Education Notebook: Abilene ISD chooses next Ward Elementary principal

Blake Fuller will be the principal at Ward Elementary School beginning the 2023-24 school year.

He takes over for Dawn Ripple, who is retiring.

Fuller currently is instructional specialist at Mann Middle School.

An Abilene native, Fuller attended Bowie Elementary, Lincoln Middle School and Abilene High. He is a McMurry University graduate who received his master's degree at Lamar University.

Fuller started with the Abilene ISD in 2012 as a biology teacher at AHS. He taught eighth-grade science at Mann before becoming an assistant principal there for 2019-20 school year.

He was interim principal in 2022.

"Ward is a campus known for doing great things, and we will continue to grow in all areas and serve all students," Fuller said in an AISD media release. "I live in the Wildcat neighborhood and I am proud to serve the Ward community.”

Superintendent David Young said, “Blake has everything it takes to excel as the leader of Ward Elementary School. His love for mentoring students and history of building productive relationships with teachers in Abilene ISD has prepared him well for this new role."

ATEMS, Hendrick lighting up anti-tobacco effort

An educational initiative between Hendrick Cancer Center and the ATEMS is leveraging peer pressure for good to encourage youngsters to avoid electronic cigarettes and other tobacco-related products.

Earlier this year, Linda Neill, manager for education services at the center, trained several student council members at the Abilene ISD high school in tobacco cessation principles. They then created a program that included PowerPoint visuals and role playing to present to fifth graders at some Abilene Independent School District elementary schools.

“I normally do a ‘Say No to Tobacco’ talk to fifth-graders,” Neill said. “The ATEMS students delivering the message on the harms of vaping, cigarettes and other tobacco products makes such a bigger impact than me. They did a wonderful job.”

Vaping has become a chronic problem among older children, she said.

“E-cigarettes are a way for adult smokers to wean off cigarettes, but in the hands of children, they are very dangerous,” Neill said.

Research shows that children who vape are more likely to transition to cigarette smoking. In addition, one e-cigarette cartridge can have as much nicotine as a pack of 20 cigarettes.

The added danger of youngsters vaping is the detrimental impact of that high dose of nicotine on the brain, which continues to develop until age 25. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, nicotine use in adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood and impulse control. In addition, vaping causes irreparable damage to the lungs.

“Nicotine addiction at a young age has not only physical consequences but also causes mental and behavioral issues,” she said.

The ATEMS students also recalibrated the program and presented it to middle and high school students at Winters ISD.

Neill commended the ATEMS students for enthusiastically embracing the community service project, which will continue in the next school year.

“I have loved this project. It’s been the biggest blessing personally,” she said.

Princeton Review: ACU game design program one of the best

For the eighth consecutive year, Abilene Christian University has earned a top spot on The Princeton Review’s list of best game design programs. ACU is ranked No. 28 in the “Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Game Design for 2023” list, remaining the same as last year.

“We have found that our ranking brings awareness of the Digital Entertainment Technology program to people who might not have considered ACU,” said Dr. Brian Burton, associate professor and lead faculty of the program.

Programs are ranked based on a survey conducted in 2022 of administrators at 150 institutions offering game design coursework and/or degrees in the U.S., Canada and some countries abroad. The survey covers a range of topics, from academics and faculty credentials to graduates’ employment and career achievements. ACU has the highest-ranked program at a faith-based university and is the second highest-ranked program in Texas. The full report can be seen at princetonreview.com/game-design.

The game design program at ACU is part of the School of Information Technology and Computing’s digital entertainment technology degree, which equips students with the tools needed to create digital content and learn about the creative processes behind concepts and design.

“Students graduating from Digital Entertainment Technology are in high demand,” Burton said. “With our new classes on how to use the recent developments in Artificial Intelligence, DET students are even more productive and finding new ways to apply their knowledge.”

PC Gamer magazine, The Princeton Review‘s reporting partner for this project since 2013, has a feature article on the rankings in its May issue.

Fundraising begins for $4.5M center at ACU library

ACU's Brown Library announced the start of fundraising for the Landon Saunders Center for Joy and Human Flourishing at the annual Friends of ACU Library dinner Wednesday night.

The center, named in honor of longtime preacher, speaker and former Abilenian Landon Saunders, has a mission to promote conversation and reflection upon the primacy of joy and human flourishing.

A fundraising goal of $4.5 million has been set with the objectives to:

• Instill themes of joy, belonging and flourishing in all ACU students.

• Host and curate conversations in the form of curricular planning, conferences, multimedia content and lecture series for religious and academic groups.

• Cultivate strategic partnerships between religious and non-religious institutions that promote joy and human flourishing.

Saunders and his nonprofit, Heartbeat Inc., donated more than 50 years’ worth of personal correspondence, financial records, audio and video recordings, photos and curricular materials to the ACU Brown Library. He has been the president of Heartbeat since 1971. The program began through Herald of Truth Ministries, and in its early days it was based in Abilene. Later, he relocated Heartbeat to Houston and then to New York City, where he hosted the Heartbeat radio program, which was broadcast on NBC, CBS and Armed Forces radio networks.

At Wednesday’s dinner, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters and named the ACU Library Friend of the Year.

A native of West Virginia, Saunders served as a minister in Churches of Christ in Arkansas and Tennessee before moving to Abilene in 1971. For several years, he was the minister at Minter Lane Church of Christ. Today, he is a resident of Norwich, Vermont, and in addition to being a frequent lecturer at churches and universities, he also serves on the board of the Yale University Center for Faith and Culture and as a Fellow of the Caris Life Sciences Foundation.

“Landon has an uncanny ability to communicate religious and theological messages to audiences that don't have a religious background,” Wiser said. “He has also served as mentor to hundreds of business leaders and ministers from around the world. He is also the nicest man alive and the most mesmerizing speaker.”

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Education Notebook: Abilene ISD chooses next Ward Elementary principal