Dr. Edgar Tibayan

By SASHA von OLDERSHAUSEN

PRESIDIO – Dr. Edgar B. Tibayan, principal of the Lucy Rede Franco Middle School was selected as one of three state finalists for the Texas Middle School Principal of the Year 2015-2016.

Tibayan has served as principal of the middle school since 2011. Born out of extreme poverty and raised by farmers, Tibayan endured walk to and from school for three hours a day from elementary school until high school.

Despite the struggle, he still managed to graduate at the top of his graduating class for his doctorate degree with the highest distinction award in 2002 from De La Salle University in Dasmarinas, Philippines.

Tibayan received his Bachelor’s degree with a major in agriculture and a minor in economics from Cavite State University in the Philippines in 1986. He then went on to receive his Master of the Arts degree in education with a major in educational management from De La Salle University in 1998. From there, he pursued his Doctor of Education degree with a major in educational management in 2002.

Tibayan began his career in education as an associate professor at De La Salle University in the Philippines from 1997 to 2002. He then worked as a math teacher at Ysleta Elementary School in El Paso from 2002 to 2007. In 2007, he joined the Presidio ISD staff as a math teacher for Lucy Rede Franco Middle School and continued to teach until 2010, when he was promoted to assistant principal. Soon after, in 2011, he became principal of the middle school, the position he currently holds.

This isn’t the first time Tibayan has received distinction within the field of education. Earlier this year, he was honored as the Region 18 Middle School Principal of the Year. In 2006, he was a regional finalist for the Region 19 Teacher of the Year distinction, and he received a District Teacher of the Year award while teaching at Ysleta ISD in El Paso.

Congratulations to Dr. Tibayan for the distinction he received, and a huge thanks for all the work he does for the school.

Dr. Edgar Tibayan

By SASHA von OLDERSHAUSEN

PRESIDIO – “Poverty is not a hindrance to success,” said Dr. Edgar Tibayan, principal of Presidio ISD’s Lucy Rede Franco Middle School, who is the embodiment of this very notion.

Tibayan has been selected as the state of Texas’s “Principal of the Year”—a first for Presidio. But his path to principal, and his ascension to this honorable distinction was no easy one. Tibayan sets the example of perseverance for his students: He is the product of extreme proverty, but he is also a model of success.

Tibayan, born and raised in the Philippines, shared the story of his difficult beginnings with The Big Bend Sentinel. “When I was in fourth grade, I became a house servant,” he said. “My parents told me, ‘We cannot really support you in school but there is an old lady in the city that can help you. But you have to live with that person and they can support you. So every single morning, I would wake up at 4 o’clock and clean her house. Then I’d have to go to school, then after school I’d have to clean again. On Saturdays, I would go to the farm to be with the old lady to till the field.”

He likes to share the stories from his past with his students, who he hopes will learn from his experiences. In particular, he tells them a story of sacrificing food for the opportunity to do additional work at school: “I could vividly remember one day when I was in school, with ten cents in my pocket. I was so hungry, wanting to buy food in the cafeteria but my teacher told me of a project to be done. I kept my money for school supplies and I went out of the room for a drink. As I was walking away from the classroom, I saw a tamarind candy on the floor. For sure, it came from somebody else’s mouth. I was so hungry, I cleaned the candy and put it in my mouth. I couldn’t help but cry at what I had to do but I promised myself that I will change the course of my life.”

That he did. Despite the struggle, he still managed to graduate at the top of his graduating class for his doctorate degree with the highest distinction award in 2002 from De La Salle University in Dasmarinas, Philippines.

Tibayan received his Bachelor’s degree with a major in agriculture and a minor in economics from Cavite State University in the Philippines in 1986. He then went on to receive his Master of the Arts degree in education with a major in educational management from De La Salle University in 1998. From there, he pursued his Doctor of Education degree with a major in educational management in 2002.

Tibayan began his career in education as an associate professor at De La Salle University in the Philippines from 1997 to 2002. He then worked as a math teacher at Ysleta Elementary School in El Paso from 2002 to 2007. In 2007, he joined the Presidio ISD staff as a math teacher for Lucy Rede Franco Middle School and continued to teach until 2010, when he was promoted to assistant principal. Soon after, in 2011, he became principal of the middle school, the position he currently holds.

To talk to Tibayan is to immediately recognize the love he feels for his students, faculty and staff. In an effort to remember all 306 of his students’ names, Tibayan keeps a list of all his students’ birthdays. For each birthday, he writes a personalized letter on a piece of green cardstock, to which he attaches a Snickers bar, and personally delivers the gift to each student.

He keeps a binder filled with all the small mementos his students have given him. He showed me the rattler of a rattlesnake that one of his students gifted him. Tibayan had taped it to a piece of loose-leaf paper on which he jotted down who gave it to him, as well as the exact time it was given to him.

“I love the students here,” he said. “As the principal of Lucy Rede Franco Middle School, my goal is to make a difference in the life of every child, one step at a time.”

That’s the exact goal he told the six-person panel that judged him and the other two semi-finalists for the spot of “Principal of the Year” in Austin last week. Tibayan didn’t think he would win.

“I thought I wouldn’t make it,” he said. “Firstly, because I’m an immigrant; I’m a minority; I’m an Asian. And because I’m an ELL person, my first language is not English.”

He added, “But I told myself that I will only share with them the story of Presidio and that everything would be ok as long as I tell them what we do here in Presidio.”

Apparently, that was just the trick. Tibayan will now go on to represent the state of Texas and compete against principals from across the nation for the national title of “Principal of the Year.”

“I’m humbled,” he said. “I would not get this very prestigious award without the help of the staff, faculty, students, Mr. McEntire and the school board. This achievement is because of everyone.”

He added, “I hope the city of Presidio is proud of what we have done.”

International Newspaper reporter and photographer Diana Aguirre Armendariz and her husband, Angel Nieves at her graduation at Sul Ross State University on Saturday.

ALPINE – On Saturday, December 12, 2015, journalist Diana Aguirre Armendáriz received her master’s degree  in  education from Sul Ross State University in Alpine.

The noted journalist, who has been working the past six years as a correspondent in Presidio and Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico, for the Big Bend Sentinel and The International newspapers  graduated in 2009 with a degree in Public Relations and a minor in Spanish from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Aguirre Armendáriz begin her journalism career working for El Diario de El Paso.

Her parents, husband and siblings wish to congratulate Diana for this great achievement.

