Tiffany Moll, a sixth-grade math teacher at Black Elementary School, was one of the first three recipients of a United Way I Rock Math grant. She used her grant award to purchase iPads that enhance math instruction for her students. Watch the video of the technology in action using the video player below.

In addition to money for the technology to use in the classroom, Moll and the other I Rock Math grant recipients receive expert coaching from the National Math and Science Initiative.

Teachers interested in applying for I Rock Math grants in the fall of 2013 can sign up to receive updates, including an email when the request for proposals is released, at UnitedWayDallas.org/IRockMath.

Sponsor

In Texas, half of juvenile offenders commit another crime if they don’t receive post-release support. The financial cost to our community is staggering:

• The second offense  costs society approximately $175,000.

• If the juvenile ends up in a life of crime, the estimated cost rises to $1.7-$2.3 million.

So when Chad Houser taught eight juvenile offenders to make ice cream for a competition at the Dallas Farmers Market, he saw the potential to move them from costing the community to contributing to society. He started Café Momentum to help these young men reach their potential.

Chad partnered with Dallas County Youth Village, a residential detention facility for nonviolent adjudicated boys. Working with his business partner at Parigi Restaurant, Janice Provost, Chad established a restaurant to teach young people life and social skills — and provide a pathway to legal employment.

To demonstrate the viability of their social enterprise, Café Momentum hosts monthly pop-up dinners at local restaurants. The young men work as interns, receiving culinary and service training from a rotating roster of guest chefs from in and around Dallas. Together, the interns and chefs provide spectacular gourmet dinner and dining experiences to their guests.

The chefs train the interns to prep, cook, plate and serve their dishes, which include produce they have grown organically in the half-acre garden at Dallas County Youth Village. The young men — most of whom have never had a job or received a compliment for doing something well — also receive valuable life skills and social skills, and a fresh start.

One young man arrived at his first dinner dressed in his Sunday best. When Chad asked him about it, the young man said, "You told us to present ourselves the way we want people to see us." From that day on, all of the young men showed up in their Sunday best. They beam with pride when they create and serve food to people who say, “Thank you for your hard work.”

The first dinner, held in June 2011, was a success for all involved, including Leonardo. His inspiring story highlights the need for programs like this and the difference training and a helping hand can make.

With 20 successful dinners so far, Café Momentum continues to grow closer to opening its permanent location. Support from The GroundFloor helps early-stage social enterprises build up the track record of measurable results they need to compete effectively for funding from other organizations, such as United Way Community Impact Grants. Café Momentum plans to leverage its GroundFloor grant to expand to train young women from the LeTot facility.

The application process for The GroundFloor’s Fall 2013 cohort of grants will open on July 1, 2013, with ventures selected through a competitive grant process. Grant applications are due September 3, 2013.  More information about The GroundFloor and the application process is available at thegroundfloor.org.

Texas Instruments (TI) Incorporated wrapped up a successful campaign in support of United Way, raising $6.3 million to invest in the needs of communities where TI operates. Scores of TI employees and retirees answered United Way's call to "Live United" by advocating, volunteering and giving in record numbers during this year's campaign.

Contributions from more than 5,800 employees across the U.S. totaled $3.17 million and represented a $380,000 increase from 2011. When combined with corporate, Texas Instruments Foundation and retiree contributions, TI's total gift to United Way is $6.3 million.

The results were especially rewarding because TI Chairman, President and CEO Rich Templeton served as United Way of Metropolitan Dallas(UWMD) 2012-2013 citywide campaign chair. Under Templeton's leadership, this year's UWMD campaign is on track to raise $62 million, a new campaign record. The money goes toward the UWMD's five-year goal to raise more than $300 million.

In North Texas, $2.6 million in employee contributions, along with retiree gifts, TI corporate funds and a TI Foundation grant, resulted in $5.1 million, making TI the largest corporate donor to UWMD.

"You've truly made a difference," Templeton said as he thanked volunteers during the UWMD's annual Heroes of Hope dinner, where TI received the Trendsetter Award for its outstanding campaign contribution. "The lives of tens of thousands of people will change because of you."

TI employees across the country rallied to support the cause, participating in numerous fundraising events, educational opportunities and Day of Impact volunteer projects. Contributions go to the local United Way affiliates and their service providers, addressing the individual communities' education, income and health needs.

"We were pleased this year to welcome five new sites to the campaign, including the former National offices in Santa Clara and Grass Valley, California, and in Portland, Maine," said Andy Smith, TI director of corporate philanthropy. "Employees from these sites not only provided financial support, but also volunteered their time and expertise to positively affect their communities."

Smith said many of these first-year campaigns experienced exceptional results.

For example, TI's Austin, TX site boasted a 20 percent participation rate, and TI's Germantown, MD site achieved a 33 percent participation rate. Combined efforts by the Silicon Valley Analog (SVA) business unit and Sunnyvale, Calif., office resulted in $180,000 in employee donations. In Maine, the United Way of Greater Portland (GPUW) honored TI's Maine wafer fabrication plant (MaineFab) with the "Jump Start Award," which recognizes new companies in the greater Portland area that declare support for GPUW and run innovative local campaigns. MaineFab received "Best in Class" recognition for unique events it hosted to generate employee interest in United Way.

"Each year I'm amazed at the passion and commitment that TI employees put forth for United Way," Smith said. "This effort and dedication will make an impact for years to come and lives in our local communities will be changed as a result."

This generosity and the efforts of the volunteers who ran the United Way campaigns for their organizations were celebrated at the annual Heroes of Hope event. The keynote speaker, Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles, spoke on the importance of heroism and giving back  to the community to ensure better education for coming generations.

See what happened at the event by watching the videos and looking at the photos below.

Thank you video

Heroes of Hope video

Event photos

		View more photos from the event>

Congratulations to the award winners

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, the area’s largest funder of programs to improve income, education and health, aspires to be something more akin to a business, investing in the community and measuring results.

To do this, it has tapped global business leaders in the area to “accelerate” the transformation, said Jennifer Sampson, the organization’s president and chief executive.

Last year, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson served as fundraising chair for United Way. He passed the torch to the current chair, Richard Templeton, CEO of Texas Instruments. And in July, Thomas Falk, CEO of Kimberly-Clark Corp., is to chair the 2013-14 fundraising campaign.

“We thought these two gentlemen were logical candidates. Here is one of the titans of the high-tech industry … and one of the titans of the consumer products industry, stepping up to lead the campaign,” Stephenson said, referring to Falk and Templeton. “I think it sends the right signal to the community when the corporate leaders are active and engaged and present.”

This year, Templeton’s campaign is expected to raise an estimated $62 million by the end of June, which is on target for United Way’s five-year $300 million goal. A more diverse donor group, including younger “millennial” donors, contributed to the 6.7 percent increase over last year’s campaign.

“Those types of steps really build a great foundation going forward,” Templeton said. We have great energy, and we have to keep shaping it and directing it. This isn’t a one-and-done deal. This is a long-term commitment.”

Templeton pledged his continued support to Falk, as Stephenson did for him.

Stephenson was first in line of the business leaders, and “we’d never made an ask like that,” Sampson said. The two others have followed, and Tom Greco, president of Frito-Lay, is next in line.

“It makes it really hard for the next guys to say no when the three of us have said yes,” Falk said.

As a result, the culture of United Way has been transformed, Sampson said, as business leaders bring their expertise in investing and tracking progress.

“It’s immeasurable,” she said.

The organization will continue to measure its progress in its “United 2020” goals: to prepare 60 percent of high school graduates to succeed in education after high school, permanently pull 250,000 people out of poverty and improve access to health care across the region. Data on this progress is expected this year.

And aside from practicing corporate responsibility, the business leaders said their involvement is good for their companies, too.

“North Texas is a great place for business to grow,” Falk said. “Once we’re here, we want to try to make our community a better place for our employees to live and work. United Way is a big part of that.”

News coverage highlighting United Way of Metropolitan Dallas' Heroes of Hope Celebration includes the following pieces in:

• The Dallas Morning News Business Section

• WFAA's Good Morning Texas

• Dallas Business Journal

• KRLD NewsRadio 1080 - Interview with Rich Templeton

• KRLD NewsRadio 1080 - Interview with Tom Falk

United Way of Dallas to honor outstanding individuals, businesses at Heroes of Hope event

by Robert Miller, The Dallas Morning News (source)

The United Way of Metropolitan Dallas will celebrate its 2012-13 campaign at the Heroes of Hope event Tuesday evening at the Hilton Anatole.

The United Way estimates that it will raise more than $62 million by the end of June. At the event, it will honor companies and individuals who are helping United Way achieve its fundraising targets during the third year of its five-year effort to raise more than $300 million.

The group’s United 2020 community goals include preparing 60 percent of high school graduates to succeed in higher education, moving 250,000 people out of poverty permanently, and improving health and quality of life across North Texas.

“Strong companies help build strong communities, and the generosity of the North Texas business community is helping United Way create lasting change,” said Rich Templeton, president and CEO of Texas Instruments Inc. and 2012-13 United Way campaign chairman. “I am proud to see how much progress we made this year towards breaking the destructive cycles of dropouts, poverty and poor health.”

Mike Miles, superintendent of the Dallas ISD, will deliver an address about the United Way-DISD partnership to help prepare students to graduate and succeed. Templeton’s successor, Kimberly-Clark Corp. president and CEO Tom Falk, will also be introduced.

“As a corporate executive, I appreciate the fact that United Way approaches its nonprofit work in the same manner as a business in order to amplify every contribution,” Falk said. “I cannot think of a more effective organization to help people live healthy, responsible lives.”

Jennifer Sampson, president and CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, said that this year’s Trendsetter Award will be presented to Pioneer Natural Resources USA Inc. for its campaign growth.

Several companies will be recognized for their million-dollar campaigns, including Atmos Energy Corp., AT&T/CWA 6215, Bank of America, Celanese Corp., Citi, Deloitte, Energy Future Holdings Portfolio of Cos., Frito-Lay, Inc./PepsiCo, J.C. Penney Co., Texas Instruments and UPS.

