The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/927609
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Januar y 17, 2018 C-9 EAST GIBSON NEWS Submit school news: Email: egnews@ pressdispatch.net Deadline: Noon on Friday net edition yeah, it's that fast! Z M www.PressDispatch.net/Subscribe It's The Press-Dispatch. No matter where you live. Delivered every Wednesday morning! Add it for $5 to your current print subscription or stand-alone for $35/year. LEND A HAND STORE In keeping with our com- mitment to provide sup- port to all students, Wood Memorial High School and Wood Memorial Junior High School will launch a "Lend A Hand Store" on Monday, January 15, 2018. The store will be located in the junior high school, room 308 and will operate as follows: Mon- day, Wednesday and Friday; 11:40 a.m. – 12:13 p.m. and 12:15 p.m. – 12:43 p.m. Members of the high school and the junior high school student councils will operate the Lend A Hand Store, which is an expan- sion of our Gold Room con- cept, offering items such as clothing, school supplies, food, etc… for students with a need. Just stop by during the above listed operating schedule. I appreciate the efforts of Ms. Norvell, Ms. Bot- toms, Ms. Carlton, and Ms. Mercer in organizing and launching this opportunity. CONGRATS STEVE KILIAN Congratulations to Wood Memorial High School Ath- letic Director Steve Kilian for being named District III Athletic Administrator of the Year by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Associ- ation. The honor is well de- served. Mr. Kilian will be honored during the IBCA's annual spring clinic on April 20, 2018, in Indianapolis. WM BREAKFAST CLUB Mr. Messmer is planning to launch the "Wood Memo- rial Breakfast Club" in the near future. The club will meet twice a week, on Tues- day and Thursday morn- ings, from 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. in the weight barn. The focus will be on providing a structured strength and fit- ness training club for those who want to better them- selves physically. No pri- or athletic experience is re- quired, as Mr. Messmer will be providing proper form and safety instruction to those participating. Information is being sent home through the respec- tive student. Parent approv- als and signatures are re- quired in order for a student to take part in this healthy opportunity. Please contact Mr. Mess- mer with questions and in- formation needs. OPEN OFFICE SESSIONS Once again this year, I will be utilizing a collab- orative opportunity for all members – students, staff, parents, guardians, and community members – of the Wood Memorial School Community. With this said, I believe to be most effective with the de- velopment and growth of our students it is impera- tive that every stakeholder of Wood Memorial have an opportunity to collaborate and provide input in any area/aspect of interest in- volving our school(s) they may have. Thus, I will con- duct monthly "Open Of- fice" sessions, focused on providing time for such col- laboration to occur. I encourage you to come meet anytime to review items of interest you may have. You may schedule a meeting by calling 812- 749 -4757 and requesting a time. In keeping with the theme of collaboration and communication, I want to invite Wood Me- morial stakeholders to fol- low the happenings at the junior high and high school by joining us on twitter at WMTrojans1. Wood Memorial UPCOMING SPORTS SCHEDULE GIRLS' VARSITY BASKETBALL Jan. 18 White River Valley away 5:30 p.m. Jan. 20 Shoals JR/SR ( JV/V ) home 3:30/5 p.m. Jan. 23 Northeast Dubois away 5:30 p.m. Jan. 25 North Daviess JR/SR away 5:30 p.m. BOYS' VARSITY BASKETBALL Jan. 19 Barr Reeve JR/SR away 5:30 p.m. Jan. 20 Shoals JR/SR ( JV/V ) home 3:30/7 p.m. Jan. 26 Tell City away 5:30 Jan. 27 Northeast Dubois home 5:30 Feb. 1 Vincennes Rivet JR/SR home 5:30 p.m. Feb. 6 Forest Park JR/SR home 5:30 p.m. Feb. 9 Southridge away 5:30 p.m. Feb. 13 Evansville North away 5:30 Feb. 16 Gibson Southern away 5:30 Feb. 17 North Knox away 5:30 p.m. Feb. 22 South Knox home 5:30 p.m. BOYS' VARSITY WRESTLING Jan. 17 Evansville Central home 6 p.m. CALENDAR Wednesday, Jan. 17 Science Academic Bowl Team Meeting, 11:31 a.m. WMJHS Spirit Club Meeting, 3:10 p.m. Wrestling vs. Evansville Central, 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18 Prom Committee