FYI


  • Basketball Skills Class For Grades 1-3

    Basketball skills coach Quanli Li would like to let you know that she just started a new class for grades 1 to 3 because her other class for the little ones on Saturday was too full. The new class takes place at 6:45PM every Thursday inside QD Academy (see map). There still are a few spots left. If you are interested in having your kids learning correct basketball handling skills and concepts, welcome to contact coach Li at 972-359-9996 or Bestquanli@yahoo.com.

  • How to Dispose Used Batteries

    Battery TypeWay to Dispose
    Alkaline BatteriesWrap them in a plastic bag and dispose of them with your regular garbage.
    Rechargeable BatteriesDrop them off at Lowe's stores or Plano Libraries collection boxes.
    Button Cell BatteriesMany shops that replace watch and hearing aid batteries will accept them for recycling at no charge.
    Lead-Acid BatteriesCall 972-769-4150 to schedule a home pickup.
    Uninterrupted Power Supply Batteriescan be recycled at Batteries Plus (see map), (972) 423-6100.

    Source: Batteries page on Plano government web site. For more information, click here.

  • STEAM Academy in PISD

    Plano ISD has been planning a new junior high school called STEAM Academy. The name STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, digital arts, and mathematics. It will open in the fall of 2013.

    Students would be selected via lottery with a limited number of seats per 9-10 feeder system. The number of seats will be calculated proportionally for each 9-10 school feeder system. The academy will have a later start and end time to accommodate a shuttle service from the existing six high schools. This service is only at the start and end of the school day at the academy.

    Several local cooperates have committed funds to STEAM. For example, TI (Texas Instruments) has committed $5M (see the related news here).
    The possible location for the academy is 1701 Alma Drive, Plano (see map).

    For more information about the selection of students, budget, and staffing, etc., click here. To watch how things develop in the near future, visit the Academy Visioning Committee web site.

  • Vacation Home Near Disney World For Lease

    1-story. 6-bdr. With WiFi, 4 Cable TVs, and telephone line.
    Location: 15 minutes drive to Disney World in FL. Next to I-4 and State HWY 27.
    For more information about the house, click here.
    For any questions, contact the owner, Dr. Maggie Li, at 214-929-9291 or maggie_meihua@yahoo.com. She may offer you a special discount of 20% off all year around.

  • Online Petition Site Against PISD Rezone

    Source: Save All of PISD web site.

    If you are against PISD rezone and have no time writing an email to the PISD board members, the following is an easy way to electronically voice your opposition (There are only two steps to follow, both steps need to be completed.):

    1. Click here to find a letter to the PISD Board prepared by Save All Of PISD organization. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to fill out all the required information and click on the [Submit] button. Your information must be submitted by 08/31/2011, in order for your personal letter to be guaranteed to be included. Please only one letter per household.

    2. Click here, you will also find a completed email to send to the Board. Click on the [CLICK HERE TO GENERATE YOUR EMAIL] button and this email should automatically load into your own email account. Simply add any personal comments you would like to the email, sign your name and then click send from your email account. (If the email does not automatically load properly, you can easily copy and paste the information into your own email account for sending.) You can continue to send your emails anytime till 09/06/2011.

    For more details, please visit Save All of PISD web site.

  • Why Some Restaurant Food Tastes and Looks Better Than Homemade

    A mom would like everyone to view this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NsSC81-VfA&feature=player_embedded). In this video, a restaurant chef demonstrated how some chefs cooked by adding all sorts of artificial ingredients like meat tenderizing agent and darkening oil, etc.. This video offers some good information to know.

  • Plano Police Recording About a Missing Asian Girl

    Some people might have received a Plano Police Recording About a Missing Asian Girl who was 8 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall, dressed in black long-sleeved shirt and vest, unknown-colored pants, and went missing nearby Coit and Hedgecoxe Rd. In the recording it asked anyone who had seen the girl to report to the police. This phone message is not fake. Fortunately, this girl has been located on the same day; therefore, the case is closed.

  • The Issue on Food Contaminated by Plasticizer in Taiwan (台灣食品遭塑化劑污染問題)

    Recently there is a serious food contamination issue. A lot of food and drug items are contaminated with plasticizer. It had resulted from that some companies illegally substituted expensive palm oil with much cheaper plasticizer when manufacturing a food additive called clouding agent. The products contaminated include condensed milk, condensed juice, soda, sports drink, tea, medicine tablets, medicine syrup and yogurt products, etc.. For a list of contaminated products most recently posted by Taiwan's FDA (the list is in Chinese), click here. One of the companies caught also has a manufacturing facility in China run by the owner's father. Since China government has not started any investigation, it is unclear whether or not the food in China also gets contaminated as well.