The other honors are:

Outstanding First-Time Campaign (for a campaign that has worked with United Way less than three years and raises at least $20,000): Air Liquide Electronics.

Total Campaign Increase: Pioneer Natural Resources and Texas Instruments.

Employee Giving Per Capita: Deloitte and Kimberly-Clark.

Corporate Giving Per Capita: Atmos Energy and Kimberly-Clark.

Outstanding Leadership Campaign: Comerica and Securus Technologies.

Outstanding Tocqueville Campaign: AT&T/CWA 6215 and Vinson & Elkins LLP.

Community Impact Award: Celanese and Texas Instruments.

Live United Award (for excelling in all aspects of the United Way campaign — giving, advocating and volunteering): Accenture, Aviall Inc., Bank of Texas, city of Garland, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Fluor Corp., Frito-Lay/PepsiCo, Geico, Jones Day, La Quinta Inns & Suites, Pioneer Natural Resources and RealPage Inc.

2013 United Way Kicks Off Its "Heroes of Hope" Campaign

Good Morning Texas (source)

DISD's Miles likes Gladiator, The Sound of Music and underdogs

by Bill Hethcock, Dallas Business Journal (source)

Friday night is pizza-and-movie night at the household of Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles.

The relatively new schools chief prefers action flicks, he told United Way of Metropolitan Dallas supporters at the organization's Heroes of Hope awards banquet at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.

Miles' favorite films are "Gladiator" and "The Sound of Music."

"A little schizophrenic," he concedes.

"I like the movies where there's an underdog that overcomes the odds," Miles also said.

I'm sure he can relate.

Miles went on to discuss successes in DISD, such as raising the graduation rate to 77 percent from 62 percent five years ago. But he also said the district needs much improvement, citing low ACT college entrance test scores.

Crucial to the improvements will be having an effective teacher in front of every student, and effective principals leading the schools, Miles said in what's become his familiar refrain on the rubber chicken circuit.

Miles praised the United Way for making a "collective impact" toward improving education at a time when reform is essential.

"We need you," Miles told the United Way leaders and supporters. "We need heroes. Already the forces of status quo are starting to gather."

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas will raise a record $62 million by the end of June — about 5 percent more than last year, Rich Templeton, campaign chairman and president and CEO of Texas Instruments, announced at the event.

CEO Spotlight with David Johnson - Rich Templeton

Rich Templeton, 2012-2013 United Way campaign chairman and president and CEO of Texas Instruments, spoke with David Johnson of KRLD NewsRadio 1080 during the United Way Heroes of Hope Celebration.  They discussed the success of the 2012-2013 campaign as well as the evolution of United Way and its increased focus on improving Education, Income and Health in North Texas. They also talked about how United Way is filling gaps in these areas through collaborative efforts and programs like "I Rock Math" and "Destination: Graduation."

Listen to their conversation using the player below or download it now.

CEO Spotlight with David Johnson - Tom Falk

During the United Way Heroes of Hope Celebration, David Johnson spoke with Tom Falk, chairman and CEO of Kimberly-Clark Corp. and upcoming 2013-2014 United Way campaign chair.  They discussed the overwhelming amount of support United Way receives from the local business community, and the great forward momentum going into this year’s campaign. They also talked about the link between United Way’s focus on health and Kimberly-Clark’s mission to improve people’s lives.

Listen to their conversation using the player below or download it now.

Listen to their conversation using the player below or download it.

“Through our products and our community outreach, Kimberly-Clark aims to significantly improve the health and well-being of families,” Falk said. “Similarly, United Way is dedicated to changing lives in North Texas forever. It is an honor to accept this leadership position with United Way.”

Each year, United Way’s annual campaign is the largest source of much-needed funds to support the organization’s goals of preparing 60 percent of graduates to succeed in education after high school, moving 250,000 more individuals out of poverty permanently and improving health and quality of life throughout the region. Each year approximately 800 local businesses run United Way campaigns.  The 2013 annual campaign will officially begin on July 1, 2013.

“Kimberly-Clark is one of United Way’s most generous supporters, having one of the highest per-capita campaigns in the region, and we are thrilled to have Tom lead our 2013 campaign,” said Jennifer Sampson, president and CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. “His vision and leadership will take our work to higher levels of community impact than we have ever seen before.”

Last year, Kimberly-Clark contributed more than $420,000 to United Way, an increase of 6 percent over the previous year. In addition to campaign donations, Kimberly-Clark volunteers have also contributed 1,500 volunteer hours to United Way by participating in large volunteer projects such as making supplies for educational toys and assembling care kits for shelters and literacy kits.

Over the last decade, Kimberly-Clark and its employees have donated more than $60 million to United Ways nationally to help the organization improve lives and build stronger communities through the areas of education, financial stability and health. In total, Kimberly-Clark contributed approximately $6.1 million to local United Ways in 2011 alone. This total includes approximately $2.7 million in gifts and pledges by Kimberly-Clark’s U.S. employees, and dollar-for-dollar matching by the Kimberly-Clark Foundation of this amount. The company’s employees also raised an additional $678,000 for local United Ways in 2011 through special events and fundraisers.

Falk is the latest in a line of prominent CEOs representing global companies to serve as the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas campaign chair. In addition to Rich Templeton, Randall Stephenson of AT&T chaired the campaign in 2011 and Tom Greco of PepsiCo will chair the campaign in 2014.

The United Way of Metropolitan Dallas has announced the first recipients of its I Rock Math grants.

I Rock Math grants help public school teachers use innovative practices to develop pre-algebra skills in sixth- and seventh-grade students.

The initiative and grants are sponsored by the Texas Instruments Foundation.

Teachers at three North Texas schools will receive a combined total of $45,000 for equipment to enhance their students’ overall learning experience and coaching from Laying the Foundation, a division of the National Math and Science Initiative.

Building a solid foundation in pre-algebra in middle school prepares students to succeed in algebra and increases the chance that they will pursue more advanced math and science courses in high school.

The first recipients of I Rock Math grants are:

Black Elementary School, Mesquite Independent School District: Tiffany Moll, a sixth-grade math teacher, was awarded $5,000 to buy iPads that students will use to enhance their math instruction.

Hampton Prep, Uplift Education, Dallas: David Gardner and Thomas Wilson, sixth- and seventh-grade math teachers, were awarded $20,000 for tablets that synchronize with a smart board. Students can also use the tablets to access math apps, and Hampton Prep teachers will use United Way grant funds to buy calculators for the classroom.

Hedrick Middle School, Lewisville Independent School District: Amber Barabas, Carrie Becker, Rebecca Meyer, Simone Milton and Linda Mir, a group of sixth- and seventh-grade math teachers, were awarded $20,000 for iPads. Hedrick already uses iPads to help its students develop math skills. The United Way will enable more students to access apps, instructional videos, electronic research resources and online assignments that support the math curriculum.

“The future success of U.S. businesses depends on our access to a workforce with highly developed science, technology, engineering and math skills,” said Sam Self, chairman of the Texas Instruments Foundation. “We are changing young lives forever by helping talented teachers prepare and inspire their students to succeed in math and science courses.”

I Rock Math is supported by a $300,000, three-year contribution from the Texas Instruments Foundation. Education experts from United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, Texas Instruments Inc. and the National Math and Science Initiative reviewed 20 applications and conducted five site visits before awarding the grants.

“We are encouraged to see so many teachers embracing new and innovative ways to generate excitement about math and science,” said Jennifer Sampson, CEO and president of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.

Teachers interested in applying for I Rock Math grants in the fall can sign up to receive updates, including an email when the request for proposals is released, at unitedwaydallas.org/irockmath.

On the night of Friday, January 25, 2013, the Baylor Alumni Association (BAA) will stage its annual Hall of Fame celebration at the Waco Convention Center. During the event, eight of the BAA’s annual awards will be presented to a number of remarkable alumni and friends of Baylor University. As part of “that good old Baylor Line,” these honorees serve as exemplars of accomplishment and service for the Baylor family.

Distinguished Alumni Award
Jennifer Hilton Sampson ’92
President and CEO, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas
Dallas, Texas

Claim to fame

The first woman president and CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas is nonplussed with the fuss people make over the achievement as it relates to her gender. Her parents taught her she could do anything, so why couldn’t she? She spends her free time with her five-year-old son and her equally busy attorney husband and the rest of her time being there for everyone else.

Learning to balance

Jennifer Sampson’s parents, both Baylor grads, were busy. Dr. Jerry Hilton ’67 went to dental school and was in the U.S. Army before establishing himself as a dentist in Arlington, Texas. He worked at local dental clinics to help underserved children and adults. Gracie Hatfield Hilton ’67, a journalism graduate, volunteered in numerous community organizations while working as a teacher and a writer and editor. During her term on Baylor’s Board of Regents, she was instrumental in bringing about the 1990 charter change. “My parents set a really good example for my sister and me about how you can be actively involved in your children’s school and activities but also find your passion,” Sampson said. Sampson was president of the student body at Arlington High School, where she played volleyball, ran track, and was homecoming queen. She spent many summers at a Baptist church camp in Arkansas, where her grandfather was a pastor. “Helping other people help themselves was just part of our family DNA,” she said.

CEO at forty-one

Dr. Hilton told his daughter he wished he’d had more business training before starting his dental practice. She took his advice and focused on accounting in Baylor’s business school. “Accounting is the language of business,” she said. “If you understand accounting, then you can understand the backbone of almost any organization.” A certified CPA, Sampson worked as an auditor for Arthur Andersen for ten years before joining United Way. She served as the nonprofit’s executive vice president and COO for seven years, rising to president and CEO in 2011. “What I loved the most [at Arthur Andersen] was the relationship side— my heart was in working with clients, teams, and the community,” she said. “I was introduced to United Way at Andersen, and it was an important part of our firm’s culture. It’s one of the reasons I made the transition to going to work there.” Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman said he has been wowed by Sampson as he’s worked with her through United Way for the past four years. “She is everything that I hope my three daughters grow up to become,” he said.

