News

State Sen. Drew Springer received six new committee assignments for the 88th Legislative Session last week. Sen. Springer said he was “honored” that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick chose him for the new assignments, and named him to vice chairman of two of them. “On these committees, I will be working with my fellow Senators to advance legislation that will drive the Texas Miracle, support our schools while empowering parents, protect resources, limit overreaching regulations, and preserve our Texas values,” Sen. Springer said. The Olney Republican now serves on the following Texas Senate committees: Administration, Vice Chairman; Local Government, Vice Chairman; Education, member; Higher Education, member; Nominations, member; Water, Ag & Rural Affairs, member; Sunset, member; Redistricting, member.

Extracurricular activities are extremely important in the development of our children. This past week Young County had its junior livestock show, creative art fair, and pound cake competition. I enjoyed seeing our students’ projects, which they put so much time and heart into. Witnessing the pride of a student as he showed his animals and the love of another as she fell asleep with hers in its pen, shows the impact this extracurricular opportunity has on the students involved. Since research shows that extracurricular activities develop leadership and time management skills, increase confidence, foster community involvement, improves academic performance, and help students with social skills through networking, I encourage our students to be involved in activities in and out of school. Here are a few ways a student can be involved: 4-H, FFA, band, sports, Scouts, church, UIL, theater, TMSCA... If you need help with getting your child involved, don’t hesitate to contact me, eberngen@olneyisd.net.

Thirty OHS students traveled to Archer City on Saturday, Jan. 14 to compete at the Archer City University Interscholastic League Invitational A meet. Olney finished 3rd with a total of 245.5 points. This invitational was open to all conferences (1A - 6A) so the competition was greater than District. Points for the other competing schools: Holliday, 318; Rider, 253; Archer City, 235; Childress, 175.5; Henrietta, 51; Mineral Wells, 43; City View, 34; Bellevue, 20; Windthorst, 17; Seymour, 14; Graford, 8. Olney would have placed 1st if competition was limited to district teams. The next scheduled invitational will be Feb. 11 in Holliday. Great day to be a Cub! Accounting: Lindsy Piedra-6th Place Calculator Applications: 1st Place Team (Jennifer Martinez, Angel Alvarado, Aidyn Bitner, Katelynn Bailey, Jeffry Flores) Jennifer Martinez- 1st Place Angel Alvarado- 2nd Place Aidyn Bitner- 3rd Place Katelynn Bailey-5th Place Jeffry Flores-6th Place Computer Science: 1st Place Team (Angel Alvarado, Nate Elmore, Aidyn Bitner, Rodolfo Arce, Gatlin Guy) Angel Alvarado-1st Place Nate Elmore- 5th Place Aidyn Bitner-6th Place Current Issues: 2nd Place Team (Moira Watkins, Ellie Hinson, Hallie Cuba, Nataley Kelly) Moira Watkins- 2nd Place Ellie Hinson-6th Place Mathematics: 2nd Place Team (Angel Alvarado, Jennifer Martinez, Aidyn Bitner, Peyton Valdez, Jeffry Flores, Ellie Hinson) Jennifer Martinez- 2nd Place Aidyn Bitner- 3rd Place Tie Number Sense: 2nd Place Team (Aidyn Bitner, Katelynn Bailey, Angel Alvarado, Peyton Valdez, Jeffry Flores) Katelynn Bailey-6th Place Ready Writing: Richard Walp-2nd Place Science: 2nd Place Team (Peyton Valdez, Jennifer Martinez, Moira Watkins, Gatlin Guy, Rodolfo Arce, Jeffry Flores, Angel Alvarado) Copy Editing: Richard Walp-3rd Place Editorials: Abby Guerra-4th Place Eva Ekberg-6th Place Headline Writing: Richard Walp-6th Place News Writing: Cate Rodriguez- 6th Place Social Studies: Justin Simmons-6th Place Informative Speaking: Joselyn Marquez- 2nd Place Persuasive Speaking: Rodolfo Arce- 2nd Place LD Debate: Lauren Pham-5th Place