FORT WORTH, Texas – Thirty-two teams of high school students from across the United States are preparing to head to Texas for the 31^st annual Solar Car Challenge, during which they will race around Texas Motor Speedway for four days to see which team’s car goes the greatest distance. The race begins July 14.

The Solar Car Challenge, which is a finalist in the 2024 D CEO Nonprofit and Corporate Citizenship Awards in the Innovation and Education category, was established in 1993 by educator Dr. Lehman Marks. The program is designed to help motivate students in the fields of science, technology and alternative energy. Preparations for this year’s race began with educational workshops last September, though it can take teams two to three years to see their ideas come to fruition. Students built the cars using their own ideas and starting from scratch. Before the race, their cars will face “scrutineering” – rigorous evaluation by a panel of experienced judges – at the speedway from July 11-13.

During the race, car breakdowns, weather conditions and team experience will limit the number of miles a team can drive each day. The team driving the most miles accumulated over the four days of racing at Texas Motor Speedway will be declared the winner.

“Students who take part in the Solar Car Challenge have a 23% greater chance of going into a STEM career than students participating in other STEM programs. This is the top project-based STEM program in the country,” Marks said. “We teach the kids how to build a plan, come up with a budget, fundraise, how to engineer the car and manage the project, all while they’re learning about how to harness energy from the sun to make a car go down the road.”

This year’s Solar Car Challenge will feature 32 teams from 12 states, including 16 teams from Texas, four teams from California, two each from Kentucky and Florida, and one each from Idaho, Maryland, Connecticut, Missouri, Oregon, Washington, Arkansas and Michigan. There are teams in various stages of development in 39 states, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Spain and Singapore. A cross-country version of the race occurs biannually, with alternating years showcasing cars on the track at Texas Motor Speedway.

“This is the brain sport,” Marks said. “It’s not just about building the car, but how to drive that car, solve the inevitable problems that happen with the car, and keeping your team intact through four grueling days of racing. Doing the Solar Car Challenge makes these students better equipped to face the challenges they’ll have in life.”

For more information on the Solar Car Challenge, visit https://www.solarcarchallenge.org/challenge/media.shtml.

For photos and videos of prior races, contact Sunwest Communications at HEC@sunwestpr.com.

A media day will be held on Friday, July 12, at Texas Motor Speedway. Contact Sunwest Communications at HEC@sunwestpr.com for more information.

For sponsorship information on the Solar Car Challenge Foundation, contact Dr. Marks at 214.587.8489 or LehmanM743@aol.com.

ABOUT THE SOLAR CAR CHALLENGE

The Solar Car Challenge & Education Program is designed to help motivate students in Science, Engineering, and Alternative Energy.  We teach high school students how to plan, design, engineer, build, race, and evaluate roadworthy solar cars.  Students demonstrate that green technology can create a better world. The Solar Car Challenge has 261 ongoing high school solar car projects located in 39 states, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, the Bahamas, Spain and Singapore.  These teams are in the process of designing, engineering and building roadworthy solar cars in anticipation of an upcoming solar racing event.  The Challenge’s Education Program provides support for schools seeking to be a part of this top project-based STEM Initiative.  The Solar Car Challenge’s Education Program has served the educational community for 26 national events.  More than 65,000 students have directly benefited from this program. 

Fairmont Dallas is proud to introduce Adam Reson as the hotel’s new Executive Chef.

Chef Adam Reson’s culinary journey was first ignited with a childhood passion for cooking, sparking a fiery dream to become a master chef. A proud native of North Texas, Reson is on a relentless quest to elevate regional flavors, passionately sourcing the freshest ingredients from the fertile Texas Hill Country — juicy peaches, succulent stone fruits, and prime Texan-raised cattle and game. His dishes, while deeply rooted in Texan tradition, are infused with a vibrant International flair, thanks to his globe-trotting adventures, especially his gastronomic escapades in France. This dynamic blend of local and global flavors makes every bite an unforgettable experience.

Chef Reson began his career at Fairmont Dallas as a culinary intern and previously served as the hotel’s Executive Sous Chef, consistently showcasing his talent in crafting unique cuisines that captivate guests.  

“I look forward to continuing my career at Fairmont Dallas and further strengthening the hotel’s role in the local dining scene,” Chef Reson said. “I am eager to bring my innovative approaches to our wonderful culinary team.”

Before returning to Fairmont Dallas, Chef Reson served as Chef de Partie, Sous Chef, and later Chef De Cuisine at FL.2 Modern American within Fairmont Pittsburgh.

“I enjoy pushing boundaries and ensuring exceptional gastronomic experiences for our guests,” Chef Reson said. “I am eager to embody the essence of the Fairmont brand values in culinary creations to provide the best experience possible for our hotel guests and locals.”

Chef Reson embodies a philosophy of simple elegance, aiming to deliver effortlessly sophisticated cuisine to a discerning city. He is looking forward to implementing a new dining program at the hotel’s signature restaurant, the Pyramid Restaurant and Bar, in the elite urban setting of the Dallas Arts District. In addition to developing menus for the Pyramid, Chef Reson will oversee catering options available in the hotel’s 70,000 square feet of meeting space including the iconic Venetian Room.

Pyramid Restaurant and Bar is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serving a variety of dishes inspired by Texas growers and regional vendors.

Galleria Dallas is always evolving, opening its doors to new retailers and restaurants and installing updates throughout the 1.9 million square foot venue. Now, the shopping center announces a new anchor, a hotly anticipated entertainment venue.

