April 13, 2022 Issue, Page 1 of 10

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Serving a Western Oklahoma Wednesday, April 13, 2022 Weekday Edition Moran and Middle School Teachers Elk City Chamber of Focus on Student Performance Commerce Annual Then I went to Southwest- room hooked up. Back in the “We have had to make that Easter Egg Hunt ern (SWOSU), and I got my day, you would have time to shift to more group work, as ‘The Elk City Chamber of Commerce announces the Annual bachelor’s and my master’s take a field trip, to go some- well in the classroom, so that Elk City Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Saturday, April 16 in elementary education and where, to do an activity or a the kids can be competitive. I master’s in administration,” project. It seems like we don’t see that working well for kids,” beginning at 1pm in Ackley Park. he said. see as much of that anymore Moran added. Children between the ages of 1 - 10 are invited to partici- His first two years out of because we are so focused on Another topic that seems pate in the Chamber of Commerce's Annual Easter Egg Hunt. college he taught in Erick Pub- our standards and what we important to students and There will be over 11,000 candy-filled eggs hidden in designat- lic Schools, and then began in have to teach. We are following teachers is the use of technolo- Elk City at what was Grand- the curriculum map and mak- gy in the classroom, which also ed areas of Ackley Park. Admission is Free to all participants. view Fifth and Sixth Grade ing sure we get through the has positives and negatives. Visit the Easter Bunny at Ackley Park for pictures after the Center, now Intermediate material,” he continued. “The positives, of course, Easter Egg Hunt. Families are encouraged to bring their cam- School. He taught math and The pro’s and con's of to- are that the kids have every- science there, then went to the day's focus seems to be split. thing at their fingertips. They eras. Middle School as principal in He said that it is a double- don’t have to go to the library Thank you to the Easter Bunny for always hopping over to 2010. Since he has been in ed- edged sword, taking away real and look at an encyclopedia or help with our egg hunt and thank you to the First Assembly of Mr. Moran ucation, he has seen changes life experiences that used to another resource to gain infor- God Church for volunteering to hide all the eggs and helping in education. be important to education, but mation now, because they have “The major change I've raised the awareness to where it right there at their desk. But us with our age divisions. Also, thank you to the City of Elk By Sheryl Ponce seen is the focus on testing students need to be education- it makes the teacher make sure City’s Parks Department for their help. or the importance of testing ally. that what they are teaching is Before the Hunt all kids can visit the Link’s Eggstravagan- in the state of Oklahoma. In “It has raised our awareness absolute, because the kids are What used to be called the the classroom years ago, we on where our students need to za which will be located directly across from the Carousel in Junior High and is now known had the Pass Skills that we fol- be to compete in the job world, fact checking them. They are Ackley Park from 11am-2pm. ‘The Link's organizers will be giv- as the Middle School prepares lowed, and now we have con- in today’s society. I think it’s going in and getting additional ing away free hotdogs, cotton candy and drinks while supplies seventh and eighth graders to tinued to grow and elaborate harder for them to compete. facts since they are able to ac- enter high school. They are un- on that. Along with those skills Technology is so ever changing cess that information. They're last. A giant bounce house and games will also be available for der the guidance of principal we had, the kids are highly that they have to be at the top able to contribute to the class kids to enjoy. Richard Moran. As an Elk City of their game,” Moran said. conversation and discussion,” For more information please contact the Elk City Chamber tested,” Moran explained. graduate, he has a personal ‘The differences in the way it He also noted that in the he said. of Commerce at 580-225-0207. connection to the school and used to be and the present day job market, there is a lot more The negatives concerning the progress of the students in testing, according to Moran, group work and group activity. technology are the use of cell- is the way that the time in the ‘There are more team based jobs phones and social media. In Firefighter Volunteers the district. “T was Elk City born, in classroom is structured. that students need to be pre- dealing with 13 and 14-year- 1976, and graduated from “The more testing we have, pared for, which has changed Elk City High School in 1994. the more we are in the