Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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Many have been wondering how students at Hot Springs County School District #1 are doing academically since the abrupt closing of school last spring due to COVID-19. During the October 20 meeting of the Board of Trustees, the principals at each of the schools presented what gaps they are seeing in this fall’s student learning and what they are doing to close those gaps before the end of the school year. Principal Breez Daniels at the high school has actually written an article for PLC M...
Hot Springs County School District #1 Lights On Afterschool Program is gearing up for the nationwide celebration of afterschool on Thursday, Oct. 22. Afterschool programs across the country are joining the movement to celebrate afterschool through promoting that Lights On keeps our community’s students safe, encourages them to learn, and supports their families as we continue to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. Community members, families, students, business owners, school officials/staff, and legislators are invited to join to shine a...
Last week Hot Springs County School District (HSCSD) reported their first positive case of COVID-19 in a letter sent out to parents and guardians of Ralph Witters Elementary students. The letter from Superintendent of Schools Dustin Hunt, dated Thursday, Sept. 17, says that “an individual (s) within the school has been diagnosed with COVID-19.” Then on Sunday, Sept. 20, an email was sent out by Hot Springs County High School (HSCHS) Principal Breez Daniels stating “an indivdual (s) within HSCHS tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, Sept....
The Wyoming High School Activities Association (WHSAA) announced that the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) has approved their plans for beginning basketball and wrestling on time. The format from the fall sports was used to provide protocols for students to safely participate in these two sports. Practices are scheduled to begin on Monday, November 23, 2020. “We continue to learn, monitor and adjust as we navigate through the current pandemic,” said WHSAA Commissioner, Ron Laird. “We appreciate that the WDH understands the importance of ou...
Last week students sat down in the early morning as everyone arrived, ready and prepared, for another year of learning. They had masks ready because of COVID-19 regulations. Many were excited and looking forward to the learning.... Full story
Several parents attended the most recent Hot Springs County School District’s Board of Trustees meeting with concerns and frustrations about information for the start of school not being relayed in a timely manner. The worry was not having enough information to make the decision on whether to send their children to school or home school them in the face of COVID-19. The board said they understood the frustration, but things were out of their hands as far as how soon they could release i...
Several new teachers have joined Hot Springs County School District this school year. This week we are featuring teachers new to Hot Springs County High School and Thermopolis Middle School. New teachers at Ralph Witters Elementary will be featured in next week’s IR. High school Calder Forcella – (HS Social Studies) - Calder grew up in Greybull where he developed a passion for the outdoors. In his free time he enjoys flyfishing, hunting, golf, and staying active. Calder received his Bachelors Degree from Chadron State College where he maj...
Each of the schools, Ralph Witters Elementary (RWE), Thermopolis Middle School (TMS) and Hot Springs County High School (HSCHS) have slightly different plans when it comes to the first day of school due to COVID-19, but a letter sent out to parents and guardians on August 14 addressed face covering use at all schools in Hot Springs County School District. The letter advised the district would be requiring face coverings for all students and staff when six foot distance cannot be maintained. The...
On March 13, 2020, Governor Mark Gordon first signed executive orders declaring a State of Emergency in Wyoming due to the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the orders have been extended nine times with slight variations to the orders each time. The ninth continuation of orders went into effect Aug. 1 and will be until Aug. 15. With school about to start statewide, a Smart Start program for opening schools was released by State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jillian Balow, allowing for a three-tiered plan to be developed by each...
Last week’s meeting of Hot Springs County School District #1’s Board of Directors allowed parents and students to get a glimpse of what the district’s plans are as far as opening the schools for the 2020-2021 school year. Each of the schools, Ralph Witters Elementary (RWE), Thermopolis Middle School (TMS) and Hot Springs County High School (HSCHS) have slightly different plans when it comes to the first day of school. All schools will begin with Tier I, with schools open to students with some...
New and returning student registration is planned for Thursday, August 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Ralph Witters Elementary You can register online at hotsprings1.org. Click on Student Registration K-8 New. Complete the pre-registration form and click submit at the bottom when finished. If you are a returning student, you should already have your ID and password information. If not, please contact the office. Once you have pre-registered, you will receive an email from RWE office giving you your password information. Once you’ve received y...
Hot Springs County School District’s Board of Directors held a special meeting last week to approve budget amendments, pay final bills and approve the hiring of three new members of the district’s team. Katie Despain was approved as a new hire to be a summer food service cook, Cassidy VanKirk was hired as RWE SpEd paraprofessional along with Kacey Cahill, also hired as an RWE SpEd paraprofessional. Cahill and VanKirk will both start their positions with the coming school year. The board mov...
From the WHSFB HQ The Wyoming High School Activities Association has built several different schedules to accommodate varying start times for a 2020 football season. Right now, games are scheduled to begin on Aug. 28. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic sparking postponements and cancellations of events across the country, and with schools themselves trying to figure out how to best accommodate students, an on-time start to the football season is not certain. The different contingency plans established by the WHSAA, shared with...
