Hillcrest E-TECH Newsletter

It’s OK not to be OK

National Suicide Prevention Month is recognized during September—along with National Suicide Prevention Week from Sept. 4-10—to raise awareness and support for those who are struggling. Because the safety and well-being of students and staff is Dallas ISD’s top priority, departments and schools across the district are working together to encourage everyone to watch for warning signs and intervene as needed.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, warning signs of suicide include:

· Feeling empty, hopeless, or trapped

· Talking about wanting to die or being a burden

· Experiencing intense guilt or shame

· Planning or researching ways to die

· Eating or sleeping more or less

· Feeling extremely sad, anxious, agitated, or angry

· Withdrawing from friends, saying goodbye, giving away important items or making a will

· Displaying extreme mood swings

· Taking dangerous risks such as driving too fast

· Using drugs or alcohol more often

Anyone who is experiencing a crisis can get immediate support by contacting the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in English or Spanish at 988. Additionally, people can access the National Alliance on Mental Illness Helpline from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., by calling 1-800-950-6264, texting “Helpline” to 62640 or emailing helpline@nami.org.

You can help:

Before the parade -

Help make "no parking" signs

Help putting signs out on Wednesday

Day of the parade –

Report to the parking lot at 4:15 the day of the parade.

Help with check in

Getting entries their numbers

Help lining up the entries

Directing the parade into the parking lot at the end of the parade (stand by the softball field)

If your Panther is in a student group, please consider helping that group build a float. It will be one of the best high school memories EVER! Contact the sponsor and coordinate with them.

Must complete VOLY application prior to volunteering (https://dallasisd.voly.org)

Contact Whitney Morris whitneysuemorris@yahoo.com

Dallas College Richland is now offering free tutoring for all subjects at the library in LaVaca Hall. Signing in and out is the only requirement.

There are times when Dallas ISD will be closed, but for 11th and 12th graders, classes will still be held at Dallas College Richland. For 9th and 10th graders, if Dallas ISD is closed, the professors may have assignments due, but students will not have class. Click on the chart for more information.

• Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation
• The Gates Scholarship (Top 10% of Class)
• Golden Door Scholarship (For Undocumented/Refugee/Asylum Students)
• Jackie Robin Foundation
• Bryan Cameron Education

Please see Ms. Davis or go by the ASP office for more information.

With the exception of a few, students will be required to start wearing their uniforms on September 12th. To avoid disciplinary penalties, students without their uniforms must provide an order number to Ms. Reitmeyer, the clerk, to show that an order for uniforms has been placed. You may contact OneWay Enterprises at (469) 619-7881 to place an order, check on an existing order, or for questions about an order received.

From Mr. Huntington:

As of 9/9/22, we are completing our 3rd week of Richland classes, and we are off to a great start! The first round of tests for the classes will likely start soon, please, support your child in preparing for any upcoming tests they have.

Seniors are working on their university applications, financial aid, college essays, and scholarships with our college advisor, Ms. Davis. This happens every Friday.

Grade checks, guidance lessons, tutoring, academic advising, and study hall are the activities students are required to do on Fridays.

Timara Smith, current E-TECH senior, participated in a job shadowing opportunity over the summer with Dr. Abazie at Smiles By Design Dental in Coppell, Texas.

Hi! My name is Ahmad and I graduated from Hillcrest E-TECH Collegiate academy class of 2021. I want to tell you a little bit about myself, and how Hillcrest Collegiate academy led me to be hired as a full-time Equipment Technician by Texas Instruments right after high school graduation! And how anyone can do it too!

I am originally from Afghanistan and moved to the US 6 years ago with my family. I joined Hillcrest’s collegiate academy in the summer of 2017, and I can confidently say that it is one of the best opportunities I’ve taken advantage of. Besides preparing me for college and my career, it saved me two years of college and led to a full-time job offer at TI right after high school graduation!

I cannot stress enough the importance and value of being able to graduate high school with an Associate Degree completely free of charge. Not only you’re saving thousands of dollars, but you’re also saving two years of your time. The value of time is incomparable to any wealth in life. Plus, by the time I graduated, I was college and career ready. I had the choice to either continue my higher education or jump right into the workforce with a good-paying job.

I personally decided to enter the workforce for 1 year to get myself in a financially stable state before starting school again in Fall 2022. I was able to do this because of the great job opportunity Hillcrest E-TECH led me to.

Texas instruments is one of Hillcrest Collegiate Academy’s industry partners. A few months before high-school graduation, TI visited Hillcrest E-TECH for interviews as a potential internship opportunity. I took advantage of this opportunity without hesitation and signed up! After passing the first and second rounds of interviews, I was offered a technician internship to work at TI Richardson FAB (RFAB), Texas Instruments (and one of the world’s) most technologically advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the world! After the end of my internship, I was offered work as a full-time Equipment Technician, which I accepted! I have been working at TI-RFAB as a full-time technician for about 1 year now, and the experience has been amazing! I get to troubleshoot and maintain the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment inside of an enormous, automated, and fast-paced cleanroom environment. Every day is a challenging day at TI. We are constantly presented with new challenges and learning along the way. This is what makes working at TI exciting!

After working for 1 year at TI and being able to fully support myself financially, I decided to continue my higher education. I started as a full-time student at UT Dallas this fall semester of 2022. Texas Instruments is assisting me in continuing my education by providing educational assistance and a very flexible work schedule as part of TI’s professional development program. I am currently working part-time at TI and enrolled full-time at UT Dallas. Plus, TI is providing educational reimbursement to help pay for my tuition.

I am very grateful for all the great opportunities I was given during my time at Hillcrest E-TECH Collegiate Academy, which led to more opportunities and where I am today. I am thanking the collegiate staff and teachers for their hard work and support and encouraging every student to take full advantage of this great opportunity.

Ahmad Nabizadah

Hillcrest E-TECH, Class of 2021

Christian Boykins, E-TECH student and 2022 Hillcrest graduate, committed to Arkansas Baptist University on a baseball scholarship!

Contact Ms. Reitmeyer in the E-TECH Office: 972-502-6829 / breitmeyer@dallasisd.org

Or check out the E-TECH website: https://www.dallasisd.org/domain/16975