Students show love for Attaway through letters, fundraisers

Kimberly Del Angel Staff Writer Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own. – Nikos Kazantzakis When Coppell Middle School North teacher DeLana Attaway, was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma brain cancer in December, the news came as a shock to students who had grown close to the teacher who dedicated her life not only to making learning more enjoyable, but to creating a special bond with her students. “Everyone loves It’s a Wonderful Life, and when you realize your life has touched someone else’s, it is so humbling because you…

CISD Schools performing above standard

By Ben Cowlishaw Online Copy Editor CISD Schools are continuously being recognized as excelling past and out performing other public schools in the area. The National Center for Educational Achievement (NCEA) included five CISD schools, including Coppell High School, on their annual list of Higher Performing Schools. The other schools included were all three middle schools, and Valley Ranch Elementary. The district posted on the CISD website “The presence of schools on the list demonstrates Coppell ISD’s belief that all students are capable of graduating prepared for college and careers as well as their commitment to making it happen.” Schools are selected based on different measures of standardized test scores, including the number of students…

Distinguished students attend photo sessions for end of year banquet

Divya Kumar News Editor This Wednesday and Thursday, CHS and NTH@C students in the top 5% of their respective class will be attending a photo session at the Bob Freeman Photography Studio, located near Coppell Middle School West. These students will be honored at a banquet later in the year and are allowed to bring one teacher who has had a major impact on their educational career as their honored guest. These teachers will also be attending the photo session with their respective students. The list of students for Coppell High School and New Tech High, with their corresponding teachers, is as follows: Mitu Bhattatiry – Tim Dixon (CHS) Kim Le – Jennifer Martin (CHS) Jenny…

Thespian troupes make an effort to ‘can’ hunger with TOTS-EAT

Addy Buigas-Lopez Staff Writer Hunger is a very scary thing; that’s why over 280 Thespian troupes across the nation collect pounds of non-perishable food items for donations to the 49.1 million people in the United States living in food insecure households. Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat (TOTS-EAT) is the International Thespian Society’s annual nationwide community service project to collect food for local charities. Thespian troupes host a month-long food drive during the month of October to collect cans that are then donated to the food bank of their choice. “Our goal for this year, as a nation, is to get around 350,000 pounds to beat our record-breaking total of 332,000 pounds last year,”…

CMS students take to CHS

By taking time a part from classroom instruction to experience a variety of electives offered at the high school, worry and stress associated with class scheduling has taken over middle schools within the Coppell district. Throughout the week of Jan. 27 select CHS organizations will visit the campuses of CMS West, North and East to provide information and better insight to incoming students. This three day event contains a unique “around the world” theme as students will travel to each elective with a passport. With so many decisions to be made, collaboration on the part of CHS and CMS campuses can only further the spread of knowledge in terms of picking the right classes and electives for each individual student.

Ashbrook inspires blood drive

by Divya Kumar News Editor  It is a rare thing for a teacher to have much of a lasting affect on a student beyond the school year in which they are acquainted. This clearly is not the case for Coppell Middle School North’s Band Director, Joel Ashbrook, whose students not only hold him fondly in their memories, but are also willing to go to great lengths for him. Ashbrook, whose bone marrow has recently stopped producing platelets, is now going through chemo therapy for what doctors feel might be cancer. While normally this process requires medical care and money to be received, upon hearing the news Ashbrook’s students – both former and current – decided to…