appreciated and that everyone is proud of the work they do every day. We look forward to another year of progress."
Other speakers included City of Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, Dallas ISD School Board President Jack Lowe and Merrill Lynch Regional Director of North Texas Red River Jeff Markham.
"Merrill Lynch is proud to sponsor the back-to-school kickoff," said Markham. "Both Merrill Lynch and Dallas ISD share a common belief: that of our children and their education being the most important investment of all. We believe the business community can play a valuable role in helping make this investment as fruitful as possible and we commend Dallas ISD for their dedication to our youth's education. Educators have such an important task. This is the one job that directly affects all other aspects of our society, and for us to be a part of this convocation is just one way to say thanks for a great effort."
Merrill Lynch is also the national sponsor of the Principal for a Day program. The company is devoting additional resources to assist in presenting the Principal for a Day program in Dallas ISD on October 16.
The first day of school was Monday, Aug. 25. For more information about the Dallas ISD and all its initiatives, visit the Web site at www.dallasisd.org.