On Tuesday, first and second grade students were excited to attend a science presentation by Curtis Varnell and Amber Cobb. Curtis Varnell, from the Guy Fenter Education Service Coop, is a Specialist in Science and Social Studies and is over the Science Education Division. Amber is the Gifted and Talented Specialist for the Coop, and she overseas the areas schools GT programs. Both Cobb and Varnell help area schools with STEM projects and competitions.
Cobb talked with students about space adventures and challenged the kids to astronaut training. She explained to the students how rockets and spaceships work and how they survive in space. She also explained to the students what astronauts eat in space and how they are able to drink liquids.
Amber Cobb explains the control center for spaceships at NASA to Mansfield students.
Next, Varnell talked with students about gravity and explained how rockets take off. He demonstrated several small rocket take-offs within the classroom, and then students went outside after lunch to watch a large rocket launch and take-off. He told students, “Science is fun! It’s the best subject.” He encouraged students to get involved with science, projects and learning. In the conclusion of their presentation, students were given an astronaut badge.
Showing small rockets to students
Explaining pressure and rocket take-offs
Launching the larger rocket outside for students
Picture below is of 2nd grade students sampling the real astronaut food and drinking juice like astronauts. Students also received their astronaut badge while leaving the presentation from Ms. Amber Cobb.
After the large rocket launch, students in Mrs. Root’s 2nd grade class then returned to class and wrote about what they learned. Student, Makenzie, had much to say about how much she loved having Mr. Curtis and Ms. Amber come to her school and visit!
E.W. Robb, Mansfield’s new Chief of Police, has a clear vision and goal for the department. Part of that plan is to lead with integrity and conduct that is above reproach.
Robb, a law enforcement veteran with 30 years of experience, began his career in his hometown of Marianna as a radio dispatcher and jailer at the age of 18. After turning 21, he was hired on as a certified police officer at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock. He remained there for six years, then left to work as a deputy for the White County Sheriff’s office.
He admits he began to feel “burned out.” Robb took a break and began driving trucks. His company took him from Little Rock to Memphis and Fort Smith. That’s how he ended up in, as he calls it, “God’s country.”
Robb got hired on with Sebastian County, and worked reserve for Scott County Sheriff Cody Carpenter. In 2011, he began working full time for the late sheriff. “I made a promise to Cody that I would stay with him. It was just a few months later that he was killed, and I kept that promise until 2019.”
It was not a decision he took lightly. At first, Robb did not intend to apply for the position of Mansfield Police Chief. “My wife doesn’t like change and she initially said no. So, I told the mayor I wasn’t interested.” But something changed. Both Robb and his wife, Stephanie, began praying about it. “The wife and I prayed about it and felt it would be a great opportunity.”
He recognized that “still small voice” leading both him and his wife on the decision. He felt strongly enough about it that he approached Mayor Buddy Black and said “I will be your next chief.”
Robb admits it was difficult to say goodbye to the students and residents he had connected with during his time as a Scott County Deputy. “The people of Waldron have embraced me but I think the people of Mansfield will too. It was humbling for the people to clap at the city council meeting on Thursday night.”
One of the things important to Robb is his connection with both the school and the community. For the past four years he has been greeting students at Waldron Elementary with a fist bump. Robb noted that it was the best part of his day. That is something he has brought with him to Mansfield. And, people have noticed! After the first morning on the job, social media lit up with comments on the interaction with the new chief and students at the school. Robb said his goal is to “change a generation’s mindset of how they view law enforcement. If I can achieve that I have reached my goal,” he added.
Furthermore, Robb plans to implement positive changes to the department itself. “I want to get the integrity and honesty back and to be upfront with the mayor and the public.” Robb has come on board delivering daily briefs to both the mayor and every officer coming on duty. That commitment comes with long hours, 6 a.m.-4 p.m.
The officers have been very receptive of their newly appointed leader. “I came in and asked them what needed to be changed and opened the door for suggestions. In return, I expect them to present themselves the way I present myself to the public. Shiny boots, hair, and clean cut appearance.”He went on to add that the way the officer presents himself/herself to the public is important as well. “The tongue will get you in trouble. How you talk to citizens reflects not only on you (the officer), but this department.”
He further outlined his expectations by stating that if an officer is at the station, the doors will be unlocked and phones will be manned. Chief Robb is working to set up a forwarding system with the phone lines for Sebastian County to receive calls if officers are away from the station.
Robb’s motto is that if you fix the broken window the decline won’t escalate. That broken window, according to Robb, is the condition of the vehicles and the need to bring the department into the 21st century with technology.
