Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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Not only does the calendar say so, all we have to do is look outside to see touches of green and watch as the robins and rabbits are dancing and romancing, ready to welcome their babies. It's also time for the Hot Springs County Senior Center to begin our season of fun times, great food and enjoying one another’s company. Come join us. We’ve already enjoyed our first mystery trip and had a great meal in March. We have enjoyed so many wonderful outings and trips together over the past few years. I want to share with you places we’ve been and thi...
Every so often without warning, a long ago and far away memory pops up to bring back feelings that have hibernated for decades. That song that reminds you of the first time you fell in love, the time you said the worst possible thing at the worst possible time, meeting the parents of the girl (or boy) you’d like to know better, a teacher that made you think there might be some hope for you after all, and a lot of other things you wish you had done differently…better. The weather lately has brought to mind a picture of Dad welding and ere...
For government to be of, by and for the people it must be out in front of the people. The theme for Sunshine Week 2019 is simply, “It’s your right to know.” The reason it’s your right to know is that it’s your government. From the courthouse, to the statehouse to the White House, it is your right to know what government is up to. Every deliberation by city council, county commission, the General Assembly or U.S. Congress is the people’s business. Every penny spent by local, state and federal government is your money. Every document held in the...
When I was 4 or 5, we lived in a civilianized army mustering point in Great Bend, Kansas after Dad returned from the war. That development existed during WWII for those with dependents before shipping out to basic training points. It had rows of 5 apartments circled around a small convenience/grocery store. Our row was immediately adjacent (barely 15 feet or so) from a couple of sections planted in wheat. Our back yard was a mixture of weeds and scrub grass, and in late August was so dry the weeds would break off if they were stepped on. For...
If you are the mother or father of a high school athlete here in Wyoming, this message is primarily for you. When you attend an athletic event that involves your son or daughter, cheer to your heart’s content, enjoy the camaraderie that high school sports offer and have fun. But when it comes to verbally criticizing game officials or coaches, cool it. Make no mistake about it. Your passion is admired, and your support of the hometown team is needed. But so is your self-control. Yelling, screaming and berating the officials humiliates your c...
Recently I received a Christmas card from Marty (Martin when not in the wrestling room). Marty was assigned to me as a project. He was about 6’2” and weighed in at 185 lbs. He was a senior, and in three years of wrestling, he had won an average of two matches per year. Oh, and by the way, he was the only black student in the reservation school at which his mother taught, and he was in the Special Education program. We worked to provide Marty moves that would be effective for him. Repetition of a few moves helped him to be more successful, and...
Thinking back to long ago Christmas seasons which usually started about the second week of December for most families, I’ve realized that those days were as joyous as they were for more than one reason. I wasn’t quite sure of the Santa Claus thing, but I was sure that my Daddy was on his way home after four long years of prayers that my mother never missed. Though I scarcely remembered him, I knew he was very special because anyone that meant so much to Mom had to be special. His return ran a “close as a whisker” race with that newborn in Beth...
Voting is a fundamental right of our democracy. The decisions made on school boards, in city halls, at the state legislature, and in Congress impact all of us. There are many ways to influence our elected officials, but only one to determine who our officials are: by voting. On Tuesday, voters will decide which candidates will be our next representatives. Because Wyoming’s election laws allow for same-day voter registration, even people who have not yet registered to vote can go to the polls and cast their ballot on Election Day. U...
There is much to celebrate in Hot Springs County Schools as the 2018 WyTOPP results are released in Wyoming. Hot Springs County School District #1 has the best results ever recorded on the state assessment! The WyTOPP was the new state assessment rolled out in the 2017-18 school year, replacing PAWS. The new test added writing as part of the English Language Arts component and included questions in reading, math and science that required students to demonstrate learning through a series of problem solving steps, not just multiple choice. Just s...
A poem I once read and taught from spoke to the heart about a trip by the poet to the home of his youth. In it he spoke of how much smaller than his memories were the realities of the mountains, now barely hills, the river, now barely a creek, and the schools which seemed so large as he started his education, and now seemed so small as he returned from the city in which his life now unfolded. In celebration of last Memorial Day, my spouse and I drove to Torrington to visit Mom and Dad’s grave. I think of my parents often, and their r...
The 2018-2019 school year and activities lie just around the corner. It is easy to see the hard work and dedication of student-athletes and coaches during the school year, yet those involved with sports know that the majority of program improvement must take place in the off-season. Thermopolis is in a unique situation of competing at high levels with low student enrollment, which causes for some extra hurdles to success. First, student-athletes must be involved in multiple sports/activities/clubs in order for those programs to be in the...
While watching an old rerun of a late 50’s TV show, I happened upon an old commercial about a soap product that was 99 & 44/100 percent pure. (I always wondered what that .56 percent impurity was and why if it could be measured. Why it couldn’t be removed to reach the totally pure mark?) My memory took me back about 70 years to my last meeting with that particular product. The event started with the words, “I didn’t . . . “ and things went sharply downhill from there to the point that “pure “ had nothing to do with taste. Polite society today...