Netflix House, a permanent entertainment venue, will be an unforgettable experience featuring your favorite Netflix stories and characters beyond the screen year-round. At Netflix House, you can enjoy regularly updated immersive experiences with your friends and family, indulge in retail therapy and taste your favorite Netflix series and films through unique food and drink offerings. This will be the first Netflix House in Texas, and only one of two to be announced in the United States. Netflix House is expected to open in fall 2025.

“Welcoming Netflix House to Galleria Dallas allows the center to sit at the forefront of the experiential economy, which is such a key aspect of retail today,” said Galleria Dallas General Manager Angie Freed.  “We’re focused on giving our guests the best possible experience as they shop, dine and spend time with friends and family.”

Netflix House is currently undergoing construction on two floors of the anchor space on the northwest side of the shopping center.

About Galleria Dallas 

Galleria Dallas is an iconic shopping center with a unique collection of more than 200 retailers, restaurants and experiences including Nordstrom, Macy’s, the world’s only GAP, Banana Republic and Old Navy combo anchor, The Westin Galleria Dallas and the signature Galleria Ice Skating Center. Welcoming more than 12 million visitors annually, only Galleria Dallas delivers the consummate Dallas shopping experience. Visit galleriadallas.com for hours and to learn more about the shopping center. Galleria Dallas is owned by MetLife Investment Management, managed by Trademark Property Group, Inc.  Galleria Dallas, 13350 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, Texas, 75240.

For Social Media:  @GalleriaDallas #GalleriaDallas @galleriadallasiceskating #galleriadallasiceskating

Shelton Executive Director Emeritus Joyce Pickering and Associate Head of School Amy Cushner are featured in a Greenspring Center for Lifelong Learning podcast on "Early Signs of Learning Differences to Look for in the Primary Classroom." Pickering and Cushner outline development during the Primary years, emphasizing the importance of early identification and intervention for children with learning differences. They highlight how Montessori materials and lessons can be adapted to support diverse learners and caution against a "wait and see" approach, which can result in missed opportunities for early intervention and additional suffering for the child. Instead, they recommend implementing adaptive strategies as soon as a child is identified as at risk, ensuring that the child receives necessary support. 

Dr. Joyce Pickering is a 50-year Montessorian, speech and language pathologist, and learning disabilities specialist who has devoted her life to addressing the needs of students with learning differences. She is the author of "Montessori Strategies for Children with Learning Differences: The MACAR Model," with Sylvia O. Richardson, M.D. 

Amy Cushner is certified in Sequential English Education and the Association Method programs for the remediation of written language disorders, as well as advanced levels of Montessori Applied to Children at Risk. Amy holds a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, Montessori-credentialed (E1) MACTE, is a Licensed Dyslexia Therapist (Texas), Certified Academic Language Therapist, QI, and has worked at the Shelton School for 30 years.

Listen to the podcast at this link.

A new foster parent resource has launched as part of a foster parent awareness campaign to recruit loving foster homes in Metroplex East, a nine-county region in North Texas including Dallas, Collin, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, Navarro and Rockwall. 

There are currently over 2,000 children in foster care within the Metroplex East region and a shortage of foster homes. To fulfill the need of finding more loving homes for children, EMPOWER is launching the Empower Dreams, Foster Futures awareness campaign to inform the Metroplex East community about the life-changing impact to children by becoming a foster parent. The newly developed online toolkit of information for prospective foster parents has been created to help those interested find support and the best placement agency tailored to their unique needs.

Finding the right support and tools when embarking on the journey to become a licensed foster parent is paramount. This user-friendly, intuitive platform is tailored to help navigate the process with ease and precision. Families and individuals can find foster home providers based on proximity to location, specialties and categories, and counties served. 

Due to instability and other factors, children in foster care face higher rates of poverty, incarceration, and mental health issues. Loving foster families play a huge role in making a difference in the lives of these children. Foster parents often provide a safe and nurturing base for children during a short time while agencies are advocating for and with their biological families, with the end goal of children reuniting with their family or primary caregiver. 

“All children deserve a loving home to experience stability, whether it is for a short time or an extended period,” says Dr. Linda Garcia, Senior Vice President of EMPOWER. “There is a great need for more foster parents in North Texas to provide safe and stable environments for children in our communities. We hope that those that are able will consider becoming a licensed foster parent. We see the difference these families make in the lives and futures of children every day.”

EMPOWER is a nonprofit child welfare collaborative and the Community-Based Care contractor for the Metroplex East region in North Texas. EMPOWER provides foster care case management, kinship and reunifications services for all children and families in the region.

The Metroplex East region’s new foster parent online resource features different agencies and organizations to help families walk through the process of becoming a foster parent, support them through each placement and provide training services to help foster families improve and learn new parenting techniques. The process to become a licensed foster parent is broken into three main steps, each with supportive materials, including:

• Step One - Finding the right foster care provider agency. 

• Step Two - Walking through the process of becoming a foster parent with the chosen agency and receiving support with the required documents, training, home studies, background checks, and references. 

• Step Three - After becoming a licensed foster parent, the next step is to receive a first placement where case workers will be available to help at all times. Foster families will also continue to complete foster parent training hours each year they are licensed to help them improve and learn new parenting skills. 

“Though it surely has challenges, it’s important to remember healing is not linear,” says Kayla and Joseph Liz, licensed foster parents with CK Family Services’ Treatment Foster Care Program. “With every challenge overcome brings a greater reward. It’s been very fulfilling having the opportunity to change someone’s life around for the better.”

Foster care journeys are a life changing experience for both the foster families and the children. Deciding to become a foster parent is the first step in making a lasting impact on the lives of children. 

There are many local children in foster care in need of a safe, loving place to call home. To learn more about becoming a foster parent and other ways individuals and families can help these children in need, please visit 3empower.org/fosterfutures.