🎾 That 15-year-old from Frisco just hit with a top-10 pro

If you drove past The Star over the weekend, you probably saw the sea of people flooding in for the Nexo Dallas Open. Thousands packed the stands to watch world-class tennis, and Ben Shelton (age 23) took home the championship after a nail-biter against Taylor Fritz.

The tournament brought 60+ ATP Tour tennis stars to Frisco, and apparently 160 countries tuned in to watch. Last year's event generated $52 million in economic impact in a single week, which is... honestly kind of wild for a tennis tournament.

But here's my favorite part: A 15-year-old junior player from Frisco got asked to warm up Ben Shelton before his match. The kid usually works as a ball kid but got the call because Shelton needed to practice against a left-hander. Can you imagine? You're 15, you're supposed to be picking up tennis balls, and suddenly you're hitting with a top-10 pro. That's a story he'll be telling for decades.

Emily immediately started googling tennis lessons for the girls. I pointed out that our 2-year-old thinks any ball is meant to be thrown at my face. But sure, let's aim for Wimbledon.

Texas has a program called Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) that gives extra money directly to top-performing teachers on top of their regular salary. Frisco ISD just got Phase 3 approval, which means 679 more teachers just qualified for these stipends. That brings the total to over 1,300 FISD teachers getting extra pay, more than one in four educators in the district.

The stipend amounts will be released in April, but they're based on three levels: Recognized, Exemplary, or Master. Teachers have to be validated as top-performers through rigorous state data reviews to qualify.

Why this matters: Frisco ISD is the only fully approved TIA program among neighboring districts. They've been building this since 2019, and now over 85% of district teachers are eligible to earn these designations.

Good teachers stick around when they're recognized and compensated fairly. And selfishly, I want my kids learning from teachers who want to be here, not teachers who are one LinkedIn message away from jumping to a higher-paying district.

I don't know much about wrestling, but I know enough to recognize when kids are dominating.

Frisco ISD wrestlers brought home three 5A state championships on Saturday, plus eight total medals and 12 state placers. Not bad for a Saturday afternoon.

The three champs:

That last one is the stat that got my 4-year-old asking questions. 24-0. Undefeated. That's the kind of thing you frame and put on the wall.

These are the moments that make me glad we moved here. My kids won't remember this season, but they'll grow up in a place where excellence is the norm, not the exception.