COUNTY LIFE
Two more county schools join the four-day week schedule
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Two more Montague County school districts will be moving to the four-day school week this year with teacher retention and recruitment the driving forces for this change.
Gold-Burg and Montague Independent School Districts join Prairie Valley ISD, which enters its second year of the four-day week. While other county districts have not formally gone to four-days, they are all using different methods to get a shorter week in some fashion while still getting the required 75,600 minutes for students.
Bowie has been releasing early on Wednesdays for several years, and Nocona has been releasing at noon Fridays. Forestburg also has a similar schedule releasing about one hour earlier on Fridays.
Rural school districts in Texas have been switching to the four-day week in the last couple of years, and now some larger districts are giving it a try including Mineral Wells ISD which has about 3,000 students.
National teacher organizations say the shortage in staff has hit crisis levels, and while there is no database to track this information local and regional educators gathering for training in the last few weeks have all shared stories of needing teachers at all levels.
Why are America’s schools so short-staffed? Experts point to a convergence of different factors starting with the pandemic-induced teacher exhaustion, low pay and a growing lack of respect for their profession across the board from parents and politicians to their own school’s boards.
Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.
Bowie will be filled with holiday cheer this week as the 32nd annual Fantasy of Lights Christmas Festival comes to town to herald the start of the holidays Dec. 1-3.
This festival was one of the first in North Texas to feature a lighted Christmas parade and the activities have only grown through the years. Across three days there are activities to be enjoyed by the entire family. This year’s theme is “Sweet Tidings of Gingerbread.”
Sip & Stroll
The Gingerbread Sip & Stroll With Me will feature more than 40 downtown participating locations from 5-8 p.m. on Dec. 1. There also will be a storefront decorating contest following a gingerbread theme.
Open house
The Bowie Economic Development Open House from 4 to 6 p.m. on Dec. 1 with light refreshments.
Festival Saturday
Enjoy Pancakes with Santa from 7 a.m. – 10 a.m. at the Bowie Fire Hall, 203 Walnut Street, then visit the Bowie Library for Elf’n Magic, crafts and stories for kids and families.
The parade is at 7 p.m. There will be live music onstage downtown starting at 5 p.m. and the tree lighting at 6:45 p.m.
The Christmas Tour of Homes will be on Sunday from 2-5 p.m. Tickets are $20 and available at the Bowie Chamber office, Walters Surveying, Swaim Surveying, any Amity member at at a home.
Read the full story on the schedule in your mid-week Bowie News.
It’s time for the annual Nocona Rural Volunteer Fire Department fish fry from 5-8 p.m. on Dec. 1 at the H.J. Justin Community Room.
It is all you can eat fish, calf fries, french fries, beans, cole slaw and their famous tarter sauce. Prices are $15 for ages 12 and up, $12 for ages 6-12 and those under 6 eat free.
The department also is collecting children’s toys for Christmas.
Save a trip and bring an unwrapped toy to the fish fry or drop it off at 217 Clay by Dec. 2.
Nov. 30 is the deadline to order a wreath that will be laid on the grave of a veteran at Elmwood Cemetery on Dec. 16.
This annual ceremony will be at 11 a.m. on Dec. 16 with guest speaker Bryan Chisholm, ag teacher at Bowie High School and veteran. The Amity Club coordinate the Wreath project and invite anyone to attend and help lay the wreaths on the many graves at the cemetery.
Individuals who wish to sponsor a wreath can do so for $17. A family can purchase four at $68, 10 for $170 and a corporate sponsorship of 100 can be made for $1,700.
Deadline to purchase a wreath is Nov. 30. Call Angela Short at 940-841-1315 with questions.
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