Sulphur Springs Educators On 5 Campuses Benefit From Grants Awarded By SSISD Education Foundation
Christmas came a little early for 21 local educators, in the form of grants for their campuses.
Sulphur Springs Independent School District Education Foundation officials, accompanied by administrators, traveled to five different campuses, where they presented a total of $16,561.93 in grants to help facilitate interactive learning experiences for students as they continue to develop problem solving skill sets.
SSISD teachers and staff are encouraged annually to submit application asking for grant funding to help provide enriching, hands-on education experiences. Applications from nine education teams were selected to receive grants this year.
Education Foundation members first thing Tuesday morning, Dec. 3, surprised recipients in their classes and on their campuses with checks.
Lamar Primary School staff received grants for two projects.
Kimberlea Gillem, Kim Slaughter, Kim Moore and Rene Johnson received $1,045 for “Infinity and Beyond,” which will provide a portable planetarium system.
“What a great way to start the day,” said Judy Gillem, upon learning her team would be receiving grant funding.
Melinda Page and Kaci Smith received a $2,785 grant for “Math Alive!” animation on the Promethean board.
Page and Smith echoed the sentiment of most of the educators upon notification, thankful and excited.
Sulphur Springs High School educators Amanda Clark, Hannah Garrett, Kaytlin Meadows and Kaley Williams were awarded $2,000 for their proposed “Decreasing Our Carbon Footprint” project.
While the students “don’t know what’s in store for them yet,” they cheered excitedly for their teachers, who plan to utilize the funding to help provide filtered bottle filling stations at high school.
Two grants were also awarded at Travis Primary School.
Alma Ramirez and Lisa Lantz received $4,070 for their “Inchy Bookworm Vending Machine.” The educators said they’d seen the book program on social media and are excited to try it. This will help provide token for students to “purchase” books from the vending machine.
Christi Emmert was awarded $943.43 for pBuzz musical instruments, novice-friendly wind instruments that play like a straight trombone and are used to introduce kids to brass wind instruments.
Emmert and her students couldn’t contain their excitement to learn they will be getting new instruments; the entire class clapped, cheered and jumped for joy at the announcement. Emmert anticipated students will be even more abuzz when they actually get to use the instruments.
Sulphur Springs Elementary benefits from two Education Foundation grants.
Chandra Arvie and Whitney Vaughn were grateful to receive $705 for “Retro iPad Telephones,” which will allow students to speak clearly into an iPad.
Shelley Burton was awarded $2,254.89 for the “Let My Voice Be Heard!”project, which will purchase Qballs with wireless microphone, so the ball can be thrown around class and kids can be heard by speaking into the with microphone.
“I’m so excited, I can’t wait to order it!” Burton said.
Two Education Foundation grants were also awarded at Bowie Primary School Tuesday morning.
Misty Teer, Brittany Hicks and Tiffany Kral were excited to be awarded a $2,469.54 grant for their “Rock Our School — Transforming Classrooms” project.
Emily Simpson and Tammy Burnside were thankful to received $289.07 for their Tadpole Project.
Lady Cats Basketball Team Seeks Win on the Road Tuesday Night at Terrell
The Lady Cats Basketball Team will be looking to get back into the win column on the road on this game day Tuesday (December 3). The Lady Cats travel to Terrell to play the Lady Tigers. According to Max Preps, the Lady Tigers are 3-4 for the season. They lost their last game at Saltillo, 76-21 last Tuesday. The Lady Cats are also hoping to bounce back from a loss in their last game, a 55-49 overtime loss at home to Liberty-Eylau back on November 25. The Lady Cats season record is 3-5. They have won two of their last three games. There will be a JV game at 5 p.m. in Terrell with the varsity game to follow at about 6:15 p.m. Lady Cats Basketball Coach Brittney Tisdell says Terrell is another athletic team that is fast. She expects them to press the Lady Cats. Coach Tisdell says that’s okay with her. She says she likes that because it will help the Lady Cats get ready for district play. She says the Lady Cats need to face the pressure so they can learn to stay calm during it.