    最近台灣有嚴重的食物污染問題。許多食品及藥品遭到塑化劑污染。原因是因為一些不肖廠商在製造一種叫做起雲劑的食物添加劑時，以廉價的 塑化劑取代昂貴倍的棕櫚油所造成。被污染的食品包括煉乳‘濃縮果汁‘汽水‘運動飲料‘茶‘藥錠‘藥用糖漿和益生菌食品等等。 如果想知道被檢驗出含塑化劑的食品有哪些，按這裡可看到台灣食品藥物管理局的五月三十一日的最新公告。 在這些不肖廠商中， 有一家在中國也有製造廠，是由老闆的父親經營的。 因為中國政府還沒開始調查，目前尚不知中國國內食品是否也遭到污染。

  • All About Food Safety

    Ms. Brooke Pierce, a tutor from tutorsindelaware.com/, and her student, Suzy, would like to recommend this great site on food safety: www.allmysons.com/knoxville/storage_guide_food_safety.aspx.

    In addition to the site mentioned above, the official information on food safety from the US government can be found on the following pages:


  • Issue About PISD Budget Cut

    A parent would like to direct every PISD parent's attention to this PISD budget cut issue because it is a serious matter. This budget cut could affect the gifted programs and band activities, etc.. He also would like to encourage every parent to attend a public forum in which Senator Shapiro and all of PISDs representatives, Taylor, Laudenberg, Madden, and Paxton have been invited to discuss the issue. Since every parent is a voter, your opinion will matter to them. The meeting will take place at PISD Admin Bldg at 7 PM on March 31 (Thursday).

    The following is a quote from him:

    Here is the article from the Dallas Morning News that mentions gifted and talented programs possibly being cut: http://planoblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/plano-isd-approves-layoffs-tha.html

    A few key passages:

    "Blaming shriveling state funds, Plano school administrators approved a second round of layoffs that will hit teachers and some of the district's prized programs."

    "Otto said he hoped to identify up to three fourths of the cuts this year. The district faces $35 million in cuts according to a Senate committee's latest proposal and $65 million based on the House's initial budget."

    "A 10-page list provides a myriad of impacted areas along with affected schools. It divulges few specifics but shows all elementary schools and most secondary schools facing teaching cuts. Support and clerical staff also appear on the list, ranging from library services in senior high schools to special education, nurses and counselors in elementary schools. Programs downsized include early childhood, multilingual services and gifted and talented. Administrators say no aspect of the district remains immune."

    PISD is asking for individual donation to PISD Education Fund. To donate online, just go to www.pisd.edu/about.us/foundation/index.shtml and click on the "Invest in a Child Today" button.

    Here is the announcement about the meeting ( you might also want to take a look at the superintendent's message ):

    4. Important PTA Legislative Announcement - Save the Date 3/31

    On Thursday March 31, Senator Shapiro and all of PISDs representatives, Taylor, Laudenberg, Madden, and Paxton, have accepted our invitation to come to a public forum and panel discussion regarding education budget cuts. It will be at 7 PM at the Admin building on 15th St. in the board room. For more information go to www.ricepta.org and also read the message from Superintendent Doug Otto at www.pisd.edu/news/archive/2010-11/legislative.message.shtml.

    As far as the Texas Legislature is concerned, they meet 140 days out of the year and get a fairly low salary, so it probably wouldn't be considered a full time job. Many of the representatives and senators are independently wealthy, so they could treat it like a full time job. Here is some more information:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Legislature

    http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/address.aspx?


  • How to Grow Potatoes in Containers

    If interested in growing potatoes in containers or bags, the following articles offer tips on how to do it:

  • [Hoax] 你家有芥花油 (Canola oil) 嗎? 別再吃了!

    You may have received a chain letter claiming that Canola oil is harmful to health. According to the NowNews.com investigation report, it is not true. If you still do not believe the report and wonder what other cooking oils can be used, you may visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_point and view a chart of the cooking oil smoke point. Since the manufacturing process and the ingredient source could affect the actual smoke point, always check the smoke point number listed on the cooking oil bottle, if it is listed. Wholefood Market has a good collection of cooking oils, including soy bean, almond, peanut, grape seed, olive, avocado, sesame, safflower, and sunflower, etc.. It is a great place to get to know different kinds of cooking oils.

