The Tulia Herald (Tulia, Tex.), Vol. 92, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 21, 2000 Page: 1 of 36
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13 02-02-01 3W
?-7SQnR CRUNTY LIBRARY
127 SW 2ND ST
TULIA TX 79088-2747
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Serving The Finest People In The Richest Land
VOL. 92 N0.51
FOUR SECTIONS
THE TULIA (Swisher County) HERALD
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21,2000
TISD Receives Recognized
Status Second Year In Row
by Patricia Gardner
Herald Assistant Editor
Tulia Independent School District
is busting at the seams with pride as
they reach recognized status for aca-
demic excellence the second year in
a row.
Superintendent Mike Vinyard an-
nounced in a public hearing Dec. 14
called to discuss the 1999-2000 Aca-
demic Excellence Indicator System
report that not only was TISD recog-
nized, but the high school missed
exemplary status by only two-tenths
percent!
The rating is an indicator of the
quality of education Tulia students
receive. The rating also shows that
teachers are doing a better than aver-
age job of educating their students
again this year.
Tulia had smaller classes than the
state in all secondary subjects and all
elementary grades except kindergar-
ten.
The district scores on TAAS tests
exceeded that of the state at fourth,
sixth, seventh and tenth grade levels,
and that of Region XVI in grades
four, six and seven. The passing rate
in grades 3-8 and 10 exceeded the
state and Region XVI in reading,
writing, and math.
The cumulative pass rate for the
2000 exit level TAAS was 94 per-
cent, compared to 91.6 percent for
the state and 93.2 percent for Region
XVI.
'' TuliaHigh School also received an
additional acknowledgment of im-
provement in reading. This is
achieved when students improve their
skills over the average expectation.
Swinbum Elementary tested 89.5
percent of its students, compared to
90.2 percent in the state and 89.6
percent in the comparison group.
Highland students did not take the
TAAS and that campus was paired
with Swinbum for accountability
purposes.
This high level of performance has
been achieved in a district that has
higher than average percentages of
economically disadvantaged and
minority students, much lower than
average taxable wealth per student,
and a total tax rate that was al most 3 0
cents below the state average.
Attendanceis a large consideration
in the final figures. TISD had an
attendance rate of 95.7 percent in
1999, which was above the state ex-
emplary standard, and exceeded the
state rate of 95.4 percent and the
Region XVI rate of 95.6 percent.
"Attendance is above the state and
regional averages throughout the
Tulia school system," said Vinyard.
"Our students and parents deserve
credit for their efforts in keeping
classes filled."
The academic indicator system
enablestheschooldistricttosee where
students arc advancing and where
they are weak. Completion rate tracks
students from the ninth grade through
t ***
the 12th grade.
In 1999, 93.1 percent of the class
graduated, 2.3 percent received a
GED, 1.1 percent continued in high
school, and 3.4 percent dropped out.
These rates were better than those for
the state, Region XVI, and the cam-
pus comparison group, a group of 40
schools similar to Tulia.
At the same time, 56.3 percent of
the class of 1999 did well enough on
the first testing to have a 75 percent
likelihood of passing the Texas Aca-
demic Skills Program. The state and
regional percentages were 53.5 per-
cent and 56.2 percent respectively,
while that of the comparison group
was 58 percent.
The 1999 average SAT score was
1067, highest for the comparison
group, state or region. Of the class of
1999, 50.7 percent took either the
SAT or ACT.
The 2000 end-of-course exams in
algebra I, biology, English II, and
U. S. History are the best predictors of
success The 2000 scores increased
from 1999 inbiology, English II, and
U.S. History, and decreased in alge-
bra I. However, the passing rate for
algebra I was 57.1 percent, exceed-
ing the state rate of 43.9 percent.
In the report, Vinyard said the pub-
lic shouldbe pleased to knowthe staff
and students have continued to per-
form at a higher level than the state as
a whole, and shows improvement
each year.-
Lady Hornets Get Two Wins,
Improving Season Record
by Chris Russett
Herald Publisher
The Tulia Lady Hornets are gain-
ing ‘ground, improving their record.
