School

Thank you for your service! The observance of Veterans Day this week is a reminder of past divisions in the world and the men and women sacrificed by nations. Veterans Day was created to observe the anniversary of World War I, the war to end all wars, in which an unthinkable 20 million people died and 21 million were wounded. The conflict was so brutal, no one could imagine that such a war would ever happen again. But it did. World War II started a mere 21 years later, and 3 percent of the world’s population (70-85 million) died.

Hemphill County 4-Hers and youth from 20 Texas Panhandle counties gathered at Amarillo’ Tri-State Fairground’s Rex Baxter Building on Oct. 20-21 to compete in the District 1 Food Competitions sponsored by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

The Canadian Wildcat Marching Band earned Division I ratings at the UIL marching competition, Saturday, Oct. 31 at Amarillo’s Dick Bivins Stadium. Their “Once Upon a Starry Night” show featuring rock music of Coldplay and the lullaby “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ tells the story of a young girl awakening in a dream and learning to navigate her new world.

IT’S OVER. Election 2020 is behind us, and we have eight weeks left before we can say goodbye to a truly awful year. The pandemic will still be with us next year. So will political rancor. We at least have hope that a vaccine will put an end to the coronavirus. There won’t be a vaccine that will heal the red/blue political divide. The best we can hope for is that families and friends can restore harmony to their relationships. Whether or not our candidates won or lost, we all need to repair relationships damaged by political differences.

Dear Mr. President, Congratulations on being elected president for the next four years.

2020 changes keep coming. First, there was extended early voting. Now, we’re going to have extended early holiday shopping—starting next week. The latest departure from tradition is Black Friday. The usual crowded doorbuster day after Thanksgiving when millions of shoppers wait in line for bargains will be different this year.

STILLWATER, Okla.—Hemphill County students were recently honored by the Oklahoma State University Ferguson College of Agriculture with academic scholarships for the 2020-21 academic year. The scholarships are part of the more than $1.8 million that students will receive from the college and its academic departments.

Indian summer has settled over West Texas. Yellow and white wild flowers carpet roadsides and pastures. Lantana is in glorious bloom, and a vine we call old man’s beard when its seed pods burst into fuzzy white puffs covers the fences. Here and there, you can see orange gourds growing wild in a bar ditch. Days are bright and mild, and nights are cool and starry.

The CHS Theatre Department will perform Spoon River: Set Free on Sunday, Oct. 25, at the Texas Crown, with back-to-back shows at 6 pm and 7:30 pm. The one-act play is based on the novel, Spoon River Anthology, written by Edgar Lee Masters and adapted by Mistie Walser, who is also directing the performance. Christy White is the assistant director. In Masters’ original collection of postmortem autobiographical epitaphs, 244 former citizens of fictional Spoon River, Illinois, tell the truth about their lives—with the honesty that no fear of consequences enables. Masters shattered the myth of small-town America as the example of American virtue. Tickets can be purchased from a cast or crew member: $10/adult and $5/student. With reduced seating, no at-door tickets will be available. Masks and social distancing will be required for those who attend.

The Canadian Education Foundation is excited to announce this year’s Innovative Teaching Grant winners. Each year, the CEF receives applications from teachers from all four CISD campuses for innovative projects that are outside of the school’s regular budget.