Education-Henderson County Now

Cross Roads Breaks Ground on Event Center

Pictured are, from left, Mr. Scott McCurley, Dr. Russell Giles, Board Vice President Mr. Darren Himes, Board Secretary Mr. Keith Pryor, Mrs. Shelly Robertson, Mr. Larry Scoggin, Board President Scott Huddleston and Superintendent Leland Hand. (Photo by Steve Blake).

The Cross Roads ISD School Board and Superintendent broke ground on a new 29,000-square-foot Gym / Student Event Center on Monday evening, March 27. The Board and Superintendent were joined by special guest, former Cross Roads Superintendent Don H. McKinnerney.

“I would like to thank the board and community for their support and assistance in making this project possible. Our students deserve the very best,” Cross Roads Superintendent Leland Hand said. “When this gym and Student Center is opened, it will be the pride and model for school districts across Texas.”

Malakoff Education Foundation Presents Check

The Malakoff Education Foundation presented Malakoff ISD with a check for $28,191.42 Friday night to represent the money the foundation has raised this year for teacher grants. Pictured along with the MHS Cheerleaders are, from left, MEF Board President David Bullock, Superintendent Randy Perry, and MEF Board Member Krista Stutts. (Photo by Karen Cook)

Community Invited to AHS for Rachel’s Challenge

Saved by a Story from Rachel’s Challenge on Vimeo.

Over the past few years, the team behind “Rachel’s Challenge” has received hundreds of letters from students who said they had planned to take their own lives … until the message of Rachel’s Challenge came to their schools.

Watch this 3-minute video to find out more about Rachel’s Challenge, and please join us at 7 p.m. on Nov. 4 at the Athens High School Annex Auditorium. We invite the entire community to take part in a movement that began with one remarkable girl.

Pride of the Hornets Band Chases Ninth Consecutive Sweepstakes Award

By Toni Garrard Clay/AISD Communications Specialist

The Athens High School Pride of the Hornets Band is in hot pursuit of a ninth consecutive UIL Sweepstakes Award. On Oct. 18, the band earned a first division in the Class 4A Regional Marching Contest. A sweepstakes award requires that a band take first divisions in marching, concert and sight-reading contests in the same year — a difficult accomplishment and one AHS has managed for the past eight years. The UIL concert and sight-reading contests will take place in April. Continue reading “Pride of the Hornets Band Chases Ninth Consecutive Sweepstakes Award”

Freeman Believes School District Has ‘Turned a Corner’

Note: This is the sixth story in a series by Athens ISD profiling the seven members of the Board of Trustees.

By Toni Garrard Clay/AISD Communications Specialist

David Freeman is a renaissance man. He started to work at Texas Power & Light right after graduating from Kemp High School in 1979, doing everything until he retired from “digging holes to climbing poles.” He’s a minister. He works the land he lives on. He was a licensed master electrician for years. He served as president of the Athens Little Dribblers Association for most of the 1980s, and he has been a member of the Athens ISD Board of Trustees (Place 6) for the past 13 years.

Freeman’s wife, Deborah, works for AISD’s Pinnacle Early College High School as the liaison to Trinity Valley Community College. Their two daughters both graduated from Athens High School.

“It may be a cliche, but it’s true: I do it for the kids,” said Freeman of his service on the school board. “It’s the same reason I did Little Dribblers. I was at the gym almost every day after work from 4:30 to 6 or 7 and most of the day on Saturday from November to June. … I want to see kids succeed.” Continue reading “Freeman Believes School District Has ‘Turned a Corner’”