Doing her homework

Sampson always worked hard to earn her high grades in school. That’s still the case. These days, or nights, she’s often researching the three key areas she believes are the building blocks for a healthy community—education, financial stability, and health. Terri West, senior vice president at Texas Instruments, said she isn’t sure Sampson sleeps at night. West works closely with Sampson because her CEO, Rich Templeton, is chair of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas’s 2012-13 campaign. “I’ve watched her take non-believers in United Way and walk them through the vision of what she wants to change and the result she is out to get,” West said. “She’s taken those non-believers and turned them into not just believers but people saying, ‘Where do I write the check?’”

According to U.S. Census figures, about 15 percent of Americans live in poverty. In the city of Dallas, that number is 19 percent.

But, there’s another kind of poverty that communities should be aware of, says United Way of Metropolitan Dallas’s Susan Hoff, chief strategy officer. Asset poverty means households have less than three months of savings to cover basic living expenses, have subprime credit scores or do not have health insurance. In Dallas that rate is 39 percent. In the U.S. it’s 27 percent.

“If we see any of those people living on the edge,” in asset poverty, “they can have a medical crisis, lose a job and we’d see the income poverty rate shoot up,” Hoff said.

Today, United Way and the Citi Foundation hosted a summit to discuss ways to help families in Dallas reach financial stability.

Speakers from United Way, the Communities Foundation of Texas and economists from UT-Dallas and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas presented data to dozens of nonprofit leaders and social service providers.

Here are some key points from the foundation’s study, presented earlier this year:

• 45 percent of households in the City of Dallas with children live in asset poverty
• 68 percent of Dallas County consumers have subprime credit scores
• 50 percent of low-income residents have no health insurance
• 28 percent of residents have less than a high school education.

According to the Institute for Urban Policy Research at UT-D, nearly 1 million people will be living in poverty by 2020 if there is no comprehensive way to keep households out of poverty.

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas hopes to keep that number down by launching their Community Financial Stability Initiative. The goal is to help 250,000 people out of poverty permanently by 2020.

United Way hopes nonprofits and social service agencies will help in achieving the goal, primarily by educating low-income households about their finances: budgeting, saving and asset building.

Other methods would include increasing their income by providing more education and training to secure higher-paying jobs, reducing debt and establishing credit and helping residents get health and disability insurance.

Hoff said part of the plan is to get agencies and advocates working in a coordinated way and helping influence the social networks of low-income families so that they feel encouraged to move out of poverty.

“It’s a complex issue and there’s no one answer,” Hoff said. “There are no quick fixes, but it requires someone to take personal responsibility and then to be committed to do hard work and economic mobility.”

Learn more about the Community Financial Stability Initiative>>

Living Poor in America

By Krys Boyd, KERA's Think Podcast (source)

How is it possible that hard-working people with steady jobs are still barely getting by and what can be done improve their opportunities and lives? We’ll talk this hour with David K. Shipler, Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of The Working Poor: Invisible in America. Shipler will be in town to address the Community Financial Stability Summit, sponsored by United Way of Metropolitan Dallas this week.

The Year of Wearing Many Jerseys

I’d like to describe a leadership journey that was strategically planned and brilliantly implemented. It would make a great story, but it wouldn’t be true. I’d always hoped to lead a nonprofit organization someday, but I never expected it would happen like it did.

Last spring I began my 10th year with United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. I was comfortable in my role as Chief Operating Officer and was hitting my stride, and starting to find good life/work balance.

On the professional front, I’d been involved in an intense two-and-a-half year Strategic Planning project with our Board and Senior Team. We’d wrapped up our first successful fundraising campaign under a new business model, and exceeded our targets in the first year of a five-year diversified revenue plan. We were in the final stages of executing a brand new, wide open and highly competitive grants process.

On the personal front, I’d made a long list of New Year’s resolutions. I was beginning to carve out time for myself, reading fiction again, practicing more yoga and fulfilling my promise to invest more time with family and friends.

Soon after planning this new chapter of professional discovery and personal growth, our Chief Development Officer decided to take a new job in Utah. My plan began to change very quickly when our CEO asked me to serve as Interim Chief Development Officer.

Here’s what I thought:

“Hmm…fundraising? I’m a CPA who graduated with an accounting degree. I have no formal training in development or fundraising…”

But here’s what I said:

“Put me IN, coach!”

It sounded like an interesting new challenge and I was excited to start a new learning journey, so I put on a new jersey, Team Fund Development.

I didn’t expect what happened next…

About two months later our CEO, who hired me as Chief Financial Officer in 2001, retired after a 30-year career with United Way, and almost 13 years here in Dallas.

I’ll never forget the conversation I had with our Board Chair shortly thereafter. She said: “The Board is exercising the emergency succession plan and effective immediately, you are the Interim President and CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.”

Here’s what I thought:

“Hmmm… I was just named interim CDO. And I’m still the COO. Does this mean I am now the COO, the CDO and the CEO?”

“Hmmm…I’m a CPA who graduated with an accounting degree. I have no formal training in being a CEO…”

But, here’s what I said:

“Put me IN, coach!”

This opportunity sounded like a fascinating new learning journey — and quite possibly the beginning of the next chapter of my professional career. So I jumped in, again, and added a new jersey to my wardrobe, Team CEO. “Put me in coach” was my mantra – TWO times. And, I ended up wearing three different jerseys (all at the same time) for the United Way team during most of last year.

Ultimately the Board of Directors named me permanent President and CEO, the first female in its history. And even though I felt unprepared, I knew this was a unique moment in time. I knew I needed to embrace discomfort in order to embrace the possible. And, as this new door opened, I had to enter with faith and confidence.

This past year has not been easy. It’s oftentimes been a bumpy ride, and we’ve been thrown into situations we’ve never experienced before. It’s why I feel so fortunate to work with an outstanding Senior Team whose members know how to embrace discomfort and adapt to a rapidly changing environment. Together, we continue to learn how to best leverage our skills and competencies. It feels good to wear just one jersey again. And, although many think I am fairly imposing at 5 feet 12 inches, I still like to wear my CEO jersey with high heels.

The Year of Taking Risks

We continue to embrace discomfort in order to embrace the possible because our organization is still in a period of significant change and transition.

Since 1924, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas has been in the business of improving people’s lives. But our biggest challenge in this last decade has been measuring our results: demonstrating that our investments in education, income and health are making the biggest possible impact — changing lives forever.

In order to overcome this challenge, United Way had to evolve beyond the community chest model of only raising and distributing money annually to a stable set of excellent local nonprofit organizations. To know that every dollar, every hour given would make a measurable, lasting impact in people’s lives — we had to make big changes to address the root causes of significant issues:

• We had to commit ourselves to making decisions based on outcomes, results and measurement.

• We had to diversify our revenue streams and develop innovative impact strategies in order to expand our capacity to affect lasting change.

• We had to build partnerships and strategic alliances to address the underlying root causes of big issues.

• And, we had to modify and open our grants process so that greater competition could drive even greater results.

This kind of transformation involved a significant amount of risk. Some of our long-term investments will not yield outcomes overnight, but we’re confident external evaluation will measure annual results and help us chart our course over the next 10 years. In the meantime, we’re delighted that in the face of numerous challenges, we’ve delivered some extraordinary results in North Texas:

• In the face of national trends of declining revenue for nonprofits, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas is growing. Our revenue increased 11% — from more diverse sources this past year.

• After decades of declines in the number of United Way donors, over the last two years, the number of our donors increased by 6%.

• The number of our volunteers increased 11% year over year.

• And, for the first time in our history, we’ve recruited four Fortune 500 CEOs to chair the annual campaign:

  • Randall Stephenson, AT&T

  • Rich Templeton, Texas Instruments

  • Tom Falk, Kimberly Clark Corporation

  • Tom Greco, Frito Lay North Texas

Do we still have work to do? Absolutely! But the revenue and engagement proof points demonstrate that the new United Way message is resonating, and the North Texas community is supporting our continued transformation.

What I’ve Learned

Drawing from what I’ve learned this past year — and from what United Way has learned these last couple of years — I believe in two important KEYS to transformation:

• Taking risks

• Building strong relationships

Taking risks involves experiencing inevitable surprises and setbacks, but great challenges often evoke valuable and unexpected learning experiences. I’ve learned to embrace discomfort because when we move past it, we discover that it’s a precondition to service. And, I’ve learned to embrace frustration because when we get really frustrated, it’s a precondition to conviction, true originality and innovation.

I’ve also learned that true value comes from the quality of our relationships, and we must never take them for granted. We are richly blessed when our organizations are successful, and our personal journeys are made possible, because of the powerful networks of people behind us: committed volunteers, investors and partners, caring colleagues and associates, wise mentors and advisors and loving family and friends. When we’re trying to transform — ourselves or our organizations — doesn’t it feel wonderful to be part of a group? Succeed or fail, it is much more fun and much more satisfying to move forward with other people.

Sometimes I still feel like an accidental CEO in the second year of a big new job with an organization still going through a significant amount of change. When discomfort starts to settle in, I’m reminded of one of the most important truths I’ve learned from my leadership journey, and the evolving transformation of United Way: things are only impossible until they are NOT.

Passing the school-kid test

Teachers gave advice on topics and firing up students

By Jeffrey Weiss, photographs by Lara Solt, The Dallas Morning News (source)

Christian Davis, a kindergartner from Central Elementary School in Seagoville, TX is awed by the dinosaurs in the T. Boone Pickens Life Then and Now Hall. The museum has set up partnerships with several schools and with groups of local science teachers to help train them in the best ways to teach science.

Just as Tyrannosaurus rex DNA determined the shape of that dinosaur’s teeth, the DNA of Texas public education helped determine the design of the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

Before a screw was turned on a single exhibit, committees of local educators were part of the planning to ensure that the museum fit well with specific state teaching requirements.

