RCHS Seniors Receive Associate Degrees

Front row l-r: Olivia Madden, Jasmine Foster, Coltin Watts, Gage Turnbow, Ty Fullwood, Josh Benner, Blake Dean, Veronica Cuellar, Kadee Martinez, Liberty Saenz, Bonnie Wilkinson, Jovana Peña, Sara Arenivez; back row l-r: Xavier Frith, Austin Lara, Arthur Pope, Andrew DeLeon, Joshua Stegge, Alfonoso Islas, Nick Limones, Amanda Sanchez, Jayden Gonzales, Caleb Boren and Caleb Gray.

Twenty-six Roscoe Collegiate High School seniors received their Associate Degrees from Western Texas College in Snyder yesterday morning, May 7.

Here are the names of the students receiving their degrees:

Sara Arenivaz                            Nicholas Limones
Josh Benner                              Adrian Lomas
Caleb Boren                               Olivia Madden
Veronica Cuellar                       Kadee Martinez
Blake Dean                                 Jose Ortega
Andrew Deleon                          Jovana Peña
Jasmine Foster                          Arthur Pope
Xavier Frith                                Liberty Saenz
Ty Fullwood                               Amanda Sanchez
Jayden Gonzales                       Josh Stegge
Caleb Gray                                  Gage Turnbow
Alfonso Islas                               Coltin Watts
Austin Lara                                 Bonnie Wilkinson

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NEW PROGRAMS ALLOW STUDENTS TO COMPLETE BACHELOR’S DEGREES HERE IN ROSCOE

Anna Hatton, Recruiter, TTU College of Education; Brandi Sullivan, Iris Gonzalez, Alejandra Solis, all Roscoe students; and Marsha Alexander, Roscoe CISD Dean of Academics.

In keeping with Superintendent Kim Alexander’s long-time goal of bringing the university to students here in Roscoe, two universities—Texas Tech and West Texas A&M—are beginning new programs that will allow local students to complete their bachelor’s degrees here in Roscoe.

The students in the photo above will be completing a one-year, fast-track teacher preparation program through the Texas Tech University College of Education at Roscoe Collegiate ISD beginning this fall.

This program, known as ITeachTech, helps those who already have an Associate of Arts in Teaching degree become a top-notch certified teacher and obtain a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University in just one year. This program combines online courses with practicum experiences in the student’s local community.

Students will receive one-on-one classroom coaching, intense clinical experiences, and rigorous academic preparation. They will complete the program in June 2020 and graduate in August 2020 from Texas Tech University.

The first cohort for the West Texas A&M University program begins in June. Its first group will be current Roscoe graduates who have the Associate degree. However, plans are to expand the program in the future to local people who for one reason or another started but never completed their four-year degrees.

Through the Innovation Degree Program, they will be able to resume their education here in Roscoe. Classwork will be completed online but students and advisers will meet regularly, giving students the advantages of personal staff attention, local support, and the encouragement of classmates. Students may be able to apply past learning to create a customized degree in business, agriculture, and more.

Tuition fees will be among the most affordable in Texas, and West Texas A&M’s undergraduate online programs rank #1 in Texas and #18 nationally for quality and affordability.

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TOP STUDENTS HONORED AT ACADEMIC BANQUET

The top boys and girls from each of the four high school classes and three junior high classes were named at the annual RCISD Academic Banquet held in the School Cafetorium yesterday evening.

There were two categories for each grade, Best All Around Student and Outstanding Work Ethic. Here are the students who received the awards:

Best All Around Student         Outstanding Work Ethic
High School
12th Grade
   Boy: Nicholas Limones                 Boy: Jayden Gonzales
   Girl: Kadee Martinez                     Girl: Veronica Cuellar

11th Grade
   Boy: Martin Luna                          Boy: Tristan Baker
   Girl: Becca Shaw                            Girl: Shayden Tinkler

10th Grade
   Boy: Caleb Reed                             Boy: Arthur Villa
   Girl: Hannah Ward                        Girl: Gabby Dyck

9th Grade
   Boy: Hayden Baker                       Boy: Tyler Guelker
   Girl: Arwen Elmore                       Girl: Marcella Saenz

Junior High
8th Grade
   Boy: Jaden Alexander                   Boy: Jacob Blain
   Girl: Cameron Greenwood           Girl: Malena Munn

7th Grade
   Boy: Parker Gleaton                      Boy: Morgan Turnbow
   Girl: Kady Ornelas                         Girl: Kenzie Danner

6th Grade
   Boy: Ivan McCann                         Boy: Carson Caldwell
   Girl: Ana Islas                                 Girl: Vonnie Watts

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AMERICA ACHIEVES EDUCATOR NETWORKS FEATURES ROSCOE PROGRAM

The America Achieves Educator Networks, which recently included Roscoe school’s P-20 program in a report along with other innovative programs in New Orleans, Atlanta, and the Silicon Valley, has now included a detailed description of all facets of its program in a new report featured on its website.

The 25-page report describes in depth the school’s plan to create college and career-ready graduates through a program that begins in pre-K and continues through elementary, junior high, and high school seamlessly into higher education. In doing so, it explores the school’s focus on higher education and its partnerships with Western Texas College and four-year universities, its degree and certification programs, and its incentives that keep students engaged and motivated.

