By CAMERON DODD

PRESIDIO — Two teams from the Presidio High School Rocketry and Robotics team successfully qualified for the national Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC). Teams Light-year and Blue Nova will compete against each other and 98 other teams from across the country at the TARC Final Fly-Off on May 14 in Virginia.

(Photo courtesy of AIMEE PERALTA)
Presidio Rocketry and Robtics Club Team Blue Nova.

Team Light-year is Ivye Dolino, Gaspar Piña, Jonathan Almunia and Jose Saenz. Blue Nova is Milo Garola, Azmeyda Tavarez, Beatriz Valles, Lisa Barron and Luis Peraza.

Presidio Rocketry and Robotics club students have been busy making qualifying attempts throughout the spring. Most hot, dry weekday afternoons members of the Rocketry and Robotics club can be found launching their rockets in a field behind the public library.

Students competing in TARC design, build and fly rockets attempting to meet specific altitude and flight duration parameters. This year’s rules require the rockets to carry two raw eggs flying 850 feet into the air and returning the eggs safely to Earth within 44 to 46 seconds.

Launching in Presidio, the students have been able to rely on fairly consistent weather conditions. The Virginia national challenge will test their ability to launch in different, less predictable conditions.

(Photo courtesy of AIMEE PERALTA)
Presidio Rocketry and Robtics Club Team Light-year.

“During the year, the students used these data from practice launches to refine and redesign their rockets or to adjust any of the other parameters that will affect flight,” team advisor Aimee Peralta said. “The real challenge will be on Final Fly-Off, when they will have to problem-solve on site and in real time.”

TARC is sponsored by more than 20 companies in the aerospace and engineering industry with the goal of increasing student interest in pursuing careers in science and technology. More than 5000 students on 789 teams from across the country participate in TARC, but only the top 100 teams qualify for the national finals.

Presidio High School is one of only three schools nationwide that has had teams qualify for nationals every year for the past nine years. In 2010 and 2014, Presidio teams placed in the top 10, and in 2009 and 2012, Presidio teams ranked in the top 20.

The winner of the national Fly-Off will go on to compete in an international competition in London in July.

(Photo courtesy of AIMEE PERALTA)
Presidio Rocketry and Robtics Club won multiple awards at the Botball Regional Tournament.

PRESIDIO — Students in the Presidio Rocketry and Robotics Club brought home two awards from the Botball Regional Tournament in Houston this past weekend.

Presidio High School students won the Judges’ Choice award for outstanding engineering design and innovative use of materials at this year’s Botball competition.

They also won the Outstanding Documentation award for exemplary written accounts of the team’s engineering and design process, and for excellent onsite presentation, according to Aimee Peralta, a club advisor.

Presidio students participating in the Botball competition included Azmeyda Tavarez, Lisa Barron, Marta Luna-Hernandez, Gerardo Viramontes, Ramon Escontrias, Gerardo Sanchez, Ivye Dolino, Luis Peraza Jonathan Almuina and Alyssa Hernandez.

The Botball Educational Robotics Program is aimed at engaging middle and high school students in an activity that meets national common-core standards while engaging them in a “learn-by-doing, inquiry-based robotics competition,” according to the Botball website. Students use science, engineering, technology, math and writing skills to design, build, program and document robots in a hands-on project.

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

sarah@bigbendnow.com

MARFA – As the end of the school year nears, the Marfa ISD board of trustees and school administration are taking steps to gear up for the 2016-2017 school year.

Superintendent Andrew Peters and Principal Oscar Aguero presented the board a reading plan for the upcoming school year. The plan has been in effect since 2014, but the next step is to establish a literacy framework with Reading Specialist Adamina Morlock. This document will explain how they plan to teach reading for each grade level at MISD. Peters said the detailed list would include the amount of minutes they would focus on each topic such as phonics and fluency building.

“All teachers will know this is how we teach reading in Marfa. This is the way we do it,” said Peters.

Other plans for the next school year is to bring current special education teacher Crawford Marginot as the librarian as well as implement weekly library lessons for kindergarten to eighth grade.

This year’s plans included a program called Marfa Reads where members of the local community read to the elementary students each week for six weeks. The program, spearheaded by local resident Ann Marie Nafziger, wraps up this week and brought 35 volunteers. Aguero told the board that the students love it because they can’t wait for their volunteer to read to them.

“It’s got to be one of the best volunteer programs I’ve ever seen,” said Peters.

In other news, the board approved a tax note of $450,000 with an interest rate of 1.455 percent toward the cost of repairs for the next two years at MISD. Out of the five bids they received, BB&T Government Finance from Charlotte, North Carolina, was chosen. This will be paid by the maintenance and operations (M&O) budget for the next five years, but the district will start paying it back next year.

MISD is addressing much-needed repairs to the campus, starting with the flooring. Peters mentioned at the meeting that he filed an insurance claim for the rolling floors in the high school, which will be examined this week. Once he hears a decision, Peters will come back at the May board meeting to move forward on those floors.

In the meantime, the board approved Apex Flooring from Dallas to replace the tile and carpet in the library and to replace the rubber floors on the handicap ramps in the high school. Peters said the total proposed price of $35,000 is within the budget. The company requested the school to pay half the cost of materials of $9,770 to get the project started in the first week of June. Apex Flooring also submitted ideas for the kitchen flooring, but Peters sent them back to the drawing board.

After an executive session, the board voted to hire two employees for the 2016-2017 school year. Trava Baker will teach elementary special education. Baker is a former principal at Marfa elementary and is currently a principal at McCamey elementary. She will replace Marginot.