Robb concluded by saying the department’s actions reflect on the mayor. He pointed to Black and stated, “I work for this man.” Black responded, “and I work for the people.” Adding, “this is a positive change and people are seeking consistency.”
The hands-on, working chief plans to continue visiting and getting to know the residents, parents and students. He welcomes anyone with problems or questions to come to the police station to visit. Additionally, he welcomes anyone to come approach him while he is out in public. “Even if you call and get dispatch, let them know you need to see me and I will come to your house.”
With Robb’s vision, leadership and experience the citizens of Mansfield can be assured of the department’s commitment to protect and serve.
Chief Robb’s certificates hang in his office. The ones he’s most proud of include the law enforcement code of ethics and his safety dedication award from Waldron Elementary.
The Mansfield FFA was the state winner in food collection for the FFA for Food, Fiber, and Shelter (FFS) project.
Senior Brianna McKinney accepted the award during the 92nd Arkansas FFA Convention in Hot Springs.
The local chapter earned the top spot by participating in the backpack program. That program provides for elementary, middle and high school students. Additionally, for their participation in the Pack Shack event, the FFA food pantry and the school garden.
Agriculture teacher and FFA leader Rhianna Wagner said “We have had a huge project that has fed the community for the past 10-12 years. We have won the state food collection award every year for the past four years (since it was founded.)
We will be bringing you more news from the FFA State Convention in the next few days.
City of Waldron Mayor David Millard swore in the police department’s newest recruit on Wednesday, April 24.
Waldron native, Brittany Fletcher, said she is excited about the opportunity and looks forward to serving the citizens.
Fletcher is a 2013 graduate of Waldron High School. According to Fletcher, joining the department fulfills a lifelong dream.
“I’ve always had an interest in law enforcement ever since I was a little kid. My dad was a dispatcher at the jail here in Scott County and I remember being little and spending time there getting to know people like Cody Carpenter, Mac Davis and Jason Daggs. They all had such a big impact on my life and that’s why I wanted to become an officer.”
Fletcher’s first day on the job was Monday, April 22. She will be working in the patrol division.
On Monday night, the Mansfield Tigers finished conference play against the Elkins Elks. In a seven-inning dust bowl, the Tigers kept things close with the Elks, only trailing by one in the third inning. But as fate would have it, Elkins gained momentum and won the game 10-5.
Layton Howard scored one run, two putouts, and one assist. Tyler Watkins earned one run, three hits, and one runner batted in. Cody Fudge made eight putouts. Codi Chick obtained two hits, two RBI, and one steal. Isaac Cothran netted two hits, two RBI, five putouts, and one assist.
Nathan Brewer acquired one run, one steal, and one putout. The Tigers saw two pitchers take the mound during the game. Seth Fudge launched 58 pitches to 16 batters striking out four. He also snagged two runs, one putout, and two assists. Hunter Willsey hurled 58 pitches to 20 batters striking out four. Willsey also scooped up one putout and two assists.
Mansfield ended their conference 4-6 and sit 5-9 in total season play. District starts tonight for the Tigers in Greenland. They will face off with the West Fork Tigers at 6:30 p.m. If Mansfield wins, they will move on to compete against Greenland on Thursday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m.
Welcome to the Post Season. This year has flown by and its hard to believe that the baseball and softball seasons are beginning to wrap up. The 2A-4 district tournaments begin today in Hackett Arkansas and both the Golden Arrows and the Lady Arrows look to make a statement.
The Golden Arrow baseball team coached by Mark Headley, will enter the tournament as the three seed. This team believes that they can go very deep into the post season. At the plate the Arrows are really seeing the ball well. They have out scored their opponents 36-5 in their last two games, and hit 4 home runs in the same two games. Only two blemishes for Lavaca was a close game against Danville and a rematch game with Hector. The Danville game remained close despite the Arrows’ struggles at the plate. The Arrows had only 2 hits in the game. The Hector game was a game where the Arrows were error plagued. The final two games for the Arrows they seem to have righted the ship. They have been stroking the ball and playing solid defense as of late. Coach Headley feels the Arrows are ready to make a run. He told me, “I feel pretty good about how we are playing going into postseason. I think that our bats are starting to come alive at the right time and I’m pleased with our pitching. I have really challenged our guys about cleaning up our defense. If we want to make a run in postseason we need to play good defense.”