They added two more wins this week,
making their record now 6-7
Of the six losses, two were to
Nazareth, statcchampions in 1 A, and
two were losses to Slaton, rated num-
ber two in the state. 1
The other two losses were to good
teams, also. All six were close games.
"We have definitely prepared our-
selves for district," said Paul Hartman.
Tulia head coach.
First this week came Lubbock-Coo-
per, a 37-28 win for Tulia.
"It was not a real good offensive
night for us but we played real good
defense," he said. "We just didn't
cxcciitcwcll offensively against them.
Credit them a lot, they played good
defense but our defense played really
well, holding them to 28 points. This
was our best defensive game, over-
all."
On Friday Tulia played Littlefield
and came away with anotherwin. 48-
17. That showed good offensive pro-
duction with points coming form
nearly every player. That made the
difference from 37 in the Cooper
game to 48 against Littlefield.
"Evcrvoneon the team iscapableof
scoring and that helps." Hartman said.
"It takes pressure off of the point
guard. It is hard to score over 40
points if there are only two players in
double digits. If two arc scoring in
double digits and everyone else is
getting a few points here and there
then you can score over 40. Our goal
is to score 50 points offensively each
game, and to hold the opponent to
undcr4'5. Wchavcbecnholdinglhcin
to that, and have been averaging 47
points offensively for the season. We
need a third player in double digits.
Wc arc pretty close, but not quite
there."
The team is still focused on im-
proving every week, getting ready for
district play, Hartman said.
Spotlight Player of the Week
Emily Miller is a 5 fool 8 sopho-
more in her first year on varsity. She
is a forward and guard.
"She is able to go in there with the
bigger girls and rebound, and she can
come out and handle llic ball outside,
so she plays as both," Hartman said.
"She is also the backup point guard,
which she docs well,"
She has given the team abig weapon
that they liaven't liad before in the fast
break. She runs her lane well in the
break and gets ahead of the defense.
Before, the defense shifted over to
cover the other side. Now. if they
cover the other side of the floor in the
break. Emily gets down there and
makes them pay.
"She can get down the floor and
score two buckets a game getting 'a
fiist break and a long pass from Mel-
issa down that side," Hartman said.
"She has really become a weapon for
us on the back side of the fast break.
A team doesn't get that a whole lot. If
you can score from cither side on a
fast break, that makes you pretty
tough. We arc able to^go left or right,
and that is a tribute to her for being
fast and strong, anathlctcoutninning
the defense."
She is the second leading reboundcr
docs a good job of picking up shots on
the backside of the basket. She rarely
misses a rebound when someone
shoots from the other side of the
basket
She is also capable of playing posi-
tions other than her own.
"She has proved she belongs on
Varsity," Hartman said. "Emily is a
physical, bruising type player. She is
willing to give a bruise orget a bruise,
that isforsurc. You can't ask for more
than that. We arc looking for bigger
and better tilings from her in the
future."
Hornets Come Back After Tough
Loss To Strong Lockney Team
by Chris Russett
Herald Publisher
The Tulia Hornets had a tough
week, losing two games back to back.
Their record now stands at 3-10.
The Tuesday night game ended up
Tulia 47. Lockncy 52, andwasplayed
there.
"Wc had a really good first quarter
and jumped out to a good lead, 17-
14," said Tommy Miller. Julia head
coach. "I felt wc were playing well.
However, the last three quarters I was
disappointed. Wc lost our intensity
and allowed Lockncy to gain some
momentum, and they caught up."
The halfiimc score was tied at 26.
and at the end of the third quarter at
37 , ,
Thesccond halfwits close (lie whole
way, but Lockney was able to pull
away at the verv end.
"The last three quarters I didn't fell
' like we were playing as well as we
werccapableofplaying," Miller said.
"I was disappointed in our perfor-
mance and the players were disap-
pointed in their performance. Our
players responded vyell in.the work
outs on Wednesday and Thursday.