And Vaughn Grisham was hired to teach English at the high school as well as a technology course. Grisham is currently an Austin resident, but has a house in Alpine. He previously taught in Alpine and High Frontier High School in Fort Davis.

Zach and MacKenzie Buie, who taught band and content mastery respectively, have resigned from Marfa ISD, effective the end of the school year.

(photo courtesy of RICK STEPHENS)
Presidio High School students at the the Blue Origin Test Site.   Also pictured are Congressman Will Hurd (TX-23), Jenny Tavarez of WIll Hurd’s district staff, PISD Superintendent Dennis McEntire, Rocketry Team Advisors Aimee Peralta and , Belinda Dolino, Scott Wasserman, Birth2Work staffers Elane V Scott and Rick Stephens and Blue Origin staff.

By RICK STEPHENS

ALPINE – Thanks to the efforts of 23rd U.S. Congressional District Congressman Will Hurd, Blue Origin and Birth2Work, more than 120 West Texas high school STEM students are visiting the West Texas Launch Site (WTLS)site of Blue Origin rocket launch site near Van Horn.

The tour is an important part of bringing together area elected officials, business, and community leaders to engage our local youth to see and experience how science and technology translates into real opportunities in West Texas.    

Blue Origin is an American, privately-funded aerospace developer and manufacturer founded by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. The primary focus is to provide commercial space flight operations for both human and cargo spacescience research experimentenable a future where millions of people are living and working in space.  flights using the reusable New Shepard launch vehicle.

In West Texas, Blue Origin  which has  successfully launched and landed the New Shepard suborbital space launch vehicle  three times in less than five months without removing the engine. The latest test flight was April 2.   With Congressman Hurd’s help to establish connections, this is the first timeenabled an opportunity for BLUE ORIGINBlue Origin has to provided  tours to area high school students.   Lyndsay Vick of Blue Origin commented, “This has been a great experience and opportunity for Blue Origin employees, as well, to share the excitement of their experiences in sending rockets to space and returning to earth for reuse.”

Blue Origin employees are excited to share their enthusiasm with students and about sending their rockets into space and returning  them to the earth for resuse. The students gethad the opportunity to launch and recover their own model rockets at the same landing pad that New Shepard useshas uses today.

Marfa High School students gather at the Blue Origin launch site.

Thus far, high school students from Marfa, Fort Davis, Presidio, and Alpine high schools have visited the Blue Origin WTLS site located 25 miles north of Van Horn. Students from Terlingua, Valentine, Marathon, Van Horn and Alpine Christian Academy will visit in the coming weeks.   

In addition to touring the facility and learning about what it means to build and launch people and cargo science research expeirmentsexperiments into space, the students launch their own rockets, conduct experiments, and learn from rocket scientists and engineers.   

Students from Marfa particularly enjoyed the presentation by Blue Origin on making and launching rockets, as well as the nitro lessons with the plastic bottles and putting bringing their robot on to the launch site. The Marfa High School’s FIRST robotics team previously attended the World FIRST Robotics Competition in St. Louis, Missouri  (2015)  and recently (2016) competed in Flagstaff, Arizona. The Fort Davis students proclaimed, “this is the best field trip ever!.”    

Students from Presidio High School compete regularly in rocketry events. They placed 9th in the national Team America Rocketry Competition (TARC) in 2011, which included a visit to the White House in 20121. In 2014 the team placed 4th in TARC.  Students on the tour said “we learned a lot, were able to launch our rocket, and even our bus driver was asking questions.” Alpine students said it was their best field trip ever, as well, and that they will probably never again wash their hands now that they touched space (via the rocket)!

After visiting the Blue Origin facility earlier this year, Congressman Will Hurd saw a great opportunity for local students to learn about what Blue Origin does in West Texas.  Following up with Elane V. Scott, co-founder of Birth2Work (www.birth2work.org), she  workedworked closely with the West Texas high school teachers and administrators,  and Lyndsay Vick at Blue Origin, to organize the tours.    

Many thanks go to Birth2Work and Blue Origin for their leadership in enhancing the experiences and opportunities for so many area high school students.    

(staff photo by SARAH M. VASQUEZ)
The six-member jury is sworn into service by 394th State Judicial District Court Judge Roy Ferguson. Ferguson gave the Marfa High School seniors a civics lesson through a mock jury selection.

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

sarah@bigbendnow.com

MARFA – 394th State Judicial District Court Judge Roy Ferguson asked the young defendant, wearing a beige vest over a light blue dress shirt and bowtie, to rise.

“How do you plead, sir? Do you plead guilty or not guilty?” asked Ferguson.

A scar peeked from under the defendant’s shaggy bangs as he stood up. Standing under five feet tall, the defendant, the Harry James Potter, said “not guilty.”

Class was in session Tuesday afternoon for the Marfa High School seniors, but this classroom was in the Presidio County courtroom and Ferguson was the instructor. For Juror Appreciation Week, Ferguson is holding mock jury selections for the state’s case against Potter with the area schools – Marfa, Alpine, Fort Davis and Presidio.

The students were walked through the process to select a jury for a murder trial. Sandy Wilson played the role of the 83rd District Attorney, who is coincidentally running on the Republican ticket for the position in November. Her Democratic opponent, Jaime Escuder, played the defense attorney with Paul Chambers as his co-counsel. Potter was played by Ferguson’s son.

With the senior class just weeks away from graduation, half of them are already 18 years old, which means they could be called for jury duty in the near future. Ferguson wanted to give them a feel of what a real jury qualification is.

