COUNTY LIFE
Future possibilities excite retiring St. Jo educator
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Few educators can look back at a career that ran the entire gambit from substitute, to teacher, coach, librarian and administrator, but for Denise Thurman she says all those experiences helped make her the educator she has become after 30 years with Saint Jo Independent School District.
Thurman, elementary principal, is retiring at the end of this school year, and will receive congratulations at a party from 3-4 p.m. on May 30 in the Saint Jo School cafeteria.
For the 50-year-old this decision to leave is “very bittersweet” because she truly loves everything about her job.
“It was a difficult decision, I struggle with it sometimes still, but I know I want to be there for my family more. This is a busy job and demands a lot of time and responsibility. Both my kids will be in college, we want to be able to travel and see them as they go through college,” explained Thurman.
Her husband of 26 years, Clint, retired two years ago as a firefighter in Richardson, but still builds fence and buildings. Cody, 21, attends Texas Tech University and Kile, is about to graduate at Saint Jo and will make a decision on college. She sees nothing but new experiences and family memories in her future.
Why a teacher?
Born in Duncan, OK, Thurman grew up in Nocona after the family moved there when she was four. After graduating high school in 1991 she attended Texas A&M-Commerce. At the same time, she began as a substitute teacher at Saint Jo and in 1995 she was hired as a paraprofessional for the high school special education classroom while she finished her degree.
With her bachelor of science degree in hand Thurman began teaching junior high English, accelerated programs at the high school and was yearbook advisor. In 1996 coaching was added to her job description for junior varsity girl’s volleyball and basketball.
When asked if she always wanted to be a teacher, Thurman says yes and no.
“I always looked up to so many of my teachers when I was growing up so the idea was there. At one point I wanted to be a pharmacist or a radiologist, but it came back to teaching,” she recalls.
Read the full feature in the weekend Bowie News.
Retiring Saint Jo Elementary Principal Denise Thurman stands in front of a colorful mural outside her office at the school. (Photo by Barbara Green)
This summer The Bowie News is showcasing some of the county’s unique artists and their work in a series of stories.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Regina Scroggins has always enjoyed making things and it is a lifetime pursuit that has lead her to become an artist in a variety of genres.
Her artist resume spans some unique paths of creativity including stained glass, fused glass, gourds, weaving with pine needles and she is dipping her toes into metal work using a plasma cutter.
The 69-year-old and her husband James, moved to the Silver Lakes area in 2015 building a home on property they purchased several years earlier planning for their retirement. She grew up in Graham and was familiar with this area, as they began looking for a place while living in Borger. James is a retired environmental engineer, and the couple is excited to welcome their first grandchild in August.
Prior to moving to the Bowie area, the pair lived in Houston and they put their house up for sale. It sold quicker than expected. James moved to Borger and lived in the couple’s RV as he went to a four-month job that turned into 10 years as James worked for Phillips as a consultant. When their house sold Regina moved up to Borger to join him in the RV.
Her creative drive may have come from the maternal side of her family with a grandmother, mother and sister who she says were all “terrific seamstresses.” Her parents also refinished furniture. She didn’t like sewing, but she tried things like tole painting and decoupage, but she didn’t stick with them.
Read the full feature in the weekend Bowie News.
Copernicus, the European climate service, reported July 21 the earth sizzled to the hottest day ever measured by humans, only to be surpassed the very next day.
Copernicus preliminary data shows the global average temperature on July 21 was 62.76 degree, beating the record set just last year on July 6, 2023 by .02 degrees. Both of those marks shattered the previous record of 62.24 degrees set in 2016.
Then on July 22 the new record was 0.1 degree higher than the day before. The Associated Press reports climate scientists say the world is now as warm as it was 125,000 years ago because of human-caused climate change. While scientists cannot be certain Monday was the very hottest day through that period, average temperatures have not been this high since long before humans developed agriculture.
The popular Creature Teacher program came to Bowie Tuesday for the final program of Bowie Library’s Summer Reading. There were an array of animals from the world, like Giggles the kookaburra that took flight briefly landing his perch. (Top)
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