The month of December and the year 2019 have come to a close, and as such, this will be the last monthly review for this year. In December 2019, the Snyder Daily News covered stories such as new benches for the Western Texas College (WTC) campus, Snyder Junior High School’s See a Need program, Pancakes with Santa, a Cowboy Christmas Ball and a visit from TEA Commissioner Mike Morath.
WTC bought new benches for the campus and is using them as the basis for a fundraiser.
After the old wooden benches were scrapped, there was no outdoor seating on campus.
In honor of WTC’s 50th anniversary, the school planned to purchase new, higher quality benches.
The proceeds from bench sales went to the Westerner Fund, which is dedicated to future campus improvements and student-centered activities.
With $1,000 in their pockets, Snyder Junior High School seventh and eighth graders did first-hand research into the meaning of the word empathy this fall.
Several of those students told members of the Snyder Education Foundation how they spent a $1,000 classroom grant the foundation had given to support the project.
Gemma Marquez-Ramirez and Addison Ulm combined their $10-per-student stipend to purchase $19.54 worth of towels, tennis balls, rope toys, squeaky toys, chewies and rawhide treats for dogs at the Snyder Animal Shelter.
“Each student, or group of students, proposed ideas before starting up,” Snyder Junior High School STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) teacher Cole Gossett told foundation members. The projects ranged from yard work and painting fences to buying toiletries for Gateway Family Services shelter and visiting with patients at Cogdell Memorial Hospital.
Plus taking items to dogs — and delivering a few belly rubs in the process.
Pancakes with Santa, which was organized as a fundraiser for the Snyder Community Resource Center, was a fun time for children at Snyder Primary School, who not only got to feast on pancakes, but also got a little face time with Santa and Mrs. Claus and Princesses Elsa and Anna and their friend Olaf the snowman from the Disney movie Frozen.
The Christmas VIPs and movie royalty were on hand to greet kids, wish them merry Christmas and pose for photos.
In addition to eating pancakes, drinking cocoa and having their photos taken with the characters in attendance, kids wrote letters to Santa, decorated Christmas tree ornaments, made Christmas tree cones and colored plates, perfect for leaving Santa some Christmas Eve cookies.
More than $41,000 was raised during December’s 16th annual Cowboy Christmas Ball to benefit West Texas Rehabilitation Center (WTRC).
The proceeds went to help the center continue to provide care to its patients, including outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, audiology, orthotics, prosthetics and hospice care.
Headliner Bobby Flores and the Yellow Rose Band provided music for those in attendance to dance the night away.
Texas Education Agency (TEA) Commissioner Mike Morath and several members of his staff toured Snyder ISD’s four campuses and met with district administrators during December.
Morath’s visit offered him a first-hand look at how the classrooms operate and to visit the facilities that may soon be re-aligned to offer dual pathways to graduation.
“I felt like it was a positive visit. He seemed impressed with the campuses,” Superintendent Dr. Eddie Bland said. “They asked what we’d want them to ask. They seemed attuned and attentive to what we’re doing here.”
Bland said Morath and the TEA staff, who were also joined by State Sen. Charles Perry and State Rep. Dustin Burrows, visited with principals and teachers and sat in on classroom lessons.
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