It also discusses the various initiatives of Edu-Nation, i.e., Edu-Vet, Edu-Weld, Edu-Drone, and Edu-Make It, along with its robotics program and College Chiropractic. It describes its successes as well as its goals.

A link to the report may be found on the America Achieves Educator Networks website (“Read the Roscoe School Profile”), or the article itself may be accessed by clicking here.

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ROSCOE COLLEGIATE HOSTS 2ND ANNUAL BLACKLAND DRONE RACES

by Dusty White

On May 3rd, Roscoe Collegiate ISD hosted its 2nd Annual Blackland Drone Races. This year it doubled in size as far as participants go, with students from Roscoe, ATEMS, Christoval, Snyder, & Bridgeport all competing. There was a total of 47 racers total, up from the 27 participants in last year’s race.

There were two different racing events, the first being a Line of Sight race with Parrot Mambo drones. Skiron from ATEMS won that event, with Rutik from Snyder ISD getting second and Talon from Snyder getting 3rd. In the afternoon we moved to Plowboy Stadium to race Parrot Bebops. Horizon from ATEMS won that event, with Eli from Christoval getting 2nd. BryFly from ATEMS won 3rd in the Bebop races.

During the Bebop races, there were also racers showing off their custom racing quads by doing freestyles in between races. The race day was a huge success, with all schools committing to coming back next year. 

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WARNING: COUNTERFEIT $20 BILLS IN AREA

The Roscoe Police Department wishes to advise everyone to be on the lookout for counterfeit $20 bills, which are being used to purchase items in local stores.

If you suspect you have a counterfeit bill, please contact the Police Department dispatch at Nolan County at 325-235-5471.

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WEATHER REPORT: MORE RAIN

Friday's storm cloud shortly before it hit. (Photo by Eden Baker)

It’s been a big week for rain in Roscoe and surrounding area with two big storms. The first came last Friday evening. The storm was interesting in that the cloud built back to Roscoe from the east. Compared to places east of us, including Sweetwater, where there was hail and flooding, we got off relatively light, but, even so, there was some pea-sized hail in places and varying amounts of rainfall. Here in town, the official total was two inches, but I heard reports of as little as under an inch to more than three and a half inches depending on location.

The second rain came early this morning, starting around five o’clock and lasting for a little over an hour. It arrived with much thunder and lightning, and was very intense at times. I haven’t spoken with anyone yet, but considering the size of the storm, it’s safe to say that most places probably got around 1½ to 2 two more inches. Kenny Landfried recorded an official 1.23" for here in town, but there were flash flood warnings posted for this area this morning.

Since the rain on Friday, it’s been relatively cool with forecasts for scattered showers almost every day, but with little falling before last night. The high temperature since last Wednesday was Monday afternoon’s 82°F. The weekend was cool with mostly clouds and highs of 69° on Thursday and Saturday, and 76° on Friday. Sunday warmed up to 79°, followed by Monday’s 82° and yesterday’s 80°. Lows haven’t been all that low, though. The low for the week was Saturday morning’s 54°.

Today should be sunny for a change with a high of 83°, which should dry things out a bit. But tomorrow will see a considerable fall in temperature as a norther moves through and drops the day’s high to 65° and the morning low to 45°, which will be cooler than we've had for some time. Friday and Saturday will also be cool with north winds and highs in the low sixties. There is also a 40% chance of showers on Friday. Sunday and Monday will be warmer with highs of 74° and on Tuesday there’s a 50% chance for more rain.

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† CLIFFORD GEROME BURNETT

Services for Clifford Gerome Burnett, 85, of Roscoe will be at 2:00pm Friday at Roscoe Church of Christ with Randall Smith officiating. Interment will follow at Roscoe Cemetery with Bobby Soules officiating. Mr. Burnett passed away on Monday, May 6, in Weatherford.

Visitation will be tomorrow from 6:00-8:00pm at McCoy Funeral Home in Sweetwater.

Cliff was born on February 12, 1934, in Sweetwater to Vilonger G. and Winona M. (Hutto) Burnett. A graduate of Roscoe High and former Plowboy, he married Ellen Rae Thomas on June 3, 1955, in Roscoe. She passed away July 3, 1996. He was a dirt contractor who lived in Roscoe and Nolan County most of his life. He was a member of the Roscoe Church of Christ.

He is survived by his son, Brad Burnett and wife, Ida Mae, of Weatherford; daughter, Dee Waller of Atlanta, Georgia; sisters, Annie Crozier of Abilene, Valeree Cherry of Carlsbad, New Mexico; grandchildren, Lucky Hollingsworth; Emery Luther; Zane, Keeley, and Brant Burnett; Georgia, Graceland, and Joey Waller; and five great-grandchildren.

He was also preceded in death by a granddaughter, Misty Hollingsworth; sister Imogene Good; and brother John R. “Buddy” Burnett.

Pallbearers will be Brant Burnett, Danny Kincaid, Rocky Kincaid, Johnny Soules, Jimmy Walters, and Rodney Ernest.

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