Meeting, 7:30 a.m. Fine Arts Academic Team Meeting, 11:31 a.m. Student Advisory Council Meeting, 11:31 a.m. Bass Fishing Team Meeting, WMHS Library, 3:30 p.m. JHS Boys Basketball at Boonville, 5:30 p.m. JHS Girls Basketball vs. Boonville, 5:30 p.m. Girls Basketball at White River Valley, 5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19 Staff PLC Session, 8 a.m. High School First Semester Honor Rolls, 3:30 p.m. Boys Basketball at Barr Reeve, 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20 Girls Basketball vs. Shoals, 4:45 p.m. Boys Basketball vs. Shoals, 7 p.m. ADDITIONAL DATE OF NOTE ISTAR, Grades 3 – 8, 10, EL A/Math/Science/So- cial Studies, Jan. 15 – Feb. 16 National Assessment of Educational Progress, Grades 4 and 8, Digital Based, Math, Reading, Writ- ing, US History, Civics and Geography, Jan. 29 – Mar. 9 HS Student Council Meeting, Jan. 17 Prom Committee Meeting, Jan. 18 Student Advisory Council Meeting, Jan. 18 Staff PLC/PD Session, Jan. 19 HS First Semester Honor Roll Announced, Jan. 19 HS Student Council Meeting, Jan. 24 Prom Committee Meeting, Jan. 25 8th Grade Commitment to Graduate – Jostens, Jan. 25 Instrumental / Vocal Recita,l Jan. 25 Winter Homecoming, Jan. 27 A&P Health Occupations Field Trip, Feb. 1 Winter ADM Count Due, Feb. 1 Prom Committee Meeting, Feb. 1 Student Advisory Council Meeting, Feb. 1 Environmental/Biology Field Trip, Feb. 1 Staff PLC Session, Feb. 2 Girls JHS Blue Chip Tournament, Feb. 3 Principal Open Office Hours, Feb. 6 HS Student Council Meeting, Feb. 7 Prom Committee Meeting, Feb. 8 Red Cross Blood Drive, Feb. 23 ISTEP Part 1, Feb. 26 – Mar. 9, JHS Renaissance Day, Mar. 23 Gibson County Fair Queen Holly Bittner By Janice Barniak Gibson County Fair Queen Holly Bittner remembers her mother dropping her off at the dorm where the young women compet- ing for Indiana State Fair Queen would camp for the weekend. "When it was all said and done, and we said our goodbyes, I was tearing up. I felt like I was being dropped off for the first day of kin- dergarten," Bittner remembered. She left at the end of the weekend with a new sash and title—Indiana's Miss Con- geniality. The weekend was meant to whittle 87 win- ners from around the state down to just one queen. A Vincennes University student, Bit- tner was crowned in July at Gibson County's state fair, and had prepared a full six months for the state contest, which would be, in her mind, the last pageant in which she compet- ed. She'd had her dress since August, and planned her final touches appearance-wise closer to time. She'd practiced her speech, about creating a chain reaction of good works to help spe- cial needs people, until she knew it well, and had submitted her resume for the interview portion of the competition. A key part of the competition is the inter- view, and Bittner spent time having friends and mentors give her mock interview ques- tions, listening to her speech and helping her improve her modeling walk. The Thursday before the competition, she drove up to Indianapolis with her mom. "That vehicle was the fullest I'd ever seen it in my life," she said, describing all they'd packed into it. The girls rehearsed and became close over the weekend, which made it more spe- cial when the peers voted her Miss Conge- niality, a title she'd also held in her first Gib- son County Fair pageant in 2015. The best moment of the whole event was being on stage as Miss Congeniality, and hearing the loud cheers and whistle of her sister as she took the stage. "I distinctly heard a whistle, and she asked me afterwards if I heard it...I never felt so much like I achieved something for her. I felt like, in that moment, I was the role model I was meant to be for my sister," Bittner said. She said the family support she's received was something she couldn't have succeeded without, and she was happy with winning the personality component of the competition. "Of course I wanted to place better. I want- ed to move on, but I presented who I was to those ladies. I learned I did have that ef- fect on others. It didn't matter how I did. The thing I learned was I had an effect on oth- ers," she said. She and her mom also laughed about the second Congeniality win, because not only had she come full circle to her first pageant, but when they'd been watching T V in Indi- anapolis, the movie Miss Congeniality 