21 May 2009
McCollum Has Served Dallas ISD for 26 Years
DALLAS–With 32 years of teaching experience and 26 years serving the Dallas Independent School District, John B. McCollum, theater arts teacher at Bryan Adams High School, has been named Dallas ISD's 2009–2010 Teacher of the Year, during a dinner sponsored by H-E-B Central Market.
By teaching, McCollum believes that he is reaching his childhood dream of becoming a movie star. "Teaching is the realization of my dream of becoming a movie star, because when I am reaching and teaching children, I truly do feel that stardom has been achieved."
McCollum believes that teaching is the perfect place for students of all levels to excel. His students demonstrate success. "Students who are not successful in other classes manage to find success in his class," said Bryan Adams Principal Cynthia Goodsell. "One of his students actually wrote a play last year that was produced by our high school's drama department and subsequently received a full scholarship to a four-year university. Mr. McCollum demonstrates teaching excellence on a daily basis through the research-based practices of rigor, relevance and relationships. Through theater and theater tech, he supports the core academic subjects of language arts and mathematics."
McCollum's former students have written and produced local theater plays, have worked for the Dallas Children's Theatre, the Garland Community Theater, and have toured the country teaching theater workshops.
McCollum also works closely with the special education department and provides every child tools which will help them succeed such as painting, sorting, critiquing, designing, and directing. He developed a program of "socializing intelligence," wherein students are presented objectives, shown the tools, and encouraged to make their own decisions under time-tried guidelines.
In 1974, McCollum received a Bachelors of Arts in Theater Arts, a minor in English, and a teacher certification from Texas Tech University. In 1989 he achieved a math certification from the University of Texas at Dallas. Throughout his teaching career, McCollum has also taught math and English.
Twenty-one musicals have been produced by McCollum, as well as six full-length plays, and 25 contest plays, winning most of them and advancing to regional competitions. During his theater arts teaching career, McCollum's students have received about 200 acting awards and a dozen technical awards.
Superintendent of Schools Michael Hinojosa presented McCollum with an engraved award and Stephen Butt, senior vice president, Central Market Division, H-E-B, presented him a cash award for $5,000.
In addition to McCollum's cash award of $5,000, Central Market H-E-B, the event's sponsor, presented $1,000 awards to the finalists:
As part of the Reform Governance in Action training program, the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees has developed its vision and a set of core beliefs and commitments. The vision of the board is to be the best urban district in the United States. The fourth of their beliefs is: "We believe that every student must be educated in a safe, welcoming, effective and innovative learning environment."
For a complete list of core beliefs, visit the Web site at http://www.dallasisd.org/about/vision.htm.