1 Wendy Powell — A belated Teacher Appreciation Week (May 5 to 9) call out to Wendy Powell, the outstanding theater teacher at Dealey Montessori and International Academy.
Mrs. Powell is one of those rare educators who gets aspiring middle school thespians. She nurtures and mentors the Dealey middle school theater students, those on the stage and those behind the stage. She is quick to describe her teaching philosophy as “student-led.”
The leadership skills that Mrs. Powell teaches will prove invaluable to her young students as they pursue their future academic and workplace lives.
She chose the middle school-friendly musical Dear Edwina, Jr. for the spring production. Despite students’ overwhelming reluctance to even consider singing and dancing on stage for their friends and family, they rose to occasion. They sang, they danced, they lived this musical.
With Mrs. Powell’s constant patience and encouragement, 70, yes 70, theater students gave five standing-room-only performances of the rollicking musical.
It warmed the cockles of my heart to watch the cast take their final bow as proud Dealey theater students. Bravo to Mrs. Powell and her students!
Beth Parmley, Dallas
2 SMU Alumni Relations — Southern Methodist University Class of 1975 just celebrated our 50th reunion along with the current class of 2025 during commencement weekend. It was a wonderful time to reconnect with friends, meet new ones and enjoy being back on campus. As many of us remarked, we haven’t changed — much!
The SMU Alumni Relations team deserves a huge thank you for all its time, planning and care that went into the weekend.
I realized that even though we don’t see each other or keep in touch very well, it doesn’t matter. When you share a life-changing event with people, years don’t matter, the time spent does.
While we spent time laughing (a lot) about the past, we also caught up on each others’ lives, both happy times and sad ones. We missed those who weren’t able to be there and shared memories of those from our class who have died.
We made some promises to do a better job of keeping up with each other, made plans with those of us who live close by to get together, and those who don’t promised to come to a football game in the fall.
Above all, I think we all realized how special the time spent was, and is. Three cheers to everyone who made our 50th reunion so very fun and cheers to the Golden Mustangs, Class of 1975!
Perri Brackett, Lewisville
3 Dallas Stars player Mikko Rantanen — Sitting in the nosebleed seats at the Stars’ Game 7 against the Colorado Avalanche, I felt the crowd and players appear flat as the Avs took a commanding lead. Then Mikko Rantanen, whom the Stars brilliantly acquired at the trade deadline, took charge of the game against his former team and carried the Stars to an improbable victory with a hat trick.
And to prove his impressive feat wasn’t a fluke, he scored another hat trick in Game 1 vs. the Winnipeg Jets.
Thank you, Mikko Rantanen, and the Stars for bringing much-needed joy to weary Dallas sports fans. Let’s bring the Stanley Cup back to Dallas!
Ann Pask, Dallas/Preston Hollow