class- the way teachers teach. See Performance page 2. to Gives Back Track Classic Makes the Way Back ~¢r —7 | Pictured are Luke Carpenter and Nathan Spencer from the Butler Volunteer Fire Department who are working a fie with Blane Whitson from the Weatherford Fire Department, Jeremy Caudillo from the Lifeguard Ambu- lance Services and a Thomas firefighter. Courtesy photo. By Sheryl Ponce ‘Three of the original Elk City Track Classic organizers are still working the track meet, trying to bring it back to the On Saturday, April 9, the latest fire that threatened the town premiere meet in the state. Pictured are Darrel Greene, Bill Weatherly, and Jim Blevins. Staff photo by Sheryl Ponce.; Athletic of Foss was extinguished due to the combined efforts of several Director Joe Bell started the Elk City Track Classic in the 1980’s and carried it through until he retired in the ’90’s. He is pictured in retirement and on the golf course in Hawaii. Courtesy photo. fire departments. Some of those coming to the aid of Foss Fire Department were Butler, Bessie, Clinton, Elk City, Custer City, By Sheryl Ponce “I was head track coach back in 1982, that is when we finally Weatherford, Cordell, Burns Flat, Canute, and Hydro, although had worked so hard to get artificial track built here. So the next this may not be a complete list. The fire took place between I-40 In 1982 the Elk City School Board, Derrel Nutley, president, year we decided, we wanted to have a track meet. We didn’t want Larry Hudgens, vice-president, Charles Nooner, treasurer, Allen to have just any kind of meet. We wanted to have kind of track and the south side of Foss. Robinson, clerk, Roger Newberry, member, and Charlotte Wal- meet that people would come, and watch teams with talent that Oklahoma Highway Patrol closed OK-44 in Washita County ter, member and Superintendent Don McDonald decided to put would come from three states at least. It was going to be what due to smoke, but reopened it around 6 p.m. that evening, The in a new track that would replace the school’s dirt track. The in- people would want to see, and be pretty enamored by the talent. firefighters stood their ground on the southside of Foss, pre- stallation of a new fast track made it possible for the school to So, we put together a list. Coach (Darrel) Greene and I we worked ‘venting it from reaching the town, which had been warned to host a three state track meet, called the Elk City Track Classic. with Mr. (Joe) Bell and Mr, (Jim) Blevins and put together the evacuate. “The idea behind the track meet was to have a good tough places where the competition was pretty good. ‘Then, we tried to strong track, making it so any class was welcome. Class 6A, as invite them to come and really tried to make them understand Part of those fighting the wildfires taking place all over the well as Class B schools could run in it, seeing if they had a chance how big it was going to be. That’s what happened,” Coach Bill state are those who are volunteers. One of those volunteers is to do any good at regional or state meets. Here, they would face Weatherly said. Luke Carpenter, who is part of the Butler Volunteer Fire De- some strong competition, all classes were welcome. We had six Some of the early years, the track meet hosted 32 boys’ teams partment. He has been volunteering for the past two years be- high schools from Texas and Kansas, along with Oklahoma City and 33 girls’ teams. They had to use handheld timers, so the cause of his personal experience with a wildfire that risked his schools. We even had little schools, like from Beaver. I would let coaches and townspeople came out to help with entire event. The anybody and everybody in it. They were all welcome, but it was community seemed to be invested in making it a quality track family's home. gonna bea difficult match, so they better bring their fastest, be- meet, involving around 100 people to pull it off. “[ started wanting to join the fire department after the mas- cause afterwords they would go compete in regionals,” athletic “Having the track was important because it was an all weath- sive Rhea fire. I think it was in 2017 or 2018. It went from Rhea, director Joe Bell explained. er track. If it rained, it was going to go off. We started at 12:30 Oklahoma, and all the way towards Seiling. It was a massive ‘The meet was formulated and begun by Bell, track coach Bill p.m. and had nighttime finals, finishing at 10. Afterwards, the wildfire. I don’t remember the acreage burned, but it burned Weatherly, and Darrel Greene. Together, with McDonald they de- teams went home and went to the regional next week. We fed all signed and put together one of the best and most desirable track See Classic page 2. See Volunteers page 3. meets in the state. LUNA LE Ledeghatiad Weather 73/ Vol. 120, No. 30 75 cents, 10 pgs. Mail delivery 580.225.3000 View online elkcityoknews.com