Boaters and kite flyers from around the region assembled along the shores of Lake Carolyn to launch, if not a thousand ships, a large handful of dragon boats during the seventh annual DFW Dragon Boat, Kite and Lantern Festival on May 26.

“I started this organization because – I’m Chinese of course – and this is our Chinese tradition, and actually the Kite, Lantern and Dragon boat are actually three traditions in China,” said Diana Meilan Wang, president and Co-founder of the Marco Polo World Foundation (MPWF). “They have many thousands of years [of] tradition.”

Although the festival is very much a celebration of Asian culture, Wang emphasized that it also commemorates Irving’s culture at large. In fact, 10 distinct cultural backgrounds from Spanish and Irish to Hawaiian and Chinese were represented through cuisine and performances at the street fair.

The Youth Target Foundation (YTF) recently received $24,000 in grants from the Dallas Safari Club for the purchase of shotguns and targets to support the middle school and high school shooting teams. The shotguns will be used as rentals during practices, competitions, clinics and other training for the nearly 200 youth who are members of the Youth Target Foundation.

“This grant will be extremely beneficial to the teams. Good equipment is essential to a successful program. We’ll be able to purchase enough shotguns to not only support the current teams, but also be able to expand next year,” said Jeanie Almond, founder and President of the Youth Target Foundation. “The interest in joining the youth shooting teams is growing exponentially. We had 20 youth last year, nearly 200 this year and already have more than 5 teams in line for 2014.”

The Youth Target Foundation was founded in 2007. Its mission is to promote the traditions of target sports. YTF was created so that no child will ever be turned away from shooting sports due to not being able to afford it. 

For more information, visit www.youthtargetfoundation.org or email  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Source: Youth Target Foundation

Coppell ISD fourth grade teachers at Wilson Elementary School took their classrooms on the road to Austin with Education in Action’s Proud to be Texan Travel, Explore, and Learn Field Trip May 8. Students visited Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum and Texas State Capitol to experience what they are learning in Texas History classes.

On the way to Austin, students discussed why Texans are so proud of their heritage and participated in activities and games in preparation for their visit. In Austin, students visited the State Capitol where their legislators, The Honorable John Carona, State Senator, District 16, and The Honorable Bennett Ratliff, State Representative, District 115, are in office. 

Students saw first-hand where Texas laws are made as they toured the State Capitol including the Senate and House of Representatives chambers. At Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum students explored exhibits about Texas’s earliest inhabitants, Texas Revolution, and events that created Lone Star identity. Students’ visit to the museum concluded at the multi-sensory Texas Spirit Theater with the Star of Destiny where they experienced Texashistory including a gusher exploding from an East Texas oil derrick and the takeoff of Saturn V as seen from Mission Control at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“Education in Action field trips are based on the understanding that the most effective way for students to learn is through experience,” said Lori Duncan, Education in Action’s School Programs Director. “Student activities during Education in Action’s Proud to be Texan field trip reinforce and supplement fourth grade Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills learning objectives with a focus on why Texans are so proud of their unique heritage.”

Education in Action’s Travel offers site-based learning experiences through field trips for third through fifth grade students in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.The organization handles all details, including round-trip charter bus transportation to Waco/Georgetown, Austin, Dallas, and Fort Worth, reservations, and TEKS-based program curriculum, allowing teachers to focus on their students and to make connections between the experience and what students are learning in the classroom.

The group also offers spring break and summer Lone Star Leadership Academy camps for outstanding fourth through eighth graders. During the weeklong, overnight camps, students experience important Texas sites in Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin/San Antonio, or Houston/Galveston guided by Texas educators and a focus on leadership.

Source: Wilson Elementary School

Girl Scout Troop 2871 has enjoyed working with Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) for several years, especially at cleanup events like the “Trinity Trash Bash” and the “Don’t Mess with Texas Trash-Off,” and in maintaining their Adopt-a-Spot on O’Connor Boulevard. 

On May 5, they partnered with KIB for a different type of event, a paint project at Running Bear Park. The eleven girls, along with three adult sponsors, painted the metal safety handrails along the trails on the south side of the park. They first prepped the area by wiping down all the rails and taping off the areas near the sidewalk. The group was so efficient that they completed the job earlier than expected, so they finished the day by doing a sweep of the park to pick up any litter they could find.

The highly motivated, energetic troop, led by Nancy Medina and assisted by Cheryl Lidberg and Kathleen Ludlum, completed a total of 35 volunteer hours in making the park safer and more inviting. In fact, several visitors to the park that day noticed and commented on the quality of the work. The Girl Scouts and KIB also partnered with the City of Irving Parks Department’s Troy Crawford who helped with the planning and logistics of the project. 

“Teaching children about the value of volunteering at an early age is so important,” KIB Board Member Margie Stipes said. “We have seen many of these girls in Troop 2871 grow up before our eyes, and now they are mentoring the younger ones to be responsible members of the community.”

Source: Keep Irving Beautiful