Recently in 02) Business / Education Category

The Chamber recently hosted more than 100 realtors at a luncheon featuring a panel representing beducators, administrators and parents from Irving ISD and the Carrollton Farmers Branch Independent School District.   Both districts are achieving many great things in the classroom, and the Chamber is working to ensure that the realtors who "sell" the Irving community are aware of all that is happening in regards to education in Irving.

The Dallas Morning News has the full scoop on the event here and here and we have several photos to share as well!

More than 100 realtors attended the information session and luncheon

Realtors visit with each other shortly before the luncheon

David Park, Vice Chair of the Chamber's Education Committee, delivers some opening remarks

 A couple of door prizes get the excitement level up!

From left to right: Kerri Miene (State Farm Insurance), David Saenz (Jack Singley Academy Principal), Dr. Neil Dugger (Irving ISD) and Dr. Dana Bedden (Irving ISD Superintendent)comprise a panel representing the Irving Independent School District

From left to right:Dr. Bobby Burns (CFB-ISD Superintendent), Dr. Sheila Maher (CFB-ISD), David Hicks (Ranchview High School Principal) and Angie Drake (Ebby Halliday Realtors) comprise a panel representing CFB-ISD.

Dr. Bobby Burns highlights the CFB-ISD

Dr. Dana Bedden Highlights IISD     

The Chamber and presenting sponsor Michael's helped welcome nearly 300 new teachers to the Irving Independent School District at a luncheon Tuesday, August 17. Debbie Fleck at the Dallas Morning News was on hand and filed a great report.

We'll just add to it with a few photos of teachers visiting sponsor tables before the lunch began, as well as some shots of city, school and chamber leaders welcoming our newest teachers from the podium. 

A special thanks to Michaels, and to the other sponsors who made this year's New Teacher's Luncheon one of the best ever: ExxonMobil, Aviall, the Dallas Cowboys, Frito Lay, TIAA Cref, Kroger, Optim Energy, Atmos, Aspen Catering, Liberty Mutual, DART, Boyle & Lowry, RIM, Time Warner Cable, Credit Union of Texas, Microsoft, NEC, Linda Harper-Brown, Capital One, AllState, Big Brothers Big Sisters, DeVry and FastSigns Irving/Las Colinas.

The Chamber is pleased to spread news of a brand new mentoring program North Lake College is in the process of implementing. The mentoring program is for students who have specified an area of study and would like to gain more information about it.  The goal of the mentoring program is to provide real-world information to students through partnership with community-based business professionals.

The Chamber invites you and your colleagues to participate in this program.  North Lake is seeking mentors who can commit to two hours per month for one academic semester (four to six months). Sample activities include having lunch with the student and having the student conduct "job shadowing" at the mentor's place of employment.

Mentors are needed in a variety of areas such as Business and Finance, Engineering, Computer Graphics, Office Technology, Information Technology, Marketing, Management, etc. 

To learn more about participating, contact Crystal Larthridge at CLarthridge@dcccd.edu or 972.273.3145.

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Gov. Perry: Forward Thinking Companies Invest in the Future and in Texas

Gov. Rick Perry today credited Texas' relatively strong economic climate with helping attract jobs and businesses to the state. The governor recently spoke at a ribbon cutting for Reyes-Amtex Automotive's production facility.

"As Americans look for the best place to live, work and raise a family, more of them are heading to Texas all the time," Gov. Perry said. "The root cause of our economic success is hardworking Texans, but pro-job policies, low taxes, predictable regulations and fair legal system have also helped Texas lead the nation in job creation."

The Texas economy continues to receive national attention. This month, CNBC named Texas America's Top State for Business for the second time. Texas was also recently named the "Best State to Do Business" by CEO Magazine for the sixth year in a row, and six of Texas' metro areas were listed as "America's Recovery Capitals" by Forbes and Moody's Economy.

No other state is home to more Fortune 500 companies, and Texas is the nation's leading exporting state for the eighth year in a row. Irving alone is home to more than 45 Fortune 500 companies, and five global fortune 500 company headquarters. Texas created more private sector jobs than any other state in the nation over the last 10 years. Additionally, Texas' unemployment rate dropped to 8.2 percent in June, well below the national average.

Board of Education reverses course on charter school funding

State Board of Education members muscled through a proposal Friday to invest public school endowment dollars in charter school facilities. This is significant as Irving is home to several charter schools including North Hills Preparatory, recently ranked the fourteenth best public high school in America according to Newsweek.  Irving is also home to Winfree Academy, Universal Academy Charter and University Charter.

But there could be a push back next year from legislators who say political aims are overtaking the board's responsibility to manage prudently the $22 billion Permanent School Fund. The endowment was created in 1876 for the benefit of Texas public schools.

On Friday, the board reversed a preliminary vote from the previous day and dedicated $100 million of the fund to developing and leasing buildings for charter schools, which are privately managed public schools.

Charter schools deserve assistance similar to what the state provides traditional public school districts, said board member David Bradley, R-Beaumont. The fund helps school districts by guarantying debt used to build classrooms and other facilities, which reduces the districts' borrowing costs.

"We're trying to be fair," Bradley said.

State Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, said the board appears to be overstepping its role.

"Their job is to prudently invest the fund so that the constitutional objectives of the fund can be maximized, and providing facilities for charter schools is not one of those functions," said Duncan, chairman of the State Affairs Committee. "This appears to be a political decision and not a decision that is based upon the board exercising its fiduciary responsibility under the constitution."

