MAJOR LEAGUE SERVICE.

From backyards to big leagues, count on me to be there. I can help you get the coverage you need and the discounts you deserve.

Jon Essary, Agent 502 N Clinton Avenue Dallas, TX 75208 Bus: 214-948-6000 www.jonessary.com

Advertise in this section For more information call 214.560.4203 or email jliles@advocatemag.com sinUs & Allergy M.d.

RaJiv PandiT, M.d. www.dallassinus.com

Finally, Someone who Wants your Nose in their Business.TM dallas sinus institute

Dr. Pandit is one of the nation’s respected sinusitis experts by both his patients and industry peers. If you still suffer from sinus and allergy issues, give us a call for relief. Now, that’s nothing to sneeze about!

221 W. Colorado Blvd. Suite 943. Dallas, TX 75208 (214) 946-1102

Less than a year ago, Jackie Brown was waiting tables at an Oklahoma City IHOP, often until midnight or 1 a.m.

The 18-year-old, who now lives in Kessler Park, supported herself with that job while living with a friend’s family. Her mom died of breast cancer on Dec. 31, 2011, and her stepdad, a recovering addict, had become increasingly unstable after his wife died.

When school started in August, the blondhaired, blue-eyed Jackie started waking up for 6 a.m. cheerleader practice after nights of slinging hotcakes, and she was weary.

“I was like, ‘Is cheerleading really this important to me?’ ” she recalls. Nothing was going right for her in Oklahoma, she says. So she packed all her belongings and her little dog, Sissy, into her 2003 Saturn and drove to the home of her aunt, Martha Kelly, in Oak Cliff.

Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts accepted her as a senior, a very rare move for the school. They liked Jackie’s photography and art portfolio, they felt for her personal story, and she had good grades, says school counselor Laurie Freelove.

Texas’ high school curriculum is a little more rigorous than Oklahoma’s, Jackie says. Her first semester, she had to take 11 classes to make up all the requirements to graduate by June. This semester, she’s taking only two extra classes (for a total of nine), world geography and world history.

But there’s no waiting tables until midnight now. Jackie’s school counselor told her there was no way she could have a job and still complete her schoolwork, and her aunt Martha agreed. For this year of her life at least, Jackie has to worry only about herself.

That hasn’t always been the case. When she was 8 years old, both of her parents went to prison on drug charges. She went to live with a paternal uncle and his wife and daughter in their hometown, Poteau, Okla. She says she felt a little like Cinderella in their home, and one of her aunts still calls her “Cindy,” she says.

“I felt like an orphan,” she says. “My mom used to brush my teeth for me, and then I had to learn to do everything for myself, everything.”

When her mom was released from prison in 2008, she remarried to someone she met in recovery and moved to Sayer, Okla.

“I hated my stepdad at first,” Jackie says. “But now I realize how much he loved my mom and me. He took such good care of us.”

She is rueful because she recently learned that her stepdad has returned to prison. She wishes she could’ve done something to help him, she says.

Reminded that she was just a kid who lost her mother, she shrugs and looks off.

Then she remembers how great her life is now, and she brightens.

Southern Methodist University’s studio art program offered her guaranteed admission for the fall 2014 semester, as long as she completes 24 hours of coursework at a community college before then. She will get to hone her craft as an art photographer and “dabble” in anything else that interests her, she says.

Her aunt Martha and uncle, Jim King, sent her to Italy over spring break with a class trip. And this summer, she will tour Europe for a month with other Booker T. grads.

“My aunt wanted me to go because it’s something she never got to experience, so she wanted me to have that,” Jackie says.

And she has a boyfriend, a rock ’n’ roll drummer, who drove up to Oklahoma to spend Easter with Jackie and her family.

“It just feels like everything is falling into place,” she says. “I get to be around all of this art and music that I love. When I was working at IHOP, I never thought I would be doing all this.”

Every year, Symmer Cano’s church, Christian Family Center, engages in a Daniel Fast.

The diet of fruits, veggies, nuts and water is inspired by the Bible story in which the prophet Daniel ate only vegetables and drank water.

Symmer and her family always participate, but usually, with exceptions, bread and cheese being the two main exceptions. Symmer was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 8, and her health had been suffering, especially in the past year.

“She would get an infection, and we would have to go to the emergency room,” says Symmer’s dad, Mondy Cano. “The doctors would tell us, like, they might have to amputate her foot eventually.”

Symmer’s mom, Deborah Cano, had read a book about the advantages of a vegan diet for diabetics, and she wanted to try it.

So that’s why this year, the Canos went all in on the Daniel Fast.

The first week, Symmer called her mom to report that her sugar had dropped. “I told her to eat something,” Deborah recalls. Then the next week, her blood sugar levels dropped dangerously low. So her doctor lowered her daily insulin prescription.