“This process is so important. It’s essential to our justice system,” said Ferguson. “We have the right as Americans not to be warehoused or punished by the government unless 12 people who are not the government say that’s what should be happen.”

The students raised their right hands as they were given the oath. Escuder and Wilson both questioned the students as potential jurors, a process which is also known as “voir dire” or “to speak the truth.” They also explained the legal system, such as reasonable doubt and biases, and what they do to sway the jury to rule in their favor during the trial.

When Escuder explained that the jury should take into account any history between the defendant and the victim, he had Potter stand in front of them to reveal the lightning bolt scar on his forehead that he received as an infant from a failed murder attempt by Lord Voldermort.

Wilson explained how they use evidence and testimonies to present the facts of the crime. She held up the wand used as the “murder weapon,” with an objection by Escuder as it wasn’t introduced into evidence.

Besides the defendant’s fictional character, everything was as real to an actual court setting as possible, but the media could disclose the defendant’s name, who is a minor, and photos of the selected jury was allowed. Ferguson wore his judge’s robe from the bench. District/County Clerk Virginia “Virgie” Pallarez and Deputy Clerk Sarah Fellow Martinez sat nearby with the court files, and Constable Steve Marquez stood next to Ferguson during the trial. Marquez broke from his character a bit when he smiled as he was giving the courtroom instructions to the students.

After two hours of instruction and questioning, the lawyers narrowed down the candidates to a six-member jury with an alternate. The chosen six sat in the jury box and were sworn in by Ferguson.

Potter was charged by indictment of using a “disarming charm” to murder Tom Marvolo Riddle on May 2, 1998. The next step would be for the newly appointed jury to then hear the case to decide if Potter willingly and knowingly murder Riddle. The lesson didn’t go past that though.

Ferguson told the Big Bend Sentinel that he wanted to give a fun but realistic understanding of how the process works.

Escuder did object to Wilson after she read the indictment against Potter.

“My objection is that Tom Marvolo Riddle was not the person involved in this case. In fact, my client was charged with murder to one Lord Voldermort,” said Escuder.

Wilson’s response was that the information she received on the murder victim showed that his legal name was in fact Riddle.

“He might have called himself Lord Voldermort, but the only information that we have showing his legal name, that is the legal name in the indictment,” said Wilson.

Ferguson overruled the objection, and the civics class was dismissed.

Presidio Rocketry and Robotics Club members Azmeyda Tavarez, Ivye Dolino, Milo Garcia, Luis Peraza, Jose Saenz, Jonathan Almuina, Liza Barron, Gaspar Piña, Beatriz Valles, Leslie Mendoza and Raul Leon.

By CAMERON DODD

cameron@bigbendnow.com

PRESIDIO — The Presidio Rocketry and Robotics Club brought home a “best costumes” award from the national Team America Rocketry Challenge in Arlington, Virginia this past weekend. The two teams representing Presidio also placed in the top 30 out of almost 800 teams from around the country.

In colorful dresses and striped slacks, the Presidio students looked more like Flamenco dancers and matadors than young rocket scientists. But their performance in the competition, with the added challenge of adverse weather conditions, showed the country Presidio students are skilled engineers as well as being stylish.

Team Light Year, composed of Gaspar Piña, Leslie Mendoza, Raul Leon, Jose Saenz, Ivye Dolino and Jonathan Almuina, placed in 27^th in the rocketry challenge out of 789 team. Team Light year’s launch reached an altitude of 853 feet and a flight duration of 50 seconds. This resulted in a score of 21.68 points.

Scores are set by calculating the height and the time that each rocket is in the air. A target flight will reach a height of 850 feet and last between 44 and 46 seconds, from launch to landing. The closer to the target flight height and duration, the better the score.

Team Blue nova, composed of Liza Barron, Beatriz Valles, Luis Peraza, Milo Garcia and Azmeyda Tavarez, placed 30th. Their rocket 860 feet and a time of 49.75 seconds. Their score was 24.36.

A large thunderstorm went through Arlington area on the day of the finals, delaying the competition by two hours, according to Gaspar Piña. The storm also prevented the Presidio teams from completing a second launch. “Without a doubt, the weather did affect our chance to compete in the final round for the championship,” Piña said.

The competition was ultimately won by a team from Bellevue, Washington. The Space Potatoes, as they are called, score 13.64, winning more than $20,000 in scholarships and funds for their school. Photos from the competition show, however, they were not as creatively dressed as Presidio’s students.

Valedictorian Asa J. Bishop and Salutatorian Mace A. Galliete

Grads are first from Soza Early College High School

PRESIDIO — The Presidio High School class of 2016 will receive their diplomas during commencement ceremonies at Manuel O. Hernandez Stadium on Saturday, May 28 at 7:30pm.

Asa J. Bishop is this year’s valedictorian. The son of Valley Farm’s proprietor Terry Bishop and Presidio County Justice of the Peace Juanita Bishop, he graduates with a 3.98 grade point average and 70 hours of college credit. Bishop was president of the Presidio chapter of the National Honor Society and a member of Student Council. He participated in the Rocketry and Robotics Club and the Solar Car team. Bishop helped found the Presidio Debate Team and worked with the student-led writing center to help classmates who struggle with writing. Bishop says his proudest achievement is receiving the 2016 John Ben Shepperd Trailblazer Award, an award given to one junior or senior in the entire state based on leadership and passion for education.

Salutatorian Mace A. Galliete will graduate with a 3.92 gpa. Galliete is the son of Border Patrol agent Ronald Galiete and Marlene Galliete. Throughout high school, Galliete was involved in the National Honor Society, Student Council and the Solar Car racing team. He also ran track and cross country for four years, the last two of which he qualified for the state championship. In 2016, he was awarded Academic All State Elite. Galliete will attend the University of Texas at Austin, where he plans to study government and go on to law school.