Wildcats Basketball Hosts Unbeaten Paris Tuesday Night
The #5 ranked Wildcats Basketball Team is back on the home court on this game day Tuesday (December 3) facing an unbeaten and ranked Paris team. Paris has opened the season 4-0 and they are ranked #17 in Class 4A according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Poll. The Wildcats are 3-1. There will be a freshman game at 5 p.m., a JV contest at 6:15 p.m. with the varsity game to follow at around 7:30 p.m. Wildcats Basketball Coach Clark Cipoletta says Paris is really good and their veteran head coach Billy Mack Steed is one of the best coaches in the area, who has had a winning program for a long time. Coach Cipoletta says games between Sulphur Springs and Paris are usually close ones even when one school is down and the other is up. He adds both teams appear to be pretty good this year. Coach Cipoletta says Paris is an athletic as they come and is one of the most athletic Paris teams he’s seen in a long time. He says the Wildcats will have their hands full with a Paris team that plays hard. As usual Coach Cipoletta says the Wildcats have a big target on their back, which makes teams give them their best game. He says if the Wildcats don’t respond, they will get down quickly. He says the Wildcats have to come out focused, dictate the tempo and play our style of basketball. KSST Radio will have the Wildcats and Paris game Tuesday night with live video streaming and live audio streaming. The game will also be videotaped for replay later on Channel 18 on Suddenlink Cable. The game will also be posted to YouTube.
Regional Final Game Takes Place at Prim Stadium Friday Night
Another high school football playoff weekend and another playoff game at Gerald Prim Stadium in Sulphur Springs. This one is a regional final in Region 2, Class 3A, Division 1 as the Pottsboro Cardinals take on the Gladewater Bears. The game takes place Friday night (December 6) at 7:30 p.m. at The Prim. Pottsboro comes in with a perfect 13-0 record while Gladewater is 10-3. Pottsboro represents District 5-3A and Gladewater District 8-3A. The winner will move on into the Class 3A, Division 1 State Semifinal game next weekend against the winner of a Brock and Pilot Point game.
PJC Sulphur Springs News
IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME
Some students took time between classes to help decorate the Christmas tree at the PJC-Sulphur Springs Center. Making sure the star atop the tree and decorations are secure are (from bottom left) Charles French, Joanna Duran, Mason Baughman, Breanna Ezell and Cassidy Davis.
Sulphur Springs, Greenville Men Jailed On Warrants
Two men were jailed after turning themselves in to authorities on outstanding warrants.
Jeremy Edward Johnson, 35, of Greenville turned himself in at 12:50 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, and was escorted by Hopkins County Sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Davis into the county jail, where he was held on a warrant for theft of property valued at $30,000-$150,000.
He remained in the county jail late Tuesday morning, according to jail reports.
A Sulphur springs man, 17, turned himself in at 8:15 p.m. Dec. 2, in the sheriff’s office lobby on a misdemeanor warrant. A deputy escorted him into the county jail, where he was booked for bond forfeiture on a March 8 evading arrest or detention charge.
The teen remained in the county jail Tuesday morning, Dec. 3. His bond new was set at $5,000 on the charge, according to jail reports.
Sulphur Springs Man Arrested On A Firearm Charge
A 42-year-old Sulphur Springs man was arrested early Tuesday morning on a felony weapon charge, according to police reports.
Sulphur Springs Police Cpl. Chris Rosamond reported officers were made aware of a FBI warrant for Matthew Lavon Payne’s arrest. Rosamond reported contact was made with occupants of a Chevrolet High Country pickup at 5:41 a.m. Dec. 3, on Main Street. Payne was a passenger in the truck, according to arrest reports.
KSST later received information that the FBI may have been involved in the arrest. All inquires regarding the case were referred to the FBI. Late Tuesday afternoon the FBI Dallas Division’s public affairs office confirmed the FBI arrested Matthew Payne.
Payne was booked into Hopkins County jail, where he remained late Tuesday, for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, according to arrest reports. He remained in the county jail Tuesday evening on the FBI charge, according to jail reports.