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

MARFA – Marfa school board members and administrators started discussions at Monday’s board meeting to expand the Montessori program. Superintendent Andrew Peters, Principal Oscar Aguero and Director of Early Childhood Education and Montessori teacher Emily Steriti shared their ideas to offer the teaching method through sixth grade for the 2016-2017 school year.

This is the third year the Montessori program joined Marfa ISD, starting with three-, four- and five-year-olds, but recently expanded to include a multi-age classroom for first, second and third grades taught by Cheri Aguero this school year.

Oscar Aguero said the current plan is to include fourth-, fifth- and sixth- graders by adding another teacher to Aguero’s class, which would form one large classroom with two teachers working together.

“That way we start training the other one, because it’s going to be hard to find someone trained to come,” said Aguero.

Aguero said they are looking at 40 to 45 students between the two teachers. However, the classroom must be balanced between the various age groups, so he feels they won’t be able to add many new students.

There are currently 32 fourth-graders and 19 fifth-graders for consideration next year, in addition to the six out of the 25 third-graders who ae already enrolled in the program.

Peters said that he doesn’t ever anticipate all students from three-year-olds to the sixth grade being in the Montessori program.

“I just don’t think that it’s sustainable. I think that this day and age parents want choices. They want to be able to make choices,” said Peters. The district would continue to offer traditional classes for those grades.

Another idea proffered would include a traditional pre-kindergarten classroom for four-year-olds, as Aguero said they want to continue the dual track, because the traditional learning style is more suitable for some students.

Three-year-old students will only be offered Montessori, but Peters added that a challenge is enrolling enough of that age group for the classroom. One problem is that some parents enroll their children in Montessori, but never bring them to school, which in turn affects attendance. Peters said that the pre-K Montessori class is barely holding just shy of 91 percent attendance. Three-year-old children are only counted in the attendance if the student is economically disadvantaged.

Peters said parents who chose Montessori would need to make a commitment. Some proposed ideas would be a signed contract or charging tuition for those who don’t qualify for the pre-K program but want to enroll. 30 percent of the current three- and four-year-olds are not economically disadvantaged and would have to pay.

The plan is to start promoting the program after Spring Break.

“We have to do a better job this spring when we enroll, promoting it, showing them how good it is, but getting them committed to it,” said Peters.

(staff photo by SARAH M. VASQUEZ)
Superintendent Andrew Peters accepts checks totaling $22,000 from Marfa Education Foundation treasurer Marilyn Sanders.

Also at the meeting, Marfa Education Foundation President Suzi Gruschkus and Treasurer Marilyn Sanders presented two checks for a total of $22,000 toward the Early College High School program.

The Permian Basin Area Foundation, based in Midland, awarded a grant of $10,000, and the Wayne and Joann Moore Foundation awarded a grant for $12,000.

These funds will help cover the salary for the new ECHS Facilitator Asa Merritt as well as additional supplies.

The board also entered into an executive session to evaluate Peters’ job performance.

In open session, trustees voted unanimously to extend Peters’ contract for another year, making his contract good through 2020. Trustees also gave the superintendent a raise to $110,000 a year from $101,000.

(photo courtesy ROB CROWLEY)
Six Marfa High School students went to El Paso Saturday for the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) 2016 Kickoff.

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

MARFA – The Marfa High School Robohorns are back for another year of participating in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). Six Marfa High School students and Robotics teacher Rob Crowley traveled to the University of Texas at El Paso on Saturday, January 9, for the FRC 2016 Kickoff. The returning team learned about this year’s game named FIRST Stronghold and picked up a kit to start building their robot.

The Robohorns were the “rookiest of the rookies” last year as it was the first year they participated in the program that promotes STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The team placed 26 out of the 48 teams at the Hub City Regional competition in Lubbock and was selected to be part of an alliance with the RoboRaiders from Lubbock and the former World Champions, the All Sparks from Dallas Jesuits. While the alliance didn’t win the finals at the Lubbock competition, the three teams, including the Robohorns, were invited to compete at the World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

Twelve MHS students and six adult chaperones traveled last April for a week of competition with 3,000 teams from around the globe. The Robohorns were not selected to compete in the semi-finals, but the experience was notable for all the students.

On Monday afternoon in class, team members watched the game reveal video and brainstormed ideas for their robot. Each team has six weeks to build a robot that is no more than 4 feet 6 inches tall and weighs at most 120 pounds, not including the bumpers and battery. Crowley told the students that FIRST Stronghold will require a robot that can cross defenses made of various terrains, can pick up and throw “boulders,” which are basketball-sized foam balls, and pull itself off the ground on a pull bar.

This year’s Hub City Regional competition will be from April 1 through 3 at Texas Tech University in Lubbock and the World Championship will return to St. Louis, Missouri from April 27 through 30. From last year’s 12 team members, only four returned this year, and out of the 13 new members, nine joined the Robotics class at the beginning of this semester in January.

New Robohorn Ana Guerra, a freshman, said this year’s game looks really hard, but she’s interested to see how the team will program the robot to fulfill its duties. She’s always been interested in computer software, as her older sister studied the programming in college. Guerra has spent two class periods during the school year learning the software for the robot.

Senior Casey Walker, also a new team member, told Crowley that the game looks much different than last year’s Recycle Rush, where Babbage the robot had to sweep pool noodles and pick up trash bins to score points. The consensus in the classroom overall was that the game looked fun.

Returning team member and now junior Dillon Orr said the game seems much more approachable to people outside the Robotics program as well as interesting. While it appears to be challenging and technology advance, Orr feels the Robohorns are a lot more prepared this year due to their past experience and a semester work of preparations. The team started a week late and just barely met the build deadline around this time last year. Once the build deadline arrives at 11:50pm on Tuesday, February 23, the Robohorns have to bag and tag the robot and can’t work on it until competition.

Crowley said another thing the team will focus on this semester is fundraising. According to budgets he set in September, the HS robotics team needs to close to $28,000 for registration fees, travel, robot parts and tools, which will be raised through donations, grants and fundraising.

The team has already received $8,500 through grants from FIRST in Texas Foundation, a non-profit that supports FIRST robotics teams and events across the Texas, and from the Bezos Family Foundation. Mike Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, also founded Blue Origin, a private spaceflight company that is currently working on designing a reusable space rocket. Three Blue Origin engineers gave a presentation to MISD students, including the Robohorns, in November about what they do at their Van Horn site.

FIRST in Texas also donated $4,000 in robot parts, including mechanical and electrical components. Crowley said that was hugely helpful because it allowed the team to work on practice robots last semester.