“If you are talking about communicating science to a lot of individuals, many of whom are children, who is good at that?” said Steve Hinkley, the museum’s vice president of programs. “Teachers tend to be good at that.”

Plans are to make the museum and its resources available — live and online — to the broadest possible swath of North Texas students.

The state-mandated Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, a.k.a. TEKS, is the list of what must be taught about science, math and technology at every grade level. Someone versed in the TEKS can trace list outlines in every hall and every class offered by the museum.

For the littlest students, some TEKS guidelines emphasize counting, finding patterns, identifying colors. So a faux farmers market on the ground floor lets pre-K and kindergarten students sort plastic flowers by color. A class on insects uses large bug models to show the number of legs (six), body parts (three) and antennae (two).

For older students, the science TEKS lessons include detailed discussion of how evolution helps species adapt to their environment. So on the top floor, amid the bones and casts of ancient critters and their footprints, there’s a row of skulls of prehistoric and modern beasts, showing how sharp teeth work for meat eaters of every era.

The pedagogy is anything but dull. Classes of students who visited the museum to beta-test some of the exhibits were agog at what they found.

Before the Perot Museum opened, Samuel Santiago and other kindergartners from Central Elementary School in Seagoville served as a test group for how children reacted to the exhibits.

Real-life rehearsal

A couple of weeks ago, a kindergarten class from Central Elementary, a Dallas ISD school in Seagoville, was ushered into the Life Then and Now hall. Walking up to a gigantic, big-toothed aquatic dinosaur, a couple of kids called out: “It’s a T. rex! A swimming T. rex!”

Museum paleontologist Tommy Diamond gently corrected them. It’s actually a mosasaur, a fossil excavated from near Lake Ray Hubbard.

A few days later, Diamond toured with an older audience, fourth-graders from Laureate Preparatory, an Uplift Education charter school.

“Fossils tell us the history of things before we started writing down history,” he explained.

Pointing at what looked like a small rock inside an exhibit case, he asked the kids to guess what it was. Then his voice dropped to a loud whisper.

“This is poop,” he said with a grin.

“Ooooohh!” the kids responded as one. (Or maybe that was “Eeeew!”)

The technical term, as Diamond explained, is coprolite — fossilized dinosaur dung, which can tell scientists about what the animals ate.

After the tour, Laureate teacher Samantha Stroh gave the museum high marks as science-linked fun and as a teaching tool. During the visit, her kids took a class about levers in which they gathered data that would be analyzed back in school the next day. As she walked through the exhibit hall with her students and other teachers, she could see how much of what was there tied into what she’d be covering later in the school year.

“We could easily identify the TEKS in the exhibits,” she said. “In the future, we’ll be able to pick specific TEKS we want to work on and decide we want to go to this exhibit or that exhibit.”

That would surely please the teachers called in to help with the design.

Lorenzo Wilborn is a long-term science substitute teacher in Arlington. He was on one of the teacher advisory panels.

“We know the kids,” he said. “We asked ourselves, ‘Is this something that would excite them? Is this something they would be bored with?’”

They considered how the exhibits might integrate into the classroom.

Teacher input affected several aspects of the final design, Hinkley said. Teachers said they were having particular challenges with natural cycles involving geology, weather and water, and the prey-and-predator circle of life familiar to fans of The Lion King. So each topic is specifically covered in the halls.

Kindergartners from Central Elementary School in Seagoville, TX, including Gracie Boykin (second from right) and Mia Hernandez (right), check out the dinosaur exhibit at the T. Boone Pickens Life Then and Now Hall.

Reaching out

Museum officials say they aren’t waiting for students to show up but are engaged in several kinds of outreach.

Since admission isn’t free, the museum has a fund of $300,000 for the first year, intended to partially defray expenses for as many as 50,000 students. Students attending high-poverty Title 1 schools will get highest priority for the aid.

The museum has also set up partnerships with several schools and with groups of local science teachers to help train them in the best ways to teach science.

And the museum has several ways of taking at least some of the experience outside the walls.

“Science is not just contained in this building,” Hinkley said.

Schools can apply for museum instructors to bring their stuff out to classrooms. One of the more spectacular remote classes includes an inflatable dome that becomes the sky for a planetarium.

The museum website also includes material geared for teachers and students, including a downloadable teacher’s guide that lists programs by topic, grade and TEKS lesson served. “Farming for Fuel,” for instance serves fifth-graders on TEKS 2 abcdf, 3 acd, 4 a, 5 a, 6 a, 7 c and 9 bcd.

Every letter and number corresponds to an instruction list mandated by the Texas Education Agency for fifth-grade science. So “3 a” corresponds to: “Scientific investigation and reasoning, in all fields of science, analyze, evaluate, and critique scientific explanations by using empirical evidence, logical reasoning, and experimental and observational testing, including examining all sides of scientific evidence of those scientific explanations, so as to encourage critical thinking by the student.”

For all the effort and planning, there’s still room for surprises about how the kids respond. The museum building itself is a sort of exhibit designed to let visitors peer into and even between walls to get a sense of how the structure is put together.

Some of the Laureate fourth-graders found that incredibly cool, said Stroh.

“The best part,” she said, “was experiencing the elevator they could see through.”

Leaders in Science signature sponsor

by Rich Templeton, Texas CEO Magazine (source) 

Growing up in a community in northern New York State, where the high-tech industry was a significant feature of the area economy, I was surrounded by engaged and effective math and science teachers who made the subject matter come to life for me. Today at Texas Instruments (TI), I work with many people who share a similar passion for science, technology, engineering and math education (STEM) and know firsthand how its application can change the world.

Improving STEM education is an issue that’s critical to the future of our communities, state and nation, and it needs the personal involvement of business and community leaders. It demands our attention and involvement as employers and citizens.

Recently, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and about 40 Dallas CEOs and “C-level” executives joined with TI and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas for an innovative “STEM in the Schoolyard” project. We worked side-by-side with fifth-graders at the Dallas Independent School District’s Gabe P. Allen Charter School, conducting interactive experiments to enrich the students’ knowledge and explore key STEM principles.

United Way focuses on education as one of the key issues facing our communities and brings together resources to make a real impact. “STEM in the Schoolyard” was supported by two United Way partners – Real School Gardens and the Museum of Nature & Science. We worked with the students to build solar ovens from pizza boxes and power calculators with potatoes. This collaboration on a personal level was very rewarding, but more than anything, it showed these students that science and math are important to their community and their own future.

Why STEM Matters

The quality of our education infrastructure – particularly science and math education – will be a critical factor in defining the future economic success of our region, state and nation. As the world becomes more technologically demanding, a solid foundation in these disciplines is more important than ever. These are the skills that employees of 21^st century companies must have to innovate and be successful.

STEM touches many career fields. STEM jobs are growing three times faster than non-STEM jobs, and STEM workers earn 26 percent more than their non-STEM counterparts. Even jobs in trade professions such as auto mechanics or welding require competency today in algebra, geometry and electronics. Workforce projections for 2014 show that 15 of the 20 fastest-growing jobs will require math or science training, and that by 2018 there will be 1.2 million job openings in STEM-related fields, but a shortage of people to fill them. Our biggest challenge: Fewer students are studying and graduating in these areas.

U.S. businesses are deeply rooted in innovation, and, if we want to continue to be leaders in technology and research and keep generating job growth, then we need an intense and collective focus on STEM education to succeed.

Action Is Needed

First, federal and state governments and independent school districts (ISDs) need to prioritize policies that promote improved performance in math and science coursework for all demographics. This includes high standards and measured accountability to assure student achievement and highly effective instruction.

And second, as the principle funder and customer of the public education system, the business community has a very important role to expand proven STEM initiatives through advocacy, investments, volunteerism and collaboration with government, schools, nonprofit organizations and other corporate stakeholders.

At TI and the TI Foundation, these types of partnerships have enabled us to impact STEM awareness, teaching effectiveness and student achievement in the following ways.

The TI Foundation supports the Advanced Placement™ (AP) Incentive Program, which is now offered in all Dallas ISD high schools and in Mesquite ISD, and is being scaled nationwide by the National Math & Science Initiative (NMSI). Since the TI Foundation’s partnership with Dallas schools began in 2000, more than 18,500 North Texas students have passed AP exams for college credit. Many other corporations and foundations recognize the impact of this initiative and also support it with time and resources.

TI also developed the MathForward program in conjunction with Richardson ISD in 2005 where technology, teacher training and funding has significantly narrowed the achievement gap for Hispanic, African American and economically disadvantaged students in middle school math. The program has grown to 18 states, 76 districts and more than 300 schools.

TI and the TI Foundation partner with UTeach, a University of Texas-founded program to recruit, prepare and retain more qualified STEM teachers. Since 2009, the TI Foundation has funded programs at three North Texas universities. As a result, the number of future educators in science and math education has increased significantly. In fact, these programs are expected to produce about 800 math and science teachers by 2018. During the course of their careers, those teachers will serve nearly a quarter of a million students.

The TI Foundation also is working with a local school district to pilot a district-wide implementation of a more impactful STEM instruction protocol. Going forward, it will donate up to $4.8 million to help Lancaster ISD partner with Educate Texas, a public-private initiative designed by Communities Foundation of Texas. The intent of this collaboration is to create a STEM education model that other districts will replicate across Texas.

Eleven years ago 30 women employees from TI made personal contributions to establish a donor-advised fund at the Dallas Women’s Foundation because they were concerned about the low number of women graduating with technology-related degrees. With additional support from other employees and the TI Foundation, “High-Tech High Heels” has become an effective strategy to close the gender gap in the STEM fields and helped thousands of educators and students; it exists because these TI women cared and got personally involved.

In addition, this year TI helped launch the first-ever STEM engineering patch with the Girl Scouts in Northeast Texas. Available to 35,000 girls in kindergarten through 12^th grade, this curriculum will make learning more about STEM fun, and we’ve encouraged local female engineers to get involved and serve as role models.

