Loved ones will gather Saturday to remember former Fort Worth ISD assistant principal Billy Calder.

Mr. Calder, 72, died January 30. His memorial service begins at 2 p.m. Saturday, February 8, 2020 at University Baptist Church, 2720 Wabash Ave. in Fort Worth. A visitation reception will immediately follow the service. 

For nearly 35 years, Mr. Calder was part of the FWISD staff serving as a teacher, coach and administrator at Amon Carter-Riverside, Southwest and Western Hills high schools. In 2005, he retired from the District as a Western Hills High School assistant principal.

“He will be remembered as a man who gave his all to his Lord, his family and the children of his community,” his obituary reads.

Mr. Calder was born in 1947 in Gilmer. Growing up, he played football for Paschal High School and Baylor University, his obituary states. 

He is survived by his wife of 51 years; two sons; five grandchildren and one sister.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations are made to the University Baptist Church Youth Ministry.

Fort Worth, Texas – The Fort Worth ISD Board of Education will hold a meeting Tuesday, February 11 at the Board Meeting Complex at 2903 Shotts Street and begin at 5:30 p.m.

Here is the agenda.

Regular board meetings are open to the public. Meetings are televised live by EdTV, the District’s TV station, on Charter Cable Channel 192, AT&T U-Verse 99 and via live streaming video on the District Website’s Video on Demand.

You can also follow the proceeding through the District’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. We will live tweet and post through each meeting.

Tips for watching Video on Demand: Click on the Video on Demand icon on the Home page. When a Board meeting is pending it will be displayed on the VOD Home page. Click on “Video” to begin watching. When reviewing an archived item, such as a Board meeting, click on the desired item under “Sections”. The video will begin playing. If watching a Board meeting, click on any item in the agenda to begin watching that portion of the meeting. For example, if there is only “black” move your cursor to the beginning of the meeting on the Agenda. The video will jump to that section.

Colleagues,

In our latest edition of Inside FWISD, you will find information about:

• 17 FWISD Students Officially Commit To Play College Sports
• ‘Giving Honor Where Honor Is Due: Walton ES Celebrates FWISD’s Oldest Full-Time Employee With 90^th Birthday Program
• Gold Seal Notifications Go Out This Week
• FWISD Receives UIL Realignment Results

• Fort Worth ISD Snapshot

And more stories and information about and for FWISD employees 

Don’t forget to view stories throughout the week on the Inside FWISD blog

Education, transportation, daycare and employment opportunities in Tarrant County is available at the 2020 Skills Training Fair, Thursday, February 6. 

The event, hosted by Fort Worth Housing Solutions, is being held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.at the housing authority’s administrative offices, located at 1201 E. 13^th St.  in Fort Worth.  Representatives from the Fort Worth ISD Academic Advisement Department and Tarrant County College financial aid will offer attendees information regarding college financial assistance, grants and scholarships.

Hear from Trinity Metro about the city’s transportation offerings and daycare information from Child Care Associates. U.S. Census and LifeSpan Home Health will be on hand recruiting for various job availabilities.

Other schools and agencies expected to participate in the event include:

• Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County
• Youthbuild training program
• Amerigroup
• North Texas Institute for Career Development
• The Ladder Alliance
• Weatherford College
• Stone Academy DFW Nurse Aide, Phlebotomy, EKG, CPR
• ed2go
• Job Corps
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 20
• EnVision Centers

For more details, click here. 

Colleagues,

In our latest edition of Inside FWISD, you will find information about:

• Fort Worth ISD Announces Campus Teacher of the Year Honorees
• Staff Waiver Day Set for Monday
• District Issues Memo Regarding 2020 W-4 Forms
• Wow Your  Super Bowl Guests with These Game Day Recipes from FWISD’s Gold Seal Culinary Programs
• Teen Shares Story of Her Personal Vaping Battle: Fort Worth Board of Education, City Council Pass Anti-Vaping Resolutions
• FWISD Announces Area Spelling Bee Winners

• Fort Worth ISD Snapshot

And more stories and information about and for FWISD employees 

 

Learn how to sign in a new visitor at your campus and more at “Raptor 6 Training and More,” a half-day course FWISD’s Classified Learning Department is offering this February.

Attendees will receive required training on Raptor 6, a new visitors management system used for signing in guests at a campus. Concurrently, Stop the Bleed, training that offers life-saving tips for how to control the bleeding of injured persons in an emergency event until first responders arrive, is also being offered. Both sessions are open to District personnel that manage Raptor for their campuses.

Training gets underway at 8:30 a.m. Monday, February 3 at the South Hills High School Auditorium, 6101 McCart Ave. Enroll in the course by visiting https://bit.ly/306m292 and logging in using your District username and password.

