Volume 8, Number 21 February 3, 2017

“Hear Ye, Hear Ye!” The Blanco ISD

Blanco Elementary Wins District 25-AAA UIL Academic Meet BES Repeats as District Champ with 151-Point Victory Margin

Blanco Elementary captured the District 25-AAA UIL

Academic Meet last Friday, racking up 551 points in a domi-

nating display of determination. The meet was held at In-

gram Elementary.

“Success is the sum of all efforts repeated day in and day

out,” said UIL coordinator Laurie Parker. “If you put forth

the effort, good things are going to happen.”

Sixty-two students in grades 2—5 competed in the meet,

and fifty-one students scored points.

“Not only did they perform well academically, they

showed the other schools that Blanco kids are well behaved

and full of school spirit,” said Parker.

Quotes from some students:

Landry Myers, 3rd grade—”I enjoyed the challenge of

doing different things.”

Gretel Zarate, 3rd grade—”It was fun to go see another

school.”

Hayes Johnson, 5th grade—”It was an honor to compete

in my last year at elementary school. It takes a lot of

dedication and hard work.”

Blanco Elementary School District Champion UIL Academic Team.

(photo Collin Gaskamp)

Co-coordinator Dena Torres said, “I am proud of our UIL team

and UIL coaches at Blanco Elementary. Hard work and effort shine

through with outstanding results. We can tell by the smiles on their

faces what a positive and rewarding experience UIL is for them.”

Principal Jowie Walker said, “The dedication, enthusiasm, and

focus that our students and coaches displayed is inspiring. I am

proud on how they represented Blanco Elementary.”

Board of Trustees

Darrel Wagner, President

Charles Riley, Vice President Tim Nance, Secretary

Joe Hernandez

Troy Immel Larry Kuebel

Liza Struck

Superintendent

Dr. Buck Ford

BES pics on page 2;

results on page 5...

The Bell, Vol. 8, No. 21 Page 2

“Hear Ye, Hear Ye!”

Basketball Teams on the Road

Tonight at Lago Vista Pictures from the Elementary

District UIL Academic Meet

Both the boys and girls basketball teams travel to Lago Vista

tonight to take on the Vikings in District 25-AAA action.

Girls

The Lady Panthers close out their district slate tonight, look-

ing to avenge a 58—50 loss to the Vikings on January 10. Lago

Vista’s girls are undefeated in district.

“Lago Vista is always aggressive,” said head coach Stuart

Schultz. “We can beat them if we don’t get rattled.”

With a win tonight, Blanco could possibly still claim part of a

district title if Comfort were to beat Lago Vista next week. A

win tonight would clinch at least a second place tie in district

with Comfort.

Boys

Blanco’s boys are playing the best ball in the district, riding a

six-game winning streak after dropping their first two district

contests. On Tuesday, the Panthers defeated previously unbeat-

en Johnson City 50—45.

“We’ve been a resilient team all season long,” said head

coach Derrick Hernandez. “I want to thank the fans for provid-

ing a great basketball atmosphere Tuesday night against John-

son City.”

In regards to the Vikings, Hernandez is respectful.

“Lago is a tough place to play, and they have a bunch of tall

guys with a lot of length,” he said. “If we do some better things

defensively and take care of the basketball, we will give our-

selves a great chance to win the game.”

District 25-AAA

Girls Basketball

Standings

Lago Vista 8—0

Blanco 7—2

Comfort 6—2

Ingram 3—6

Johnson City 2—7

Florence 0—9

District 25-AAA

Boys Basketball

Standings

Johnson City 8—1

Blanco 6—2

Comfort 6—2

Florence 4—5

Lago Vista 3—6

Ingram 3—6

Gateway Prep 0—8

Photos from FFA Hill District Show

(Top to Bottom)) Kolby Marek, Champion American Breed Steer.

Dalton Savanich, 3rd,Light Weight Medium Wool Market Lamb.

Hayden Calzoncit, Pablo Guajardo, Bailey McMain, Steven Shell—

Division Champion Pick-up and Truck Accessories Division.

Brock Nichols with Reserve Grand Champion Steer.