In junior high news, Robohorns Team #10302 has two weeks to get their robot ready for competition on January 30 in El Paso. Due to schedule changes within the school, there has been a high turnover of team members, which contributed to the delay. Though the team of rookies said they have learned how to work together as a team towards a common goal through the robotics program.

The Junior Robohorns.

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

MARFA – Marfa Junior High’s robotics team advanced to the next level of the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) after competing in the League Championship on January 30 at the University of Texas in El Paso (UTEP).

While The Robohorns’ FTC Team #10302 finished last in the competition, the team won the Think Award for their engineering notebook.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded by Dean Kamen – the Segway inventor – to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Students build robots to compete and win points during a game that’s designed each year. There are four competition levels in the program.

This is the first year MISD expanded the robotics program to junior high students. FTC is open to high school and junior high school students, but Marfa High School’s robotics team returned for another season of the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) last month.

FTC is similar to FRC, but on a smaller scale. Team #10302 has to build a robot that is smaller than an 18-inch cube and controlled by an Android cell phone. There is no build deadline, meaning the students don’t have a time constraint to build their robot unlike the FRC team. There was a high turnover of FTC team members though because of schedule changes within the school. As a result, the students had a slow start and missed the first three practice matches in El Paso.

Robotics teacher Rob Crowley said they were the only FTC team that was solely junior high students at UTEP. Most of the teams had high school students.

“Imagine if we took seventh and eighth graders that had never played basketball and sent them to a tournament in El Paso that was all high schools,” said Crowley. “How would they do? That is how we did.”

The engineering notebook in which the team documented the process of building the robot.

The unexpected silver lining for the Marfa Robohorns was winning the Think Award, which is awarded to the team that best reflects their journey during the build season. In addition to building the robot, the team must document their process in the engineering notebook including the underlying science and mathematics of the robot design, game strategies, designs, redesigns, successes and other interesting moments when things don’t go as planned. It also includes bios for all the members and mentors and any brainstorming and notes. FIRST said the notebook is the key reference for judges to help identify the most deserving team.

Crowley told the students at the beginning of the year that there was nothing stopping them from making the best engineering notebook with basic tools such as paper, pens and their minds. Each student contributed, but Crowley said eighth grade student Kim Soto Torres took responsibility this semester and helped the other team members every day.

Eighth grader Kim Soto Torres who took responsibility for the notebook.

“We started early and worked hard on it, including three members of the management group that did not take robotics in the second semester,” said Crowley. “Those three were also part of the success. Tais (Chanez) continued with the team even though she was not in robotics this semester… Without (Kim)’s perseverance, we would not have won that award.”

Winning the award advanced the team to the Panhandle Plains Championship Competition on February 20 in Wolfforth, near Lubbock. Crowley said the students went to El Paso to learn and experience the FIRST competitions.

“Robotics improves many skills – math, physics, writing, organization, marketing, business, designing, fabricating, cooperation and teamwork,” said Crowley. “If nothing else, these kids have learned the importance of documenting their work in a notebook as they work. That will help in other classes and the rest of their lives.”

PRESIDIO – Members of the Presidio High School Band competed in the annual UIL Solo & Ensemble Contest Saturday, February 6 at Walker Junior High School in Monahans, TX. Forty entries from Presidio advanced to the next level, UIL Solo & Ensemble State Competition to be held in Austin this May.  To do this, they needed to receive the top rating of “Division 1” on the top difficulty level of solo/ensemble “Class 1”. The results of the contest are as follows:

Students advancing to State:

Ambar Garcia(12), J’lynn Goldston(11), Karyme Valdez(10); Flute Trio. Maria Muniz(12), Damariz Medina(12), Valeria Valenzuela(12), Andres Escontrias(10), Jetsemani Martinez(11), Samantha Cobos(11), Aylin Valenzuela(12), Alyssa Sanchez(9), Shantel Garcia(10), Miranda Saenz(10), Dayari Rodriguez(11), Viviana Salazar(10); Clarinet Quartet. Bryan Dominguez(11), Andres Villa(11), Ismael Carrasco(9), Gerardo Viramontes(11); Saxophone Quartet. Daniel Bailon(11), Roxana Rodriguez(11), Rebecca Sanchez(11), Hector Montemayor(11), Maxwell Ferguson(11); Brass Quintet. Abdiel Carrasco(9), Homero Ramos(10), Guadalupe Avila(12), David Rivero(10), Brian Hernandez(12), Rodolfo Olivas(11); Brass Sextet. Francisco Fernandez(12), Flor Leyva(11), Alonso Colomo(11), Samantha Valdez(11), Jazmin Deanda(9); Percussion Ensemble. Bryan Dominguez(11), Andres Villa(11); Alto Saxophone Solo. Maxwell Ferguson(11); Tuba Solo. Francisco Fernandez(12), Jazmin Deanda(9); Marimba Solo.

The PHS Mariachi Tierra del Sol also advanced to the 1st Annual State Mariachi Competition to be held in March.

Members Include:

Andres Villa(11), Bryan Dominguez(11), Yaritza Garcia(9)Crystal Camacho(9), Arely Leyva(9); Violin. Francisco Fernandez(12), Denise Lopez(11), Ismael Carrasco(9); Guitar. Breeana Hernandez(9); Vihuela. Maxwell Ferguson(11); Guitarron. Daniel Bailon(11), Abdiel Carrasco(9), Roxana Rodriguez(11); Trumpet. Director Ms. Karla Villasenor.

Other Results of the contest were as follows:

Arely Leyva, Crystal Camacho, Yaritza Garcia, Abigail Coker; Division I ensembles; Freshman Flute Quartet. Melissa Lozano, Dafne Baeza, Alejandra Proano, Gisselle Menchaca; Freshman Clarinet Quartet. Omar Udave, Miguel Campos, Dillan Mora, Nestor Nunez; Freshman Sax Quartet

Division I Solos: Arely Leyva(9); Clarinet:  Jetsemani Martinez(12); Flute. Gerardo Viramontes(11), Ismael Carrasco(9); Alto Saxophone. Desirae Lujan(9); Tenor Saxophone. Arturo Alferez(11), Alan Jimenez(9); Trumpet. Brian Hernandez(12), Wendy Piedra(9), Amy Zubia(9); Baritone.

Division 2 Solos: J’lynn Goldston(11), Karyme Valdez(10); Flute. Guadalupe Avila(12), Rebecca Sanchez(11); French Horn. Hector Montemayor(11); Trombone. Nataly Martinez(10); Baritone.

