Sunset Bison News

The service we render unto others is really the rent we pay for our room on this earth. The purpose of this world is not to have and to hold, but to give and to serve.

G.M. Sandford/R. Spencer Jr.

Sunset P-TECH wants to celebrate two of our scholars: senior Eliyah Tobias and senior, Maria Sanchez who both have received acceptance letters to one of their college choices. Eliyah Tobias was accepted for the Fall 2021 term to University of Dallas. Not only was she accepted but she also a University of Dallas Provost's Scholarship of $24,000 per year. Senior, Maria Sanchez was also accepted to the University of Dallas for the 2021 fall term. Maria received the University of Dallas Dean's Scholarship of $20,000 per year. This is why we do what we do, to make dreams come true and change the trajectory of a young person's life. CONGRATULATIONS LADIES!!! They are just the first to come of many more acceptance letters. #PTECH ROCKS.

Sunset scholars Esteban Pineda and Sunset P-TECH senior, Ishshah Garcia auditioned for the All-State choir and both are advancing to the Region auditions that will be held in November. We want to send a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to these students who have worked hard for their place. With over 30 singers in each of the 4 categories, Estaban placed 4th and Ishshah placed 17th--both have an opportunity to advance again. We want to send a HUGE Congratulations to these students who have worked hard for their place, and we support them along their journey! Congratulations Again!

Technology is key right now so, if you/or your student are experiencing laptop issue with the laptops that were distributed by Sunset P-TECH. Here are your steps:

1. Contact the P-TECH office by email (trobison@dallasisd.org or mapalomares@dallasisd.org) and let us know the issue. If you send an email please, give a couple of days to respond. And include the following information:

A. Name & Student ID

B. Detail of the issue

C. A good contact (email, parent phone number, etc)

2. For less serious issues, contact the P-TECH office so we can put in a ticket with the above information. We will need to have a log of computer issues so please contact us. Please do not just put the computer to the side and never report the issue.

P-TECH Office phone number is: 972-502-1612

We have been given an opportunity to share a unique program with our students that we hope will provide them with an opportunity to simply just support them during these challenging times of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Ms. Nikisha Patton Handy, who has worked with our students before, is the Founder of the 2Inspire Peace Program here in Dallas, has developed a program that is tailor-made to support our students in dealing with some of the emotional and physical challenges and restrictions that they are really experiencing right now.

There are upcoming classes and events that she would like for our students to participate in.Ms. Patton Handy is a former school teacher and is also a College Professor - which makes her well-qualified in understanding young people, especially between the ages of 13 - 22. Learn more by clicking the link: https://dallascityoflearning.org/workshop-detail?id=79174

Please make the time to listen to the interview and read the material below. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me Ms. Patton Handy directly at 2inspirepeace@2inspirepeace.com. You may also contact me if you are not able to reach Ms. Patton Handy. Thank you and please consider taking advantage of this opportunity.

Not only are Sunset P-TECH students scholars but they are artists, they are leaders and they are athletes. Four of our Sunset P-TECH students, (l-to-r) Jourdyn Hawkins, Frederick James II, Alexis Rodriguez and Mario Garcia made the All-American National Cheerleading Association despite the challenges of COVID-19. The students practiced all summer via Zoom to prepare for the upcoming year and some even had to take college summer courses. But they stayed the course and came our victorious. Seniors Jourdyn Hawkins and Mario Garcia are not average seniors in high school. They are currently taking 12 or more hours at UNT Dallas as they work to not only finish high school but also obtain their associates degree. Juniors Alexis Rodriguez and Frederick James II are currently enrolled in college classes at Dallas College while finishing the last of their high school courses. Way to go Sunset P-TECH!!

Our 9th grade students participated in a Resume Workshop with Industry Partner Dallas ISD HCM on October 12th and 13th. We have the students. Our job is not just to get our students ready for college but also to prepare them to be gainfully employed with professional careers. Every student in the P-TECH program will walk away with a resume, cover letter, and interview skills. Mr. Justin Bryant, Initiatives Coordinator, invited members from Dallas ISD HCM to deliver their expertise on building a powerful resume. Our next workshop will be the Resume Feedback, where the students receive feedback from Human Resource experts. Then in November they will do a workshop on Interviewing 101. And we will finish up this series with Mock Interviews.

