The top 12 stories of 2024 in Arlington ISD
Does it seem like 2024 flew by, or was it just in the Arlington ISD?
Regardless, 2024 was a huge year for the Arlington ISD and it started early.
In January, the district made a big splash by welcoming new superintendent Dr. Matt Smith.
And that was just the start to a year that included record-setting cattle, huge scholarship dollars for our student athletes and so much more. With more than 300 stories published on the district’s Looped In blog, we had lots of great options to choose from.
Here are the top 12 stories of 2024 in Arlington ISD (in no order).
1. Welcome Dr. Smith
The Arlington ISD came out of the winter break with big news, as Dr. Matt Smith was named the new superintendent on Jan. 8. He didn’t waste any time in getting started either, as Dr. Smith started Jan. 30 with several campus visits.
2. We’re a Super district
We’re getting close to playoff time for the NFL, and you can rest assured the Arlington ISD will be represented. In fact, the district has a way of getting alumni into the Super Bowl. For the third-straight year, the district had a player in the Super Bowl. In 2024, it was former Martin High School standout Brayden Willis for the San Francisco 49ers. Who is going to keep the streak going in 2025?
3. A big deal at the Stock Show
Arlington High School student Brooklyn Sinclair made history in February, as she became the first district student to have an animal earn a spot in the Fort Worth Stock Show Syndicate’s Junior Sale of Champions. Her steer Kerosene sold for a whopping $47,500. What makes the story even more amazing is that Sinclair did all the work while undergoing cancer treatment.
4. A broken record … again
In case you didn’t know it, the Arlington ISD has lots of smart students. Record-setting in fact. For the third-straight year, the district set a record for the number of National Merit Semifinalists or students who received College Board recognition. In 2024, that number increased to 150. And spoiler alert, that record will be broken again this school year. Stay tuned!
5. Total eclipse of the district
In case you missed it, there was a big solar eclipse in April that just happened to include the Arlington ISD. We were prepared for it, too, with a little help from an outstanding STEM Academy student who was helping out NASA. We had all kinds of prep, too, with a visit from a former student turned space physicist, curriculum designed for the eclipse and by finding out what our students wanted to learn.
6. Barbecuing the competition
The Arlington ISD is home to the Smokin’ Ferrets, an outstanding competition barbecue team that is made up of students at the Dan Dipert Career + Technical Center. If you didn’t know that by now, you’re in the minority. The team was featured on the “BBQ High” reality show that aired on the Magnolia Network. We chronicled their exploits weekly.
7. Good Morning Martin High School
In case you didn’t know it, fine arts are a big deal in the Arlington ISD. It helps that we have outstanding teachers like Kay Owens, who retired after the 2023-24 school year. But she went out with a bang as she was surprised by ABC’s Good Morning America live in April. The surprise included visits from three Martin alumni, Will Ganss with ABC and Scott Hoying and Kirstin Maldonado from the musical group Pentatonix.
8. Big money for student-athletes
Arlington ISD student-athletes continue to excel at all levels, whether they’re still in the district, in college or professional athletes. The ones in the district made waves in May when 112 of our student athletes earned more than $6 million in scholarship money from more than 70 colleges.
9. State champs
It had been a while since the district had won a team state title in a UIL team sport. The Martin boys wrestling team ended that in February by winning the Class 6A state title. It was the first team title for the district since the Seguin High School girls track team won the state title in 2015.
10. Opal Lee visits Sam Houston
The Black History Month program at Sam Houston High School continues to grow. It’s going to be hard to top last February’s event though because of the keynote speaker. Opal Lee, the catalyst for Juneteenth, was the star of the show as she wanted to attend the event after hearing such good things about the program at Sam Houston.
11. Joey Rodriguez honored
When Carter Junior High is replaced in the fall of 2025, the school will have a new name. That’s because the Arlington ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously in April to name the school Joey Rodriguez Junior High School. Rodriguez was the soccer coach at Sam Houston High School who led the Texans to the state tournament twice before dying in 2021 after a battle with COVID-19.
12. Lamar student takes center stage
Lamar High School junior Fred Threats Jr. is a force to be reckoned with to anyone that crosses paths with him. A national AVID audience got to experience that for themselves as Threats was one of the featured speakers at the AVID Summer Institute in front of thousands of teachers from across the country. Threats’ power of positivity certainly left an outstanding impression on the crowd.