Band Director, Mrs. Lucy Ferguson, stated that these students put in many hours of hard work preparing for this contest & they have even more hours ahead of them preparing for the State Contest.  After the UIL contest on Saturday, the band members traveled to Ruidoso, NM for a fun outing at the Winter Park Snow Tubing Attraction.  Ferguson said, “Everywhere we go, people always comment about how polite & considerate our kids are.  We all know this, but it’s nice to hear complete strangers feel motivated to tell us.  I am very proud of all of the kids & am honored to be able to work with them.  State Contest, here we come!”

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

MARFA – Marfa ISD Principal Oscar Aguero and Superintendent Andrew Peters are solidifying plans to expand the Montessori program at Marfa ISD next school year.

Aguero explained at the February 16 meeting the two goals to enroll more students into the program: recruit 12 upcoming fifth- and sixth-graders and establish an admissions program to make the program sustainable in the future.

From March 15 to April 30, the school district will do some recruiting by hosting a Montessori night in April with a panel of current parents for interested parents to ask questions and a student demonstration. Aguero is also looking into training the MISD staff on the Montessori philosophy to show that the program is not in competition with a traditional classroom.

The Montessori program will be the only pre-kindergarten option for three-year-olds and those that are economically disadvantaged will automatically qualify.

Aguero wants siblings of enrolled students to be automatically accepted. He also added that parents would be asked to make a commitment to the program, because one issue he sees, not just at Marfa ISD, is that parents enroll their children in Montessori for pre-K, but want to switch for kindergarten.

If there are more interested students than available spots, MISD would do a lottery system weighting the students based on criteria such as economically disadvantaged, ESL or special needs.

Student debt and cheese sandwiches

Peters said student debt has become a real frustration at MISD and he’s talked to other superintendents about the issue. Most schools have a policy that if a student owes money to the school, they can’t participate in extracurricular activities.

“Mr. Aguero has spent way too much time as the instruction leader having to talk to kids and talk to parents and get stares in the faces and promises. Same with me,” said Peters.

MISD issues Google Chromebooks for high school students to do schoolwork. In the past, every high school student was issued a netbook for the year, but the district took them back at the beginning of this semester. Now they are issued on a case-by-case basis. Peters said when they collected the laptops, they learned some of the power cords were missing, and that is the parent’s responsibility to replace.

Another issue is with the lunch program. The district switched from providing every student a free meal, no matter the economic status, to a free, reduced and paid program in 2014-2015 school year that is based on the family’s income. The board approved the change after they learned the district was losing $100,000 per year providing free meals.

“We were giving free to everybody for nine years, and we knew it’d be a change,” said Peters. “What’s sad, guys, is that it’s not a big problem. It’s a few people with high debts. We’re talking three-digit debts. Hundreds of dollars owed to the cafeteria.”

Peters said about 25 percent of the student population don’t qualify for free lunch and 15 percent of those students have a lunch debt and are notified about it. Peters added that the state doesn’t allow MISD to turn a child away for lunch, nor would the district, so if a student owes more than $25 in their account, they will be served a cheese sandwich that is paid by the taxpayers. Each sandwich costs 50 cents.

“We’ve been serving a lot of cheese sandwiches,” said Peters. The sandwiches, photos and all, have been the topic of sarcastic Facebook posts.

However, he added that they are still struggling with cheerleading debt.

While the football team is provided uniforms, jerseys, and tee shirts that are reused, Peters said the issue is that the cheerleading uniforms become student property and they get to keep it. A cheerleader orders a uniform their first year on the squad and can be used every year, but it’s costly. Aguero said it’s about $600 for a junior high cheerleader to purchase two different skirts, socks, shoes, a bag and more, and about $1,500, not including camp, for a high school cheerleader. Peters said the school gives the company a deadline to collect the funds, but some still aren’t paid.

Board president Cosme Roman asked if the parents are notified how much a uniform will cost, which Peters and Aguero replied they are given a list. Typically the squads host fundraisers during the summer to pay for the uniforms, but Peters said they didn’t raise enough funds this year.

Trustee Katie Price-Fowlkes suggested the district prevent students from graduating or promoted to the next grade until the debt is paid, but Peters said they typically gather the collections in May before graduation.

“We don’t need to wait to May,” said Peters. “We’re a very transient society, and people leave us with debt and they’re gone.”

The cheerleading program will see changes next year though. Teacher-coaches Linda Ojeda and Amy White will be the cheerleading sponsors. There will be auditions for six spots for the junior high and varsity squads. There will be one mascot for both squads.

Peters said one issue he sees is that seven cheerleaders are returning next year, so one will not make the squad if they all audition.

Robots, pizza, cookies

Last week’s meeting started with presentations from the Marfa Junior High robotics team and culinary arts program. This is the first year the robotics program expanded to the junior high program. Robotics teacher Rob Crowley shared the Junior Robohorns’ adventure participating in the FIRST Tech Challenge and gave a brief robot demonstration. The team recently competed in the Panhandle Plains Championship Competition this past weekend in Wolfforth, near Lubbock, after advancing in the League Championship at the University of Texas of El Paso last month. While the team placed last in the competition, the junior high team won the Think Award for their engineering notebook that documents the building period.

The culinary arts program brought trays of homemade pizza and cookies to show the board how the inaugural year is going. The students told the board how they are learning to work together to prepare a meal like they would in an actual restaurant. Two representatives from Odessa College culinary programs talked to the two classes at the beginning of the semester. Marfa Child Nutrition and Cafeteria Director Joy Oram is spearheading the successful cooking program.

“When Odessa College came to us, I had never seen a real chef,” said senior Brian Cataño.

The students and two from Terlingua ISD then traveled to Odessa College last week where they received hands-on training on preparing a meal with dessert.

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

MARFA – The Marfa ISD board of trustees gave its blessing to start the first phase of a campus improvement plan at the February 16 meeting. President of Owners Building Resource Robert Gadbois did a complete walkthrough of the MISD campus and prioritized what needs to be fixed. To completely address everything, Gadbois noted it would cost the district close to $7 million though, so the improvements will be handled in phases.

The administrative team organized the first phase that includes deferred maintenance: sidewalks and ADA access at the high school and elementary campuses and Martin Field, high school roof and gutters, tiling and carpeting the floors at the high school, lighting in the auditorium, fire alarm and pressbox upgrades and replacing the retaining wall and fencing at the tennis courts. The projected cost to complete phase one is a little over $750,000, but Superintendent Andrew Peters feels the district will need $850,000 and it will take two and a half years to complete.

“This is nothing that will have a huge impact on anything,” said Peters. “It will make the place look a lot nicer.”