The Arrows will take the field at 8pm tonight to face the winner of the Hackett vs Magazine game. Lavaca took care of business in their meeting with both teams. The Arrows beat Hackett 14-0 with Trey Castor on the mound. Castor pitched a one hit “mercy rule” shutout, striking out eight over five innings. Castor also pitched the Magazine game. In that game he gave up one run on two hits in a three inning “mercy rule” game that lasted 3 innings and struck out five.
For the Lady Arrows they will take the field at 7:30P to face the winner of JC Westside vs Magazine. The Lady Arrows are coming off of a two game slide. They lost to Hector and Mansfield. However, they are far from over. This team knows what it takes to win and they are capable of playing at a high level. Coach Jonathan Vire explained that its time to get refocused on winning. He explained, “We did not accomplish one our goals which was to win conference and get the automatic bid to the Regional Tournament but we still have other goals for the year and they start with the game tonight. We have hit a few bumps in the road and are looking to bounce back and see how far we can ride the season out. The girls came to practice yesterday with great attitudes and that is very encouraging to see. We know the importance of the game tonight… ‘win and we’re in, lose and we’re done’. I truly believe that we will see the team tonight that we come to expect, we have everybody healthy and we are going to lineup defensively like we started the season, were going back to what got us to where we were.”
As far as tonight’s game, the Lady Arrows beat Magazine 10-1 and 14-0 in their last two meetings; and they beat JC Westside 13-0 and 15-2 in their last two meetings. The Lavaca Lady Arrows had set their goals high. They missed the first goal of being Conference Championship, but if they can right he ship during the district tournament, they can still go deep into the playoffs. The road to redemption starts tonight.
Last night was the perfect way for the Hackett Lady Hornets to end schedule play before Districts. The sun was shining, there was a light breeze, they were hosting the Waldron Lady Bulldogs, and they were celebrating lone senior Audrie Chaney for Senior Night. For the cherry on top, Hackett added one more win to their already impressive stats.
#2 Audrie Chaney
The 19-5 Lady Hornets were able to keep the Lady Bulldogs off their scent for seven innings as they secured a 6-3 victory. Waldron and Hackett are pretty evenly matched as they both sit in top positions in their conferences. The Lady Hornets pitching circle saw two pitchers last night during the game. Kayla Richardson buzzed out 79 pitches to 19 batters striking out five. She also made one run, one putout, and one assist.
#5 Kayla Richardson
Audrie Chaney propelled out 55 pitches to 14 batters striking out two. Chaney also impressed with three hits, three runners batted in, four putouts, and one assist. Autum Neal scored one run, one hit, one RBI, and one putout. Rachel Widmer made one run. Madeline Freeman gained one run, one steal, two putouts, and three assists.
#8 Rachel Widmer
Jamye Durham rang up one run, two hits, and two putouts. Madi Taylor nailed one putout. Sarah White secured one run and eight putouts. And Shayla Foster obtained one hit, one RBI, one putout, and two assists. The Hackett Lady Hornets will get to rest for a day and prepare for District play tomorrow.
#11 Jamye Durham
Coming in with a conference play record of 5-1, the Lady Hornets will take on the winner of the Mountainburg versus Hector District game, on Thursday, April 25 at 4 p.m for the semi-finals. Districts are being held in Hackett. If the girls succeed, they will move on to the finals on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
Last night in Hackett, two powerhouse teams from two different conferences went face to face in a back and forth struggle for dominance. The Lady Hornets hosted the Waldron Lady Bulldogs in an end of season non-conference match. Both teams are seeded in the top three of their standings so it’s no surprise that their offensive and defensive skills were on fire during the game.
#20 Taylor Stacy
The Lady Bulldogs were able to keep pace with the Lady Hornets but in the end, they lost control of the board and the game ended 6-3 Hackett. Mackinzie Callahan earned one hit and three putouts. Ashtyn Moore made one hit. Bayleigh Lipham secured one run and four putouts. Saige Mahar dominated with two hits, one RBI, one steal, one putout, and one assist.
#4 Ashtyn Moore
Whitney Richmond grabbed two putouts. Taylor Stacy slammed one hit and three putouts. Kelsey Yother put up one run and two steals. Jayden Manning netted two putouts and two assists. The Lady Bulldogs saw two pitchers on the mound last night. Ashton Young catapulted 82 pitches to 23 batters striking out one. She also had one hit and one putout. Rheagan Sanford threw out 31 pitches to nine batters striking out two. Sanford also scored one run, one hit, one RBI, one steal, two putouts, and three assists.