Texas is a great state in which to do business, but we need to ensure that our workforce can support the growth and innovation to keep our economy moving forward. Government, education, business and community leaders need to make STEM proficiency a statewide and national imperative. We can help by investing in proven programs that work and get measurable results, and by getting personally involved. The rewards are great. We can make a difference.

Rich Templeton is Chairman, President and CEO of Dallas-based Texas Instruments and is on the board of trustees of Southern Methodist University and Southwestern Medical Foundation. www.ti.com

The resulting plan, titled Charting the Course for a Healthy Future, along with discussion about necessary next steps for putting the plan into action, were presented during a forum at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital on October 30.

Learn more about the plan by downloading the Charting the Course summary (PDF) or the presentation slides(PDF).

News coverage of the event included the following pieces in:

• The Dallas Morning News
• D Magazine
• View event photos

Coalition unveils plan to eliminate childhood obesity in Dallas by 2020

by Julie Fancher, The Dallas Morning News (source)

Community leaders met Tuesday to unveil a plan to eliminate childhood obesity in Dallas by 2020.

The plan, Charting the Course for a Healthy Future, was introduced at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children after nearly two years of planning by a coalition of more than 60 organizations and community leaders.

“Reducing childhood obesity will have a profound impact on the health and quality of life for all North Texans,” said Susan Hoff, chief strategy officer of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. “Teaching children to make healthy choices today enables them to make responsible choices for the rest of their lives.”

Obesity is a worsening problem among U.S. children and paves the way for health risks such as diabetes, pre-diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. In 2012, Texas ranked seventh among states with the most obese children, and Dallas was listed as one of the 10 most overweight cities in the nation.

“Teaching children how to eat well and live healthy is the key to preventing and reversing childhood obesity,” said Eduardo Sanchez, vice president and chief medical officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.

Mayor Mike Rawlings spoke about his goal to help Dallas have the healthiest kids in America through a number of youth health initiatives. He believes that Charting the Course for a Healthy Future is the first step to achieving this goal.

“What we do today plants the seed for the future,” the mayor said. “We are talking about health, and it doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen.”

Those involved in the initiative say the coalition needs $447,000 to implement and evaluate the first year of the plan, and the panel encouraged other organizations to get involved.

“This forum is not only a call to action, but a call to arms to join us,” Sanchez said. “This is about comprehensive sector by sector, individual by individual, and together we can do this.”

Charting the Course for a Healthy Future

by Steve Love, D Magazine (source)

Obesity is one of the most challenging health crises the United States has ever faced. Two-thirds of adults and nearly one-third of our nation’s children and adolescents are currently obese or overweight, putting them at increased risk for more than 20 major diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer. But the effects of obesity extend far beyond physical health; obesity also affects corporate profitability and productivity. In Texas, businesses currently pay more than $3 billion annually for obesity-related healthcare costs. According to the state comptroller, this figure will climb to approximately $16 billion by 2025 if the problem goes unaddressed.

With the physical and financial health of our community at stake, it is critical that we immediately address weight-related issues. If we are to truly have an impact on reversing this trend, we have to collectively focus on eradicating childhood obesity.

Additionally, obese children have a greater than two-thirds chance of remaining obese at age 35 and suffering lifelong health and productivity challenges. Thus, by changing the behaviors and factors resulting in high rates of childhood obesity, we can reduce the likelihood that the next generation will be impacted by obesity’s widespread social consequences.

In November 2011, a coalition of more than 60 key organizations, community leaders and stakeholders came together to discuss strategies for improving children’s health. The group’s task was to collectively develop a plan for fully engaging the community’s expertise and resources to eradicate childhood obesity in Dallas County by 2020.

The coalition’s year-long efforts resulted in a comprehensive plan titled Charting the Course for a Healthy Future. This plan was introduced today during a public forum at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital hosted by United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the Committee for the Improvement of Child Health, which was launched by the Dallas Regional Chamber.

Charting the Course for a Healthy Future offers a community-wide blueprint for addressing the wide range of factors contributing to obesity. The plan outlines six fundamental strategies for eradicating childhood obesity by 2020: assessment, stakeholder engagement, focus on schools, activity access, good food access and influencing of key decision makers.

The full scope of the childhood obesity issue cannot be solved by a single or simple intervention. This is especially true among minority children since weight-related issues are most prevalent in these communities. Poor eating patterns, limited access to healthy food options, lower levels of physical activity, lower quality of the built environment, social or cultural attitudes about body weight, and reduced access to primary care and nutritional counseling contribute to a disproportionate rate of obesity among black and Hispanic youth.

Charting the Course for a Healthy Future opens a community conversation about childhood obesity and lays out a comprehensive plan for us to accept the challenge of eradicating obesity. Now that a plan is in place, we all must work together to accomplish its goal. This requires the full engagement of Dallas County residents and organizations, as well as financial contributions from corporate citizens. I urge everyone to do their part to support this plan, in order to help our children live healthier, more productive lives.

--Steve Love is president and CEO of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council

These are the key updates for Leaders in Science, a collaboration between United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science that better prepares elementary school teachers to engage and inspire students in science.

2011-2012 results

Kindergarten students at Rosemont Primary School learn about the density of different objects by testing which ones float. The experiment is one of many their teacher, Barbara McGinley, learned as a 2011-2012 Leaders in Science teacher.

In 2011-2012, support from United Way of Metropolitan Dallas investors helped the Perot Museum expand Leaders and Science into kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade classrooms. Expert training and classroom materials empowered 21 Dallas ISD teachers to reach 538 students. Key outcomes included:

• More than 50% increase in the amount of science instruction.
  In most elementary schools in the United States, students spend less than two hours a week in formal science instruction. In contrast, Leaders in Science classrooms included an average of three hours of science per week. Research shows that increasing the quality and duration of science learning improves a child’s ability to quickly learn more complex concepts and skills.
• 200% increase in teachers receiving substantial science training.
  Before participating in Leaders in Science, only 18 percent of them attended two or more days of formal professional development in science. By the end of 2011-2012, that figure was 54 percent — a 200 percent increase. Because very few elementary educators have a specific degree in math or science, effective training is critical to empowering them to teach science to students.

Concentrating on fewer schools to achieve longer-term results

Looking at national research about the keys to effective training of science teachers, the Perot Museum modified Leaders in Science to concentrate on fewer schools. Working with all the science teachers in a school enables the school to develop and strengthen a culture of science teaching and learning that the school can sustain on its own. Because United Way had helped the museum expand Leaders in Science into early elementary education, it was ready to implement this concentrated model.

In 2012-2015, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas investors are making Leaders in Science possible at Central Elementary School in Dallas ISD. Twenty pre-K through 5th grade teachers took advantage of a four-day summer institute offered by the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, learning and co-teaching high-impact activities they are using in their classrooms.

United Way support also enables teachers to benefit from the coaching of the Leaders in Science coordinator who is on the Central Elementary campus three days a week. She provides one-on-one consultations to help teachers plan lessons, develops activity kits teachers can utilize, and provides feedback after visiting classrooms and observing teachers in action.

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas is also working with the Perot Museum and with Central Elementary School to mobilize volunteers and promote the program to parents. Examples may include engaging volunteers who work in science and technology careers to provide additional observation of teachers in the classroom, as well as support for a science night at Central Elementary where parents can join their children and emphasize the importance of learning science.

Strengthening outcome measurement

To make sure that the efforts to better equip Dallas teachers in science education are having the intended results, United Way is working with the Perot Museum to effectively measure both teacher effectiveness and student performance in the 2012-2013 school year. Specific outcome measurements are still being finalized but will better quantify the impact the initiative makes.

Looking ahead, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas expects that its collaboration with the Perot Museum of Nature and Science will continue to make a positive impact in science education for North Texas children — helping to better prepare them to eventually graduate and succeed beyond high school.

 
For additional information about investing in Leaders in Science, please contact Stacey Malcolmson, senior vice president and chief development officer, at smalcolmson@unitedwaydallas.org or 214.978.0002. To learn more about Leaders in Science, contact Gaby Perez, director, education special projects and initiatives, at gperez@unitedwaydallas.org or 214.978.2019.

Signature sponsor

After touring the campus, Women of Tocqueville members met and spoke individually with students about their own college experiences and career paths.

“The most rewarding part of the evening was getting the opportunity to work with future leaders,” said Debra von Storch of Ernst & Young LLP. “These young ladies have such intense determination to leave a mark on their community and on the world. They are going to have a profound impact, and it started right here in Dallas.”

The mentoring hour was followed by testimonials from a few of the students in attendance. They shared their plans for college, hopes for their future and what they took away from the evening.

“I’ve learned so much tonight,” said one student. “I want to be a mom, and I always thought that you had to choose between having a family or a career, but you all have shown me differently. I can have both.”

Before closing, Kara Schillaci of Frito-Lay, Inc. offered a final bit of advice to both volunteers and students: “If you leave with anything tonight, I hope you remember three things: Always know what you want. Ask for the help you need. Give back.”

See photos from the event here »

Learn more about Women of Tocqueville »

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The most common chronic childhood disease is almost invisible. You don’t see it like the chicken pox, or hear it like a sneeze. It’s tooth decay.

The cavity rate among Texas children is higher than the national average.

Earlier this month, 10-year-old Marco started his day with older and taller kids at Vivian Field Middle School. A really bad toothache brought him to the Community Dental Clinic in Farmers Branch, located inside the middle school. It was his very first visit to a dentist.

The slender boy with dark hair and glasses seemed relieved when Dr. Rekah Shenoy asked him to open up so she could take a look.  

“He tried some herbal remedy at home, so his teeth look blue,” Shenoy said. “His mom said somehow it’s a remedy that takes the pain away. I’ve never heard of this, but yes.”

Dr. Shenoy looked past the blue tint on his teeth and found serious decay on his molars.

U.S. health officials say an estimated 51 million school hours are lost each year because of dental problems. Tooth decay is five times more common than asthma among children.