Peters proposed issuing a tax note of $450,000 to cover half the cost and to borrow the rest from the fund balance designated for this type of project. This won’t require voter approval. The recommendation is for a five-year loan that will accrue a 3.25 percent interest rate. Peters said the district can handle the yearly payments, the highest being $102,000.

“That’s something that we feel comfortable enough. We’re not putting the district in a huge risk,” said Peters.

He also feels they can afford the payment without disrupting instruction.

Trustee Robert Halpern said the cost kind of scares him, but the district hasn’t done maintenance in years, and ultimately agreed to the plan.

The air conditioning system is on the list as a high priority, but Peters said even though it’s working right now, it’s not going to be an easy or cheap fix.

The board will have to approve any bids for the contractors as well as approve the use of the fund balance to pay for the remaining costs.

In other matters, staff housing was readdressed to give control back to the administrative staff. The board had approved new housing rates set by a board member committee that were determined on a straight fee of $200 per bedroom. For example, rent for a two-bedroom home is $400. As a result, six out of the eight units saw a decrease in rent. The employees, except Peters, who is covered by his contract, will cover their utilities as well.

Therefore, the board voted to clarify the housing situation, giving the control back to Peters and Principal Oscar Aguero, who will issue the units and set the rent prices. Peters said the future rent will be based on the square footage, age and condition of the unit and the number of bedrooms, but the prices will stay the same until the 2016-2017 school year.

Peters said priority is first given to administration such as superintendent, principals and assistant principals, followed by directors, secondary math and science teachers. If there’s housing available after that, they will consider any other staff.

Halpern requested the agenda item at last week’s meeting because he felt the issue wasn’t properly addressed earlier.

“While I voted for the initial proposal and I respect the work of the committee, in hindsight it was less-than-pristine policy and deserved another look,” Halpern said.

As a way to build consistency with the staff, Peters proposed the idea of multi-year contracts for the next school year. He told the board that while he’s not a fan of this type of contract, he said the staff worries about their contracts every April.

The administration would determine who is offered a two-year contract with Aguero first making a recommendation to Peters and then Peters making a recommendation to the board based on criteria he and Aguero determine. Some criteria will include that the teacher is not a first-year teacher or on a probationary contract.

“We would like them to be someone that has been a commitment to Marfa,” said Peters.

Peters and Aguero want to discuss it more at next month’s meeting and will most likely recommend less than half the staff.

The board also went into executive session to discuss the contracts for Aguero, Director of Technology Darin Nance, Chief Financial Officer Victoria Sanchez and Child Nutrition and Cafeteria Director Joy Oram.

In open session, the trustees voted to approve a three-year contract for Aguero and one-year contracts for Nance, Sanchez and Oram.

Peters has a five-year contract.

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

EL PASO – Workforce Solutions Borderplex is recruiting local junior high students to participate in the third annual STEM+ Art Fiesta on April 7 in El Paso.

The half-day event promotes exhibits and workshops that promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and art.

Some activities include watching a robotics competition and participating in gaming competitions.

Ideally, the event is open for eighth graders that have an interest in arts and humanities or STEM for their upcoming high school discipline, but STEM Lead Joseph Sapien said he will accept seventh and eighth graders at Marfa ISD, no matter what discipline the student chooses.

The event is free to attend. Up to $200 is available to purchase gas for transportation. An anonymous donor said he would match dollar for dollar with the gas purchase if 40 Marfa seventh and eighth graders attend the Fiesta.

Area schools have participated in this event in the past, including Presidio High School.

While the high school competitions are already full for this year’s event, there is still time to sign up to compete in the Living on Mars Design contest. Students will design a house for three astronauts who will live on Mars for one year to conduct experiments. The house must be airtight and provide a laboratory and living and entertainment space. The design deadline is at 5pm on April 1. For more information on this contest, please contact Ersela Kripa, Assistant Professor of Architecture for Texas Tech, at ersela.kripa@ttu.edu.

For students interested in participating in STEM+ Art Fiesta, please contact Sapien at 915-887-2221 or email joseph.sapien@borderplexjobs.com.

More information can also be found at www.borderplexjobs.com/programs-and-services/stem.

(staff photos by SARAH M. VASQUEZ)
Superintendent Andrew Peters shows the Marfa ISD board members what needs to be fixed with the floors.

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

MARFA – Deferred maintenance can no longer wait as Superintendent Andrew Peters showed the Marfa school board members a new set of problems with the floor at the high school.

Peters was prepared to present a contractor bid from Apex Flooring Services of Dallas for board approval at the March 21 meeting, but he instead asked the board to postpone the decision.

Marfa ISD is taking the first steps to improve the campus infrastruture, based on recommendations from Robert Gadbois of Owners Building Resource, starting floors, gutters and roofing. It’s estimated that the first phase will cost $850,000 and will take two and a half years to complete.

A close-up of a distorted floor at Marfa High School.

There were a few snags though when Peters and the school maintenance workers did a closer inspection of the warped floors some high school classrooms.

“The plan was to cut out the spots that have high areas, replace those boards and put another floor down,” said Peters.

It was when they started digging holes below the floor that they discovered there is more work to be done. They first dug against a wall with signs of water damage to see where the water is coming in, which prompted them to look into the floor. When they opened the floor, they discovered signs of termites – no active termite activity – and no major water leaks.

Digging a little deeper, they saw layers of flooring from the original plank floors to the tiles that was installed later on top of one another. The dirt underneath all that flooring was damp because of the lack of a moisture barrier, though.

“As Gadbois would explain to you, when you go out on a hot summer day and the dog house is sitting on the dirt, you move the doghouse over, it’s damp. That’s because the water has nowhere to go,” said Peters.

During a brief recess during the meeting, board members looked at the floor in some of the high school classrooms. Board President Cosme Roman said it looked like they just put a band-aid over a band-aid.

The plan now is to bring in a termite inspector to address that issue. The inspection is scheduled for Monday, March 28 with an El Paso firm, according to Peters. The district will then remove the old flooring in the 11 high school classrooms, install a moisture barrier and then pour new concrete that might be covered with a different type of flooring. Peters hopes to keep the concrete, as it’s easier to clean. It all has to be done this summer when school is out.

“Our work period of getting things done is very narrow, and we had it all planned out,” said Peters.

The board approved a budget amendment of $5,000 that will be used to start the flooring improvements first with a termite inspection. The funds are reserved for facility repairs from the fund balance. The board also approved to join the Texas State Co-Op program, which is a purchasing program similar to BuyBoard, for $100 per year.