For more details, contact Aracely Chavez, Classified Learning executive director, at 817-814-3433 or email Aracely.chavez@fwisd.org.

Colleagues,

In our latest edition of Inside FWISD, you will find information about:

• McLean Wins Middle School Whiz Quiz: High School Finals Tonight
• Hands-On Tech Tools Plentiful At 15^th Annual FWTC This Saturday
• FWISD’s TCC South Collegiate Shines As P-TECH Showcase School
• Kirkpatrick MS’ Leo Vaughns Jr. Among LifeChanger of the Year Nominees

• Fort Worth ISD Snapshot

And more stories and information about and for FWISD employees 

Don’t forget to view stories throughout the week on the Inside FWISD blog

 

Health Officials Say Shot Prevents Spread of Illness 

Hurry! There’s still time to protect yourself and your family from the flu with a simple vaccine!

According to MedStar, the ambulance service provider to Fort Worth, crews have treated a record number of patients this month with primary or secondary clinical impressions of influenza-like illnesses.

Influenza, commonly known as flu, is a contagious respiratory illness that brings on sudden symptoms such as fever or feeling feverish/ chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuff nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue and possible vomiting and diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Serious complications can lead to hospitalization and death.

MedStar is currently responding to 11 related flu calls a day, nearly a 50% increase from last month and a 52.3% increase from the previous year.

Peak flu season generally runs through January and February. Getting a flu shot is the best protection against the illness, according to health officials.

The Fort Worth ISD has provided steps for flu prevention on its Health Services webpage. Click here for more details. 

For information on where to get influenza shots in the county, reports and additional tips from preventing flu, visit the Tarrant County Public Health website.

Are you equipped to save a life in an emergency situation?

A free Stop the Bleed and hands-only CPR course is being offered by MedStar Mobile Healthcare, the ambulance service provider to Fort Worth, this Saturday, January 25 at its training academy, located at 2900 Alta Mere Drive in Fort Worth.  

Participants will learn how to control the bleeding of injured persons in an emergency event until first responders arrive and much more. Upon completing the course, participants will receive a certificate.

Pre-register for the course here.

 

 

Test out the latest education apps at the 15th annual Fort Worth Technology Conference (FWTC).

The one-day event, which Fort Worth ISD’s Educational Technology Department is hosting this Saturday offers area educators nearly 100 presentations, sessions and workshops led by local, regional, and national digital-instruction innovators. Also available is an Escape Room that immerses attendees in classroom technologies and a Digital Playground where educators can test out tech tools for enhancing student comprehension. The conference gets underway at 8 a.m. Saturday at Southwest High School, 4100 Altamesa Blvd.

“We strive to teach technology integration so that the technology is just a tool in the process of learning, not the end goal,” said Dr. Becky Navarre, assistant superintendent of technology for the Division of Academics.

Jaime Casap, chief education evangelist at Google, will present “The Problem-Solving Generation,” a 45-minute keynote address focused on equipping students with skills for thriving in an ever-changing digital environment. A 45-minute question-and-answer session with Mr. Casap will follow the presentation.

FWTC admission is free to District employees. The FWISD schools with the most registered attendees will receive a campus prize. Drawings for individual door prizes will take place throughout the conference. On-site registration is $40 for out-of-district participants.

To date, more than 1,200 participants have registered for FWTC. Participants include educators from 19 other school districts, private schools and higher education institutions. 

Twelve FWISD teachers are vying for the title of Tech Idol at FWTC. Attendees will participate in a poll that selects the District educator that’s exercised impactful technology integration in the classroom.

Attendance hit a record in 2019 at FWTC, with nearly 1,110 registrants, and conference organizers are anticipating larger crowds this year.

Rochelle Horton, principal at FWISD’s A.M. Pate Elementary school talks about how and why she encourages her staff to attend FWTC in a recent episode of FWEdCast, a monthly podcast produced by FWISD’s Educational Technology Department.

She said teachers are taking more risks presenting before their peers, students and others as a result of attending FWTC. Students are being prepared “for jobs that don’t even exist yet,” Ms. Horton said, and FWTC keeps educators of on the pulse of new technology for engaging students. Teachers leave the conference with knowledge of the new apps and updates that they can utilize on Monday when they’re back in the classroom, Ms. Horton said.

“The value of receiving free tech … there is an increase of student engagement in the classroom. When teachers go to the conference, they learn new things, they come back and they’re able to use it in the classroom, and you see students are more engaged in learning,” Ms. Horton said on the podcast. “Going to the tech conference gives teachers an opportunity to see it in practice, in application and then be able to come back to campus and replicate that.”

Register today and get the conference agenda, session catalog and map by visiting www.fwisd.org/FWTC. For additional details, contact the Educational Technology Department at 817-814-3100 or emailing edtech@fwisd.org.