Below is a photo slideshow of some of this week’s events.

Friday, Nov. 9

• Johnson Elementary School will host two student assemblies. Kindergarten through second grade will be from 8:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Grades 3 and 4 will have their assembly from 8:45 a.m.- 9:15 a.m.
• Walnut Grove Elementary School welcomes Dawson Middle School principal Ryan Wilson for the grand finale of its Veterans Day program. Over 120 fourth grade students will sing. The performance begins at 8:30 a.m. Click here to print the flyer.
• Eubanks Intermediate School plans to Skype with two members of the U.S. military during the school assembly at 9 a.m. in the gym.
• Carroll Middle School also has an hour long Veterans Day celebration, scheduled to start at 9 a.m.
• Dawson Middle School hosts its annual Veterans Day Assembly in the afternoon. The program begins at 3 p.m. and should last about an hour.

Monday, Nov. 12

• Carroll Elementary School students and staff celebrate Veterans Day during a special event starting at 8:30 a.m.
• Old Union Elementary School will host two Veterans Day programs to accommodate busy schedules. The first is at 8:30 a.m. and the second is at 6:00 p.m. Both will be inside the school cafeteria.
• Carroll High School hosts a Veterans Day Celebration at 10:30 a.m. The program should last about 45 minutes.
• Carroll Senior High School welcomes a guest speaker and featured performances from the choir as well as student artwork during a Veterans Day ceremony from 10:30 a.m.- 11:20 a.m.
• Durham Intermediate School plans a Veterans day Assembly in the campus gym from 2:45- 3:40p.m.

The new Walnut Grove Elementary school opened it’s doors to students this school year. Due to possible construction, the PTO will host the carnival at Durham Intermediate School located at 801 Shady Oaks. The event begins at 6:00 p.m. and runs until 9:00 p.m. There will be food, game tents and bounce houses.

WGES PTO is currently looking for 30-35 volunteers to particpate in this year’s event. If you would like to help, please email Gina Aalund, Carnival Volunteer Coordinator.

The  winning team was the Smurfs — Rawlins Chaffe, Garrett Orr, Ally Wiseman, Carlee Miller and Myles Chanman.

The ice gets shaved starting at 1:00 p.m. in front of the Durham Elementary building for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade.

Second through fourth graders will be served at the back of the building starting at 2:35. All teachers received a snow cone schedule.

Students at Durham, led by this year’s Bunny and Bear Drive Ambassador Brooke Henry (pictured left), donated 181 stuffed animals to be delivered to the hospital. Those stuffed toys were added to donations from other schools, churches and families for a grand total of 3,265 bunnies and bears.

The annual drive was started several years ago by Haley Whatley (pictured below) from North Richland Hills. Whatley wanted to help children who were sick. This is the 11th year for the drive.

Cornish was back “by popular demand” after entertaining the students at DIS last year. The Fort Worth resident performs for students from Pre-K to high school and also works with at-risk children.

De Cee Cornish’s Website

Beanland will meet with Durham’s 4th grade class in the library to talk about how to become a published author. Through her experiences, students will learn about the writing process including working with editors, handling feedback and believing in what they write.

This year, a very special guest will appear with the 100-voice choir.  Jennifer Chung, Operatic Soprano, will be performing with the group.  She has performed many operatic roles in Dallas, San Francisco, Arizona, Virginia, and other states, as well as being principal soloist with many well-known orchestras such as the Plano Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, St. Gallen Orchestra in Switzerland and others.  She lives in Grapevine, with her husband, Philippe, and their two-year-old daughter, Charlotte.

Durham Elementary science lab students began an experimental Square Foot Garden (SFG) this fall all because of one very motivated student. Max Kleespies (pictured right) became interested in gardening as a kindergarten student. Throughout the summer his mother brought him to the DES garden to spent time, weed, watch plants grow, walk through the paths and enjoy the harvest. They began researching to see what kind of vegetable garden would work best in their backyard. They built a Square Foot Garden and brought the idea to school.

Max is a DES first grader this year. His interest in Square Foot Gardening has enriched the education for all of the DES students. There are SFG workshops open to the public the first Thursday of each month from 3-4 p.m. in the DES science lab. The workshops are taught by HD Overby.

Some of the DES raised garden beds are being converted to SFG beds. Community businesses are excited about Durham’s interest in SFG and have donated all of the soil materials. Our thanks go out to Blooming Colors, The Home Depot, Master Made Feeds, Inc. and McDonnell Building Materials Co., Inc. Stop by the garden and watch the transformation. We are hoping for a mild winter so that we can enjoy two growing seasons this school year.