Richland Springs’ students continue to do well at major stock shows. Landon Burkhart won the lightweight hair sheep class, and Adrienne Benson placed second in the same class at the San Angelo Stock Show. There were 33 entries in the lightweight hair sheep class. Congrats to both Landon and Adrienne on the 1-2 finish. Keep up the good work! Richland Springs hair sheep breeder Gerald McKee had the first and third place animals, and Richland Springs breeder Jody Lewis had the 2nd place hair sheep. Kudos to both of these gentlemen for selecting the genetics to breed good animals. Ty Mann caught a calf at the San Antonio Calf Scramble. Twenty four competitors age 12-17 were in the arena with 12 calves. Ty, age 17, with his athletic ability was able to catch one of the 12 calves. Ty was awarded with an $800 certificate that he can use to purchase a ewe, a doe, a calf or a pig for next year’s show. Ty is the second Richland Springs student to catch a calf this year at San Antonio. This is one of the fun events a competitor can enjoy at the large stock shows.

Fewer and fewer families today make their living in agriculture. Richland Springs students, guided by English teacher Patsy Hall, placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the San Saba Soil and Water Conservation essay contest. Patsy Hall’s father, Buster Tripp, was a bulldozer operator who was familiar with conservation practices. Senior Katelynn Teel placed 1st and received $50 cash. Senior Jonathon Patino place 2nd and received $25 cash. Senior Gunner Mann placed 3rd and received $15 cash. Our thanks to Charlotte Spence, Mitchell Schroeder, C. K. Stevenson, and Jim Spivey, who presented the awards. Richland Springs was the only area school participating in the contest. The students’ essays go on to the next level of competition which will be announced on May 7th.

Richland Springs students also participated in the Central Texas Telephone Cooperative’s annual essay contest. CTTC representative Kristi Gross presented junior Graciela Madrigal with $100 for her 3rd place essay. Kristi Gross commented, “I enjoy coming to Richland. The staff is so involved and the atmosphere is just different! Y’all keep up the good work!” We are very appreciative of everything Central Texas Telephone Cooperative does for our students! Congratulations to Graciela!

Girls’ softball opened their debut season with a doubleheader at Menard on Saturday. The Lady Coyotes softball team played at 10 and 12:30. Both games were won by the Lady Yellowjackets. The girls scored lots of runs, but were outscored in both games. Hailee Ashworth hit a home run over the fence in game two.

The Richland Springs Drama Club hosted the Richland Springs One Act Play Festival with Kris Andrews. Richland Springs High School (These Shining Lives) and four other schools, Early High School (A Rose for Emily), San Saba High School (Cinderella Waltz), Sydney High School (Cinderella Waltz), and Brownwood High School (Peter Pan), participated in the clinic and performed their plays before the judge, Kris Andrews. Mr. Andrews then critiques the students’ performances so they can be better hone their acting skills. The old saying “Practice makes perfect,” really rings true in theatre. OAP director Patsy Hall commented, “We always get wonderful feedback about how friendly and helpful everyone was at our school.” Good manners open lots of doors in life.

I am always amazed by our teachers, coaches and staff who go above and beyond the call of duty to make students successful. They build relationships with students, provide extra tutoring, and help students outside the normal school hours. We need to acknowledge these people. The world would be a much easier - kinder - place to live, if we all got to experience the power of acknowledgment: knowing that we matter and that we just did something that made a positive difference in someone’s life. You will see a synergizing effect over the entire school population. The small school setting provides this type of atmosphere conducive to building school pride, and to achieving student success in every student. Working together, we achieve student success, and as students become successful, they can pass it on to the next generation.

If you see a teacher, a coach, or a staff member in public, tell them how much you appreciate their efforts. A special hello and thanks to two special retired teachers-Howard and Katherine Woerner in Pontotoc. We have a great community, students, teachers and staff.

Community involvement is the key to our success!

Parents of Champions State Ring Fundraiser

Fish Fry Meal and Auction

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Richland Springs Fire Station at 6:00 p.m.

Come support the 2012 Six Man Football Div. II State Champions