News From All Campuses in One Place | Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD

Central Elementary Educator Wins Elementary Teacher of the Year

Posted/span> on May 7, 2019 in Central, District News, Fine Arts, Newsletter

Kaitlin Troutman has loved teaching pretty much her whole life. Her grade school years were spent doing whatever she could to help her teachers. She was an educator in training hoping to follow in the footsteps of her favorite teachers.

For the Love of Students

In 2016, her dreams became a reality when Troutman became the music teacher at Central Elementary in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District. Though her hard work, dedication, and love of music, she has impacted the lives of countless students in CFBISD.

“Within the classroom, teachers need not be afraid to pour their hearts and souls into their work for fear of, “…rocking the academic boat”. Teachers should teach what needs to be taught in order to prepare our students not for standardized assessments but for their lives,” said Ms. Troutman.

She added, “As teachers, administrators, and students, we need to be the ones to create change in our world. Change occurs first within the classroom, second within a school, third within a community, and lastly within a nation.”

Teacher of the Year

On Monday, May 6 at a special celebration, Ms. Troutman was named Elementary Teacher of the Year for CFBISD. Troutman was one of three finalists for this honor. The other finalists were Abigail Gunn, teacher at Freeman Elementary, and Quynh Tran, teacher at Blanton Elementary. Troutman is now eligible to compete for Teacher of the Year at the regional level.

Good luck to Ms. Troutman. All of CFBISD will be rooting for you.

View more photos from this event in our Flickr gallery.

CFB Recognizes School Nurses

Posted/span> on May 7, 2019 in District News

Since 1972, National School Nurse Day has been set aside to recognize school nurses. National School Nurse Day was established to foster a better understanding of the role of school nurses in the educational setting. National School Nurse Day is celebrated on the Wednesday within National Nurse Week. This year, School Nurse Day is May 8, 2019.

According to the National Association of School Nurses (NASN), school nurses play an integral role in the health of students and the schools in which they work. According to a 2008 study, a student is more likely to be able to go back to class (instead of being dismissed early) when seen by a school nurse, which greatly reduces student absenteeism.

Students and parents can share their love and appreciation of their school nurse on the district’s Facebook page with the hashtag #cfbschoolnurses

CHS Dancer Wins PTA Award for Choreography

Posted/span> on May 1, 2019 in District News, Fine Arts, Fine Arts – State-National, Newsletter

Creekview High School dance student, Micah Patterson, is one of 7 students in the state to receive the Outstanding Interpretation Award from the Texas PTA. This is the highest honor given by the organization for their Reflections art program. Tens of thousands of students across the state in grades Pre-K through 12th grade submit entries for the annual contest.

His dance choreography submission, Letting Go, was chosen based on how well his entry and artist statement portrayed this year’s them, “Heroes Around Me.”

In his artist statement Patterson shared in part, “These heroes eventually have to let me go and I have to let them go for me to finish the path heroes around me have started.” On Apr. 26, during his dance class, Patterson received a surprise from his school and PTA with the announcement of his achievement. Micah was joined in class by Texas PTA Board Member Marni Kaner, family, and Creekview High School PTSA.

Reflections has been a staple arts program in many schools for 50 years. Through the efforts of Local PTAs, millions of students have found a creative outlet in the areas of dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography, and visual arts. Student entries begin at the local level within their schools, and, after judging, can advance to their district, then to State, and finally a small number of students from each state go on to National PTA. It’s from this small group of National bound entries that the most prestigious Reflections award is selected.

Over the next few weeks, Texas PTA is surprising the top seven state awardees in their schools. The reveals are being posted to the Texas PTA Facebook page.

Micah along with other Reflections students will be honored during an award ceremony this summer.

View more photos from this event in our Flickr gallery.