This year’s graduating class is the first at Presidio High School to graduate from the William Soza Early College High School program. Since ninth grade, the students have had the opportunity to take dual-credit, college level courses, including Texas’ first dual-credit biology class. 44 of the 96 seniors will graduate with some college credit. 87 of the departing students are graduating with “Distinguished Achievement,” meaning they have taken four years of math and science classes. All of the graduating seniors have taken the ACT or SAT.

State Rep. Will Hurd and University of Texas of the Permian Basin President Dr. David Watts will speak at the commencement ceremony.

MARFA — All pre-k through 8th grade students are invited to cast plaster and concrete, sculpt clay, and construct wood and wire sculptures during this year’s 3-D Summer Shake-Up! Partnering with Marfa ISD, Chinati’s annual summer art classes begin June 6 and run through June 30.

Students begin each week in the Chamberlain building, studying shape and space and reacting to the work with a project that encourages them to really see each piece. These young artists can look forward to plunging their hands into plaster, molding clay, and tearing paper to form sculptural, 3-D pieces that will be part of a large-scale installation in Chinati’s Arena the evening of July 1.

Additionally, the flamenco dance troupe, Entreflamenco, from Santa Fe, returns to Chinati this summer! Student dancers who wish to participate are encouraged to sign up early for this special opportunity. The class takes place the week of June 20.  Enrollment is limited, and the class culminates with a demonstration showcasing student dancers in the USO on Friday, June 24.

A free full-length professional performance by Entreflamenco is set for Saturday, June 25 at the Crowley Theater. Last year’s performance was spectacular and Chinati welcomes public attendance.

All Summer Shake-Up activities are free. The day begins at 8:45 am, with breakfast served at school. Children then board buses at 9am that take students to their activities. Please do not bring students directly to the museum. Buses will return students to school at noon, where they’ll be fed lunch.

All art classes take place at Chinati and students should wear mess-friendly clothes and closed-toe shoes.

Classes are divided by age:

Pre-k (4 years) – Kindergarten: June 6-9

First and second grades: June 13-16

Third and fourth grades: June 27-30

Fifth through eighth grades: June 20-23, note time: 1:30-4:30pm

Entreflamenco schedule:

First through eighth grades: June 20-23 (class held at school)

Children should wear closed toe shoes to dance class.

Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Contact Marfa ISD 432 729 4362 ask for Valerie.

Juan T Martinez

MARFA – Marfa Live Arts presents the workshop La Banda that will be taught by local musicians including Juan Tarango Martinez, David Beebe, Primo Carrasco, and others as part of MISD’s Camp Summer Shake-Up, the week of June 6 through 9.

Martinez will be leading the workshop. Martinez plays in his band, Juan T. Martinez y Grupo Alturas, (formerly known as Grupo Éxito). The two original band members, Martinez and David T. Martinez, have been the band’s foundation and have paved the way for the new musicians that include their sons, daughters and nephews. Martinez explains that the band’s style consists of traditional Tex-Mex, Tejano, traditional norteño, new wave norteño con sax, and conjunto music. Martinez hopes to explore these various genres with the students who participate in the workshop.

All of the La Banda workshop musicians are experienced performers of traditional Mexican music and are offering up the knowledge of Tejano’s historical roots to interested MISD students. They will teach primarily Tejano through various forms such as ranchero, conjunto, and norteño music. Participating students will take the class at no cost and will use donated instruments, including six accordions that have previously been donated as part of Marfa Live Arts’ instrument donation program.

Students will also have access to five new acoustic guitars, a drum-set, guïros, woodblocks and a keyboard. Marfa Live Arts will be donating all instruments purchased through a grant from Texas Commission on the Arts to the school upon completion of the program.

La Banda will serve as “band practice.” All members of the class, both teachers and students, will rehearse as an ensemble, choosing a few instruments they wish to become acquainted with in the allotted time.  The final performance will be at 7pm on Thursday, June 9, at the Crowley Theater. There will be a community potluck beforehand at 6pm. All community members are invited to bring a dish and celebrate.

To register for Camp Summer Shake-Up contact MISD or for La Banda questions email ccschrim@marfalivearts.org.

Presidio High School band students who competed at state solo and ensemble contest.

PRESIDIO – The Presidio High School Band celebrated its 20th consecutive trip to the Texas State Solo & Ensemble Contest with a gold medal performance (1st division rating) on a tuba solo by Maxwell “Max” Ferguson.

Max Ferguson

Performing movements 1 & 2 of “Suite for Tuba”, by Don Haddad, Ferguson said that at certain points he ‘had an involuntary vibrato’ due to being a little nervous. Overall his solo adjudicator was very complimentary of the performance, and offered a few tips on how to improve aspects of Ferguson’s tuba playing.

The band also had several entries that received a Division 2 “Excellent” rating. Earning this honor were: Flute Trio ( J’Lynn Goldston, Ambar Garcia, Karyme Valdez); Clarinet Quartet (Jetsamani Martinez, Aylin Valenzuela-Baeza, Samanatha Cobos, Alyssa Sanchez); Clarinet Quartet (Shantel Garcia, Viviana Salazar, Dayari Rodriguez, Miranda Saenz); Saxophone Quartet (Andres Villa, Bryan Dominguez, Ismael Carrasco, Gerardo Viramontes); and Percussion Ensemble (Flor Leyva, Francisco Fernandez, Jasmin Deanda, Samantha Valdez, Alonso Velasco).

