Bowie Independent School District Trustees were happy to meet a new canine friend at Monday’s school board meeting.
Bowie Elementary School principal Kathy Green brought her dog, Cooper, who volunteers his services two to three times a week at the school as a therapy dog to uplift spirits of both students and staff alike.
Cooper is a three-year-old Shih Tzu/Schnauzer mix who began training as an emotional support animal. He passed his canine good citizenship test in September and was certified as a therapy dog through the Bright and Beautiful Therapy dog organization.
“He’s working with kids in the morning who have separation anxiety and stuff like that and just helps calm them down a little bit,” Green said. “Some of my frequent fliers that have some self-regulation issues tend to calm down a lot faster if you promise them they get to pet the dog.”
Bowie High School principal Joanne Keeler presented a plan for her school to start an E-Sports Club, or a competitive video game team, with the goal to start competing in January after prepping all of this fall to try and get both interest and equipment up and running.
Kids would practice after school from 4:15-5 p.m. in a variety of games and genres. The competition would be through TexSEF, which is a teacher run Texas Scholastic E-sports organization.
While many in the room were a bit baffled at the prospect of kids playing more video games than they already do, several people pointed out how there are many scholarship opportunities for students in college as well as professional opportunities.
A short list of games potentially offered in the club are: Mario Kart Deluxe, Fortnite, chess, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Street Fighter 6, League of Legends, Splatoon, Rocket League and Overwatch 2.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

There will be a public meeting at 6 p.m. on Oct. 30 in the Bowie Community Center for citizens to discuss ideas on what can be done to initiate a process for another hospital or emergency room in Bowie.
Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham said he has helped organize the meeting as a citizen who is interested in getting health care back into Bowie. He noted the city of Bowie is not involved in this process.
There will be a moderator and an agenda for discussion. While the meeting is an opportunity to explore all ideas related to this issue, Cunningham said it appears once more the creating of a taxing hospital district will be the only way to sustain and subsidize either a hospital or ER.
“The first question needs to be for those in attendance how many people want a hospital district. If we can’t do that we are wasting our time. There is no other way it will succeed, it can’t exist if it is not subsidized,” said the city manager.
Cunningham turned to other questions such as seeing who would volunteer to serve on the first board, who will carry petition that asks for an election and all the things like that.
“My position excludes me from the process, but I want to help initiate it because I am a lifelong citizen of Bowie,” he concluded.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]

Who doesn’t love a robot? From “The Jetsons” to “The Terminator” or an evening of “Battlebots,” we are all drawn in by the allure of the space age and robotics is a big part of that world. A future that can change the way the world works and develops.
The Montague County 4-H STEM Robotics Club is nearing its 10th year of empowering students by teaching fundamental science concepts through the scientific method and engineering design. In a support letter adult leaders of the club explain robotics touch every part of our lives, from the food we eat to the cars we drive, making life more efficient, exciting and fun.
“With the field of robotics growing rapidly, Texas 4-H is positioned to help inspire the next generation of innovators. We offer hands-on experiences where young people learn how to design, build and program robots,” states the club advisors in the letter.
The club was formed in 2015 driven by Tonya Kurosky, whose children are involved in 4-H activities. Her son Will was very interested in robotics, but as her children have grown she stepped back and other adult leaders joined to help grow the club to more than a dozen members.
Right now they try to meet two Saturday mornings a month often in the courthouse annex at Montague. That location may change depending on availability of the room.
The meeting is filled with the high energy of children as young as age nine as the first-timers get a look at the EV3 Lego Mindstorm robots and the laptops used for the programming.
At one end the newcomers are working with Pete Rohde, club technical advisor, as they are introduced to the programming. At the other end of the room more experienced members work with the teams getting ready for the upcoming State Fair robotics competition that was Oct. 17.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.