  • Some Great Articles in Chinese

    Several parents would like to recommend the following great articles in Chinese. Both are quoted from a book titled "家有中等生" and authored by " 劉繼榮 " (pen name: 小东)。


  • [Hoax] Felonspy.com

    Some people might have received an email about felonspy.com. On its search page, it claims that if one enters his address, it will display the information about the convicted felons living in the nearby area. According to Snopes.com, it is a hoax web site. For more detailed information, please click here.

    Some parents might be concerned about if any sex offenders live nearby. For the residents in Collin County, the official police records can be searched on Offender Search page of Collin County Sheriff's Office web site. If an address is entered, a map and a list of registered sex offenders with their photos will be displayed. Other Texas official criminal records can also be searched on TXDPS - Crime Records Service page.

  • PISD School Board Meeting on Math Rocks!

    For those parents who would like to know more about Math Rocks program, a video mentioned about Math Rocks can be viewed on the PISD Communications site. It is a video of the PISD School Board Meeting on November 2, 2010. The segment about Math Rocks starts from 17:40.

  • How to Stop the Unwanted Solicitation and Handbills

    Sometimes unwanted solicitation can be annoying, for example, an unexpected doorbell may wake you up during the sleep, etc.. The city government of Plano has an ordinance prohibiting solicitation if a property owner has a posted sign. A violation of this ordinance is a Class C misdemeanor and may result in a fine up to $500.00. There are rules to follow when posting the signs or report the incidents. For more detials, please click here.

  • 免洗筷有多毒 六和國中生報你知

    六和高中國中部學生參加全縣科學展覽包辦第1、3名，其中找出最毒日常用品這項最受矚目，因為和大家生活息息相關。 他們實驗的對象除了免洗筷，還有其他日常生活用品。 如果有興趣知道他們的實驗結果，請看這則新聞。

  • Information about Math Rocks In PISD

    Quoted from a parent's email:

    "We went to the Math Rocks meeting this evening at Rice Middle School and it was very interesting. They said that they are expanding the program across the district and that the Math Rocks 5th graders that are now at Mathews Elementary will go to Rice. They gave the schedule for Math Rocks from 6th - 12th grade as follows:

    6th grade: Honors Math Rocks 6.
    7th grade: Honors Math Rocks 7 with Honors Algebra 1 (for high school credit).
    8th grade: Honors Math Rocks 8 with Geometry (for high school credit).
    9th grade: Algebra 2 combined with Pre-Calculus (for 2 high school credits).
    10th grade: Calculus 1/Calculus 2 (for college credit from UTD).
    11th grade: Differential Equations/Number Theory (for college credit from UTD).
    12th grade: Abstract Algebra/Multi-variable Calculus (for college credit from UTD).

    They said that Dr. Andreescu wants to teach the college classes and that they are trying to work out the details with UTD. It sounds like a great plan.

    I should add that they said that if your kid takes any of the math credit-by-exam tests, then they are out of the Math Rocks program permanently and cannot get back in.

    Here is a presentation on Math Rocks that lists the 6th - 12th grade classes. http://www.pisd.edu/staff/districtdigest/2009-10/Math_Rocks.pdf."

    For Dr. Andreescu's bio, click here.

  • Pesticides In Food: What To Eat And What To Avoid

    (Source: HuffingtonPost.com article) The EWG (Environmental Working Group) rated the 49 food items based on a variety of measurements, including percent of detectable pesticide and multiple pesticides, average number and amount of pesticides on samples, and maximum number and amounts of pesticides per item. The list is based on an analysis of 96,000 pesticide tests the USDA and FDA conducted between 2000 and 2008. Most of the tests were conducted on produce that had been rinsed and peeled. To view the EWG's full list of 49 produce items, please click here. For more questions about how to deal with the pesticides on fruits and vegetables, visit their FAQ section here.

  • SAT in Texas is FREE to high school juniors this spring!

    Due to an ongoing collaboration between the Texas Education Agency and the College Board, Texas public school, charter school and home-schooled juniors will have the opportunity to take the SAT for FREE this Spring. For more information, click here. Test date is 06/05/2010. Late registration deadline is 05/19/2010. Late registration by phone (866-756-7346) only. Late fees apply. Those who have paid for their registration can request a refund.