Receiving a Division 3 “Good” rating for their performance were: Brass Quintet (Daniel Bailon, Roxana Rodriguez, Rebecca Galindo-Sanchez, Hector Montemayor, Maxwell Ferguson); Alto Saxophone Solo: Andres Villa and Bryan Dominguez); and Marimba Solo (Francisco Fernandez and Jasmin Deanda).

Also performing at State Contest was Clarinet Quartet (Maria Muñiz, Andres Escontrias, Damaris Medina, and Valeria Valenzuela), receiving a Division 4 rating.

All these students previously earned their State Contest honors by performing at the Division 1 level at Regional Solo & Ensemble earlier this semester.

Congratulations to all students!

By CAMERON DODD
cameron@bigbendnow.com

PRESIDIO  — Two Presidio educators will be absent from the Presidio Independent School District in the fall. Judith Pardo-Alferez and Arturo Alferez have both resigned from the district.

Judith Pardo-Alferez left her position as a district curriculum administrator to take up the mantel of Alpine Elementary School principal.

Arturo Alferez resigned from his teaching position at PISD on May 25, according to Superintendent Dennis McEntire.

Alferez’s letter of resignation was “simple, gracious and did not indicate where he may be going,” McEntire said in an email.

Although his wife has found employment with the Alpine ISD, Arturo Alferez has not been hired, Alpine Superintendent Becky Watley said.

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

MARFA – “Kids in the classroom should never suffer from mistakes made by adults,” Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath said in response to the ongoing reporting issues with the standardized test scores from Educational Testing Service (ETS) testing vendor.

As a result, students won’t face consequences for failing scores, and the test scores for grades 3 to 8 will be delayed.

In a news release, Morath announced last week that the state would waive the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STARR) testing for fifth- and eighth-grade students for the 2015-2016 school year. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) also cancelled the retesting for the fifth and eighth grades that was scheduled on June 21 and 22.

Marfa ISD Superintendent Andrew Peters calls the whole situation a bureaucratic mess as the STAAR test hasn’t proven to be an accurate measure of college readiness.

“During this past year, there were numerous issues with the technology, shipping, and the general condition of the test materials,” said Peters. “We have had materials shipped to us that were for another school district – across the state – and we have had materials sent to us that were damaged, missing pages, and impossible to use.”

This was the first year TEA used the New Jersey-based ETS for the standardized test after replacing the previous testing vendor, Pearson Education. The Texas Tribune reported that problems with ETS started popping up in March, when a computer glitch impacted more than 14,000 exams that resulted in students losing answers. Eventually, a group of parents sued the state to try to stop the tests from affecting student academic progress.

Fifth- and eighth-grade students must pass the reading and math section of STAAR in order to be promoted to the next grade. If they fail after three attempts, the districts then uses a Grade Placement Committee, that consists of a principal, teacher, the student’s parents, to unanimously agree whether the student is ready for the next grade level. Under state law, Morath is exercising his ability to waive districts from using these committees this school year, but districts are encouraged to use local discretion and all relevant and available academic information to determine if a student should be promoted.

Marfa ISD students that have failed these tests will not be required to attend summer school, according to Peters.

“We will work with each student who has failed to prepare them for whatever is sent our way in 2017,” said Peters.

TEA sent testing coordinators a letter on Monday that stated the STAAR results for third grade through eighth grade would be reported to districts on July 5 instead of June 15.

Peters thinks Morath made a good decision regarding these issues, but taxpayers will have to have foot the bill for this situation.

“In addition, we have not heard if these tests will be used to ‘rank’ school districts,” said Peters.

Morath said that they intend to hold ETS accountable.

Elvira Hermosillo Lara, center, with her friends, from left, Christine Pallarez, Ana Saenz Tovar and Amy Carrasco at the UNT commencement ceremony in May.

PRESIDIO — Presidio native Elvira Hermosillo Lara finished a graduate program at the University of North Texas in Denton in May.

Lara earned a master’s degree in design research.

Lara’s studies were interrupted in 2011, when she was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor on her brain stem. She returned to Presidio after an invasive surgery. While in recovery, she worked at Presidio Independent School District and helped to spearhead the Presidio Recycling Program.

Lara hopes to work in urban planning or a similar field, she said.

“My minor is in public administration,” Lara said. “So I’d like to do something creative in the public management field.”

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

MARFA – A pilot program that brought volunteer readers into Marfa Elementary School class-rooms has been deemed a success.

“It was really well-done,” said Marfa ISD Superintendent Andrew Peters.

Peters gave a hat’s off to teacher Adamina Morlock and community member Ann Marie Nafziger for their leadership in the program named Read Marfa. Program Coordinator Nafziger read a sum-mary at Monday’s board meeting, assessing the literacy program. For six weeks, community vol-unteers read to elementary students from pre-kindergarten to third grade in the classroom for 30 minutes twice a week. There were enough volunteers – 32 total – to split the 77 students into small groups of five or six.

Read Marfa came together after Chinati Foundation Director Jenny Moore asked Peters and Prin-cipal Oscar Aguero how local businesses could collaborate with Marfa ISD. With this year being “The Year of the Book,” Peters and Aguero decided to focus on student literacy. Nafziger has worked in education, but not as an educator. She said at the meeting though that she’s good with coordinating, so she took over the reins to set up the Read Marfa program.

The volunteers, who Peters called the “who’s who of the Big Bend,” went through training and orientation under Morlock a week before they started reading to the students. Many of the volun-teers came from the Chinati Foundation and Presidio County, but some were local businessmen, businesswomen, and retirees.

