New PJC-Sulphur Springs Campus Nearing Completion
Workers are busy this week putting a new surface on the parking lot at the soon-to-be new campus for the Paris Junior College-Sulphur Springs Center. The new campus is located on East Loop 301 at the former Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Co. site. Construction is nearing completion on classrooms, offices, a bookstore and other facilities in the remodeled building shown above. The PJC welding program is already underway in a new building at the location.
SSHS Carolers Spread Christmas Cheer over Weekend
The past weekend saw a unique surprise for people who attended Christmas events with families at the Celebration Plaza and Heritage Park. Four Sulphur Springs High School choir members were chosen to be carolers for December 3-5. The city of Sulphur Springs had contacted SSHS about having student carolers as opposed to people hired in the past. Costumes were rented for the students involved.
The students chosen were Sarah Bennett for soprano, Savannah Mackavie for alto, Riley Bridges for tenor, and Scott Galarza for base.
“The carolers were very effective,” SSHS Choir instructor Beth Cole said. “The response was overwhelmingly positive. There were people who were crying because they loved our “Silent Night” so much, some people would start singing with us on “Deck The Halls,” and they even did a super old carol called “The Boris Head Carol” that is usually sung at madrigal dinners which was the students’ favorite.”
The activity was not an extension of SSHS itself, but rather a city activity which involved members of the SSHS Choir who had volunteered to help.
Thirteen SSHS Freshmen Make All-Region Band
SSHS Fine Arts and Band Director Charles McCauley praised the 9th graders in the Sulphur Springs High School Band. Thirteen student earned spots on the All-Region Band during tryouts Monday night. The 9th grade band serves as a bridge between junior high and high school band. Tryouts for high school students require all student playing the same instrument in the room at the same time as opposed to the junior high one student at a time in the tryout room. Twenty-five SSHS freshmen tried out for the band. Thirteen were named to the All-Region Band that will perform Saturday in Marshall.
Freshman All-Region Band tryouts were hosted at SSHS for the first time.
Those students named to the All-Region Band and places earned include:
Shelby Stoddard Flute, 2nd chair
Kaitlyn Ferrill Flute, 5th chair
Carissa Carter Clarinet, 1st chair
Jaci Glenn Clarinet, 2nd chair
Maddy Ray Clarinet, 3rd chair
Zoe Moree
Brayden Fisher Alto Sax, 3rd chair
Travis Pundt Trumpet, 6th chair
Peyton Baugh French Horn, 5th chair
Lucia Yanez French Horn, 7th chair
Maika Rodenis Trombone, 4th chair
Donovan Jones Trombone, 5th chair
Isaac Lamb Tuba, 3rd chair
SSHS Wins UIL Sweepstakes In Invitational Meet
Twenty-one schools competed in the Sulphur Springs High School UIL fall Academic Invitations Meet this past weekend. SSHS won first place sweepstakes as well as both the Overall Journalism and Overall speech awards. Mesquite High School won second place sweepstakes.
In the small school division, Trenton High won both first place sweepstakes and the overall Journalism award while Caddo Mills won both second place sweepstakes and the Overall Speech award.
For the SSHS Academic Team:
In Ready Writing, Patricia Parks placed first, Steven Payne fourth, and Lydia Burleson, sixth.
The Computer Science Team placed first. Individually, Trenton Brock placed first, Sean Allemang second, Tim Charlton third, and Mauro Basio fifth.
The Accounting Team placed first with individual achievers Austin Reyes first, Rinchen Sherpa fifth, and Mauro Basio sixth.
In Literary Criticism, Chloe Ross placed first, Patricia Parks placed second, Jesse Allen placed third and Lucia Yanez placed fourth.
In Spelling and Vocabulary, the team placed first with Lydia Burleson first, Carson McIllwain second, and Chase Charlton fifth.
In Journalism, the SSHS team placed first winning the Overall Journalism Award. Steven Payne placed second in Feature Writing, third in Headline Writing, fourth in Editorial Writing, and third in News Writing. Lilli Gallegos placed third in Feature Writing, fourth in Headline Writing, and first in Editorial Writing.
In Prose Interpretation, Cassidy Winborn placed first and Lucia Yanez was second.
In Poetry Interpretation, Celeste Laliberte placed first, Hope Williams second, and Leif Thomas third.
Leif Thomas placed first in Informative Speaking. Jmal Hobson-Cox placed first in Persuasive Speaking.
In Number Sense individual competition, Rodolfo Perez was first, Gillian Thomas third, and Jessica Rivera fourth overall. The Number Sense Team won first place with Gillian Thomas first and Jonathan Alvarez fourth among 10th graders. Rodopho Perez was first, Jessica Rivera third, and David Gutierrez sixth among 11th graders.
In Calculator Applications, Ranner Ramirez placed fifth overall. Among 12th graders, Ramirez placed second, Naimishaba Parmar placed fourth, and Raynie Hooten placed sixth. Among 11th graders, Rodolfo Perez was fourth, Jessica Rivera fifth, and David Gutierrez sixth. Natilie Cruz placed third among 10th graders and Carissa Carter was second among 9th graders. The Team of Ramirez, Parmar, Perez, and Cater won second place team.
Raynie Hooten placed fourth in Computer Applications. Rebecca Maddox placed fifth in Current Events.
In Mathematics, Rodopho Perez placed third both overall and among 11th graders, Jessie Allen Placed fifth among 11th graders, and Nimishaba Parmar placed third among 12th graders. The team placed second overall.
In Science, Rodolfo Perez placed fifth and Cindy Arellano placed sixth among 11th graders.
In Social Studies, Christian Corona placed third and Owen Lee placed sixth. Andrew Foster and Felipe Alba completed the second place team.