After an executive session, the board approved renewal contracts for full-time teachers. About half of the teachers received one-year contracts, but new this year is the offering of two-year contracts, which is a strategy to build staff retention.

Peters told the board at last month’s meeting that some of the teachers worry every April about their renewal contracts.

“The norm is to give a one year contract,” said Peters. “As a team of nine – (principal) Oscar Aguero, me, and the board – we decided to offer about half of the staff two-year contracts.”

The contract process begins with Aguero, who makes the recommendations to the Peters, who then makes the recommendations to the board, which has final approval. A total 16 teachers were offered two-year contracts, including some first-year teachers, and 15 teachers were offered one-year contracts.

Peters said the two-year contract has the benefit of showing the experienced teachers that the district appreciates their continual efforts and shows the new teachers who have served as a “difference makers” this year that MISD appreciates their efforts and hope they will stay.

“A two-year contract offers some security to the teacher,” said Peters. “However, each summer, the teacher has the legal right to resign 45 days before the first day of the next school year. Every teacher this year has contributed – we appreciate each one of the ones we offered contracts to.”

MARFA – ‘Marfa: one team, one dream, excellence every day’ was adopted as the Marfa ISD vision statement by school board members Tuesday night.

The district’s declaration of its objectives is intended to guide its internal decision-making process.

It came after several sessions with school board members and aneducation service center consultant to set the right tone for Marfa, and it was later taken a administrators and educators to hone and refine.

In other matters, Superintendent Andrew Peters announced that a pilot reading program to addresses the district’s overall student reading deficiency had attracted 34 community volunteers who will read to and with all students in April. Ann Marie Nafziger is leading the initiative.

In a rare split vote, trustees approved a contract with the Presidio County tax assessor-collector to collect the school district’s property taxes this year. Chief Financial Officer Victoria Sanchez said the $33,000 contract is up 20 percent, or $5,400.

When asked by trustee Robert Halpern why the increase, Sanchez said the county told her all contracts with the county are to be raised 20 percent.

The vote was 6-1, with trustee Mahala Guevara saying she was making a point on that vague answer from the county. Fellow school board members nodded their heads in agreement with Guevara, but noted the contract remains a good deal for the school district.

In other business, Peters announced that the district would host a public meeting with the Equity Center at 6:30pm on Tuesday, April 12. The topic of discussion is school finance and property valuations. A location will be announced next week.

Principal Oscar Aguero reported that enrollment as of this week stood at 352 students.

And the Shorthorn golf team raised about $5,000 for the program at a golf tournament last week.

(staff photo by CAMERON DODD)
A Presidio High School rocketry student prepares her rocket for launch.

By CAMERON DODD

PRESIDIO — On a dry, hot late afternoon in Presidio, a group of students huddle in the shade of a mini-van’s hatchback in a field near the high school. Only one or two others venture out into the sun to tinker with the gunpowder engines, electronic igniters and cardboard rockets designed and built by students. Eventually, a wire successfully sends a spark to an engine and a rocket takes off soaring into the desert sky.

The Presidio Rocketry Club is completing the last of their qualifying launches for this year’s Team America Rocketry Challenge. The hot, dry air increases combustion, giving the rocket extra lift, 11^th-grader Gaspar Piña said.

Piña was a part of a team representing Presidio at the national TARC competition in Virginia last year. Launching during the hottest, driest part of the day is part of their strategy, he said.

The individual teams within the rocketry club attempt many qualifying launches, but they must submit their three best-scoring flights for qualifications. Scores are set by calculating the height and the time that each rocket is in the air. A target flight for the qualifying round will reach a height of 850 feet and last between 44 and 46 seconds, from launch to landing.

Conducting their launches during consistent weather conditions gives the students an extra degree of control over the outcome of the launches. Presidio’s already hot and dry spring has extended the club’s launch window.

But conditions at the national competition in Virginia will be difficult for the club to anticipate. A rocket that performs well in the dry hot weather in Presidio in the qualifying round will face different conditions in Virginia, where humidity and cooler weather will likely affect flight height and duration.

Thousands of teams across the country enter the competition, club sponsor and high school science teacher Belinda Dolino said. But she thinks several of the Presidio teams have a strong chance of making it to the national championship this year.

The club has already started fundraising in anticipation of sending members to Virginia for the May competition. They have been selling t-shirts with the Rocketry Club logo. They also have reached out to local businesses for sponsorships, including the space tourism company Blue Origin, which has a facility in Van Horn.

(Marfa ISD photo by MARY MOIS)
From left, Dillon Orr, Amber Olvera, Gisselle Lujan, Georgina Brugette, and Anthony Landin.

FORT DAVIS, MARFA – Three Marfa High School students advanced to the UIL regional competition level after the district meet on Thursday, March 24 in Fort Davis.

Amber Olvera placed second in headline writing and third in ready writing, Gisselle Lujan placed second in ready writing, and Dillon Orr placed third in editorial writing and feature writing.

Regionals take place on April 23 in San Angelo.

Marfa students who placed fourth in their category will be regional alternates, including Orr for news writing, Anthony Landin for persuasive speaking, and Georgina Brugette for spelling and vocabulary.

In other contest results, Olvera and Janessa Orozco placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in editorial writing. Orozco also placed sixth in feature writing, and Olvera placed sixth in news writing.

As a team, Marfa placed second in Current Issues, Journalism and Spelling and Vocabulary, earning five points, compared with the 10 points of the first-place teams – Fort Davis in Current Issues and Spelling and Vocabulary and Balmorhea in Journalism.

By CAMERON DODD

PRESIDIO — The Presidio Independent School District Board approved Thursday the formation of an education foundation to fund programs and services for the district and its students.

The foundation will be established by the PISD school board but will operate independently, according to PISD Superintendent Dennis McEntire. As a 501c3 not-for-profit organization, the foundation will be able to accept tax-deductible donations on the behalf of the school district.

“It will allow for donors to give the schools tax-deductible to directly fund specific student services,” McEntire said. “The foundation will allow us to improve good programs, from scholarships to athletics to engineering.”

Many districts in Texas, including the Marfa Education Foundation that benefits Marfa ISD, have education foundations, and creating one for Presidio has been on his list of things to do since taking office as superintendent, McEntire said.

“The foundation is like a philanthropic arm to a district, similar to development office at a university,” said Nina Menis, executive director of the National School Foundation Association. “Foundations work on building strategic partnerships within the community to advance the mission of the district.”