One of our goals is for our students to not only become college ready but also to be career ready. The first step is for our 9th graders to create their first resume but we did not want to stop there. We wanted our students to receive feedback from experts in the field. On October 29th and 30th, we welcomed volunteers from DISD-P-TECH/EC Programs (Elizabeth Hart), Children's Health (Afra Evans, Joy Hicks, LaSheila Williams and Marvin Gomez) and Dallas ISD Human Capital Management (Eric Carrizales, Gabriel Sanchez Ramino, Sandra Baptista, Diana Castaneda, Brandy Prado, and Steven Jackson) to perform small group feedback sessions with every student. Though the students were on Zoom they were still able to go to breakout rooms to create a smaller group setting and for each student to receive personalized information while editing their resumes. Next month the students will learn about interviewing techniques for their Mock Interviews.

On October 23rd, Kristyn Senters, Texas Women's Foundation Senior Communications Director, hosted a workshop on social media do's and don'ts. She highlighted about being socially responsible with their online and social media presence as they prepare for their future careers. The students were able to hear from a company the expectation when communicating and how to build their professional presence online. They were given instances when people lost their jobs, scholarships or dignity due to social media posts. In a time when social media presence is huge, this workshop was one step to making our students well-rounded and socially responsible citizens.

Social Media Fact:

According to a 2018 CareerBuilder survey, 70% of employers use social media to screen candidates during the hiring process, and about 43% of employers use social media to check on current employees..

Every year our school, A Local Philantrophic Organization has engaged with our students to provide a Financial Literacy Workshop. The students were taught the importance of budgeting and properly managing their money through the Money Smart curriculum. It is our mission to not only support our students academically but to prepare them with everyday skills once they are actively in the workforce. On October 15th we had a workshop with our juniors then they returned on October 22nd to address our sophomores. We will host two more sessions in the spring semester for the seniors and freshman. Thank you to Ms. N. Griffin and her team for your support of our program. Our next steps with the students will be organizing how to manage a checking account.

On October 14th, we hosted our first Steering Committee Meeting via Zoom. We met to discuss the Workplace Learning Scope and Sequence to determine how we will plan activities for the year for all of our cohorts. The members were divided into groups and given these particular topics to plan for:

• Workplace Tours (T.E./Public Health)
• Job Shadowing (T.E./Public Health)
• Professional Mentorship (T.E./Public Health)
• Guest Speakers (T.E./Public Health)
• Virtual Team Building (ALL STUDENTS)

Each working group met in a breakout session to generate ideas for the Teacher Education and Public Health Pathway for all four grade levels. We had to stop and plan how we can still support workplace learning in a virtual setting. Thank you Sunset Steering Committee Team for our great ideas!!!

In order to streamline the transcript request process, our registrars, Mrs. Soto and Ms. Martinez, will accept email requests directly from students.

Last names A-L email asoto@dallasisd.org

Last names M-Z email jmartinez@dallasisd.org

Due to confidentiality, we can not and will not send out PDF files due to the personal and confidential information. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.

SENIORS it's time to submit those applications for the colleges of your choice. If you have not started, it is time to get started. This article from College Board gives you a couple of tips before you start as part of their Applying 101 session. Do you know the difference between a reach, match or safety school. How do you begin? or What additional material should I include?

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-in/applying-101/applying-to-college-faq

Each week our seniors at UNT Dallas has a built in College Success Hour that they must attend. You may ask what is College Success Hour? It is an hour of instruction from on the various components of college and how to be successful as a student. Our Public Health students attend on Tuesday at 1:30 pm while Teacher Education students attend on Fridays at 8:30 am.

Here are the workshops they are attended to date:

• Semester and Week Long Time Management
• Applying for College
• Building a Vision of My Future & Advocating for Myself
• Resources to Support Successes
• Time Management and Balancing Stress (the is an on-going skill)
• Preparing for Mid-Terms
• Open P-TECH (Digital Professional Badges)
• The College Application Essay

We are so thankful for the support UNT Dallas offers our students to ensure they are successful.

Email: mapalomares@dallasisd.org
Website: https://www.dallasisd.org/domain/16978
Location: 2120 West Jefferson Boulevard, Dallas, TX, USA
Phone: 972-502-1612
Twitter: @SunsetCA17