Local FFA Members

Place High at District Show

The Bell, Vol. 8, No. 21 Page 3

“Hear Ye, Hear Ye!”

Three members of the Blanco FFA Chapter did extremely

well winning top honors and placing high enough to qualify for

the premium sale at the Hill Country District Junior Livestock

Show in Kerrville, Texas.

Sophomore Brock Nichols exhibited the Reserve Grand

Champion Steer of the market steer show. Before winning re-

serve grand honors, Brock placed 1st in the heavy weight exotic

class and won reserve champion of the exotic division.

Also placing high was freshman Kolby Marek, who exhibit-

ed the Champion American Breed Steer. In route to winning

the American division, Kolby placed 1st in the heavy weight

American class.

Finally, senior Dalton Savanich closed out his final district

show with a 3rd place light weight Medium Wool Market

Lamb.

Savanich said, “It’s always nice to place and make the sale at

the district show because of how tough the competition is, but

this year means even more since it is my last time to participate

in the Hill District Show.”

Blanco was also well represented for the first time in the Ag

Mechanics Show winning division champion in the pick-up

and truck accessories division. Exhibitors included Hayden

Calzoncit, Pablo Guajardo, Bailey McMain and Steven Shell.

Shell said, “After doing so well with our Ag Mech project at

the county show, it was really exciting to compete and place

high on the district level as well.”

Other local exhibitors placing animals in the top 10 included:

Kelton Marek, Hanna Garrett, Gage Nichols, Brenna Wallace,

Carly Haack, Raylee Faris, Preslee Faris and Craddock Faris.

Advisors for the Blanco FFA and Blanco Jr. FFA include

Jason and Felice Marek and Calen McNett.

Boy Powerlifters Continue Success at

TSS Gym in San Antonio

The Bell, Vol. 8, No. 21 Page 4

“Hear Ye, Hear Ye!”

Students at Blanco Middle School

chatted with scientists from the National

Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) last

Thursday as part of NIDA’s National

Drug and Alcohol Facts Week activi-

ties.

Fifty-two schools from across the

nation participated in the event, which

gave students the opportunity to ask

questions they most want the answers to

about drugs and drug abuse, including

drug effects, how to help friends or

family that are abusing drugs, and what causes addiction.

“Participating in the NIDA Drug and Alcohol Chat Day is a

really great opportunity for our students to not only gain infor-

mation about the dangers of substance abuse, but also have

other questions answered,” said middle school counselor Lisa

Rogers. “The scientists do a great job providing factual infor-

mation about the questions asked, and also provide additional

resources that students can go to if they want to learn more.”

Student Dawson Cox said, “I liked participating in the chat

day. I feel like it’s great that kids can ask questions to someone

through the chat if they aren’t comfortable doing it face to

face.”

Student Katie Skeen said,

“Doing the Drug and Alcohol chat

was very helpful learning different

things about drugs that I didn’t

know. I really liked how you

could see the other people’s chats

and questions as well. I definitely

have a better understanding now

of how bad drugs really are.”

Last Thursday’s event was the

10th anniversary for NIDA’s

Drugs and Alcohol Chat Day.

Next year’s event is already

scheduled for January 22, 2018.

NIDA’s Drug and Alcohol Chat Day

Cont’d from column one... Middle School Students Participate in

NIDA Drug and Alcohol Chat Day

Boys Powerlifting Results

TSS Gym, San Antonio

January 26, 2017

6th Place Team

2nd Place—Kyle Martinez

3rd Place—Jacob Ruiz

3rd Place—Chance Horton

4th Place—Sebastian Flores

4th Place—Christian Flores

4th Place—Beck Nevarez

5th Place—Brock Nichols

Other Lifters: Paco Vargas, Devin Wallace,

Braden Hodge, Will Adams

The Bell, Vol. 8, No. 21 Page 5

“Hear Ye, Hear Ye!”