Nafziger gathered feedback from the volunteers and teachers when the program was over to see how to improve the program next year. The volunteers and five teachers wanted to see it continue next year and some would participate again. The teachers also reported the students looked forward to their volunteer reader and noticed them talking about the books and vocabulary words outside the reading times.

“Another thing that the teachers said was that by having this group of volunteers, one of the most valuable assets of the program was that the kids were exposed to different people and different ide-as and different books than they would have if it was an in-school program,” said Nafziger.

She wrote in the assessment that many of the volunteers mentioned the joy they had when they saw and were recognized by their students around town, outside the school setting.

Some suggestions for next year’s program is to include a high school program, which could in-clude a book club, or expanding the program to include one-on-one, after-school reading sessions.

Peters said they plan to continue the program next year with the idea to schedule more than one session during the year to allow volunteers more schedule flexibility. Next year’s theme will be the “Year of the Writer,” so they might include some writing activities.

Facilities update

The tile in the kitchen and on the handicap ramps in the high school and most of the carpet in the library have been removed. The school district is using the summer time as the students are on va-cation to do much-needed renovations on campus, which include sidewalks and ADA access at the high school and elementary campuses and Martin Field, a new high school roof and gutters, tiling and carpeting the floors at the high school, lighting in the auditorium, fire alarm and press box up-grades and replacing the retaining wall and fencing at the tennis courts, which now serves as a parking lot.

There was a small hiccup with the project as the floors in the cafeteria were damaged when the ap-pliances were removed from the kitchen.

“That was going to be next year’s project to redo the cafeteria floor. We might have to speed that up,” said Peters.

Peters said the flooring for the library, the ramp and kitchen should be ready by the July 18 board meeting.

New hires

Peters announced to the board that he has hired Jackie Hernandez to teach special education content mastery as well as coach girls’ sports. Coach Amy White has been promoted to assistant principal, so Hernandez will help phase out White from coaching. Hernandez is a graduate of Sul Ross State University and Marfa ISD. She has been a teacher’s assistant for MISD for a while and did a long-term substitute job in Fort Stockton two years ago. Peters said she should have her full certification by August.

Arturo Alferez was offered a contract to teacher junior high social studies and coach boys’ basket-ball. He will also help coach football and girls’ softball. He will replace Leighton Conway, who recently resigned. Alferez resigned from this teaching position at Presidio ISD, and his wife Judith Pardo-Alferez left her position as a district curriculum director last month to take a post at Alpine ISD.

FAR WEST TEXAS – Five area school districts – Presidio, Alpine, Fort Davis, Terlingua and Marathon – were among the 578 schools systems across Texas that was awarded more than $116 million in grants as part of Governor Greg Abbott’s high-quality prekindergarten initiative.

In 2015, Abbott declared early education a legislative priority. The 84th Texas Legislature went on to adopt – and Abbott signed into law – House Bill 4, which established additional state support for all public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools seeking to expand high-quality prekindergarten programs.

“Implementation of this important grant program, which remains a priority of Gov. Abbott, provides important educational support to our youngest Texans,” Commissioner of Education Mike Morath said in a press release. “By working to ensure and expand high quality prekindergarten programs across our state, we take an important step toward ensuring every child is prepared for the classroom from the very first day.”

Following the application period, school systems have been formally notified by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) of the final grant awards. Funding will be used by districts to implement pre-K programs in the 2016-2017 school year.

Presidio ISD received a total $50,658. Alpine ISD was awarded $30,837. Fort Davis ISD received a total of $7,345, and Terlingua CSD received $1,472. Marathon ISD received a total $2,940.

The high-quality grant program allows districts and charters to receive funding for qualifying prekindergarten students in addition to the half-day Foundation School Program funding that is already received for each eligible prekindergarten student. To receive the grant funding, a district or charter had to meet certain enhanced quality standards related to curriculum, teacher qualifications, academic performance, and family engagement.

House Bill 4 also added new prekindergarten reporting requirements for all public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools. In addition to implementation of the high-quality grant program, the statewide data collection required by House Bill 4 will begin in the 2016-2017 school year.

To learn more about the High-Quality Prekindergarten Grant Program (including a complete list of public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools receiving funds), visit http://tea.texas.gov/Curriculum_and_Instructional_Programs/Special_Student_Populations/Early_Childhood_Education/House_Bill_4_High-Quality_Prekindergarten_Grant_Program/.

Reporter Sarah M. Vasquez contributed to this article.

(Photo courtesy of Rolando Gloria)
The Presidio High School Solar Car team is gearing up for the cross-country Solar Car Challenge that starts this weekend. The students will race 20 other teams from Dallas to Minnesota.

By CAMERON DODD

cameron@bigbendnow.com

PRESIDIO — The Presidio High School Solar Car team will hit the road Sunday on a six-day, more than 900-mile race to Minnesota.

This is the first year the 11-student solar car team is participating in the cross-country race, and only the second year they have competed in any Solar Car Challenge, faculty sponsor Rolando Gloria Jr. said.

The team competed in the 2015 Solar Car Challenge races at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. They placed 14th of 15 teams in their division after their car broke down, Team Captain Damaris Peraza said. But undiscouraged, the team is taking the car on the open road this year in a race with 21 competing teams.

The car is built from a dune-buggy kit. This year, the team and their sponsors have replaced the solar panels on the car with higher-voltage panels, team sponsor Ian Dolino said. The six new panels can generate 310 watts each.

The 10 students participating in the race will alternate driving, Peraza said. The car can reach about 45 miles per hour, but they will probably not drive that fast to conserve the battery, she said.

