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The Memorial Day remembrance at Old Carbon Cemetery got a bit of a twist this year thanks to mother nature mercurial weather on Sunday. The dedication to the veterans of past wars is usually held at the lower gates of the Old Carbon Cemetery but as a downpour started to commence around 10 a.m., the same time as the service. The remembrance service was moved to a red barn on the Palm Ranch which has the nearest structures to the old ghost town. Carbon County historian Nancy Anderson welcomed...
On a bright Saturday morning, June 29, around 33 people interested in learning about the past gathered at the Saratoga museum for a trek to area burial places to soak up information about local cemeteries, those who populate them and those who have worked to restore and beautify them. The trek, titled "From Boot Hill to Paradise", began with Saratoga Museum director Kim Givens introducing the host for the Saratoga Historical and Cultural Association sponsored journey, local historian Dick Perue....
In November, a special friend of mine passed away. He was a comrade in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 6125. The VFW had the honor of giving him his final send off – with a 21-gun salute. What made it more endearing was his grandniece playing taps at the end of the ceremony. H.R. (Bob) Herring, was one of 16 children, some of whom still live in the Platte Valley. The first time I met Bob was at a VFW meeting. Dick Ament had invited me to come down and I sat next to Bob’s wife Bobbie. She p...
When you enter into the new Hanna Elementary School, it's like stepping into the entrance of a coal mine. The 71 students will walk through the long, rounded tunnels, "held up" by imitation wooden trusses, entrance to go to school. To the side, a mural depicts the Hanna's rich history - from the first immigrant coal miners who lived in tents, to the students holding shovels to breaking ground on the new Elementary. The mines in Hanna are all abandoned, but Hanna Elementary School Principal Mark... Full story
Several Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD#2) schools received exceptional marks on the 2013 PAWS test. Elk Mountain School is recorded as 100-percent efficient in the Science portion of the test, and Hanna-Elk-Mountain Junior/Senior High School is 94 percent proficient in reading. HEM’s scores in reading are the second highest scores in the state. As a whole, there were no schools in CCSD#2 that were designated as “needing improvement”. CCSD#2 Superintendent Bob Gates said that he was p...
Education does not end with formal school, and with her new job as Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) coordinator at Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD#2), Melissa Donough's goal is to insure that everyone in the community has an opportunity to continue their learning. As BOCES coordinator, her goal is to provide the public with the materials and access to educational opportunities. "It's an entity that we want to expand educational opportunities for all of the district,...
Windy weather forced one of the lights poles to the ground at Saratoga High School's track and football field Jan. 14. The pole was detached from its base, and the six light light reflectors were bent and the lights were smashed into little pieces. Damage to the track included a puncture hole and rip. The pole's concrete base was still intact. Josh Sandlian, Carbon County School District No. 2 Instructional Facilitator, teacher and coach, said he was notified Tuesday morning that the pole had...
School board members are aiming for July 1 to have a new superintendent. Carbon County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees, after consulting with the Wyoming School Board Association, will use the organization in a nationwide search for a new superintendent. According to a tentative timeline, CCSD 2 may have a replacement for current superintendent Bob Gates by July 1, 2014. Executive director of WSBA Mark Higdon said the first step in the search will gather feedback from school board... Full story
Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD 2) implemented a new online forum, which can be found on its website. The new forum allows community members, teachers, administrators and others interested in CCSD 2 to provide feedback on a list of topics. "We have to have some kind of avenue where we can put out an idea and collect input on that idea," said Superintendent Bob Gates. The open forum currently has five topics: activities, student attendance, food services, gifted and talented education,... Full story
Carbon County School District No. 2 school board members anticipate having a new superintendent lined up before Bob Gates retires at the end of this school year. “We anticipate that, in the spring, we will be offering a contract to a new superintendent who will resume the duties July 1,” said CCSD 2 Board of Trustees Chairman Greg Bartlett. The CCSD 2 Board of Trustees unanimously voted Monday to consider using the Wyoming School Boards Association (WSBA) for the search of a new sup...
With golden shovels in hand, Hanna Elementary School students broke ground at the sight for the new elementary school. “This project has been going on for a while and all of you put hard work into making this new school happen,” Superintendent Bob Gates said at the sight before the groundbreaking commenced. Each class had something prepared to show their gratitude and appreciation for the new school. Kindergarteners did a cheer, as they raised letters that spelled “School”. First graders...
All sports in Carbon County School District No. 2 are allowed two coaches, after the Board of Trustees changed a regulation on Sept. 16. The regulation, IGDJ-R, regulates the number of kids needed to maintain a team in each sport, how many players needed to maintain three coaches and, before a vote, it regulated how many players needed to maintain two coaches in middle school sports. The regulation states a second assistant coach will be provided to middle school volleyball, basketball and...
Improvements and declines in math, reading and science scores are neck and neck for Carbon County School District No. 2 students, according to data from the 2013 Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students (PAWS). The data shows CCSD 2 students improved in eight areas from last year: fourth grade math and science; fifth grade reading; sixth grade reading and math; seventh grade math and reading; eighth grade reading; and 11th grade math. The data also shows students’ performance declined in e...