There are more than 6,500 education foundations in the United States, according to the NSFA. Texas has seen a lot of recent growth in the education foundation sector, Menis said. The foundations are designed to supplement and compliment existing school district programs. Most foundations function independently of the boards for the school districts they are associated with, but each foundation’s board can determine how closely it works with the school district.

The board initially approved the proposal for an education foundation last year, but it required a second ratifying vote.

The PISD school board also approved Thursday the expansion of the 588 Educational Coop to include the Sierra Blanca Independent School District. The cooperative coordinates the sharing of resources and funding for a variety of educational services among districts in West Texas, including special education and speech language pathology. Adding districts to the cooperative requires the approval of all member districts.

Board members also approved out of state travel for specific student groups hoping to qualify for upcoming competitions. The Presidio Rocketry and Robotics club is trying to qualify for the national Team America Rocketry Challenge that will take place in Virginia in May. Presidio is one of only four schools in the country that has qualified nine years in a row.

The Rocketry and Robotics Club is also hoping to send members to the RoboRave International competition in Albuquerque, New Mexico, also in May. Presidio students qualified for the event at the 5-Star Innovation Cup hosted by the El Paso STEM Foundation on March 5.

The board acknowledge the students do much of the fundraising cover travel and registration costs on their own and voted to approve the out-of-state travel.

“I think these are awesome programs that I can’t support enough,” Superintendent McEntire said.

(Photo courtesy of LAURA PORTILLO)
Dr. Laura Portillo, second from left, with from left, her son Joe Portillo III, daughter Eliana Yvonne, and husband Joe Portillo Jr. at Eliana’s graduation from Texas Tech University, December 2015.

By CAMERON DODD

PRESIDIO — Presidio High School graduate Dr. Laura Portillo began her teaching career working in her hometown. She left after just one year. That was 1989, and she went on to hold education jobs across Texas. Nearly 26 years later, she is returning to her hometown to work as an administrator for the Presidio Independent School District.

Portillo graduated high school in Presidio in 1984 and went on to earn Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Sul Ross State University in Alpine in the late 1980s before coming back to teach in Presidio for her first year as an educator.

“I was married in 1991 and haven’t lived in Presidio since,” she said. “But we always said we wanted to get back there.”

Portillo’s husband, Jose Portillo, also graduated from Presidio High School, and worked as a Texas Department of Public Safety officer before retiring.

In her long career in education, Portillo has taught many subjects across grade levels, including English, special education and reading.

“You name it, I’ve done it,” she said, adding that for a while she taught a bilingual kindergarten class.

As an experienced administrator, Portillo served as assistant principal at several elementary schools in San Angelo and as an English as a Second Language Coordinator at Marble Falls Middle School.

Portillo completed a Doctorate of Education from Texas Tech University in August of 2012. Her dissertation was titled “Latina Superintendents in Texas: A Case Study of Career Paths, Influences, and Motivation.”

Portillo will be leaving her current position as assistant principal at the Early College High School at Midland College to be PISD’s newest central administrator for curriculum. In this capacity, she will work with all the campuses and grade levels to ensure they are meeting state and federal graduation requirements.

“The other administrator for curriculum and I oversee the overall needs of what the students have to learn, what the law requires us to teach,” Portillo said.

Portillo’s hiring was approved by the PISD school board at its regular meeting this past Thursday. An independent hiring committee of parents, students and community members identified her as the best candidate for the position, according to PISD Superintendent Dennis McEntire.

“We try to empower the parents and community,” McEntire said. “I don’t question the decisions of the committee members.”

A Presidio High School graduate with roots in the area, Portillo expressed her eagerness to work in the community again.

“I’ve worked in so many areas, from elementary school to high school, and now early college, I’m hoping to bring all my years of experience,” Portillo said. “As curriculum director, I feel I can help the district, empower the district. I’m so excited to work at every level.

“Really good things are happening there, and I’m excited to be part of it.”

Portillo is the daughter of Antonio Sanchez and the late Elva Sanchez of Presidio.

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

MARFA – The Marfa ISD robotics teams wrapped up their seasons with competitions in Wolfforth and Lubbock.

MHS Robohorns

Marfa High School Robohorns
(MISD team photos)

Ten students, Robotics teacher Rob Crowley, and Superintendent Andrew Peters made the trip to the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Hub City Regional in Lubbock. The high school team also traveled to Flagstaff, Arizona for another round of competition during spring break, but the team came in 51 out of 52 simply because the robot wasn’t ready.

(photo by ROB CROWLEY)
Marfa HS robotics members Casey Walker and Coy Livingston Dominguez get their robot ready for a match last weekend in Lubbock.

This year’s Robohorns include Coy Livingston Dominguez, Juan Fabela, Maria Fabela, Ana Guerra, Eva Guevara, Chris Ibarra, Gisselle Lujan, Arron Luna, Dillon Orr, Kevin Pippen, Serena Martinez, Adri Pineda, Martin Quinonez, Michael Vega and Casey Walker.

Each team had six weeks to build a robot to compete in this year’s game named FIRST Stronghold. The robot needed to traverse barriers, pick up and throw “boulders,” which are basketball-sized foam balls, and pull itself off the ground on a pull bar. The robot size had to be no more than 4 feet 6 inches tall or weigh at most 120 pounds, not including the bumpers and battery. Two alliances of three teams compete against each other to score points.

The Robohorns decided to create a robot that would work on the defense side, meaning it would guard the tower from the opponents. They finished 15 of 40 teams. The top eight ranking teams chose the two teams to compete in their alliance during the finals. The second-ranking team selected Marfa Robohorns, but the alliance didn’t win the match. Therefore the team didn’t advance to the World Championship.

Junior Robohorns

Marfa Junior High School Robohorns

This was the first year Marfa ISD expanded the robotics program to junior high students through FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC). Because FTC is open to junior high and high school students, the Junior Robohorns consisting only of 12- to 14-year old students were competing with much older and experienced teams.

“It was crazy. We walk in and there are a lot more experienced teams walking around with their robots and saw that they spent a lot of work on theirs, and looks a lot bigger than yours and complicated,” said FTC team captain Barrett Nation.

(photo by ROB CROWLEY)
Marfa Junior High robotics members, John Aguero, Barrett Nation and Bryan Torres, wait for a match to start at the Panhandle Plains Championship in February. The team of junior high students competed against high school students.

Team member Andrea Torres said the other teams were really nice though and gave tips to them, despite the age difference.

The team did come in last place during the League Championship in El Paso, but they unexpectedly won the Think Award, which awards a team for their engineering notebook. The purpose of the notebook is to document the team’s journey during every stage of the competition. Winning the award advanced the team to the Panhandle Plains Championship in February in Wolfforth, near Lubbock.

