Denton ISD Our Impact In Your Community Magazine Winter 2017-18 | Page 12

Brady Fleitman, from Houston Elementary, was the district’s overall 1st place winner in the 2017-18 Adopt-A-School Art Contest. Celebrating with him are Mario Zavala, Director of Communications & Community Relations for Denton ISD; Nathan Stafford, Branch Manager UMB Bank; Beena Momin, Owner of Mathnasium of Denton; Kathleen Schaefer, Manager of Barnes & Noble; Lindsey Dykes, Art Teacher and Gennifer Smith, Assistant Principal. MASCOT MAGIC Story and photos by Courtney Martin Adopt-a-School contests celebrate exceptional writers, artists It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s…a flying bulldog?  For many of Denton Independent School District’s fourth and fifth-graders, their imaginations took flight as they skillfully tried to capture what the world would look like if their school mascots became a superhero for the day.   For the past 12 years, the district’s Adopt-A- School program has hosted the annual art and essay contest.  Each year, partners select a theme with the hopes of providing a bit of fun and competition, along with STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) test preparation.  The contest helps students make their ideas come to life through their creativity in both word and color through their essays and artwork.   Assisted by their campus business and 12 community partners, each campus selects the top three students for each category.  In early November, winners were chosen and each were su rprised by district administrators and business representatives at their campuses in with trophies for their accomplishments. “I’ve never received a trophy before for anything,” said Cole Loper, fourth grader at Lee Elementary School with a huge smile across his face. First place winners representing each campus were recognized in early December for their accomplishments during two events where all of the first-place artwork was on display.   During one presentation Beena Momin, owner of Mathnasium - Denton, commented, “It is an amazing and a prideful experience to be