RCHS Teams Up with Office Depot to Provide Drone Courses to Other Schools

Dusty White, right, instructs students in drone flight.

In keeping with its goal of providing a model for other schools for new, more effective methods of instruction, Roscoe Collegiate High School through Edu-Drone, Inc., is embarking on a business venture with Office Depot to disseminate its drone-course curriculum nationwide to interested schools and school districts.

Over the past year, RCHS has developed a ground-breaking course taught by experienced drone operators. In doing so, the school has established a curriculum that teaches high school students how to repair and fly drones while also preparing them for FAA certification as drone pilots.

The class is a win-win both for students and businesses. For the students, certification provides immediate employment and career opportunities, and for businesses, the program produces qualified potential employees who can come in and quickly help them get up and running in this new, rapidly expanding field.

Office Depot has made a promotional video for Edu-Drone that describes Roscoe Collegiate’s curriculum for the course. It is accompanied by a flyer that explains how schools can obtain this curriculum for their STEM Certification Programs to prepare students for the "$82.1 Billion in U.S. Economic Impact and 100,000 Jobs Projected in the Drone Industry by 2025."

Proceeds from the sale of the curriculum will benefit the Roscoe school and community.

The video is available by clicking here.

The flyer is available by clicking here.

For more information, contact Office Depot at committedtolearning@officedepot.com.

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BONNIE WILKINSON WINS GOLD AT STATE MEET, LYNDI GETS BRONZE

Bonnie Wilkinson with her gold medal on the winners' stand after winning the triple jump.

After their performances at the Area Meet in Odessa, the Wilkinson sisters, Bonnie and Lyndi, had high hopes for winning medals at the UIL State Track & Field Meet in Austin last weekend—and that’s just what they did. Bonnie brought home the gold by winning the triple jump with a distance of 36’11½”, which she achieved on her final jump. It was her personal record at an official meet. Lyndi, a senior running in her final high school meet, also had a personal best for the 800-meter run with a time of 2:18.85, which was fast enough to earn her third place and a bronze medal. Both are significant achievements, especially when you consider that there were 208 2A UIL high schools in Texas with track teams this year.

Bonnie, a sophomore, also finished fourth in the 400-meter race with another personal best, 59.25 seconds, which was less than a half-second behind the third-place finisher.

The Plowgirls’ 4 x 400 meter relay team—Jaci Alexander, Lyndi Wilkinson, Jaleigh Morales, and Bonnie Wilkinson—finished eighth with a time of 4:11.78.

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PLOWBOTS OFF TO UIL STATE ROBOTICS MEET IN AUSTIN THIS WEEKEND

As a result of their strong finish at the Hub City Regional Meet in Lubbock back in March, the Plowbots, Roscoe School’s Robotics Team, qualified for the State Meet and will be competing this weekend, May 19-20, in the FIRST Division State Championship for Competitive Robotics at the Austin Convention Center in downtown Austin.

The Plowbots are coached by instructors Dan Boren and John Cox. Team members include Driver—Camden Boren, Navigator—Braxton Parrott, Pilot—Becca Shaw, “Gearman”—Tristan Brooks, Lead Mechanic—Martin Luna, Game Analysts—Brayan Medina-Solis and Ryan Highsmith; and Scouts—Caleb Ward, Christian Acuna, Arizona Guerra, and Riley Sheridan.

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THIRD SUNDAY LUNCH AT COMMUNITY CENTER THIS WEEKEND

The parking lot was full at the Community Center Saturday..

May 21 - 11:30am-1:30pm
Mexican Pile On, dessert and drink $7
We hope to see you then!!!
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Our May Trades Day was a great success!!  Thanks to all vendors & to all who came and supported our event.

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ROSCOE HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS BEAUTIFY THE TOWN

RCHS Seniors put a fresh coat of paint on the old Doc Daily building on Main and Broadway.

If you wondered what was going on with all the activity at the building on the southeast corner of Main and Broadway or outside the Methodist Church last week, you were seeing the RCHS seniors performing some community service before they leave for college and the workforce.

One group planted trees to shade the playground at the Open Door Child Care Center and did landscape work for First United Methodist Church. Another group painted the building on the corner of Main and Broadway as well as cleaned up downtown.

The AVID College Readiness class at RCISD plans to serve the community throughout the year next year. If you have any community service needs, please contact Kellie Seals at the high school: (325) 766-3327.

                                                                                    --Kellie Seals

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WEATHER REPORT: PREDICTED BIG RAIN TURNS OUT TO BE A FALSE ALARM

Storm clouds in the northwest yesterday evening.

Back when I was a boy growing up in Roscoe, there was always a fireworks stand on the edge of town before Christmas and the Fourth of July. The big exploding fireworks back then were cherry bombs, silver hammers, and baby giants. All were bigger and more powerful than the smaller Black Cat firecrackers that everyone also bought. The very thought of what a cherry bomb would do to a tin can or red ant bed created quite a bit of anticipation. However, the greater the anticipation, the greater the disappointment when you lit the fuse on one, ran away as quickly as possible, and put a finger in each ear—only to see the fuse go out and the mighty cherry bomb become a harmless dud.

That’s pretty much the way I felt last night when the predicted rainstorm passed over Roscoe. For several days, the forecasters had been predicting a big storm for Tuesday night. As the day for the storm drew closer, the percentages for the chance of rain went up until by yesterday meteorologists were predicting anywhere from 85% to 100%. Well, last night finally came, and the storm approached from the west with plenty of wind, lightning, and thunder. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a big dud. My rain gauge recorded a grand total of .04”, not even enough to create a small puddle in my driveway. What a disappointment!

Fortunately, we are now being told that the chances of rain will be 80% on Saturday. So, maybe we’ll get a substantial rain then. If not, then there’s another possibility next Tuesday, when chances are currently at 50%. In any case, this area needs a good, substantial rain. The black land is so dry that there are cracks in it, and May is over halfway gone.

The coming week will have temperatures pretty much the same as last week with highs in the eighties except for Saturday and Sunday when they will dip into the seventies. Lows will be in the sixties except for the weekend when they fall into the fifties. Skies will be sunny or partly cloudy, and farmers and ranchers will be scanning the skies for rain clouds.

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