“We call it the silent epidemic,” said Paul Hoffmann, executive director of Community Dental Care.  He says there needs to be a lot more education about the importance of healthy teeth and gums. 

“We’re finding that the children that come to us, it’s not unusual for some of the parents not to realize that sugar causes decay,” Hoffmann said. “And they don’t know simple things, like the importance of brushing every evening.”

The school-based dental clinic for low-income patients is one of 13 non-profit Community Dental Care clinics in Dallas and Collin counties, and the only one in a school. Hoffmann says many patients just walk down the hall to the dentist after class.  Hoffmann believes the location is a real plus.

“You know because they’re comfortable coming to school and in the same building they can come to a dental clinic,” said Hoffmann. “ We have a lot of loyalty and a lot of trust because of that.”

Dr. Elba Garcia, Dallas County Commissioner and a dentist says a dental clinic on school grounds is a great idea. There is a state program that delivers preventive dental services to low-income kids at school in several rural areas of the state. Dentists in mobile “Head Start’ vans provide basic services such as sealants and fluoride varnish. Dr. Garcia says that model, bringing the dentist to the child, could be expanded.

“I think that would be a great program to have in schools, where the dentist comes to you; especially in those areas where we know parents work two-three jobs, they don’t have transportation; or in those communities where there is no public transportation,” Garcia said. “ So, we can make the system work.”

Dr. Garcia would like to see state and federal lawmakers consider a program to help dental school graduates with their hefty student loans in exchange for starting their careers in mobile clinics serving schools. A recent National Survey of Children’s Health showed 14 percent of all Texas children had never seen a dentist.  Low-income African-American and Hispanic children have the most untreated cavities.

“One of the saddest things that you can see is a child in pain,” Garcia said. “And of course a child that is sick, that has pain, that cannot eat, that cannot sleep, cannot learn.”

Community Dental Clinic’s Paul Hoffmann says additional funding from the state and United Way is allowing the Vivian Field clinic to add another day to its schedule – operating three days a week starting in October. Hoffmann says the demand for low income dental care could easily fill a five-day schedule, but the resources to do that just aren’t there.

A group of 12- and 13-year-old Field Middle School students chatted about how going to the dentist can be scary. But, they agreed it’s also the cool thing to do.

“The needles are scary."

"Yeah, most of the needles are scary.  Just close your eyes. That’s what I do."

“For kids who don’t go to the dentist, go to the dentist.  Get your teeth fixed and then you’ll be cool and you’ll get girls,"  said a boy heading to school on his bike.

"Oh, right!” replied the giggling girls.

Attention, millennials: The United Way of Metropolitan Dallas wants you.

The United Way’s annual fundraising campaign starts Monday, and for the first time the group will use social media to launch its campaign and mobilize young donors to help beat last year’s total of $59.3 million.

In addition to a planned rally in Victory Park, eight area mayors are scheduled to issue proclamations declaring Monday “Live United Day.” Jennifer Sampson, president and chief executive of United Way, said she hopes the day will attract attention to the group’s mission.

But, aside from the pomp of the campaign kickoff, this year the organization will emphasize Facebook and Twitter to appeal directly to potential donors and volunteers younger than 35.

“You look at young people coming out of school these days, and giving to the community today is important to them,” said Campaign Chairman Rich Templeton, who is also president and chief executive of Texas Instruments.

“We want to see them become financial donors, but also, if you get people involved in organizations early, they really become invested.”

This is the third year of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas’ five-year goal to raise $313 million by 2015.

Among the group’s other goals: By 2020, it hopes to prepare 60 percent of high school graduates to succeed in education after high school; permanently pull 250,000 people out of poverty; and improve access to health care across the region.

This year, 89 agencies will receive United Way funds. Twenty groups are new to the list, including several education nonprofits, Baylor Healthcare System Foundation and the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.

United Way helps such agencies raise more money than they could raise alone.

Sampson said it’s vital that United Way sets specific goals for the Dallas area so the community can identify with the organization as more than a funder of programs.

“The goal is to broaden the community support and increase the visibility,” she said. “We have a captive audience in corporations, but we want to broaden our reach.”

That’s why Sampson started her Twitter account last month. You can expect to see her touting her organization Monday on her personal account, she said. Also, some companies in the area are displaying 26-by-40-foot banners on their buildings, and DART buses will be displaying 150 ads.

“Our ambition this year is to get a lot more people involved,” Templeton said. “The observation we made is if we want to have a great, strong campaign 10 years from now, we have to reach them now.”

Jennifer Sampson, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas CEO and president; Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings; and Rich Templeton, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas campaign chair and Texas Instruments chairman, president and CEO, started LIVE UNITED Day at Victory Plaza on WFAA’s Good Morning Texas.

Virtual-giving drives, highway banners, DART ads, and — shh! — a flash mob on the Texas Instruments campus will be part of Live United Day on Monday as corporations rally to support the launch of this year's United Way fundraising campaign.

Live United Day, in its first year, is designed to celebrate the impact United Way supporters make on North Texans' lives and invite more people to get involved, said Rich Templeton, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas campaign chairman and Texas Instruments chairman, president and CEO.

"We've got some great companies around the Dallas area that understand that if you want to have great communities, companies need to invest, and in exchange, that helps companies be stronger," Templeton said.

Corporate supporters will kick off social media giving campaigns, marking United Way’s first "virtual" campaign launch. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings will join mayors in Allen, Garland, Lancaster, Mesquite, Plano, Richardson and Addison in issuing proclamations declaring October 1st as “Live United Day” in their cities.

Many North Texas businesses will show support for United Way, including Texas Instruments (Nasdaq: TXN), which will display two 26-foot-by-40-foot United Way banners from one of its buildings at Interstate 635 and U.S. 75. TI has joined with AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) on 150 ads on Dallas Area Rapid Transit buses. Supporters across North Texas will wear Live United T-shirts to work and Time Warner Cable will air public service spots for United Way throughout October.

TI is also planning a "volunteer flash mob," in which employees will be asked on the spur of the moment to assemble packages for Rainbow Days, a United Way service provider that serves the homeless.

“Live United Day is a unique way that our corporate supporters have initiated to engage the entire community in our campaign as we continue toward our five-year goal of raising more than $300 million by 2015,” said Jennifer Sampson, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas President and CEO.

Last year, the campaign saw an 11 percent increase in giving, raising $59.3 million.

The money goes toward changing lives through investments in education, income and health. The goals include preparing 60 percent of high school graduates to succeed in education after high school, pulling 250,000 people out of poverty permanently and improving access to health care across the region.

Companies involved in Live United Day include AT&T Inc., Atmos Energy Corp., Aviall, Bank of America, Bank of Texas, Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE), Comerica, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Holt Cat, Jones Day, Kimberly-Clark, KPMG, Kroger, LaQuinta Inns, Nationstar Mortgage, Regions Bank, Texas Instruments, The Cooper Institute and US Bank.

Celanese will be hosting its annual golf tournament that day which raises close to $500,000 each year. Aviall is doing a drive for the Housing Crisis Center’s Veterans program.

"Corporate activity is at the heart of a lot of the energy that we want to generate," Templeton said.

On Monday, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas wants you to take part in the first “Live United Day.”

The day coincides with the launch of United Way’s 2012-13 annual fundraising campaign that celebrates the impact United Way supporters make on the lives of people in North Texas.

Corporate supporters will commemorate the day by launching social media giving campaigns, marking United Way’s first virtual campaign launch. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings will join mayors in Allen, Garland, Lancaster, Mesquite, Plano, Richardson and the town of Addison to issue proclamations declaring Oct. 1 as Live United Day in their cities.

Texas Instruments Inc. will display two 26-by-40-foot United Way banners from one of its buildings at I-635 and North Central Expressway. TI, AT&T Inc. and Kimberly-Clark Corp. will tout their United Way support in 150 ads on Dallas Area Rapid Transit buses, and Time Warner Cable will air public service spots throughout October.

“We’re so grateful for the outstanding support we receive year-round from local businesses and organizations,” said Jennifer Sampson, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas president and CEO. “Live United Day is a unique way that our corporate supporters have initiated to engage the entire community in our campaign as we continue toward our five-year goal.”

This is the third year of a five-year effort by United Way to raise $313 million. Last year, the campaign raised $59.3 million, an 11 percent increase over the previous year.

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas is focusing on changing lives through investments in education, income and health. Its goals include preparing 60 percent of high school graduates to succeed in education after high school, pulling 250,000 people out of poverty permanently and improving access to health care across the region.

Rich Templeton, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas campaign chair and Texas Instruments chairman, president and CEO, says the day is a great way for the community to stand together behind the mission of United Way.

“The millennial generation is the future for our community,” Templeton said. “Making a concerted effort to get those young men and women involved in the work of United Way is crucial to ensure more kids graduate and succeed, more families achieve financial stability, and more people live healthy, responsible lives.”

Rawlings said that Live United Day highlights the importance of what United Way supporters achieve in North Texas. “United Way is driving real and lasting community change in education, income and health, but it takes all of us to make it happen,” he said. “By stepping up and showing our support, we can all change more lives in North Texas permanently.”

United Way supports programs in Dallas, Collin, Rockwall and southern Denton counties. United Way donors and volunteers are working to break the cycles of dropouts, poverty and poor health for hundreds of thousands of people over the next 10 years.

To learn how you can support United Way, visit unitedwaydallas.org

To show your support on Live United Day, visit the share page.

Roberto Velasquez has a few messages for his fellow students. "Hard work pays off. School is the pathway to success. If I can do it, you can do it." A senior at Plano East Senior High School, Roberto is enrolled in honors and Advanced Placement courses, maintains a 3.82 grade point average and works 30 hours a week.

Based on his academic success, volunteer commitments and leadership as a mentor to fellow students, Roberto was selected by United Way Worldwide as one of two outstanding Dallas Fort Worth area students enrolled in Destination: Graduation programs to attend the 2012 United Way Youth Empowerment Summit held in Washington, D.C. in June.