With the recent tragedy in Florida involving a school shooting, I find it appropriate to update our patrons about our ongoing efforts to upgrade and improve security in Thermopolis schools. I am going to do my very best to put the discussion in layman’s terms because many of you may have never heard some of the terms associated with school security. Because there are so many “what ifs” with school security, the District will be examining all aspects of school safety, but school security and safety drills will be our focus for the time being...
March 20 was National Agriculture Day – a day designated each year by the Agriculture Council of America (ACA) to celebrate the accomplishments of agriculture. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) joins the council in thanking American agricultural producers, especially in Wyoming, for their contributions to the nation’s outstanding quality of life. This year’s theme, Agriculture: Food for Life, spotlights the hard work of American farmers, ranchers and foresters who diligently work to provide food, fiber and more to the United States and count...
I was thinking the other day about a certain family member with whom the scales are decidedly out of balance to the tune of thousands of dollars in his favor. It’s been more than a year since I last saw him even though he has been in this locale several times during that period of time. Occasionally his image pops up in my consciousness, and negative thoughts fill my mind of what I’d like to say to him. Then a strange realization creeps in under the blackness of that bitterness, and the question arises — Do you think he’s giving you a thought...
“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise,” Socrates more than 400 B.C Through the kindness of many coaches and administrators, I have been allowed the privilege of associating with a group of HSCHS athletes who subject themselves to a most vigorous conditioning regimen the likes of which I don’t remember from my own athletic experience at their age. Their practice sessions range from an hour to nearly two hours some days; they start at 4...
Several Thermopolites braved the elements last Sunday to join a Women & Allies march held in Cody, including Reggie and Cindy Dragon, Elizabeth Straley, Barb Rice, Karen Hitchens, Howard Samelson, Suzanne Samelson, Levi Shinkle, and Marcia Bean. After the success of the 2017 Women’s March — prompted by the inauguration of Donald Trump — the message saw millions of women and men gathering to support women’s rights. This year a series of anniversary rallies were being held on Friday, Saturday or Sunday in cities across America. Casper, Cody &...
Wyoming has amazing students and educators, some of the best in the country and even the world! Some may debate that first statement and when the goal is to simply cut funding to education, it is easy to point out areas of weakness; every organization has things they are working on. Schools in general must focus on the concept of continual improvement because the work is never done. Being an educator never comes with the opportunity to stand back and admire your work for long periods of time, because each fall a new group of bright, young...
Educational practitioner and researcher Dr. Rick DuFour coined the phrase “the genius of AND versus the tyranny of OR.” His theory can be applied to the current school funding crisis in Wyoming. Many times when we talk about a funding shortage for any fundamental service, we often utilize the “tyranny of OR” to defeat solutions to our problems. What I mean by that is that we often make the assumption that we must sacrifice one group of people, or one measure, to save another. We rationalize our position with the protection of one, at the exp...
Last week I shared about the idea that cuts mean different things to different people, and as long as your children/grandchildren are not affected, they may not bother you that much. This week, I want to touch on how we are all tied together. Roughly 85 percent of school budgets consist of staffing costs. In education it is simple, we need staff to educate our students. School funding cuts equals less people and fewer programs. Less staff also means less patronage to our local businesses and less tax base directly affecting our local economy....
Is there room for more cuts and efficiencies with schools? The answer depends on what is important to you. Big School/Small School: In small schools one certified staff member represents an entire elective program. Band, agriculture, art, and digital learning are just a few of the programs that are represented by only one or a partial teacher in HSCSD #1. Reducing a position can eliminate an entire program and student opportunity. Personal Importance: I learned long ago that every person’s passion may not be important to others, but that d...
The 2018 Wyoming Legislature reconvenes on February 12, 2018 to begin the budget session. Many legislators have shared publicly they have no interest in addressing the shortfall in state education funding with additional revenue sources. My last column addressed the cuts that have taken place in HSCSD #1 since 2010, and that the legislature has a constitutional obligation to provide for education, and thirty-six other fundamental rights in Article I. The Wyoming Legislature could choose to ignore the shortfall in funding in the upcoming...
What educational choices do we want for the children of our community? Last week I shared in regard to fundamental rights provided by the Wyoming Constitution with regard to education and the impact of the Wyoming Legislature’s choice to leave out the external cost adjustment component of the Wyoming school funding model since 2010 to our students’ education. This week I want to focus on reductions that have taken place since that time in HSCSD #1. Complete program eliminations include: the family consumer science (home economics) program tha...
In my last column, I touched on the significance of our forefathers providing education as a guaranteed fundamental right to the citizens of Wyoming. (Article I Section 23 provides for education). Article 7-1 of the Wyoming Constitution states: The legislature shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of a complete and uniform system of public instruction, embracing free elementary schools of every needed kind and grade, a university with such technical and professional departments as the public good may require and the means of the s...
Greetings Hot Springs County Patrons, The new school year is off to a terrific start. Students and staff are settling into their classes, and parents and families are establishing their routines. There is a great deal of positive energy at the start of a new school year. For our seniors, they are experiencing their “last first-day”, and for our youngest students, it is the beginning of a journey that will literally change their lives. Having had the humbling privilege of serving children for more than two decades, I have had the great opp...