They came in with good work ethic
and rebounded well, trying to im-
prove and pull together as a team."
Friday night against'Littlcficld saw
a re-energized team take the floor.
"I was pleased with our perfor-
mance and effort against Littlefield,"
Miller said." Wc got the type of effort
1 have been looking for from our
team, and we definitely showed im-
provement overour previous game. If
they continue that type of effort the
wins will come."
Littlefield has only lost two games,
so the Hornets played a very good
team to a very close ball game. Much
like the Slaton game, Tulia missed a
shot at the buzzer and didn't get into
overtime.
Please see HORNETS on page 8A
r Bales' Ginned "’
Swisher County
2000
63,023 J
Readers Share
Holiday Tales
In The Herald
When The Tulia Herald called for
favorite Christmas stories, the re-
sponse was wonderful. Local resi-
dents reached in the back of their
minds and recreated fond memories
for all to enjoy.
InthisissueisacollectionofChrist-
mas stories written by local residents
and shared with The Tulia Herald
and its readers.
Each story is full of wonderful
memories and anecdotes from days
gone by when life was slower and
holidays were ah important exten-
sion of family life and traditions.
In today's busy world, these stories
bring a smile to one's face and a
twinkle to the eye as fond memories
of our own childhood Christmases
return.
The Herald hopes you have a Mer-
ry Christmas filled with old tradi-
tions and beginning some new ones.
Christmas At
Kaffir Switch
by Naomi Bates Finck
Herald Contributor
It was during the depression. We
lived 4 miles south of Happy, on the
family farm. I'm sure our Christ-
mas tree at home was spindly and
spare but to two little children it
was beautiful. Every year mama
and daddy took us to the Kaffir
school for the. annual .community
party ahd' Christnm" tree.' (Kaffir
school was between Happy and
Tulia by the railroad tracks). Not
once in all those years did we see
daddy lag behind to hand two pack-
ages to an adult inside the entry
door. After all, Santa Claus was
arriving by train just any minute.
We sat or stood on the old wooden
benches and were fidgety until the
big old, brightly colored curtain,
covered with pictures and ads was
raised. There were the school chil-
dren, smiling happily, singing
songs, reading poems and telling
stories. That was when we heard
the train whistle. Also the pretty
teacher would say, "Listen, I hear
the train. Santa Claus is coming."
Sure enough, in walked Santa
with a twinkle in his eye, "Ho, Ho,
Ho. Merry Christmas." He had
bright shiny black boots, beautiful
red suit, and a pretty white beard.
Santa sat on the stage readingnames
on the presents from the tree. Oh
my, that great big beautiful Christ-
mas tree. Red and green streamers
cutfrom construction paper, icicles
and red, green, blue and shiny gold
balls decorated the tree. Finally our
names were called, once each. We
just knew we would have a pile of
presents. We whined, "We only
have one package." Mama would
say, "Now honey, you know Santa
could only bring you one gift, there
are so many boys and girls."
Each year we noticed two certain
kids got lots of presents. Wefinally
decided that they had been good all
year. We knew we hadn't. As soon
as all the presents were opened and
looked at, tried on or played with,
the pretty lady gave each kid a
brown paper sack. The sack had a
piece of fruit, some peanuts and
candy.
Weclutchedoursackandprcscnt
and headed for the car. Timeforthe
cold, dark ride home. We huddled
under big warm quilts, leaning on
our mama whiledaddy drove home.
At home daddy told two sleepy kids
to stay in the car with mama, he
would go to the house and build a
fire in the wood stove. Daddy was
back soon, shouting excitedly -
Santa Claus has been here. Those
were magic words. Life was good!
I would get a doll or a tea set. One
year I got a pretty red rocking chair.
Adrian would get a car or-truck.
One year he got a shiny red Radio
Flyer Wagon. My rocking chair fit
right inside that wagon. Maybe we
hadn't been so bad after all.
