Urbanization vs. Wildlife WFAA Sarah Meeks FHS ISM 2015

Madison Hildreth - Final Product 2015

Best Foot Forward

As the semester begins to pick up the pace, Independent Study and Mentorship students are busy prepping for milestones in their mentorships by completing projects ranging from planning a worship service to analyzing musical theory. One student in particular has put her best foot forward, literally. For her Original Work project, FHS Senior Brianna Heath made a prosthetic leg from start to finish for Candy Paquette, one of her two mentors. “It was nerve-racking, to be honest,” Brianna said when asked about what the process was like. “My mentors would tell me what to do and then I would do it on my own, but the pressure was on because Candy is both a prosthetist and an amputee –she knows everything, but they were there for me every step of the way and I learned so much.” Local prosthetists Gary Strobeland Candy Paquette, guided her through the entire fabrication process, from creating the mold to finalizing the adjustments. “Seeing something I made that gave someone the ability to walk again… is amazing. As a prosthetist, I have the opportunity to really impact people’s lives.” Brianna’s prosthetic leg is one of the many fascinating projects being done in ISM this year, but that diversity is exactly what ISM is all about. “It’s a year-long immersion into something you’re truly passionate about,” Brianna said. “It doesn’t matter if it turns out to be your future career – it’s a series of incredible opportunities that have no limits at all. Who else can say that they’ve made a leg for an amputee before they’ve graduated high school? Designed a building? Planned the local news? I couldn’t have done any of this if it hadn’t been for Coach Goff and the ISM program.”

Story written by: Brianna Heath, 12th Grade, ISM student

Frisco High ISM student's article published in the Dallas Morning News

McKinney Resident's ‘Zumbathon’ to Give Back to Her Hometown of West

Rose Baca/neighborsgo staff photographer

Elliott strikes a Zumba pose at Texas Family Fitness in Frisco. A native of West, she organized RISE UP, Dance for West, a “Zumbathon” to be held on April 12, with proceeds to benefit The First Baptist Church of West Disaster Relief Fund. “Tammy is able to use her God-given talent to help other people,” said Brandy Stiffler, a three-year Zumba student and a friend of Elliott’s.

By MIKAELA CANNIZZO

MIKAELA CANNIZZO The Dallas Morning News

Contributor

Published: 04 April 2014 08:04 AM

Updated: 04 April 2014 11:34 AM

As the anniversary of the fertilizer explosion in West approaches, Tammy Elliott can still feel the effects when she visits her hometown.

Elliott, a Zumba instructor who now lives in McKinney, has friends back home who are still struggling to recover from the powerful blast at the West Fertilizer Plant that killed 15 people — including a dozen first responders — and injured more than 300. About 350 homes and three schools were damaged severely.

The devastation moved Elliott to use her passion for fitness to benefit the rebuilding efforts. She is organizing a “Zumbathon” event for the cause after helping coordinate a similar event last year. “RISE UP, Dance for West” begins at 5:30 p.m. April 12 at The Beach at Craig Ranch in McKinney.

“The fact that I can dance and help people in need is my favorite thing about being part of the Zumba community,” Elliott said.

Elliott and a group of more than 40 Zumba instructors — including some who are traveling from Waco and West to support the cause — will lead the two-hour fitness event featuring a continuous, calorie-burning, Latin-inspired dance workout. West native Donna Beckham, a country singer, will perform the national anthem during the opening ceremony, and there will be a tribute to fallen West firefighters. All of the event proceeds and 15 percent of food and drink sales until midnight will go to The First Baptist Church of West Disaster Relief Fund.

Participants in her classes and fellow Zumba instructors admire Elliott’s compassion for others and her love for Zumba.

“Tammy is able to use her God-given talent to help other people,” said Brandy Stiffler, a three-year Zumba student and friend of Elliott’s. “I have been able to see firsthand how she has impacted a family that I know personally.”

Sylvia Bernal is a Zumba instructor and member of the organizing team for the Zumbathon. Like Elliott, she is passionate about being part of the event.

“Helping Tammy with something that she puts her heart and soul into every single day is so special,” Bernal said. “Every time I talk to her, she is doing something to prepare for this Zumbathon.”

In the days after the blast, Elliott was so moved by what happened in her hometown that she began collecting donations from friends in the Zumba community in North Texas. She accumulated water, blankets, snacks, toiletries and other items, then drove to West with a car full of donations.

“Driving through West for the first time after the explosion was eerie,” she said. “To see all of the news media and barricaded streets was so surreal.”

During several other visits, she was inspired by the outpouring of support: HEB set up food trucks, Starbucks gave out free coffee, and AT&T and Sprint provided phone chargers. Target and Wal-Mart donated many necessities as well.

Elliott, whose parents moved to West when she was 5 years old, has lived in McKinney for 11 years. She returns to West at least every couple of months to visit her sister and her parents. Her family members live east of the blast area, so their homes were not affected. But she knows many who were not so lucky.

Jana Pratka is one of Elliott’s many friends and former West High School classmates who lost their homes in the April 17 explosion. With Pratka’s parents’ home also destroyed, the families temporarily moved into houses at nearby Alligator Creek Ranch. But explaining the death and destruction caused by the explosions to her 5- and 10-year-old children was the hardest part, she said.

Pratka’s parents moved back into their home a month ago, and she expects to be able to return soon. “The ranch is nice, but I have missed the sense of comfort I had at my home,” she said.

In July, Elliott worked with fellow Zumba instructor Shemane Nugent, the wife of Ted Nugent, and others from Central Texas at the first Zumbathon for West. About 300 people attended the event at the Baylor Ferrell Center, which raised $20,000.

The success of that Zumbathon left Elliott wanting to do more.

This time, Elliott is hosting her event in North Texas with the goal of encouraging a different group of people to help her hometown. She hopes to attract at least 200 participants while calling attention to what the West community is still going through.

“There is still so much to be done,” she said.

Mikaela Cannizzo is a senior at Frisco High School. She is studying journalism through the Frisco ISD Independent Study and Mentorship program.

Rose Baca/neighborsgo staff photographer

Tammy Elliott leads a Zumba class at Texas Family Fitness on March 29, 2014 in Frisco. Elliott, a native of West, Texas, organized a Zumbathon, RISE UP, Dance for West, on April 12, with proceeds to benefit The First Baptist Church of West Disaster Relief Fund