The Youth Empowerment Summit was held in conjunction with the nationwide United Way Day of Action. During the three-day summit, high achieving teens from across the nation teamed up with NFL players at American University for leadership development and strategy sessions for igniting a movement around education and mentorship. Roberto and fellow students from the North Texas area teamed up with Brandon Carr, cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys.

Grants secured by the Plano ISD Education Foundation from the AT&T Foundation have allowed Plano ISD to bring Destination: Graduation—a successful high school dropout prevention program run by the United Way—to district high schools and middle schools.

"All of us at Plano East are very proud of Roberto," said Principal Karen McDonald. "The summit sponsors could not have selected a more deserving young man for this enormous award. He and his twin brother Ricardo are both outstanding AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) students who carry several AP and honors level classes. They are excellent students who do an outstanding job at everything they do and represent Plano East in our finest 'Winning with Class' tradition."

Plano ISD Success Story

Roberto proudly states that he began his education career at the "Jupiter Center," a district-owned building located at Jupiter Road and Park Boulevard which formerly housed Plano ISD's preschool program (before three stand-alone preschools were constructed). "I love Plano schools. I have friends in other districts who have not received the support that I have here."

He continued his education at Meadows Elementary School where, to this day, Roberto and his fellow AVID peers at Plano East Senior High School greet Meadows students each Friday before school, walk them to class and and encourage them to make the most of their school day. "These young students are our future," Roberto said. "Certain students need mentors. I want them to know that school is their pathway to success."

Upon moving up to Armstrong Middle School, Roberto was recommended to attend the district's AVID college-readiness program. That is where he met one of his favorite teachers, Susan Saviano, Armstrong AVID coordinator. "Ms. Saviano sparked my interest in college and the benefits of a college education. She taught me how to study and how to set goals."

"Roberto was a natural leader at Armstrong who could always get the most out of the people in his groups," said Ms. Saviano. "I could always count on him to keep his group focused and have them produce high quality work." She said that Roberto set high expectations for himself. "I knew even during his seventh and eighth grade years that he would achieve everything that he had planned for himself."

In high school, Roberto has taken many honors and Advanced Placement courses, such as American Studies, which is an AP course combining AP U.S. History and AP English. Roberto's teacher Donna Sewell, realized he was struggling in the class "But she saw my potential, and she wouldn't give up on me," he said. "That ended up being one of my favorite classes my junior year."

"Roberto stuck with it, and he was very successful," said Ms. Sewell, who continues to check in with Roberto his senior year. "He's a great student. He earned every single one of his grades because he worked hard and he wouldn't give up."

Roberto aspires to attend Baylor University and one day own a chain of dental offices. "My mom got me interested in that career path after I spent so much time at the dentist's office when I had braces. Dentists get to meet so many different people and they have a fun job.”

Working to Lower School Drop Out Rate

Roberto believes that the United Way Worldwide selection committee was looking for an individual just like him to attend the national youth summit on leadership at which students worked with their TEAM NFL chairs to set strategies and goals for lowering the student drop out rate across the country. "I'm a hard worker, have good morals and know what is best for the community," he said.

As a member of the Leadership Plano East student organization, Roberto mentors fellow students, serving as a role model and tutor. "We seniors take the juniors under our wings by encouraging them to take more difficult classes, helping them study and talking to them about what's best for them in life," he said.

As an alumni of the national leadership summit, Roberto will report to his TEAM NFL chair the numbers of students that he recruits to serve as mentors to fellow students to encourage them to stay in school. He said that he and his fellow senior high school AVID students will soon begin mentoring students at Mendenhall Elementary School during their lunch hour.

"Roberto is an amazing student who always strives for excellence," shared Jessica Hernandez, Communities in Schools campus manager at Plano East. "He is my 'go to' student when there is something I need a volunteer for. He is always willing to help, does the best job he can and has a positive attitude throughout the process. He is often in the CIS classroom, encouraging students to work hard and helping them when he can. He is a pleasure to work with and a bright spot when he is around."

Volunteer Spirit in the Family

His volunteer leadership for which he is most proud is serving daily as a mentor to fellow students in his school community. In addition, he has volunteered for years side-by-side with his fraternal twin Ricardo to assist an elderly neighbor by taking care of her pets, landscaping her yard and even painting her house. The duo also held a car wash to raise funds for a local animal shelter.

"We're a team," said Ricardo of he and his brother. "We always have been. We have always searched out fellow students who may be at risk, and we do everything that we can to encourage them to stay in school and to work hard." He said that he and his brother have had numerous success stories in helping students and friends to turn their lives around for the better.

Hard Work Pays Off

"I tell my fellow students that I have what I have because I work hard," said Roberto, whose employer consistently selects him as "Employee of the Month." He credits his parents with instilling in him a strong work ethic and good values. "My parents taught me things that I can pass on to other students. My grades may get me a full ride to college. That makes me a happy kid and makes my parents proud."

(DALLAS, TX) – United Way of Metropolitan Dallas is leveraging a multiyear gift from the Texas Instruments (TI) Foundation to launch I Rock Math, a new education initiative that supports innovative teaching in public schools throughout North Texas. I Rock Math is designed to expand the impact of effective science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teaching practices — and help more students excel in math during middle and high school so they are better prepared for success in college and their careers.

The TI Foundation will give $300,000 over three years to support I Rock Math, which will provide grants and expert coaching to outstanding North Texas teachers. United Way expects to present the awards to more than 30 6th and 7th grade teachers in the next three years. The first set of grants will be awarded in January 2013 and grant proposals are due October 1, 2012.

Education experts regularly call algebra a “gateway class” because students who pass it in 8th or 9th grade are more likely to succeed in math and science in high school, college and beyond. Individuals and teams of public school teachers who use innovative teaching practices can apply for I Rock Math grants that will enable them to help more students develop the skills to be successful in algebra.

Individual teachers can receive grants up to $5,000 and teaching teams are eligible for as much as $25,000. Examples of innovative practices include using technology to help students better understand complex concepts and interdisciplinary projects that fully engage students.

“Sixty percent of the jobs created in the 21st century will require math and science skills understood by only 20 percent of the current workforce,” says Jennifer Sampson, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas CEO and President. “Strengthening the math skills of today’s children empowers them to succeed in their future careers.”

In addition to the grants, teachers selected for I Rock Math will receive expert coaching from Laying the Foundation, a division of the National Math and Science Initiative. Grant recipients will learn how to mentor their colleagues and encourage them to replicate successful teaching strategies in their classrooms. United Way volunteers who work in STEM careers will visit I Rock Math classrooms to help inspire students to explore fields that use math and analytical skills.

“Great breakthroughs are happening in North Texas math classrooms — the key is to find them and replicate them,” says Sam Self, TI Foundation chairman. “Investing in the work United Way does to strengthen math and science education helps teachers today to change the lives of their students permanently.”

“With this generous gift, the Texas Instruments Foundation continues its commitment to improving education in North Texas,” says Sampson. “United Way looks forward to working with TI and the TI Foundation to help students develop these important math skills.”

To apply for I Rock Math grants, teachers must work for public schools in Dallas, Collin, Rockwall and southern Denton counties. Teachers interested in applying for I Rock Math grants can download the request for proposals and an application form at UnitedWayDallas.org/IRockMath.

About United Way of Metropolitan Dallas

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas offers North Texans highly effective ways to help people change their lives forever. United Way is the largest non-governmental funder of programs to improve Education, Income and Health in Dallas, Collin, Rockwall and southern Denton counties. By breaking the cycles of dropouts, poverty and poor health for hundreds of thousands of people over the next ten years, United Way donors, volunteers and advocates will create long-term improvements throughout the region. To learn more, please visit UnitedWayDallas.org.

About Texas Instruments Foundation

The Texas Instruments Foundation, founded in 1964, is a non-profit organization providing philanthropic support for educational and charitable purposes primarily in the communities where Texas Instruments operates. While its primary focus is on providing knowledge, skills and programs to improve science, technology, engineering and math education, the Texas Instruments Foundation also invests in arts and culture and in health and human services programs that meet the greatest community needs.

About Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments semiconductor innovations help 90,000 customers unlock the possibilities of the world as it could be - smarter, safer, greener, healthier and more fun. Our commitment to building a better future is ingrained in everything we do - from the responsible manufacturing of our semiconductors, to caring for our employees, to giving back inside our communities. This is just the beginning of our story. Learn more at www.ti.com.

About Laying the Foundation

Laying the Foundation, a division of the National Math and Science Initiative, is dedicated to providing the best content-based, pedagogy-driven, teacher-to-teacher training, supported by rigorous classroom-ready lessons and web-based resources to improve the quality of math, science, and English instruction. Laying the Foundation has trained over 36,000 teachers to date and has demonstrated dramatic increases in Advanced Placement exam participation and success in STEM subjects. Laying the Foundation believes that training, mentoring, and empowering the teacher corps will lead to high standards of academic excellence for all students.

It was all in support of a United Way Back-to-School Fair for families of VMLC, a United Way service provider dedicated to improving English literacy levels among non-English speaking adults and their young children.

Cocklin was one of almost 90 United Way volunteers who handed out free school supplies and engaged families in fun activities, like crafts, fishing and story time.

“Dallas can be just the city you live in, or it can really be your community,” said Cocklin, a member of the United Way Millennial Task Force, which planned the volunteer project. “To be a part of the community, you have to be involved with the people around you — that’s why I volunteer with United Way.”

The Aug. 25 event was the first volunteer project executed by the Millennial Task Force, which aims to engage new and current United Way supporters ages 35 and younger.

“It’s wonderful to have so many Millennial volunteers here today — you are the next generation of volunteers and we’re grateful for your support,” said United Way Campaign Chair Rich Templeton, president and CEO of Texas Instruments.

Donations from Target, and the Texas Instruments Foundation, made it possible for United Way to give out almost 100 backpacks filled with essential school supplies. Half Price Books (from which Cocklin borrowed the worm costume) donated 800 books, making sure each child left with something engaging to read.