Team leader Gina Wilder thanked teachers, parents, students, sponsors, volunteers, and custodial staff at the school for enabling the day.
Tuesday Finds All County Inmates In New Jail
All 124 inmates in either the old county jail or in the Franklin County Jail were moved to the new Hopkins County Jail Monday evening. County Judge Robert Newsom stated verbal approval and later written approval was given Monday afternoon for the county to occupy the new facility. Texas Jail Standards Commission allowed the move after they received pictures of the inmate-visitor communication devices installed in the building.
Sheriff Butch Adams and staff began the move of inmates from the old facility to the new building following the evening meal. Twenty-eight Hopkins County inmates were moved from Franklin County. The move of county inmates from the neighboring county jail will stop the $40 per inmate monthly drain on the local county budget. Judge Newsom said the county saved almost $1200 Tuesday thanks to the move.
Newsom commended Sheriff Adams and Chief Jailer Kevin Lester. Lester worked late Saturday assuring the installation of the inmate-visitor phone system. All furniture for offices and magistrates courtroom should be completed by weeks end.
Newsom said everything must be removed from the old facility this week. Demolition is scheduled to begin next Monday. Today, the kitchen equipment in the old building may become the property of the Lamar County organization that prepares meals for certain Hopkins County residents that are served by an agreement that replaced NETO.
PJC-Sulphur Springs Center Speech Class Communications-By-Advocacy Project
Members of the speech class at the Paris Junior College-Sulphur Springs Center are busy setting the scene with ducks, deer heads and other objects for their outdoor communications-by-advocacy project. Dr. Paul May, right, is the instructor and proposed they build an outdoor scene to help them gain ideas for subject topics. Pictured from left (front) Emilio Ramirez, Kaylee Giles and Lacey Taylor: (Back) Ashley Keeter, Eddwardo Adams and Alejandro Brena.
Distracted Driving Trends Continue
According to the annual survey conducted by State Farm, drivers continue to be in favor of laws restricting cellphone use while driving, yet they are still using them.
For seven years State Farm has surveyed consumers regarding their attitudes and behaviors when it comes to distracted driving, revealing trends over time. A number of interesting trends have been revealed:
Talking on a hand-held cellphone while driving has decreased:
- 2009 – 65 percent
- 2015 – 51 percent
Texting while driving has stayed nearly the same:
- 2009 – 31 percent
- 2015 – 36 percent
Accessing the Internet while driving has more than doubled:
- 2009 – 13 percent
- 2015 – 29 percent
Other significant increases include using GPS, reading and responding to email, and reading and updating social media networks.
In consideration of the multitude of distractions the Internet can bring to drivers, the annual survey has also been following trends in smartphone ownership over the past five years, broken into age categories. In 2015, a large majority, 88 percent, of drivers with cellphones own smartphones, and over five years the most dramatic increase has been among drivers over 40 years of age.
“It’s interesting to observe how the number and types of distractions available on cellphones have grown over the years we have conducted this annual survey,” said Chris Mullen, Director of Technology Research at State Farm. “We want to remind people that despite these and other demands on your attention when driving, please stay 100% focused on your drive.”
What is most likely to stop drivers from texting while driving? The survey specifically asked drivers who regularly text while driving to select their top deterrents, and their responses were 1) causing a crash while reading or responding to a text message, 2) financial and/or legal consequences, and 3) getting caught by police.
“These responses about deterrents highlight the need for a multi-pronged approach to curbing distracted driving,” said Mullen. “Potential solutions lie in a combination of education and awareness, technology, regulation and enforcement.”
The full report and more information can be found at http://www.multivu.com/
Community Chest’s Extra Food for Christmas Delivery Time Changed
Community Chest will change their Extra Food for Christmas delivery method this year. Due to the long lines at Thanksgiving, the Community Chest making the change to make it more manageable for both delivery and traffic flow.
They have cancelled the December 18th delivery date and will enable clients to pick up the Extra Food for Christmas during their regularly scheduled pick up times.
For those in “A GROUP”, this means pick up will be on normal shopping days December 15th, 16th, or 17th.
For those in “B GROUP” this means pick up will be on normal shopping days December 21st or 22nd.
The Community Chest will be closed December 23rd-24th as well as the 31st.
Busy First Night For Corvette Club’s Santa For Seniors
New blankets, new electric blankets, and cash donations keep members of the Sulphur Springs Corvette Club busy during the first two hours of Monday night’s Santa for Seniors event on the city’s Celebration Plaza. The Corvette Club is accepting blanket and cash donations to assist Hopkins County Senior Adults stay warm this winter. The event continues tonight and Wednesday from 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.
The Club’s outgoing Vice President Tim Gee led in organizing the event. Gee pointed out that a number of senior adults in the county would need the blankets for warmth, especially when heating bills would normally increase during winter months. He said that the donated items and blankets purchased with donated money would be passed on to the Karon Weatherman and her workers at the Hopkins County Senior Citizens Center.
Among those giving Monday evening, a dad and his son stopped to allow the lad to make a donation. As they were driving, they heard of the event on KSST. The lad was the second donation made Monday and created a teaching moment in generosity, both for the elementary aged child and for those who observed.
The event continues tonight beginning at 6 p.m.
Congressman Ratcliffe at Saturday’s GOP Breakfast
The Hopkins County GOP will have its monthly meeting Saturday December 12thth at 8AM at Fellowship Hall of League Street Church of Christ 1100 South League Street, Sulphur Springs, Texas.
Congressman John Ratcliffe will be the featured speaker for the meeting and Primary Candidates in contested races will be speaking so the voters can make an informed vote.
Breakfast will be served by the GOP and the public is invited to attend.