Carbon County School District No. 2 administrators are beginning to look at new standards adopted by Wyoming a year ago. The new standards, known as Common Core, apply to math and language arts learning primarily and are focused on preparing students for college. The standards began to set roots in multiple school systems around the United States in 2010. Wyoming adopted the standards last year, which means the state assessment will change to reflect those standards, said Stephen Marsh, Wyoming...
Three Saratoga football coaches are concerned with safety and the success of the program as one of their positions faces elimination. The Carbon County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees voted to change the student-to-coach ratio for all sports in the district to 28-to-3, meaning the football team will most likely lose one coach as they start a six-man season this fall. Saratoga High School football coaches Scott Bokelman, Josh Sandlian and Luke Spiering do not know how many players they...
Superintendent Bob Gates submitted a letter of resignation to Carbon County School District No. 2 last week. The CCSD No. 2 School Board of Trustees approved Gates’ resignation effective at the end of the 2013/2014 school year in a bulk action on the board’s consent agenda Monday. The action also approved two other resignations from Hanna Elk Mountain Medicine Bow Junior/Senior High School science teacher Kathy Hansen and Medicine Bow Elementary School teacher Thomas Waring. Board members cho...
Jane Anne Shiley returned to her Lord on May 1, 2013. Jane was born July 7, 1944. She and her husband, Bob, celebrated their wonderful love-filled marriage continuously. She was loved and respected by all who knew her and she reciprocated that love and respect to everyone with whom she came into contact with. A graduate of Rosary College, bachelor of arts, and the University of Denver, juris doctorate degree, she taught French with the Peace Corp in Ghana, taught in the Chicago inner-city... Full story
Encampment English Teacher Leslie McLinskey received a surprise May 9 after her principal made an unexpected announcement in the Encampment gym during the Young Authors award ceremony. Before the Young Authors began to step up and read their work to a large crowd, Encampment Principal walked up to the podium and announced McLinskey had been recognized as Carbon County School District No. 2’s Teacher of the Year. “I was shocked,” McLinskey said. “I knew Pam Kraft had nominated me, but I did not...
A librarian’s husband approached the Carbon County School District No. 2 board of Trustees Monday night with concerns about the district’s decision to realign staff. Tom Fisher, husband to the Saratoga Elementary School librarian Ceile Fisher, asked the board of trustees why his wife was being considered to be a fifth-grade teacher when she is “highly qualified” to be a librarian for the district. “She has been the librarian in this district for the last 19 years,” Fisher said in the meeting...
After several months of long budget discussions, Carbon County School District No. 2 decided three was the magic number for a sound budget. The CCSD 2 School Board voted Thursday to cut three full-time teaching positions, a decision in line with Superintendent Bob Gates’ recommendation. “I still believe that we need to reduce by three to meet the board’s desire to have a $2.5 million cash carryover,” Superintendent Bob Gates said in a CCSD 2 workshop meeting Thursday. Prior to recent budgeta...
The list of budget suggestions and cuts a citizen advisory committee presented to the Carbon County School District No. 2 School Board Tuesday evening was two-fold. The report, presented by Encampment resident and former representative of Carbon County, Jeb Steward, provided a list of suggestions for cuts rather than cutting personnel. The report also presented specific cuts for Encampment School to save the full-time art teaching position, which was threatened about a month ago after...
Carbon County speech team students are preparing to show off their public speaking skills at “Speech Night,” happening this upcoming Monday at the Platte Valley Community Center. Speech Night takes place at 7 p.m.,April 22, and features the talents of the Carbon County No. 2 High School Speech Team members. The students who make up the team come from Saratoga, Encampment and Hanna, and are ready with presentations from the 2012-13 National Forensic League speech season. The event also showcases a tribute to the support network of individuals re... Full story
Art is a many splendored thing. Witness the full room collection of people at the recent school board meeting—no two people were wearing the same thing. Even Superintendent Bob Gates was adorned in fine fabrics, from his underwear and socks, to his sweater and tie. Art is texture, color, pattern and material, and it comes together in a visual explosion and feel. Be it art on a wall or the design of clothes and jewelry, art is everywhere. The room that held the meeting had floor tile with a design and laid in a pattern. The chairs had design a...
Josh Sandlian likes to think of science as a football game. “During the week, you are practicing concepts like throwing, catching and tackling,” Sandlian said. Those football skills are similar to math and language arts. For Sandlian, science is the opportunity for students to apply their math and language arts skills to real situations. “Friday night is the game,” he said. “Science is that football game. It lets kids show what they know.” As the first science facilitator in Carbon County Scho...
When education is threatened, community members will stand up to protect it at any cost. At least that was the impression when more than 100 people showed up at the Carbon County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees meeting. The 109 teachers, students, parents and other community members stormed the meeting Monday in the name to protect two full-time teaching positions across CCSD 2. Pending cuts threatened a half-time art teacher in Encampment, a full-time position at Saratoga Elementary...