Tribal News

Congratulations to DHS student Jesus Bazaldua for capturing the State Championship Title in the Texas Public Safety Association's Law Enforcement Agility Course category. This is a physically demanding event that prepares students for the rigors of law enforcement patrol. It helps students develop endurance, muscle coordination, and mental acquity demonstrated by police officers in real world scenarios.

Donna ISD continues to uphold its dedication to excellence in education with a record number of State Champions in Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSO) state competitions for 2023. DHS and DNHS students showed off their career tech skills and excelled in their respective areas of study, competing against the best of the best. Congratulations to DHS State Champions Jesse Cuellar (Customer Service), Eleazar Lucio (Medical Math), and Alexandra Herebia (Nail Care). Congratulations also goes out to DNHS State Team Champions Kate Montiel, Abraham Vasquez and Katherine Alejandro (Career Pathways Showcase - Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources) with their Spay Neuter, Vaccinate, and Microchip campaign. These students will compete at the 2023 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia June 19th-23rd.

RGV Boys State Alumni Group has announced their 2023 selections for Texas Boys State delegates. Julian Alvarado, Gabriel Enriquez, Damian Martinez and Jacob Alexander Rebollar all from Donna High School were chosen to represent their high school and the Rio Grande Valley at this summer's prestigious leadership conference to be held June 11th-16th at The University of Texas at Austin. They were recognized before the Donna ISD Board of Trustees during April's regular school board meeting. Congratulations to these young men.

Shout out to DHS senior Claudia Lara for being named a 2023 Dell Scholar and Terry Scholar. Funded by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, a private organization dedicated to enabling children and youth to achieve their potential, the Dell Scholars program offers an opportunity for under-served and lower income students to realize their dream of a college education. $20,000 scholarships are offered to students for full-time study to complete a bachelor's degree program. Only 500 students get selected nationally. The Terry Scholar is a Texas Scholarship and only 225 exceptional high school seniors are chosen and provided with a full ride to any public Texas University. Claudia plans to attend Texas Woman’s University.

Kudos to DHS senior Aileen Campos for being awarded the Terry Foundation Scholarship (a full ride scholarship). The Terry Foundation provides four-year scholarships for several universities in the state of Texas. Terry Scholars are selected from a highly competitive application pool of incoming college freshmen who demonstrate exceptional leadership, character, and scholastic ability. This scholarship process required an immense amount of effort from the students, as well as traveling to Houston/Dallas for an in-person interview with the Terry Foundation panel. Aileen plans to attend the University of Texas San Antonio.

Congratulations to DHS seniors Cesar Zamora and Nicholle Moreno for their outstanding performance in a state level contest for National History Day, a nationwide curriculum program and competition that includes students, teachers, parents, historical societies and museums. The pair is one of two Texas teams that will be advancing to the National Contest in June with their documentary “The Webbers and The Underground Railroad: Frontiers in Love, Race, and Nations”. The story takes place in Donna, Tx. and documents the role the Webber and Jackson families played in ferrying escaped enslaved people to freedom in Mexico. The students' film not only earned them a spot in the national contest but was also awarded the Regional History Award.

Congratulations to our District leadership for successfully entering into a partnership with the Hidalgo County Head Start Program. This initiative will deliver comprehensive child development services in the areas of education, mental health, nutrition and social services to Donna ISD families with 3 and 4 year olds. Currently, both entities are working diligently behind the scenes to ensure everything is in place and ready to officially launch in the new 2023-2024 school year. This partnership is expected to bring over 200 new students into the district.

Shout out to Ms. Norma Guevara, Parent and Family Engagement Secretary for representing Donna ISD and the State of Texas at the 2023 NEA/ESP National Conference held March 23rd-26th in Seattle, Washington. Ms. Guevara was among 38 National Education Association/Educational Support Professionals Of The Year nominees from throughout the country recognized at the conference. We would like to thank Ms. Guevara for her outstanding work representing The District and the State of Texas.

Donna ISD's elementary after school tennis program was put in the national spotlight thanks to the hard work and dedication of DISD's Physical Education Strategist Rigoberto Rivera. Mr. Rivera recently received recognition by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) for his work in promoting tennis to more than 200 fourth and fifth-graders outside the P.E. classroom. In addition to tennis, Mr. Rivera and a team of coaches teach elementary students other sports like cross country, kickball, softball, baseball, flag football, basketball, soccer and volleyball through the district's Restoring Elementary Athletics in Donna's Youth or R.E.A.D.Y. program.