Duncan and state Rep. Donna Howard , D-Austin, carried legislation last year that would have placed investment oversight of the endowment with an appointed board of financial professionals.

That measure cleared the House of Representatives with the 100 votes needed to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot, but it never got a hearing in the Senate.

Howard said she intends to file the legislation again in 2011 and believes that lawmakers from across the political spectrum will agree that Friday's decision "is not conservative management of this fund."

Chairwoman Gail Lowe , R-Lampasas, has her own reservations about whether the charter school investment would pass constitutional muster. But she said having an elected board overseeing the fund does serve the public well.

The constitutional issue in question is whether a charter school facility investment would meet the "prudent person" standard that generally says an investment's return must be commensurate with its risk.

The board's investment adviser described the charter school investment as low-return and high-risk and declined to make a recommendation for or against the investment approach.

Board member Cynthia Dunbar , R-Richmond, said the board members are meeting their legal obligations to vet investments thoroughly.

There is also a benefit to the overall fund as well as to education as a whole, Dunbar said.

No investment will be made until the attorney general weighs in on the "prudent person" question or the Legislature gives clear authority for the board to proceed, the board stated in its approval of the asset allocation.

Education Commissioner Robert Scott said he will instruct staff members who oversee the Permanent School Fund and charter school policy to tackle many lingering questions about the plan.

On Thursday, the board split 7 to 7 on a vote to include the charter school proposal in the overall investment mix of the endowment. The tie sank the proposal.

But when the final vote was taken Friday, one opponent from Thursday, Rick Agosto, was gone. The San Antonio Democrat had left the meeting shortly after roll call earlier in the morning.

Agosto's absence gave supporters of the charter school proposal the one-vote margin needed to include it in the overall investment mix of the endowment.

Agosto said any suggestion that he left the meeting to flip the vote's outcome is "preposterous."

Today we shine the school spotlight on Uplift Education. One of the Uplift schools, North Hills Preparatory was recently named Newsweek's fourteenth best high school in America (its fifth consecutive year in the top 20). Uplift has set a bold goal of recruiting 400 HERO mentors by August 15.  Hero mentors will help guide an Uplift Education Junior or Senior through their journey preparing for college, applying to schools and obtaining scholarships to finance their education. The Chamber encourages you to be a HERO today!

• Complete the online application to become a HERO mentor.
• Download a PDF copy of the application.

Need more information? Download the HERO brochure. Or contact Alysia Bell at abell@irvingchamber.com

This week we are shining the school spotlight on the Irving Family YMCA because of their partnership with the Irving Independent School District.

In partnership with the Irving ISD Food Service Department and the Irving Family YMCA, free meals are being served to community members age 18 and younger through August 13 at the Irving Family YMCA. Meals are prepared and served by staff from the IISD Food Service Department, and all meals meet the nutrition standards set by the USDA.

The Irving YMCA is located at 2200 West Irving Blvd, near the intersection of Story Road and Irving Blvd. and they can be reached at 972-986-8898.

Way to go YMCA!

The Chamber recently hosted a networking event at the ultramodern, elegant NYLO hotel in Irving for University of Dallas Graduate School of Management students, providing these bright young minds an opportunity to meet and network with representatives from such companies as Microsoft, NEC America and Citi.

Mark Hicks (far right) from NEC America visits with students and guests at the special networking event.   

School Calls on Business Community to Identify Partners in Education     

This week we shine the spotlight on Kinkeade Early Childhood School, located in South Irving. The school serves preschool students, eighty-eight percent of whom are disadvantaged.

The mission of Kinkeade staff members is to provide instruction and experiences for our students and their parents that will ensure the students' success in school so that they graduate from high school and continue on to college.  To accomplish that goal, Kinkeade parents need information on the importance of attending school, instruction on how to read to their child and how to discipline their child. The parents also need books and games at home to use to work with their child. Kinkeade needs volunteers to mentor and tutor students. 

Volunteers are needed to provide library books, school supplies and school uniforms for our students. Kinkeade is currently seeking a Partner in Education that will help them accomplish this goal by providing volunteers and resources to work with students and parents.

Myrna Baker, principal, invites the Irving business community to join her and her staff in their mission to provide a bright future for their students.  With the help of a Partner in Education, Kinkeade ECS can build the foundation needed to ensure that our students will have a successful school experience.   If you would like to get more information, please contact Thelma Cantu, Partnership in Education Coordinator,  at 972-600-5017 or tcantu@irvingisd.net to set up a campus tour and meeting to discuss a possible partnership. 

We're introducing a new feature for the news blog today, the Irving School Spotlight. Each week, we'll take a look at an educational institution in Irving, tell you a little about them and also identify any needs where the business community might be of assistance.

MediaTech Institute is a great place for anyone looking for a creative career in the media arts. With classes that are designed from the ground up, their programs are proven to help students develop the skills needed to realize their dreams. Their philosophy is to provide each student access to industry standard facilities and equipment and a top-notch faculty of working professionals.

MediaTech offers  extensive hands-on training on a wide range of equipment. Explore and create your own music, movies and sounds, and create a great looking and sounding digital portfolio that will be sure to get you noticed. For more information, take a look around www.mediatech.edu, or call them at (866) 498-1122 to schedule a tour. Their campus is conveniently located in Irving at 400 E. Royal Lane, Suite 100.

MediaTech students learn the art of filmmaking in professional sound and film studios.