During the three weeks between the competitions, the FTC team – that also includes Nation, John Aguero, Tais Chanez, Dedrick Campos, Levi Hinojos, Nathan Nunez, Angelica Quinonez, Kim Soto, and Bryan Torres – made some improvements to the robots, such as programming and changing the speed to make it go faster. After a day of qualification rounds, the Marfa Junior High team – Team #10302 – finished with the ranking of 13 of 36 teams, but weren’t selected to advance to the next level.

Crowley thought the FTC season would end by January 30 in El Paso, but with the team advancing to the Panhandle Plains Championship, the team continued to work until February 20. Meanwhile the FRC team was working on their robot for competition from January 9 through February 23.

“We were continuing to work on the FTC robot during the entire FRC build and I got to say that was a huge challenge to have two team building robots at the same time,” said Crowley. “That was a huge challenge for me.”

The future

While the robotics season is over, the consensus among the students is that this year was a learning experience. When asked if they would like to return next year, all of the students raised their hands.

Crowley explained a plan for the five eighth-graders who will be high school freshman next year. They will start robotics in the fall with the FTC program and will then be a part of the FRC program in the spring.

“This is how we’re going to help pass the knowledge onto the junior high. To make the junior high FTC team stronger is to keep some of this talent on that team,” said Crowley. “It’s a good plan.”

MARFA – Marfa ISD will join tens of thousands of Texas students and their families on Monday in a statewide celebration of literacy called Texas Reads One Book when students simultaneously watch a videotaped reading of the first chapter of Charlotte’s Web by Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Jason Garrett.

Across the state, more than 50,000 families in more than 100 elementary schools will all read Charlotte’s Web at the same time, making reading the hot topic of conversation in communities statewide for nearly a month.

For the second consecutive year, Garrett will kick off this statewide family literacy initiative. His videotaped reading of the first chapter of Charlotte’s Web will be streamed to participating schools statewide at 9 a.m. on April 11.

“If you want to become a better football player, you have to practice,” says Garrett in the video. “If you want to become a better reader, you have to practice. It’s fun to read! It’s fun to find out about these characters and many others.”

Texas Reads One Book offers a powerful model for engaging parents in family literacy activities. Through the program, EVERY elementary family in participating schools will receive a copy of the book, meaning that even reluctant readers and parents who don’t normally participate in school activities get involved. Spanish-language copies of Charlotte’s Web are available for Spanish-speaking families.

By stimulating family involvement in the reading process and boosting student engagement with books, the Texas Reads One Book program can contribute to breaking the cycle of illiteracy — and therefore poverty — that exists for many low-income families. Reports from districts in Virginia and New York that have used the “one book” model for several years indicate higher test scores and increased interest in reading among students.

Texas Reads One Book is a project of the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA), with support from the nonprofit family literacy organization Read to Them and The School Superintendents Association (AASA). For more information contact Texasreads@readtothem.org. Visit http://readtothem.org/programs/texas-reads-one-book-video/ to view a video featuring introductory comments by José Parra and Bonny Urschel, followed by Jason Garrett’s reading of the first chapter of Charlotte’s Web.

From left, Joslyn Lujan, teacher Mrs. Thornsburg, Mona Garcia, Johnnie Gomez, school principal Mr. Aguero, Martin Zapata, Gaby Soto, and Rotary Club President Clint Weber.

MARFA – The Marfa Rotary Club has a new community project within the Marfa school district thanks to the hard work of Mrs. Peggy Thornsburg and to generous donations from the Marfa Rotary Club for materials.

Marfa secondary school students have been making blankets for distribution in the community by local Rotary members. Students and the community benefit from this Rotary club project conceived by Mrs. Thornsburg and funded by ongoing Rotary service projects.

The goal of project Linus is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth, and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”

This is a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children. Project Linus is a national program adopted by Rotary Youth Leadership Award or camp RYLA at Manzano Mountain retreat serving both boys and girls in Rotary district 5520.

Mrs. Thornsburg is a member of the Marfa Rotary Club, and she volunteers as a RYLA youth counselor. Every year a graduating 11th grade boy and girl is selected to attend from our region by the Marfa club. Camp assignments are still open and if selected your child may attention the camp free of charge courtesy of local Marfa Rotarians.

Please contact Peggy Thornsburg between 5-7pm at (361) 408-0105.

PISD Technology Director Carmen Rubner

By CAMERON DODD

PRESIDIO — Presidio High School Technology Director Carmen Rubner will be recognized next month as a teacher of excellence by the statewide organization Educate Texas.

Educate Texas is a private-public partnership supported by, among others, the Office of the Texas Governor, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and National Instrument. Educate Texas recently received an award from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for its efforts in improving educational opportunities across the state.

The organization’s Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (T-STEM) initiative certifies and supports more than 70 campuses, including Presidio Independent School District, as T-STEM Academies.

The first week of May is National Teacher Appreciation Week, and each year Educate Texas honors educators across the state as T-STEM Teachers of Excellence. Rubner will be among the teachers recognized on the organization’s website and in media releases across the state.

Rubner has coached baseball and served as technology director for the PISD for years. She recently took up the mantel of administrator and T-STEM director for the whole district.

“All my West Texas educators wear a lot of different hats, and Carmen is the same,” said Beccy  Hambright, a STEM coach with Educate Texas. ““Carmen steps up to do what needs to be done.”

Hambright oversees all of Educate Texas’ STEM academies in West Texas and has worked with the Presidio district since 2007. PISD has consistently impressed her in its immersive STEM education, particularly as a rural district with limited resources.

An important part of Educate Texas’ mission has been to advance opportunities for minority and female students, said Hambright, and that especially applies to rural students. Presidio is punching above its weight as one of only a few districts — rural or otherwise — in the state that are both T-STEM academies and early college campuses across the district.

“Presidio continues to blow the doors off programs and services for the kids,“ Hambright said. “Presidio has one of the most exciting campuses as far as STEM opportunities for the students. It more than exceeds schools in Austin and Houston.”

Rubner was nominated for the recognition by PISD Superintendent Dennis McEntire. He attributes the success of many of the district’s programs to Rubner’s versatility as an educator. The district has been able to offer technology boot camps and other training programs to students thanks in large part to partnerships Rubner has helped to establish between the schools and private technology companies such as Cisco, according to McEntire.

“Carmen isn’t a one dimensional teacher,” McEntire said. “She supports the kids in anything they want to do and whatever they need. She’ll never tell you, ‘Well that’s not my job.’”