Several years later our beloved
local dentist, with a tinkle in his
eye, asked if we were students at
Kaffir school.
kmMIRO GOMEZ, kindergarten student of Mrs. Roach, made this
gorgeous ginger bread house on display at Highland Elementary's
annual display. —Staff photo
Christmas Spirit Could Be
Found Bath Near Arid Far
by Betty Bryant
Herald Guest Writer
We arrived in Tulia after World
Warll, in the fall of 1947, and found
jobs the day we arrived. Dewey worked
at a Grain Elevator and I worked at
Griffith Produce. We were getting
homesick by Christinas time with
grandparents writing about wanting
to see Diana, our two year old, and
they wanted all of us to visit for
Christmas. Our bosses were good
enough to give us a week off. My
employer J. Lee Griffith spoke to me
in a serious voice before we left.
"Don't send me a telegram like one
person sent me, saying'car broke, me
broke too, send money."' Everyone in
the store had heard the story and
laughed and teased me.
We left Tulia Christmas week. The
weather was cold and snowy, so we
went the southern route by El Paso.
We passed a park filled with Christ-
mas lights and nativity scenes. We
were so excited about our holiday
with parents and relatives and get-
ting to see the city again with lights
, everywhere for Christmas. The na-
tivity scenes in tlieEl Paso park helped
us remember why we have Christ-
mas.
We visited my parents in Albu-
querque during the holidays. We at-i
tended a church service that was held
at midnight, when a large choir of
boys sang beautiful Christmas carol s.
After the services people gave greet-'
ings of Christmas joy to one another.
We arrived at Phoenix to spend
Christmas time with Dewey's par-
ents, his two brothers and their fami-
lies. Dewy's mother was from Indi-
ana and she always had turkey with
oyster dressing and all the trimmings
to go with it for Christmas dinner.
Our daughter and her two cousins
received walking dolls for Christ-
mas, which theyplayedwithfor hours.
We returned home to Tulia to find
out our pipes in the house had frozen
and broken, and water had gone all
over, including out the back door and
down the steps. Our house was very
small, two rooms and a bath, but
water had gone everywhere.
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sarchet lived
next door and were the nicest neigh-
bors. We had not had time to know
them, only to say hello. While wc
were away he had seen water going
out the back door and down the steps.
Mr. Sarchet fixed our pipes, cleaned
up the. mess, even put in different
flooring under the kitchen sink.
We had never lived where winters
were cold and didn't know you don't
taketripswithoutwrappingyourpipes
and turning the water off. We learned
a lesson ai\d wc learned what won-
derful friends our neighbors were.
Mrs. Sarchet taught me lots of things
about raising a family. If I had a sick
child, she gave me advice what to do.
Mr. Sarchet helped us in the summer
with gardening and he gave me a tree
and planted it for me.
Christmas in the city was nice for
us and our small town oflulia brought
new meaning to Christmas. It is won-
derful having lifetime friends!
/
My Fondest Memories Of
Christmas On The Farm
by Evelyn Rossi
Herald Contributor
Editors note:
This is a companion article to
"MyFondestMcmories of Christ-
mas in the City" by Betty Biyant
in last week's edition of die Tulia
Herald.
Christmas on a farm in the small
community of Nazareth was very dif-
ferent, compared to how Christmas
was spent in the city. Just recendy,
when the family was home for
Thanksgiving, they asked about how
I spent Christmas as a child.
The four weeks before Christmas
was called advent and was a prepara-
tion Ume centering more around
church services and not parties. We
were not allowed to go to dances or
Christinas parties at this time.
At our home we celebrated the feast
of St Nicholas on Dec. 6.1 had three
sisters and two brothers and we would
write a letter to Santa Claus and put
it on the front door. St. Nick always
found them and then left a bag of
oranges, apples, nuts and candy for
us. Later on we wondered how our
dad always managed to get them on
the porch without us ever seeing him.
This was a German custom and not
all the families in Nazareth observed
this feast like we did. It is a custom
that I always observed with my chil-
Please see FARM on page SA
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The Tulia Herald (Tulia, Tex.), Vol. 92, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 21, 2000, newspaper, December 21, 2000; Tulia, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth635587/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Swisher County Library.