The team will travel to Dallas on Thursday for orientations and safety meetings before the race kicks off Sunday morning. The race route will take the team through parts of Oklahoma, Kansas Nebraska, and Iowa. The finish line is at Seagate Technology headquarters in Shakope, Minnesota.

The Presidio High School Solar Car Team is Damaris Peraza. Angel Ramirez, Lesly Mendoza, Martha Luna, Gerardo Viramontes, Sonny Armendariz, Jose Gabaldon, Marco Galindo, Gilberto Madrid, Alberto Rodriguez and Kevin Orona.

Faculty sponsors are Ian Dolino, Rolando Gloria and Jesus Zubia.

The team is sponsored by Keith Clay at NAPA in Presidio, Joe Saenz at Harper Hardware, Sabrina Franszheim, Direct Energy Business, Trammell S. Crow Residential, Aurelino Ramirez at Poncho’s Pizza, Dan and Bernadette McEntire of Power Resource Management and the Presidio Independent School District’s Board of Education and Administration.

PRESIDIO — With back-to-school season rolling around again, the Family Crisis Center of the Big Bend is accepting school supply donations.

The Center is seeking donations of school supplies or money tobuy supplies for clients in Presidio, Ruidosa and Candelaria, client advocate Adriana Tarango said.

School supply lists are available on the Presidio Independent School District website, Presidio-isd.net

The center aims to have all donations in by August 8, two weeks ahead of the August 22 school start date, Tarango said.

For more information on the Family Crisis Center of the Big Bend or donating school supplies, call 229-4297 or visit the center at 905 E. Alpine Street in Presidio.

AUSTIN – Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar reminds shoppers they can save money on certain items priced for less than $100 during the state’s annual sales tax holiday. This year, the sales tax holiday is scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 5-7.

The law exempts most clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks priced below $100 from sales tax, saving shoppers about $8 on every $100 they spend during the weekend.

“As families all over our state prepare to send their children back to school, we hope folks take advantage of this opportunity to get the supplies they need and save some money in the process,” Hegar said. “As the father of three young children, I know how these expenses can add up. This event provides Texas families with some relief from state and local sales taxes.”

Lists of apparel and school supplies that may be purchased tax-free can be found on the Comptroller’s website at TexasTaxHoliday.org.

This year, shoppers will save an estimated $92 million in state and local sales taxes during the sales tax holiday.

The tax holiday weekend has been an annual event since 1999.

Marfa’s preliminary scores

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

sarah@bigbendnow.com

MARFA – The good news is that Marfa ISD’s test scores are improving overall. The not-so-good news is that there is still room for improvement.

Principal Oscar Aguero presented preliminary STAAR test scores from the 2015-2016 school year at the August 1 school board meeting and they are showing progress. Most grades hovered between 70 percent to 80 percent passing in each test.

Aguero said there were “beautiful gains” in fourth grade with the highest gain in math with 83 percent passing, compared to last year’s 29 percent. A total 33 fourth-graders were tested, compared to 18 students last year.

Seventh grade showed improvement, even though Superintendent Andrew Peters said the past school year was crazy after he and Aguero taught seventh grade for six weeks. Jaylia Foster took over for the remaining year.

“Ms. Foster really did the rest,” said Aguero. “For her to jump in and make up for Mr. Peters and myself, I was very proud of the work she did.”

Third-grade test scores remained the same from last year in reading and math. Aguero said there’s been a different third grade teacher every year in the last four years he’s been there.

“We’re not going to improve until we have a sustainability, a third-grade teacher who knows what it’s like,” said Aguero.

Current teacher Mihaku Rodriguez will enter her second year teaching third grade in August.

The district also took a hit with the eighth grade test scores. Only 21 percent passed social studies. Aguero said the grades have historically been low, so it doesn’t surprise him.

The 2016 accountability ratings that measures the district’s academic performance will be released on Monday, August 15.

This year was named the “Year of the Book” in an effort to bring up literacy. Every student was required to read for 45 minutes every morning, and a pilot program named Read Marfa was introduced that brought community readers into the elementary classrooms.

Program Coordinator Ann Marie Nafziger coordinated 32 volunteers to read to small groups of five or six students for 30 minutes twice a week. The summary she gathered this summer revealed the program was successful and plans to expand it next year.

Meal prices

Director of Food Services Joy Oram proposed a 25 cent across-the-board increase for the meal program the new school year. The district is looking at 130 students that are approved for free lunch, while 73 students, or 20 percent, either didn’t qualify for free lunch or didn’t apply. Lunch will be $3 for pre-kindergarten to eighth grade students, $3.25 for high school students and $4 for staff and public meals.

Montessori program

After a massive push to expand the Montessori program to the sixth grade, MISD will only expand it to the fourth grade.

“As you guys know, Montessori is very dear to my heart and I was very excited about expanding it,” said Aguero.

He thought hiring Meg Sherwin was the right person for the classroom, but after kindergarten teacher Sheri Eppenauer announced her retirement after 41 years of service, Sherwin will now teach traditional kindergarten. That leaves the district short a Montessori teacher.

Peters said the only students in Montessori next year are returning students and Emily Steriti’s five former kindergarten students. The rest will be on a waiting list.

“I’m telling you people are not going to be happy,” said Peters.

Board trustee Katherine Shaughnessy Michael thinks it’s a much better plan to grow one grade at a time though.

Former MISD board member Katherine Shaughnessy Michael with Superintendent Andrew Peters

Board resignation

Michael submitted her resignation from the school board after eight years of service. Her husband Tom Michael took a position as general manager at Boise State Public Radio in Boise, Idaho, so her family is moving at the end of the summer.