4 Teens Accused Of Stealing Firearms, ATV While Skipping School
James Wesley Whitworth II 
DiaShawn Jerome Godbolt
Four teens caught skipping school Monday afternoon were taken into custody later Dec. 2 on a felony engaging in criminal activity charge in connection with thefts of firearms and an ATV.
Hopkins County Sheriff’s Chief Investigator Corley Weatherford credited Cpl. Todd Evans for his work, which lead to the arrests and location of stolen property.
According to dispatch reports, deputies first responded to County Road 2341 around 9:30 a.m. Dec. 2,where a “side-by-side” was reported to have been stolen overnight Sunday.
While in the area during the noon hour investigating, Hopkins County Sheriff’s Cpl. Todd Evans encountered a group of teens alleged to have been shooting long guns at house in the area. The entire group was reportedly determined to have been skipping school. Evans secured the guns, which at that time he believed to belong to one youth’s grandfather, notified the youngsters’ parents and returned them to school, the deputy noted in arrest reports.
Later, around 4:30 p.m., deputies received reports of a burglary in the area of County Road 2337, according to sheriff’s and arrest reports.
Three guns matching the description of those Evans earlier had seen the teens with earlier were reported to have been stolenn, , HCSO Cpl. Evans, Chief Investigator Corley Weatheford, and Patrol Sgt. Scott Davis and Sgt. Tanner Steward noted in arrest reports.
The youth were located and interviewed by officials; most confessed to involvement in the thefts, deputies alleged in arrest reports.
Deputies recovered the guns, which had reportedly been thrown in various road ditches in the area. Deputies also located the side-by-side, which had been hidden in the woods near County Road 2310, according to arrest and sheriff’s reports.
Overall, four individuals were reported to have been involved. All were arrested on an engaging in organized criminal activity charge. Two youth — James Wesley Whitworth II and Diashawn Jerome Godbolt, both 17, of Sulphur Springs — were transported to the county jail on the third-degree felony charge. The two others were released to juvenile authorities, according to Weatherford.
Whitworth and Godbolt remained in the county jail Tuesday morning, Dec. 3; bond on the engaging in organized criminal activity charge was set at $30,000, according to jail reports.
A Merry Christmas Starts with the Lions Club Lighted Christmas Parade Friday December 6 at 7 pm
December 3, 2019 – Be along the parade route this Friday evening to watch the most fabulous lighted floats go by, see the marching bands and hear the Christmas music in the air! Of course, everyone can attend the Lions Club Christmas Parade free of charge! The title sponsor is Carriage House Manor, with numerous other sponsors helping provide the annual public festivity.
According to Garrett Glass of the Lions Club, this year’s parade route is a little different! Staging and lineup begins at 5:30 pm at Buford Park, and the parade will step off at 7 pm. From Buford Park it will head north a short distance to Houston Street, then travel east to Church, making a right turn onto Church, then traveling south to Celebration Plaza. After the parade crosses the square, it will continue south on Gilmer for a short distance, ending at the Tapp Funeral Home parking lot. Glass also reminded listeners that the Downtown Business Alliance Tree Lighting with Santa and Mrs. Claus is Friday night around 5:30 pm, the Decorated Christmas Tree Contest is also Friday night on Celebration Plaza, and the City of Sulphur Springs will also host the White Tigers for the community that same night!
Glass gave a brief history of Lions Club International. Established in 1937, one of the most enduring Lions Club projects involves eyeglasses for persons who cannot afford them. Using special vision screening equipment, members of Lions Clubs can give vision screenings at schools, fairs and other public events, to target persons with vision impairments and who qualify for Lions Club assistance to receive needed prescription eye wear. “Beds of Hope” is another world-wide Lions Club project, making durable handmade wooden beds available to persons and families who need them. The Sulphur Springs Lions Club meets at noon each Tuesday at Pizza Inn in Sulphur Springs. If you are interested in becoming a member, you are welcome to attend the next meeting.