“We are thrilled to have United Way here today,” said Sarah Papert, executive director of VMLC . “This event is a great way for the community to come together and help families in the neighborhood get ready for school.”

View photos from the event >>

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If you’re a young professional interested in giving back and changing lives forever in North Texas, consider joining the Millennial Challenge. This program, made possible by the Texas Instruments Foundation, is an exclusive offer open to the first 400 young professionals 35 and under to join, and includes membership into the Young Leaders Society. Click here for more information >>

Listen to their conversation using the audio player below:

Learn more about how to become a reader, tutor or mentor >

Dallas-based Alliance Data plans to contribute $202,000 over four years to United Way of Metropolitan Dallas to enhance scientific education through a collaboration with the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, the company has announced.

The contribution will allow Central Elementary School in the Dallas Independent School District to implement the "Leaders in Science" initiative, a collaboration between the United Way and the Perot Museum.

Leaders in Science helps elementary school teachers use methods that engage and inspire students in science, said Ed Heffernan, Alliance Data president and CEO. Through the initiative, Central Elementary teachers will get classroom materials and coaching from the museum.

"Literacy in science and math will be critical for future generations to succeed in school and the working world," Heffernan said.

Leaders in Science schools are selected through a competitive process. Teachers from the selected schools participate in Perot Museum workshops and get on-campus coaching throughout the school year. Schools interested in having the program on their campus can contact Lucy Hale, the museum's director of school programs, at lhale@natureandscience.org.

Goodwill Industries of Dallas will open a new concept facility in Garland July 12 that combines a retail store, a donation center and an employment resource center.

The Job Connection resource center, a first in the area, offers free services to job seekers and employers.

“Job Connection is a critical service that we are offering to the public. If you are an individual who needs assistance finding a job, we can help you with that,” said Rod Ginther, Dallas Goodwill president and CEO. “Too many of us don’t have the resources or personal knowledge to find employment. Job Connection is a place where an individual can meet with a job placement coach and have access to resources like computers, job leads and coaching.”

Trained staff will provide on-site services free of charge, including help with important skills such as building an effective résumé, interviewing, online job searching, computer literacy and financial education. This new program is funded in part by the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.

Job Connection will also be a resource for employers; Goodwill can connect them with prescreened applicants, or organize and conduct job fairs to help fill open positions. Annually, Goodwill anticipates placing 175 people into jobs in the community.

The new facility will also house a retail store selling gently used and new merchandise. An attached donation center will offer the public a convenient way to drop off donations — just drive through, pop your trunk and an attendant will remove the items from your car.

Using the center’s services also helps create jobs for those with disabilities or disadvantages.

Goodwill, an environmental pioneer for more than 110 years, says the Garland store will recycle about 2 million pounds of donated items each year and provide 22 jobs.

“We have been working hard for months making this new facility a reality,” said Rosie Acosta, vice president of donated goods. “And we anticipate that sales will be very strong, but we also need the Garland community to know how important their material donations are to our success. We want the business community to know about our Job Connection center and that we also accept computer donations and handle these donations safely and securely.” In addition to computers and peripherals, Goodwill accepts mainstay items such as clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories, housewares, books, CDs, DVDs and small electronics.

Goodwill received support for the building of this store through several donors, including Hillcrest Foundation ($750,000), an anonymous donor ($500,000), Harold Simmons Foundation ($300,000), the Perot Foundation ($250,000), Hawn Foundation ($150,000), Meadows Foundation ($150,000), an anonymous donor ($100,000), the Dallas Foundation ($40,000), the George and Fay Young Foundation ($25,000) and the Sturgis Foundation ($25,000).

Located at 1661 E. Northwest Highway in Garland, the new Goodwill center will open at 10 a.m. July 12. Regular store hours will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. The donation center will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Sunday.

As Mike Miles prepares to take the helm full-time of the Dallas Independent School District , boosting workforce readiness, restructuring the leadership ranks and injecting more competition for district jobs have surfaced as priorities.

The moves the new superintendent has made so far indicate the school district has hired a leader willing and able to make reforms many in the business community consider necessary, said Susan Hoff, a member of the strategy team for Commit!, a coalition of North Texas businesses formed to address shortcomings in the public school system.

“Oftentimes somebody will talk about wanting to be a change agent, but you’ve got to wait around to see that,” Hoff said. “He clearly seems to be putting his actions where his mouth is.”

The Dallas ISD Board of Trustees in April hired Miles as the district’s next superintendent. Miles has been the superintendent of the 11,000-student Harrison School District 2 in Colorado Springs for the past six years, where he earned a reputation as a no-nonsense reformer. He officially takes the reins of the 157,000-student DISD on July 1, but has been working part-time with the district during the transition.

Miles’ first focus has been filling key positions.

One of his first hires was Charles Glover, executive director of Teach for America’s Dallas-Fort Worth region, who will fill a position Miles created called chief talent and innovation officer. Glover, who starts with DISD on June 21, will lead nationwide searches for principals, central office administrators and other school leaders.

Glover said the top goal of the district’s leadership is simple: Make Dallas ISD the best school district in the United States.

“When you look at goals attached to that, we’re going to be making decisions and we’re going to be implementing systems that are grounded in student achievement,” he said.

Restructuring leadership

Miles initially laid out his vision to overhaul DISD’s leadership structure in a briefing to the school board May 10.

“We’re not going to have more bodies in school leadership,” Miles said at the briefing. “But we’re going to have different positions.”

Instead of organizing the school system by geographical areas, Miles’ new leadership structure forms five new divisions. Each division will include a mix of schools that will have roughly equal academic performance when compared with the mix in the other divisions.

An assistant superintendent will oversee each of the five divisions.

Each assistant superintendent will have four executive directors under them, and the executive directors will monitor the district’s principals and evaluate them multiple times a year, Miles said. Each executive director will oversee eight to 12 principals.

The district’s current leadership structure is poorly designed, leading to little accountability, lack of professional development and problems with follow-through by administrators, Miles said.

The restructuring will allow for comparisons and competition among divisions because assistant superintendents will have roughly equal academic averages.

Miles also plans to inject competition at the principal level.

For the upcoming school year, Miles will have Glover recruit 50 to 60 school leaders from across the country and within DISD who will not be assigned to a campus but will receive a salary and train to become principals for a full year, Miles said.

“We will train them on how to recruit teachers, how to align the curriculum, how to get good student/teacher engagement — all the things that great principals do,” Miles said.

At the end of the year, the 50 to 60 recruits will compete for school principalships against the weakest of the district’s 220 existing principals, he said.

The existing principals will also receive training from Miles and other district leaders, Miles said. He said he expects turnover of 60 to 80 principals after the upcoming school year as standards for the job are raised.

Healthy competition?

School board members asked whether it’s fair to pit existing principals ­— who will get only part-time training while they run their schools — against people the district has recruited and is paying to train full-time.

“If the intimation is that there’s an unfair advantage, welcome to the principalship,” Miles said. “You’ve got to compete with people from all over the place who may have been trained by the best and the brightest.”

Mike Morath, a DISD school board trustee, said he likes Miles’ plan to have principal recruits compete against DISD’s existing principals.

“That’s going to look sort of like a cage match at the end of the year when everybody starts competing for jobs,” he said. “While that’s disruptive to employees, you have to have a relentless commitment to the absolute best.”

So far, Miles has named DISD principals Jovan Wells, Anita Hardwick, Eddie Conger, Israel Cordero and Brian Lusk as executive directors. He also has named Stephanie Elizalde, director of the district’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics division; and Leslie Williams, senior executive director of the Central Secondary Learning Community, to the position.

Miles expects to name 13 more executive directors and the five assistant superintendents who will oversee them by the start of the school year.

Competition for the positions will make the district stronger, said Hoff, who is senior vice president of community impact for the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas in addition to her position with the Commit! coalition.

“When school districts get very large and very bureaucratic, they get slow,” Hoff said. “Competition diminishes just because that’s the nature of the beast. So to change that and to elevate some potential leaders who may bring some brand new ideas, energy and focus into schools is fabulous.”

Miles presented his revitalization plan, called “Destination 2020,” in draft form May 10 and said it will remain a working document, subject to change as he and the school board begin the budget process later this month. He said any increased costs associated with initiatives in the plan, including the cost of paying recruits to train for principal slots, will be paid for by cuts elsewhere in the district’s $1.2 billion budget.

Career ready

Other elements of Miles’ plan include a 90 percent graduation rate by 2020, a pay-for-performance evaluation system for teachers within three years and a “career-ready” certificate that will give DISD graduates priority for jobs at local businesses if they meet to-be-determined goals.

Miles said he’ll ask the business community to help define what it means to be career ready. He wants area businesses to commit to hire 1,000 career-ready students at the end of this school year and commit to 3,000 slots annually within three years.

“Let’s let the business community that says that there’s a direct connection between the economy and the state of schools put their money where their mouth is,” Miles told trustees at the May 10 meeting, “and let’s do our part to be the partner that says ‘yes.’” Telecommunications, technology, engineering and health care are some of the industries that can use career-ready high school graduates for technician and other positions, Glover said. “A lot of corporations here need talent to continue their operations and grow their operations,” he said. “We’ll bring those industries to the table and learn about their specific needs so we know that we’re doing the work and producing the graduates that will be able to meet those needs.”

Morath praised Miles’ plan to align high school curriculum with the needs of North Texas employers. He said it’s going to be important for the business community to weigh in on how to align skills with the jobs employers have available.

“We want these kids coming out of the Dallas Independent School District to be at the front of the line when businesses are interviewing,” Morath said. “We want to ensure that our graduates are immediately productive members of our economy.”

Morath said Miles’ plans, overall, seem “implementable,” but added, “the devil’s always in the details.”

“His goals are pretty grand,” Morath said, “but he’s got action steps that focus on logistical details that most people miss.”