School

After announcing on March 18 that the Canadian Community Center was closing due to the coronavirus outbreak, Director Ike Julian has continued to honor the center’s mission, “to improve the health and vitality of our community.”

Summer in March? That’s according to mesquite trees. Mesquites are usually the last trees to put out leaves in May, signaling the end of spring and beginning of the Texas summer. Nobody here has ever seen “skeet” green up in March, but that’s what is happening. Typically West Texas has a cold snap right before Easter. Sometimes, it freezes in April. After that, native plants like lantana, hackberry, and mesquite come to life. Usually it happens like clockwork, but not this year. Timing in the year of the coronavirus pandemic is unpredictable.

The Citadelle is initiating a community art project called ‘Chalk the Walk Canadian.’ The local initiative will begin Thursday, March 26 and run until Friday, April 3.

There was no spring break last week for many school officials, who spent their time preparing a plan to continue the work of educating Canadian’s students. Those plans take full advantage of the benefits provided by good wireless internet access and school-issued laptops and iPads that were sent home with students at most grade levels.

Canadian ISD officials closed schools here last week in response to growing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. In a rare emergency meeting last Saturday afternoon, school trustees unanimously approved a resolution delegating specific authority to Superintendent Lynn Pulliam to govern and oversee management of this community’s schools during the COVID -19 emergency.

“Stay at home” is not as easy as it sounds. Social distancing and self-isolation during a pandemic has created problems. The virus rebels; people who can’t stay home are venturing out to buy groceries, gas up their cars, or just wander around to see what’s happening. Then there are those who are unaware of what’s going on. A young man on our street threw a big party last Saturday night. Avoiding people who are not practicing good behavior during the pandemic is easy. Staying at home is not. Those of us who are following best practices by not going out have problems, including boredom and restlessness. Here are a few suggestions for killing time while you hunker down:

The Canadian High School Wildcat Band earned its 40th sweepstakes on Tuesday, March 10. The band competed in the Region 1 UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest held at Panhandle High School, receiving straight 1’s in concert and sightreading. Those scores, coupled with their ratings at the UIL Marching Contest in the fall, earned the band the Class A Sweepstakes Award. The band is led by co-directors Daisy and James Edwards.

Members of Canadian High School’s One-Act Play cast and crew earned honors at the district competition held last Tuesday at Bushland ISD. The play, August: Osage County, advanced to the bi-district round of competition, which was slated to be held March 26 in Shallowater before UIL officials suspended all UIL-sanctioned contests this week due to the COVID-19 outbreak [see related story].

No tuna. No paper towels. No Purell. No toilet paper. The shelves of every supermarket in the country have been picked clean. I’ve made three trips to the H.E.B. in San Angelo with no luck. Friends in California, New York, Virginia, and Tennessee report the same experience. It’s as if the apocalypse was announced, and we were all told to hoard tuna, paper towels, Purell, and toilet paper, and we would be spared. My supermarket had the usual amount of perishable items, but canned goods, and frozen fruits and vegetables were cleaned out. I’ve started checking on friends, and here are some of their stories ...