DISD has announced that five of its teachers earned the highest professional credential in the field of teaching, National Board Certification, in 2011, and two of those five teach in the Hollow: Theresa Oriabure of Hillcrest High and Georgianna Wood of Preston Hollow Elementary.

The National Board Certification is a voluntary process established by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The certification process involves a rigorous performance-based assessment that can take up to three years. Through the assessment process, teachers document knowledge of their subject matter; provide evidence that they know how to teach the content to students most effectively; and demonstrate an ability to manage and measure student learning.

Hillcrest High School graduate Greg Pak has a new comic book in stores today. Click here for a preview of Dead Man’s Run #1.

While professional ball players like Albert Pujols can pull down a cool $250 millon contract, high school players are still scraping by.

You can help send the Hillcrest baseball team to a training camp in Tampa by hiring players to do odd jobs. Duties include, but are not limited to, window washing, errand running, dog walking, and Christmas light hanging. Email your needs to panpaws@gmail.com or call Esther at 214-394-7907

Former Hillcrest football and lacrosse standout Rob Look, a senior linebacker at Washington and Lee, recently earned a spot on the first team of the All-Old Dominion Conference team.

Look earned the conference’s sportsmanship award last season. He was a second-team all-conference pick as a sophomore.

The 2008 Hillcrest graduate completed his senior campaign tied for second in the conference with 95 total tackles. He was Conference Defensive Player of the Week twice this year. A starter in all 10 games, Look added eight tackles for loss (-27 yards), two sacks (-15 yards), and one interception. He completed his career with 254 tackles, five sacks and two interceptions.

Hillcrest and W.T. White are among six DISD high schools that received College Readiness Awards from the Texas ACT Council. The campuses were honored for increasing the number of students taking the ACT exams over the past five years. The other high schools that received the award were the School for the Talented and Gifted, the School of Business and Management, the Rosie M. Collins Sorrells School of Education and Social Services, and Samuell High School.

The Lady Panthers (20-4) will take on Frisco Centennial (30-12) in an area-round match at 6 p.m. today at Loos Fieldhouse. Hillcrest swept Seagoville in the bi-district round, 25-14, 25-16, 25-15, while Centennial defeated Rockwall, 25-16, 25-18, 25-21. The winner of tonight’s match will face either Molina or Rockwall-Heath, who are also playing this evening.

This house in Oak Cliff has spared no expense trying to scare trick-or-treaters. Staff Photo: Chris McGathey

If the thought of sending your child out into the streets to ask strangers for candy sends shivers up your spine, then consider the following alternative. Hillcrest High School is holding an indoor trick-or-treating experience Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. And the event is titled “Safe Trick-or-Treating,” so you know it’ll be on the up and up.

Newman first met the boys four years ago as freshman. All 11 students graduated and are attending college.

Braylon Adams and Steven Williams celebrated two graduations in the spring. In addition to completing high school, the boys were part of the inaugural class of Dallas Cowboys Terence Newman’s Rising Stars Foundation.

The organization provided four years of tutoring in core subjects, personal mentoring from Newman, and a $5,000 college scholarship. All 11 participants are now in college. Adams is playing football at Sam Houston State University, and Williams is playing for Texas A&M Commerce. Read More…

Hillcrest High School is hosting a community meeting tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. to discuss ways to improve student performance. Hillcrest was one of five DISD campuses deemed “acceptable” by the Texas Education Agency.

While this is a step up from the 2009-2010 “unacceptable” ranking, Hillcrest isn’t resting on its laurels just yet. Students, parents, and community members are welcome to attend the meeting.

We learned of them too late to promote them in our Aug. 26 paper, but Franklin Middle School is hosting a series of parent-friendly events tomorrow evening. There will be a dinner of hot dogs, chips, and cookies in the cafeteria at 5:30 p.m. (Cost is $2), followed by a PTA meeting at 6 and a Mini-School at 6:30. The latter event involves parents following a condensed version of their children’s class schedules.

Meanwhile, next door at Hillcrest High School, an ice cream social/community rally that was originally set for Aug. 25 has been rescheduled for 4 p.m. tomorrow.