Shelton School is used to having students on campus for a three-day visit.  It’s all part of the standard admission process.  Usually the students range from early childhood through twelfth grade.  On March 26th, however, the students were all adults, and all from China.

Eleven teachers from Shanghai spent four days in training at Shelton.  Nancy Chang, Ph.D., director of the Montessori Training Academy of Shanghai, and her group of Montessori educators observed in Shelton’s lower and upper elementary school classes, in addition to completing training in Shelton’s Montessori Applied to Children at Risk (MACAR). 

Shelton has developed a strong relationship with this academy.  Joyce Pickering, Ph.D., Shelton’s Executive Director Emerita, and Amy Kelton, Shelton’s Head of Upper Elementary, previously traveled to China in October 2017 to work with 51 Montessorians.  They will do so again in June 2018, when they will work with 90 teachers.

“This has been a great collaboration,” says Dr. Pickering.  “Everyone in Shanghai has been wonderful to work with, and it is fun for us to learn from one another through such a rewarding cultural exchange. Shelton has long been a proponent of blending Dr. Maria Montessori’s precepts with the best practices for helping students with learning differences.  It’s truly going global.”

City and civic officials also extended a warm welcome to the students.  Ken Malcolmson, President and CEO of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, and Dallas City Councilperson Sandy Greyson (District 12) each met and officially greeted the Chinese teachers during their visit.

Shelton also ensured that the students had a taste of all things Texana.  “We made sure our teachers from China experienced a few of our finest traditions,” said Shelton Executive Director Suzanne Stell.  Ken Utz' music students sang Deep in the Heart of Texas for the visitors, and attendees were presented with goody bags packed with Texas treats.

For the 20^th year, Shelton School conducted its Brian Price Jump-a-thon on Valentine’s Day.  Just about everyone was jumping for heart awareness in one way or another.  Students in grades Early Childhood through six jumped rope to have fun and raise awareness for the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome (SADS) Foundation. The event is named in memory of Brian Price, who died in 1998 of the syndrome.  He was the grandson of Shelton employee Betty Glasheen, who, along with her daughter Kathy Price Martin, founded the Shelton event.   The Jump-a-thon is held annually around Valentine’s Day, when nationwide interest is focused on heart health.

The Middle School Student Council jumped through candy hoops as they supported the cause by selling Valentine’s candy and stuffed animals, with proceeds going to the SADS Foundation. Other staff and students supported the cause by contributing an optional amount to wear jeans for a day. This year’s event raised some $2,000 for SADS.

The inherited Long QT Syndrome (LQTS) can cause fainting and sudden death.  LQTS is an electrical malfunction of the heart that causes over 4,000 unexplained deaths a year among otherwise healthy youngsters.  SADS is a disorder that, when diagnosed, is readily treatable through medications known generally as beta-blockers.  It is important that all family members be tested for the syndrome once a family member is identified as a Long QT Syndrome patient.

Also on campus today was Shelton eighth-grader Bran Lackey.  Bran was born with Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), which consists of four separate structural defects in his heart that have already required multiple surgeries, and may require more.   Bran has been jumping rope at Shelton’s Jumpathon since fourth grade, as well as for the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Jump Ropes / Hoops for Heart.  Bran is now in his seventh year of fundraising for the AHA.  The funds he has raised are used for research, science and education, and some for local schools with limited resources that need new gym and recess equipment to expand fitness options. For each of the last seven years, Bran has been the number one student fundraiser in the United States for the AHA, to date over $120,000.

The stories of Brian Price and Bran Lackey deal with medical conditions of the heart, each unique.  But their stories go beyond the medical condition and connect on a different plane – they touch on the human condition, and what families undergo when a loved one suffers from or succumbs to heart disease.  With the families of both Brian and Bran, each has chosen to create something positive out of situations that are not, or were not, positive.   Each has chosen life-affirming activities and actions that move awareness beyond concepts.

Everyone can take heart that the actions of Shelton students will help many others

Shelton School's high school Spanish instructor Adria Ger is the latest faculty member to benefit from the school's professional development grants.  She spent January 16 – 26 in Colorado, where she visited four educational institutions to gain knowledge in foreign language instruction.  She also attended the Courage to Risk conference in Colorado Springs.  The conference is a regional conference that covers the gamut of educational and special education topics.

Ger visited campuses, had meetings with curriculum specialists and administrators, reviewed curriculum, and conducted 13 class observations at The University of Colorado in Boulder (Modified Foreign Language Program), Loveland School District, Denver School District, and Denver Academy, an independent school much akin to Shelton.

Says Adria, “My whirlwind, 11-day educational tour in Colorado was exciting, educational, exhausting and exhilarating. I’m still overwhelmed by the enormity of the experience.  My sincere thanks to Shelton for offering me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” She plans to share her experience with other staff members at an upcoming in-service.  Such opportunities are a win-win-win for the grant recipient, Shelton students, and colleagues.

Shelton School hosted its annual Grandparents’ Day on November 17.  Always popular with students and staff, the event is scheduled prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, when many visiting grandparents from out of town can share the day.  A record crowd of some 1,200 guests packed Shelton’s gym and spilled into the bleachers.  The theme was Unwrap the Potential.

Attendees enjoyed a Continental breakfast and were greeted by Upper School Student Council President Lexi Galardi.   Grandparents were next entertained with a lineup of talent featuring Shelton choirs, cheer groups, upper elementary music students, high school band, and high school drumline. Stage and technical crews were student-led under the direction of Clay Houston.

Veterans in attendance were recognized for their service and presented with gift certificates to redeem in Shelton’s school store.

Senior Beau Bundrant was the featured speaker.  He shared stories of struggles during his early school career in Indiana, a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder (ADD), and his eventual multiple successes when he began school at Shelton and experienced new approaches to learning. Beau today is involved with honor classes, student council, track and football, and the club Chargers for Change. 

Grandparents attended mini classes with their grandchildren.  They met teachers and learned firsthand about the daily studies and activities of their grandchildren. They also showed their grandparents how to post photos on social media.

Shelton’s Parents’ Association coordinated the special day.  Co-chairs were Margaret Walsh and Brandy Stafford, repeat chairpersons for a favorite occasion.  The day was a great send-off for the Thanksgiving season.  Earlier in the week middle school students culminated a food drive that netted 8,777 cans of food that were distributed between Shelton’s neighbor Dallas Bible Church and North Dallas Shared Ministries.  

Students from Shelton School honored veterans at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Dallas by creating and sending them individual cards.  Through a special Shelton program called Families, some 600 students commemorated Veterans Day by designing cards on November 9^th.  The Families program comprises students from Lower School, Upper Elementary and Middle School.  Students are paired at the beginning of the school year — sixth-graders with primary and first-and second-graders, seventh grade with third / fourth, and eighth grade with fifth.  The paired units work together on various projects throughout the year, some of which involve community service.

Families students made their cards for patients in the Veterans Administration Hospital in Dallas.  Faculty members and Families sponsors Beth Womble and Lena Hilbert will be delivering the cards to the VA Hospital on behalf of all the Shelton students.

In addition to paying tribute to vets at the VA Hospital, Shelton also recognized its own faculty and staff veterans:  Glen Brown, Phillip Carroll, Jeff Pierce, Marc Shepherd and Cecil Young.  Shelton music instructor Ken Utz also explained and performed a taps bugle call on the playground for a gathering of Lower School students.

“I’m glad we take time to honor our vets at Shelton.  Even at an early age, students can be taught to respect those who serve our nation,” says Head of School Linda Kneese.