District 25-AAA Elementary School UIL Academic Meet

Blanco Middle School Results

January 27, 2017

Second Grade Trent Bath 1st Storytelling, Best Alt Creative Writing

Jolene Forsberg 2nd Storytelling, 2nd Creative Writing

Emma Haley 4th Creative Writing

Mattie Smith 1st Creative Writing

Rex Wisdom 3rd Storytelling

Third Grade

Dominick Avila 3rd Spelling, 2nd Music Memory Team,

3rd Spelling Team

Joe Durham Best Alt Spelling

Abie Fishburn 6th Ready Writing

Donovan Hector 3rd Storytelling

Brayden Hull 4th Music Memory, 2nd Music Memory Team,

2nd Ready Writing, 4th Spelling,

3rd Spelling Team

Justin Karnes 3rd Music Memory, 2nd Music Memory Team,

2nd Storytelling

Connie Kuebel 3rd Spelling Team

McKenna Miles Best Alt Music Memory

Landry Myers 2nd Music Memory Team, 1st Storytelling

Brett Pilon 3rd Ready Writing

Jenna White 6th Music Memory, 2nd Music Memory Team

Fourth Grade

Audrey Baker 2nd Art, 2nd Art Team

Clara Baker 4th Art, 2nd Art Team

Perry Faught 2nd Oral Reading, 1st Ready Writing,

2nd Spelling, 1st Spelling Team

Korina Forsberg 2nd Ready Writing, 1st Spelling,

1st Spelling Team

Cassie Hartman 4th Ready Writing

Jacob Johnson Best Alt Ready Writing

Cordie Kimmel 1st Music Memory Team

Malia Lux 2nd Number Sense, 1st Number Sense Team,

3rd Spelling, 1st Spelling Team

Diego Mendez 1st Music Memory, 1st Music Memory Team

Colby Murphree 1st Number Sense, 1st Number Sense Team

Mariah Newsome 1st Music Memory Team

Carson Riba Best Alt Number Sense

Kylie Ridner 2nd Art Team

Kaylee Romero 5th Music Memory, 1st Music Memory Team,

Best Alt Oral Reading

Olivia Romero 1st Oral Reading

Jordin Torres 3rd Music Memory, 1st Music Memory Team,

3rd Oral Reading

Estevan Vargas 3rd Number Sense, 1st Number Sense Team

Zoe Zbytousky 2nd Art Team

Fifth Grade

Tori Adkinson 5th Music Memory

Alexandra Beliveau 5th Art, 2nd Art Team, 5th Maps/Charts/

Graphs, 2nd M/C/G Team, 4th (tie) Social Studies,

3rd Spelling, 1st Spelling Team

Sophia Blankenburg 5th Listening, 2nd Listening Team,

4th (tie) Social Studies

Mina Broyles 6th Art, 2nd Art Team

Celeste Campa 6th Maps/Charts/Graphs, 2nd M/C/G Team

Marc Flores 2nd Art, 2nd Art Team, 1st Listening,

2nd Listening Team, 2nd Number Sense,

1st Number Sense Team

Hayes Johnson 1st Oral Reading

Brayden LaRue 3rd Number Sense, 1st Number Sense Team

Regan Lozano 6th Ready Writing

Caleb Murrah Best Alt Spelling

Hemma Porter 2nd Spelling, 1st Spelling Team

Keirsten Sauceda 2nd Art Team, 3rd Oral Reading

Torynce Soli 4th Ready Writing, 1st Spelling, 1st Spelling Team

Jack Tabor 2nd Listening Team

Brent Torres 3rd Music Memory, 5th Oral Reading

Davis VanDyke 2nd Maps/Charts/Graphs Team, 1st Number Sense,

1st Number Sense Team

Katherine Windham 2nd Art Team

Elementary District UIL Meet

Team Totals

Blanco 551

Comfort 400

Ingram 226

The Bell, Vol. 8, No. 21 Page 6

Middle School Basketball vs. Johnson City by Diana Schwind, Blanco County News

“Hear Ye, Hear Ye!”

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February 3—12

Fri, Feb. 3 Angel Hernandez

Sat, Feb. 4 Maria Jeske

Cynthia Warner

Debbie Brockway

Sun, Feb. 5 Jamie Krenek

Tues, Feb. 7 Valerie Shoemaker

Tony Vela

Thurs, Feb. 9 Stephanie Taylor

Fri, Feb. 10 Robin Johnson