The Hot Springs County School District has decided to move ahead with a daycare facility for use by district employees starting this fall. In a special meeting last Thursday, Superintendent Dustin Hunt informed the board, with three different scenarios available for the start of the 2020-21 school year, now is the time to begin an in-house daycare for teachers and staff. Hunt said with the three plans in play, the daycare would be the best way to keep the teachers in front of the students.... Full story
With the most recent loosening of COVID-19 orders by Governor Mark Gordon, schools, colleges and universities will be able to resume classes in the fall as long as a few safety measures are in place. Hot Springs County School District #1 has formed a task force, which is looking at various ways the schools can open up while taking those safety measures into consideration. Those plans will be for each school, the transportation department, food service and more. One of the plans being discussed i... Full story
It may have been a little different this year due to the pandemic, but once again, the Bobcat Speech and Debate Team made an excellent showing at the National Speech and Debate Tournament. While they were supposed to be traveling to Albuquerque for this year’s tournament, COVID-19 got in the way and the entire tournament was held online. Those doing individual speech events such as humor, drama or oratory had to pre-record their events and download them to the National’s site. Congress, debate and extemporaneous speaking were don live thr...
The Wyoming High School Activities Association (WHSAA) recently released a list of those schools in the state which showed exemplary sportsmanship. With Hot Springs County High School participating in 3A East, they were one of only five schools who were recognized for their sportsmanship, having no coaches or athletes ejected from a game during the entire school year. In 3A East, the Bobcats were joined by Buffalo, Douglas, Newcastle and Burns for the honor. Fifty-one of the 70 schools across the state received the sportsmanship...
CHEYENNE - Planning for school openings this fall is underway. Smart Start, a working group composed of educators, healthcare professionals, and technology partners, was recently put into place by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow. The group will consider key issues and make recommendations related to reopening schools for the 2020-21 school year to Governor Mark Gordon’s COVID-19 Education Task Force, which is chaired by Superintendent Balow. “The most important decisions about opening schools this fall take place at...
In keeping with the way political campaigns are run on a national scale, the 2020-21 Hot Springs County High School Student Council campaigns were done online. Each of the candidates recorded their speeches and they were posted on the school newspaper, The Predator’s, Facebook page. Student Body President for the upcoming year is Emme Norsworthy who will be backed up by Vice President, Dayna Crow. Student Body Secretary will be Hallie Martinez. Senior Class President went to Elisa Weber. Junior Class President will be Jacob Randall, Vice P...
In lieu of the regular Scholarship Night for Hot Springs County Seniors, the Hot Springs County School District presented the awards and scholarships online for 2020. Outstanding Boy for the class of 2020 was awarded to Taydee Landrum and Outstanding Girl was presented to Ashley McPhie. Seniors planning a career with the military after graduation were recognized as Jason Clouse, Hunter Mounts and Matt Reynolds. Athletic awards Those participating in three sports all four years of high school are McKenna Bomengen, Kaylee DeVries, Tahja Hunt,...
Nine members of the Bobcat Speech and Debate Team were recently named to the All State team. Those gaining that recognition include Kyle Mosser, Hannah Hu, Jean-Luc Willson, Josiah Butler, Jacob Randall, Aime Robinson, Tyler Kay and Breeze Petty. Of those nine, Petty, Willson, Randall and Butler were named All State twice for different events. In addition, the team has four Academic All Americans this season, Kay, Petty, Hu and Ashley Brawley....
An emergency meeting of the Hot Springs County School District Board of Directors resulted in all schools within the district remaining closed through the end of the current school year. The Friday afternoon meeting was done electronically and streamed live on the district’s webpage as well as their Facebook page to ensure as many people as possible could watch as the board made its decision. While regular classes are not being held in the buildings, the district will continue with the d... Full story
by Seth Klamann Casper Star-Tribune Via Wyoming News Exchange CASPER – Wyoming has received roughly $32.5 million in federal funding to help its 48 school districts offset costs incurred because of the novel coronavirus, the state announced last week. The money, part of the gargantuan stimulus bill passed by Congress several weeks ago, will be doled out to Wyoming’s districts according to previously established formulas for providing federal money to districts with low-income students. It cannot be used to offset existing expenses — like payro...
Students in the Hot Springs County School District have been doing distance learning for several weeks now and the principals in each of the buildings presented their participation rate for the various grades at their April meeting. Principal Catelyn Deromedi from Ralph Witters Elementary told the board they are having great success with the current learning situation with 97 percent of students working from home. Kinder Boost showed 93 percent of students participating and 96 percent of the kindergarteners are on board along with 96 percent... Full story
Pre-registration for kindergarteners will be online this year for the 2020-2021 school year. Registration will open on Monday, May 4, and you must do your pre-registration online. Following pre-registration, parents will receive an email with their password to finish the registration process on Powerschool. Simply go to hotsprings1.org and click on Student Registration K-* New and complete the form. Click submit at the bottom when finished. You will receive your Powerschool password and then return to the school’s website, scrolling to the b...