Two months later, Symmer was off insulin entirely thanks to her vegan diet.

Since then, they have started reintroducing some foods and then testing her sugar levels to see how the foods affect her. Bread and tortillas are off the plate for good. But she sometimes eats dairy products now.

Art Scavenger Hunt 10 am – 2 pm

Children’s Art Activity 10 am – 12 noon

Art in Action Sculpture Demo 10 am – 12:30 pm

Family Tours

Hourly from 10:15 am – 12:15 pm

Yoga in the Garden 11:30 am

Presented by YogaSport (weather permitting)

Creative Writing with The Writer’s Garret 12 pm

Storytime with Dallas Public Library 12:30 pm

NasherKids Live! 1 pm New York International Children’s Film Festival Kid Flix Mix

NasherKids Meal at Nasher Cafe 11 am – 2 pm

May 4 FREE ADMISSION NasherSculptureCenter.org

“She will go out to eat, and her friends are like, ‘Symmer, I can’t believe you’re not eating any of this stuff,’” Deborah says.

But the 18-year-old says it’s an easy choice. She would rather eat vegan than shoot up insulin every day.

“It’s not a diet,” she says. “It’s a new way of living for me.”

Symmer also was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a baby, and she attends Dallas Academy, near White Rock Lake, a school for students with learning differences.

It’s a small private school that also offers “the high school experience,” Deborah says.

Come for a visit. stjohnsschool.org

214-328-9131 x103

Pre-k through Eighth Grade Co-educational Advocat Ad 2013 FINALpd 1 4/

Symmer got to be a cheerleader and go to homecoming and the prom, things that aren’t always offered in specialized schools.

Symmer’s church and school encourage volunteerism, so she gives her time to the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes, the North Texas Food Bank and Kiest Park Daycare. Two years ago, she went on a mission trip with her church to Costa Rica to donate shoes and food to an orphanage. And she helps raise money to dig water wells for impoverished communities in South America.

She also has attended Camp Sweeny, a three-week camp in North Texas exclusively for kids with diabetes, every year since she was 11.

Last June, Symmer turned 18, and in July, she got a tattoo on her wrist. It is trendy among Symmer’s peers in the type 1 diabetes subculture to be tattooed on their wrists instead of wearing medical-alert bracelets, Deborah says. In Symmer’s unique version, the word “diabetes” is part of a swirling infinity symbol.

“How can you argue with medical reasons for a tattoo?” the mom says.

Symmer plans to attend Southwestern College in Chula Vista, Calif., and she is considering a yearlong AmeriCorps program in Kentucky prior to that.

Leading to Success. 2720 hillside Dr., Dallas 75214 / 214.826.2931, lakehillprep. org Kindergarten through Grade 12 - Lakehill Preparatory School takes the word preparatory in its name very seriously. Throughout a student’s academic career, Lakehill builds an educational program that achieves its goal of enabling graduates to attend the finest, most rigorous universities of choice. Lakehill combines a robust, college-preparatory curriculum with opportunities for personal growth, individual enrichment, and community involvement. From kindergarten through high school, every Lakehill student is encouraged to strive, challenged to succeed, and inspired to excel.

ePiScoPaL SchooL

848 harter rd., Dallas 75218 / 214.328.9131 / stjohnsschool.org

Founded in 1953, St. John’s is an independent, co-educational day school for Pre-K through Grade 8. With a tradition for academic excellence, St. John’s programs include a challenging curriculum in a Christian environment along with instruction in the visual and performing arts, Spanish, German, French, and opportunities for athletics and community service. St. John’s goal for its students is to develop a love for learning, service to others, and leadership grounded in love, humility, and wisdom. Accredited by ISAS, SAES, and the Texas Education Agency.

69% of our readers say they want to know more about private schools. to advertise call 214.560.4203

Preservation Dallas will give The Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts its 2013 Stewardship Award in a ceremony this month. The society won the award because of its dedication to maintaining the 101-year-old Turner House at 401 N. Rosemont. The Dallas Power and Light Building on South Tyler has been singled out for a preservation achievement award. The 84-yearold building is headquarters to Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters and a photography agency, Sisterbrother Mgmt. Old Oak Cliff Conservation League past president John McCall bought the building in 2007 and spent about three years renovating it.

Incumbents Delia Jasso and Scott Griggs are vying for the District 1 City Council seat that now includes most of our neighborhood in the May 11 city election. District 4 incumbent Dwaine Caraway is unopposed.

Restaurateur/chef Randall Copeland, a part owner of Boulevardier, died April 2. He was 39. The East Dallas native opened the acclaimed Restaurant Ava in Rockwall in 2009 and often was listed among the best chefs in Dallas.

HAVE

Please submit news items and/or photos concerning neighborhood residents, activities, honors and volunteer opportunities to editor@advocatemag.com. Our deadline is the first of the month prior to the month of publication.