2 was playing just before she left for the weekend competition. Bittner is moving on from pageants; the public relations major said she's at peace with where she is and wants to focus on her ca- reer in public relations as she maintains her 4.0 GPA and prepares to graduate from Vin- cennes University in the spring. She plans to continue towards a master's degree at Uni- versity of Southern Indiana. She hopes to one day become a motiva- tional speaker, though she adds that she'll do whatever is in God's plan for her. "If that's not in His plan, that's okay," she said. She'll also be continuing to represent Gib- son County by judging pageants, making ap- pearances, and continuing in the duties of fair queen, up until she passes on the crown this summer. When asked what people need to know about her, she takes a minute to think about it. "Everything I do, everything, everything, goes center back to God. And that is what makes me, me. I'm human. I'm going to make mistakes, and learn from them. My personal- ity, my achievements, my beliefs go back to God...it's all God's plan. I try to live my life for what He has planned for me," she said. "I think another thing is, for me, I've been through a lot, and it's opened my life to have a new love for all sorts of people. I don't look at what people wear or look like. I look at what's inside of them. Personalities and rela- tionships have made my heart so full." COUNTY QUEEN WINS CONGENIALITY TITLE AT STATE COMPETITION Crews plow ahead with snow removal By Janice Barniak They won't take offense if you call them a little salty, because if anything, it's a com- pliment to the crews of the Gibson County Highway Department, as they take to the roads with tons of the snow melting sea- soning to provide for the safety of locals and emergency crews required to brave the storm. Chuck Lewis, superintendent of the Highway Dept., joked Saturday "it's all nothing but unicorns and kitties," as crews safely got past their first big push on snow clearance, and moved from the highways to digging out the secondary county roads. In truth, however, he admits crews have a long, dangerous job. Highway crews worked from 3 a.m. Friday morning until 5 p.m. Friday after- noon—a 14-hour shift—before coming back again from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It's for safety reasons they wrap up be- fore dark. "They have to be really, really careful," Lewis said. "It's not as easy as you think. It's mentally exhausting and they have to stay on their toes. That's why we don't go after dark if it's not absolutely necessary. A fter 12-14 hours, the crew is fatigued, and darkness doesn't help." The crews did everything possible in ad- vance of the storm in the week leading up, when dire weather announcements gave them warning of the potential snow. "We had all our equipment on the ready, salt was full, and we were just waiting to see what Mother Nature brought us. As soon as things hit, we mobilized every unit we had," he said. Wednesday and Thurs- day, they checked lights, and put on new tires. One big challenge is drifting—some plows couldn't push through the largest drifts. Another problem was motorists out in unsafe conditions. When cars are hung up on the roads, they have to be removed before trucks can plow that area, because the drivers can't risk plowing around them. Behind the wheel of the large trucks, the snow still has a lot of force, he said. A few incidents did end with trucks in ditches, an occasional occupational hazard for drivers. "They answer the call when needed. They're here to serve," he said. One truck was in an accident when a mo- torist didn't yield the right of way, which took a snow plow off the road, he said. "One thing we'd like to emphasize, is for people to heed us, if they can, to pull over and let us by," he said. Also, he said with 1200 miles of county road, and being down by a plow, he would let people know it's tough to get down every single road that first day, but crews were really working to get at least one pass- able lane on every county road by the end of the weekend. In his four years as superintendent, this is his first really big snow, and he'd be just as happy, he said, to see sunshine and 60 degrees the rest of his career; however, he was very pleased with how well the county crews handled the challenges.