Letters of interest to replace Michael will be addressed to board president Cosme Roman and accepted until 4pm on August 25 in Peters’ office. The board will decide Michael’s replacement on August 29.

Former school board president Robert Halpern will take Michael’s seat on the Presidio County Appraisal District board.

Staffing

Peters hired seven new teachers to replace eight teachers who have resigned.

Amy Lane, from Houston, will teach middle school writing and English 1, bringing over 20 years of experience. Former Marfa educator Sara Tandy also has over 20 years of experience and will return to teach fifth grade English, Language Arts and reading.

Janet Enrique will teach fourth grade and is coming from Lubbock ISD. Ellen Weed returns after a year of retirement and will teach special education at the elementary school. Arturo Alferez comes from Presidio ISD and will teach seventh and eighth grade history and US History. He will be the head coach for basketball and assists Coach Linda Ojeda with softball.

Marfa graduate Jackie Hernandez will be a special education content mastery and a girls’ coach at the high school. She has been a teacher’s aide and a substitute for MISD in the past. She taught one year in Fort Stockton.

Leaving Marfa ISD this year is Kent Chandler who taught fourth grade for a semester. Leighton Conway is leaving to teach in Abilene after a year of coaching and teaching social students at MISD. Zach and MacKenzie Buie resigned from their positions as band director and content mastery respectively. Amy Wong and Shelby Thomas also resigned effective this year.

Treva Baker and Vaughn Grisham were offered contracts, but took jobs in other districts.

By SARAH M. VASQUEZ

sarah@bigbendnow.com

MARFA – Seven Marfa ISD administrators offered to decrease their salaries to help balance the proposed budget for the 2016-2017 school year. It was another week of trying to balance a budget with an almost $400,000 deficit.

The board also approved a proposed tax rate of $1.20 per $100 valuation, which is one cent lower than last year’s rate.

After the board unexpectedly voted to reject the budget and start over, Superintendent Andrew Peters, Principal Oscar Aguero, Assistant Principal Amy White, Athletic Director Wayland Jenkins, Technology Director Darin Nance, Chief Financial Officer Victoria Sanchez and Nutrition Director Joy Oram shaved off $28,500 from the budget through salary decreases.

White, Nance and Jenkins reduced their annual salaries by $2,000, now earning $59,000, $60,000 and $69,000 a year, respectively. Sanchez took a $2,500 pay cut and will now earn $62,000, and Aguero reduced his salary by $4,000 to $75,000. Oram will work less number of days, 187 days from 215 days, which results in a pay decrease of nearly $4,000.

Peters will take the largest pay cut by reducing his salary by $12,000 to a $98,000 yearly salary. That came with a catch though. He would reduce his pay contingent on the board agreeing to cover every employees’ health care. The district pays $325 per employee per month, but Peters proposed that the board also cover the additional $16 the employees would have to pay per month, which would cost almost $12,000 total for the district. MISD has paid all the employees’ insurance in the past with the exception of this school year. When asked why this is a priority to him, Peters said it would bring good morale. Staff retention has been an ongoing issue with the district.

“It’s an idea that the district cares enough about me that they’re going to pay for me to have basic health insurance,” said Peters.

The idea was approved.

Board trustee Mahala Guevara started the meeting sharing a prepared statement about last week’s meeting, stating that Marfa ISD is currently at a crossroads due to the decrease in state revenue and student enrollment. The state revenue is decreasing because the local property values don’t match the state-determined values, which result in costly appeals, but this is not a surprise to the district. This is not the first time MISD has to appeal these values.

Guevara asked the board and MISD administration to cut spending in ways that doesn’t impact academic or vocational education. More specifically, she feels academics should be spared before extra-curricular activities, which should be before administration. She expressed frustration that administrative costs increased by $38,000 in the proposed budget, but instructional spending decreased by $226,000.

The band program was already cut, but Peters mentioned there might be some people from Austin, Dallas and Houston who are interested in funding program, and there’s a potential band director. Word spread on social media that Marfa resident Daniel Hernandez will start a fan band like he did in 2013.

The administration team also made cuts for equipment spending for track ($2,000), cross country ($1,000) and golf ($2,000), and the junior high robotics team lost $2,000 that was budgeted for a competition in El Paso. Spending for substitute teaching was also reduced, but Peters assured there are some funds for emergencies.

While the administration team didn’t exactly start from scratch with the budget, board president Cosme Roman commended the administration staff for voluntarily offering the salary cut.

“Thank you,” said Roman. “This has not been easy for us to sit up here, (try to) come up with a balanced budget, but it’s something that we took seriously into consideration when we decided to run for office. We didn’t take this lightly. We hope you know we appreciate what you’ve done.”

While the salary deceases will help, but there’s still a deficit to resolve, and Peters wants to hire another teacher so Adamina Morlock can return to her post as a reading specialist.

Other proposed solutions for the budget are to sell a staff housing unit, renting parts of the school facilities to other entities and to discontinue transportation services for the local wedding industry and other non-school events.

What is not included in the budget though is Marfa Education Foundation’s funding, who provides donations and grants towards educational programs such as robotics and the early college high school program. Peters is projecting $30,000-$40,000 from the non-profit organization.

Guevara proposed for the next school year that the board receive budget reports every month that include a summary and against trends, academic progress reports, discussions regarding the situation with the comptroller appraisal values and a planning process for the next school year.

“The more than we can think about going through the big picture planning process of what our most important items are and be talking about that regularly, the more prepared we will be to deal with the curveballs when they come,” said Guevara.