Operation Christmas Child national collection week is here – November 16-23. This is when you will drop your OCC shoeboxes off at First Christian Church at 600 S Van Buren St. in Hugoton. If you still need shoeboxes, First Christian Church has pre-printed boxes available at no cost.
The schedule for when the church will be open and volunteers will be available to receive your shoeboxes follows:
• Thursday, November 19 – 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
• Friday, November 20 – 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
• Saturday, November 21- 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
• Sunday, November 22 – 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
• Monday, November 23 – 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.
If you have any questions, please contact Robynn Rome, OCC Coordinator at 620-544-9577.

HMS September Students of the Month

Hugoton Middle School September Students of the Month are seventh graders Miguel Hernandez and Chaney Poulsen and eighth graders Yareli Guerrero and Christian Zizumbo. Photo courtesy of Morey Mecklenburg.

Halloween 2020

Superintendent Adrian Howie with his wife Kristen and daughters Kinley, Kamdon and Krosby celebrate Halloween in style.

Henry Smith Friend of 4-H Award

Henry Smith is awarded the Friend of 4-H Award as he and his family have always supported 4-H. Molly McClure and Jacob Bell hand deliver the award to Mr. Smith.

Bus Drivers are honored and appreciated this week

USD 210 Hugoton Bus Drivers pictured left to right are Jackie Anderson, Christy Esarey, Barb Trujillo, bus foreman John Moser, Dave Burrows, Judy Zordel and Jerry Guerrero. Not pictured are Jack Hickey, Jay Witt, Greg O’Loughlin and Frankie Rotolo. These fine ladies and gentlemen carry our precious children safely everyday and they are very much appreciated.

 

School bus transportation employees play an important role in the safety of Kansas children.

There were 4,043 bus drivers during the 2019-2020 school year who transported 223,705 Kansas students more than 60.5 million miles. In order to honor their dedication and expertise, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly designated October 21 as School Transportation Day.

The day coincides with National School Bus Safety Week, which is October 19-23. National School Bus Safety Week takes place the third full week of October each year. It is designed to promote school bus safety.

The theme for this year’s campaign is “Red Lights Mean STOP!”

Kansas hosts a yearly school bus safety poster contest. The 2020 winners were Aevan Huddleston, a second-grade student at Augusta School District and Emma Lightner, who was an eighth-grade student at Garden City.

The Kansas State Department of Education in 2019 kicked off the Stop on Red, Kids Ahead school bus safety campaign to help bring awareness to the Kansas school bus stop arm law.

Kansas law requires all motorists to stop when approaching or overtaking a stopped school bus displaying its flashing red lights and stop arm. Motorists are to remain stopped until the bus is no longer displaying its flashing red lights and stop arm. Violation of the law is punishable by a fine and court costs in excess of $420.

In April 2019, Kansas bus drivers reported 1,040 stop arm violations. The data was collected during the Kansas One-Day Stop Arm Violation Count. There were 220 districts and 3,300 buses that participated in the April 2019 one-day survey.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure the safety of our students,” said Keith Dreiling, director of KSDE’s School Bus Safety Unit. “School buses are safe, but we know that student passengers are most vulnerable outside of the bus – that’s why it’s so important for everyone to obey the stop arm law. School bus drivers play an important role in the safety of our students, too. I want to invite the state of Kansas to help celebrate the men and women who sit behind the wheel of our buses and dedicate their time and talent to keep our students safe.”

Dust Storm 2020

Sunday evening it seems to look like one of those old fashion dirt storms of days gone by rolling into southwest Kansas. The wind and dirt hit and howled for sometime. No report of damage except to eyes, breathing problems and to the harvesters still trying to get their crops cut. Visibility was next to none.

Fire Prevention Week

The Stevens County Fire Department members from left to right are Rodney Kelling, Bailey Esarey, Rickey Burrows, Alexis Hastey, Abby Tharp, Kayla Harris, Perry Crane, Phil Gooch, Carlos Rojo, Brent Peitz, Kyle Lewis and Hayden Harris.

Football Homecoming 2020

The 2020 Homecoming candidates are, back row, left to right Senior King and Queen Candidates Riggs Martin, Jordyn Beard, Wyatt Angell, Denisse Castro, Joseph Sanchez and Molly McClure. Sitting on the front row are Marrine Williams – sophomore attendant, Audra Perry – junior attendant and Danica Amerin – freshman attendant. Both the king and queen will be crowned at 6:30 p.m. Friday night at Eagle Stadium prior to the football game against Nickerson. Photo courtesy of Chelle Leininger.

2020 Corn Harvest underway

The 2020 dryland corn harvest is well underway in Stevens County. Also some irrigated corn, like this circle, is ready and being taken out as well. Yields are reported as average.

Lion Tommy Romero received award

Lion Tommy Romero received the Melvin Jones Fellowship Program award. This is the highest honor a Lion can receive. He has been in the Lions Club for 40+ years! We appreciate all he does, not only for the club, but also the community! Tommy is very deserving of this award and his fellow club members and community are all so proud of him.