Thursday, March 28, 2024

Where Are They Now? Minute with the Mayor Checks In with Odyssey of the Mind

This week, Mayor John Huffman gets an update from Noor Mithwani, President of the Southlake Odyssey of the Mind Board, about their incredible successes since coming on the show in August.

In August 2022, Mayor John Huffman met with Noor Mithwani in the STEAM Lab at Carroll High to discuss the Odyssey of the Mind program and the yearly international competition. CISD has participated in Odyssey of the Mind for over a decade. Many schools nationwide and worldwide participate yearly in fun challenges encouraging team building, critical thinking skills, and having fun with peers

The last time we checked in with them, the Odyssey of the Mind group began its season, and they were looking for students to join. Mithwani says, “We started with 26 teams participating in our regional tournament at Carroll High School in Southlake. From then on, we have brought home 21 trophies — nine in first place, eight in second place, and four in third place.”

Twenty teams from CISD have advanced to the state tournament, where they will compete for one of two spots in the World Finals. Congratulations to the talented students in the Odyssey of the Mind program.

To watch the full episode of Minute with the Mayor, click below.

Carroll Education Foundation Approves Record Total in CISD Grants

The Carroll Education Foundation will distribute and award a record $100,000 in annual teaching grants to all campuses in the Carroll Independent School District Tuesday, Oct. 25.

Members of the CEF board, CISD school board, top sponsors and administration will meet at 8:45am at the CISD Administration to start the traditional Prize Parade. One or more “big checks” will be presented at each school lead by the Carroll Dragon Drum Line. Since its inception in 1996, the CEF has awarded over $1,345,000 in grant funding.

The foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation whose sole purpose is to enrich, expand and protect excellence in education by creating and distributing resources for the benefit of the students of the Carroll Independent School District. Only through cash contributions and donations for our annual Culinary Celebration fundraiser, Friends of CEF program and Community Partner events such as Dine for Dragons, is the foundation is able to distribute and award these very important and much needed teaching grants. Once again, we thank our many 2016 Sponsors and donors who helped make this record-breaking distribution a reality!

Writing a grant proposal is tedious and each teacher must identify a student need, research various ways of fulfilling that need, come up with a creative grant approach, determine all the costs involved with the implementation of the grant and organize all that data into a cohesive grant application. This takes an enormous amount of time and dedication. It is only fitting that we publicly recognize their commitment to our children’s education. By funding these grants, their innovative and creative instructional approaches to teaching will become both a reality and an integral part of their students’ curriculum.

If you are can give back to the foundation for grant funding in your district, go to Ways to Give to see how you can help with your time, treasure and/or talents. Please refer any questions to Laura Grosskopf, Executive Director, at 214-908-9075.

SPARK Tackles Topic of Drugs & Alcohol

SPARK will host a meeting entitled “Not My Child? Not My Problem: Drugs, Alcohol, & the Realities of Our Kid’s World,” on October 21st from 7:30p.m. to 9:00p.m. This parents only event will take place at the Southlake DPS Building located on Carroll Avenue. Assistant District Attorney, Riley Shaw and an agent from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) will be speaking at the event on this issue.

If you have questions, contact Laura K. Hill at place5@ci.southlake.tx.us.