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

Program allows Frisco ISD high school students learn beyond the classroom

The ISM program has exposed me to the world of journalism. By interviewing several journalists in varying positions at multiple businesses, I have been able to enrich my experience through having conversations with professional journalists.                      By Mikaela Cannizzo/ Frisco Insider 10:28 am on May 17, 2014 | Permalink

Even with rigorous coursework and jam-packed schedules, motivated students strive to accomplish their goals and aim to learn about potential career paths through a variety of resources available in Frisco.

There is a multitude of AP classes and career exploration opportunities at the CTE center offered by the Frisco Independent School District, challenging students to plan for their futures.

Additionally, the Independent Study and Mentorship Program (ISM) is a class offered by all six high schools in Frisco and it gives students the opportunity to explore career options. This course provides students with the means to learn about a topic of their choice and to acquire professional experience in a specific field.

Deviating from the curriculum-based system heavily enforced in schools today, ISM allows students to learn professional etiquette, improve communication skills, and create their own work and product through the guidance of a mentor.

A formal application and an interview process are required to be admitted into this program. Through this system, driven students are able to put their habits of hard work into action as they pursue potential career paths.

The first semester of the program emphasizes independent research and learning through contacting professionals and setting up interviews.

Following the interview process, students typically ask one of the professionals they interviewed to be their mentor. The second semester of the program includes going to weekly mentor visits, completing an original work assignment, and developing a final product.

A final presentation night in which ISM students showcase display boards and portfolios with work from the whole year and give a comprehensive speech in front of family, friends, and mentors concludes this program.

On a personal level, the ISM program has exposed me to the world of journalism. By interviewing several journalists in varying positions at multiple businesses, I have been able to enrich my experience through having conversations with professional journalists.

Most of all, ISM gave me hope for my future. Uncertainty and stress regarding college majors and future professions can be overwhelming for sixteen and seventeen year old students.

The beauty of this program is that it has let me explore a world that wasn’t confined to the walls of a classroom. Without set criteria, I was able to learn about something that interests me and acquire my own individual experience in a field that I will be pursuing in college.

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

ISM Symposium Connects Students and Business Professionals

Oct 15, 2013

Community volunteers shared college, career and life advice with about 200 Frisco ISD students during the annual Independent Study and Mentorship (ISM) Business Symposium on October 11.

ISM is a challenging course elective designed to help Frisco ISD juniors and seniors explore their career interests and prepare for the future. It falls under the auspices of the FISD Gifted and Talented program and requires an application in order to ensure students are prepared for the rigor and course expectations.

During the symposium, local professionals volunteered their time to conduct mock interviews, evaluate student resumes and help students build networking skills.

“You have to think about what you’re going to do to get to where you want to go,” Mary Kay development specialist Lisa Ploeg told a student from Wakeland High School. “Look for leadership opportunities.”

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Over the course of the school year, ISM students interview community members who work in a chosen career field and then select a mentor to gain real world experience.

“When I was a kid, people made fun of you for having braces,” said Centennial High School senior Arsh Singh, who hopes to become an orthodontist. “After I got my braces off, I felt so much more confident and was smiling a lot more and that’s why I want to help others.”

Heritage junior Kiymarah Thomas told Dr. Brenda Kihl, provost of Collin College Preston Ridge Campus, why she chose to focus her ISM studies on trauma surgery.

“Just the fact that someone else’s life is in my hands,” Thomas said. “I know for other people that might be stressful, but for me, it’s a challenge and I love challenges.”

Juniors and seniors must first apply and interview to participate in the ISM program. The goal is for each student to explore a particular interest and discover his or her passion.

“This is the time for highly motivated students to ascertain if a particular career path is the right fit for them,” said Julie Martin, coordinator of the Frisco ISD Gifted and Talented program. “They might discover they aren’t interested in a certain profession after all. Our hope is that they graduate with a better idea of which major to pursue in college.”

A benefit of the program is helping to save students and families the time, money and stress that is often involved with changing majors at the university level.

“These top students have figured out the ‘game of school,’” Martin said. “We have outstanding, driven students, yet they often don’t know what they want to be when they grow up. ISM helps them select a career or narrow their focus within the medical, business or arts professions.”

During the class, students focus on original idea generation and product design, improving oral presentation skills, intense research, resume writing, business etiquette, working independently and goal setting.

It all culminates in May when students individually present their original product creation and what they have learned from their ISM experience.

“I was amazed with her self confidence and her ability to present to the public,” said former Wakeland parent Keith Lesko, whose daughter spent two years in the ISM program studying commercial photography. “I couldn’t do that when I was 17.”

The retail executive was so impressed with the program, he’s volunteered twice so far to assist with the Business Symposium.

“I watch these students make eye contact, their mannerisms and maturity level. It’s very different than the perceived work ethic of kids today,” Lesko said. “It restores my faith in the future of this country. It really does.”