#22 Ashton Young
The Waldron Lady Bulldogs are excited for their next adventure which is dominating their way to the top of Districts. The girls ended conference play 8-2. On Thursday, April 25 at 4 p.m. the 12-8 Lady Bulldogs will play the winner of the Lincoln versus Cedarville game. If Waldron wins, they will go on to battle Elkins on Friday, April 26 at 4 p.m. Districts are being played in Greenland.
While scrolling social media as of late, it’s hard to miss the #YouCanSitWithUs movement that’s gaining ground nationwide, and Northwest Arkansas in particular.
This coming Saturday, April 27 at the Sebastian County Health Department in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the Young Girls Conference will host several guest speakers, break-out / team building sessions, among many other activities.
Girls 11-17 are welcome to join in this powerful day of encouragement, and motivation. Parents are welcome to attend, but are asked to let their children participate with the other girls.
Committee Co-Chair, Renee Flesher stated “Our goal is to turn today’s youth into tomorrows leaders by building them up and teaching them to build each other. As the saying goes, in a world where you can be anything, BE KIND!”
60 slots are quickly filling up and per-registration is required. For more information, or to register, contact Renee Flesher at (479) 926-0428 or by EMAIL
The Waldron Bulldogs track team came in like a wrecking ball at last nights 3A-1W Sr Districts held in Mansfield. They took on each event with confidence and poise. And by the end of the night, everyone knew who the Bulldogs were. Champions. The Bulldogs won overall First Place Champions and qualified eight athletes to compete in ten events at the 3A State Track Meet.
In the High Jump, Gavlen Wagner placed fourth, for a fifth-place tie was Braden Williams and Isaac Villareal, and taking eighth was Levi Hayden. In Long Jump, Gabino Grano placed fourth, taking seventh was Mason Ford, Isaac Villareal took eighth, and Caden Fuller made 11th. In Triple Jump, first place was Bryson Bailey, taking second was Levi Hayden, in third was Mason Ford, and making ninth was Seth Kastl. For Shot Put, ranking second was Trevor Root, taking third was Peyton Brown, and making ninth was Rick Hinojosa. In Discus, making fourth was Rick Hinojosa, in fifth was Matthew Tegtmeyer, ranking eighth was Spencer Chapel, and taking 20th place was Trever Root.
In Pole Vault, making second was Matthew Tegtmeyer, in sixth was Carson Cain, and taking ninth was Jordan Dickens. In the 4×800, Waldron placed third. In the 4×100, the Bulldogs took first. And in the 4×400, the boys ranked second. In the 110 M Hurdles, taking first was Isaac Villareal, making third was Drake Carnley, and placing 13th was Seth Kastl. In the 100 M Dash, making first place was Bryson Bailey, taking second was Gabino Grano, ranking fifth was Levi Hayden, and in 16th was Carson Cain. In the 1600 M Run, taking seventh was Evan Ledesma and in eighth place was Ethan Martin. In the 400 M Dash, in third was Caden Fuller, making seventh was Ruben Valdez, ranking 10th was Tyler Wright, and taking 11th was Garron Deramus.
In the 300 Hurdles, first place was Isaac Villareal, making third was Drake Carnley, and taking 13th Seth Kastl. In the 800 M Run, taking eighth was Zach Canada. In the 200 M Dash, making first was Gabino Grano, taking second was Bryson Bailey, and in fifth was Levi Hayden. In the 3200 M Run, sixth place was Ethan Martin, making eighth was Evan Ledesma, and taking ninth was Mitchell Wright. High Point for the boys went to Bryson Bailey.
Track Coach, Chance Tanner earned the prestigious Coach of the Year award. Coach Tanner had this to say about the season, “The season started off great in February when we brought home the 3A Indoor State championship trophy. Since then we have just been trying to keep that momentum rolling throughout the outdoor season. We knew we had a few athletes that could prequalify for State Outdoor on April 30th and we have qualified a couple of those athletes but due to some unfortunate weather and a couple of injuries we didn’t quite get all of the pre-qualifying marks we were hoping for.”
Waldron Bulldogs
“Luckily, you can finish 1st or 2nd in your event at conference to make it to State and that’s how we have qualified 8 athletes in 10 different events. Winning a conference championship is always awesome and the boys’ team has accomplished that over the past 3 years, so we are trying to shift that focus to State now and make winning State the new expectation. I believe in the coming years we can take double the amount of athletes we get to State. Our greatest strength is that we are a very young squad, of the eight going to State, two are seniors, so the future is very promising.”
