Story by Cary Griffin; Photos by Judy Griffin, The Forney Messenger

The Forney EDC hosted their “Eggs & Issues” mixer and networking opportunity for the third quarter Wednesday morning, July 15.

The early-morning breakfast meeting took place in the cafeteria of North Forney High School in Windmill Farms. The campus is nearly completed and will open for the beginning of school year 2009-2010, which is now only a little more than a month away.

The program began shortly after 7 a. m. with a welcome and general remarks by Bill Cates, president of the EDC Board of Directors. Charles Treadway, one of the EDC Board’s newest members, gave the invocation.

After the invocation, Mayor Darren Rozell offered brief Mayor’s comments. In his 5-minute address to EDC Board members and guests, Rozell gave an update on the status of the $20 million in RTC funds that he said Forney is willing to share with Terrell for bridge projects when the money is allocated.

The lion’s share of the program, however, went to Dr. Darrell Brown, Forney ISD’s Superintendent of Schools. As the morning’s featured speaker, Dr. Brown recognized current and past members of the FISD Board of Trustees who were in attendance; recognized the NFHS administration and staff; and then settled in to talk about North Forney High School and to give a general update on the school district.

Dr. Brown acknowledged the role that Gallagher Construction and WRA have played in the construction of the NFHS campus, and then he said he feels that part of the vision of making Forney a “destination city” is to make Forney ISD a “destination district.”

Dr. Brown went on to say that the district is projected to have 8,000 students at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. However, NFHS will start out with just freshmen and sophomores.

Dr. Brown introduced the members of the NFHS staff who were present, including Dr. Joe Kucera, the new campus’ first principal. Dr. Brown also introduced FISD Athletic Director Eli Melton and FISD Executive Director of Technology Charlie Jackson.

In giving an overview of student academic achievement as reflected in TAKS scores for school year 2008-’09, Dr. Brown noted that students have shown “very significant” gains in math and also had strong showings in reading and social studies. He added that for the first time in five years, the FISD administration anticipates that the district will have “Recognized” status when the Texas Education Agency releases its annual accountability ratings later this year and that all nine Forney elementary campuses will be rated “Exemplary”. The secondary campuses have also made significant academic gains, Dr. Brown said. He anticipates that they will receive “Recognized” status.

Under “Announcements for the Good of the Order” on the morning’s agenda, Skip Weatherford, Chair of the Forney Chamber of Commerce, announced the selection of the Chamber’s new logo and slogan and added that the Chamber is looking at a possible new location in the downtown area for its central office.

There were no other announcements or updates, and door prizes were given away. Door prizes were provided by the NFHS administration.

Tours of the NFHS campus took place after adjournment.

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This story and any accompanying photo(s) were originally published in the Forney Messenger and are Copyright © 2009, Forney Messenger, Inc. and have been used by permission. The Forney Messenger is the publisher of Kaufman County’s oldest newspaper and may be found online at www.ForneyMessengerInc.com

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