Just because everything is different doesn’t mean that anything has changed.

Well, some days are somehow or other just more notable than others, and today was an amazing day full of notable events. I got official notification today that I will be heading to the new Career Center East next year. I know that this is probably surprising news to some of you, and for others of you it may be what you expected all along. Although I have mixed feelings about leaving after spending the past decade at DJCC, I do look at this as a privilege. I have always hoped to do what I consider to be the best thing for the growth of our program and the health of career education in the district, and this is a new challenge. It will be interesting as I transition, but I do not intend to start that process now. Until this school year ends, I will be 100% fully and enthusiastically a member of the Dale Jackson Career Center faculty. I love DJCC and always will, and my pledge to all of my students is that I will always be there for them, no matter which building I may be in. The value in the relationships we build cannot be overstated.


We have so many special students at this school, and I have gotten to know most of you who are in the advanced class fairly well. I am still getting to know the new students that are in the Ad 1 class though, and I feel like I am making inroads in that process. There is a first semester student in my class that I would like to tell you a little bit about. Her name is Brittany, and she is pictured at the top of this entry. I can't believe how many talented students we get, and Brittany is one who has some notable accomplishments, I have learned.


Brittany competed in DECA her sophomore year, and she did an ad campaign that took her all the way to alternate for National competition. She took the advertising class at Flower Mound
HS and has decided that she wants to be an advertising executive or a marketing manager. She took the advertising class as a result of watching the movie "What Women Want" with Mel Gibson, and she suggests that if you haven't seen it, you should watch it. It is a movie about a guy named Nick, an egotistic and rich advertising exec in Chicago who, through a series of events gains insight into what women like and uses it to earn advantages in his job... until love gets in the way. It came out in 2000, but it hasn't lost its charm.

The range of talent that Brittany brings to the table is extensive. She has taken art, drawing and ceramics classes at Flower Mound, and she loves to be able to combine her creativity with art and her leadership ability to create a winning finished product. She likes to play soccer and is an equestrian. She owns horses and rides in competition. In school, she likes DECA and art the best. Brittany, welcome to the DJCC media arts department.

I would like to take a special moment to thank the group of students that has been around to help out lately with extra work. Tonight I had a great group stay to help with open house, and we did not leave until around 8 PM. That group included Zach, Justin, Mallory, Abby, Conner, Brandon and David.

Speaking of David, I have to stop to say an extra thanks for his help with managing extra projects. David is such a great speaker on behalf of the department and is also my "external requests manager" who deals with phone calls, clients and all of the business requests that come into our class on a daily basis. He is one of the guys with his hands very full all the time, as you can see from the photo at the top of this entry. David, you are awesome and I appreciate you.