By Tammy Moore-Teague – RP Contributor
Sugarloaf Valley Academy located in Hartford, Arkansas, is intending to file an application for an open-enrollment public charter school. There will be a public meeting Tuesday, February 27, at 7:00 pm at the Hartford School cafeteria in Hartford to provide information about the proposal and answer questions concerning the project. As this will be an open-enrollment charter school, students can enroll from any of the surrounding communities. The major unique feature of this school will be individualized learning plans for each student enrolled.
As the prospect of a public charter school is new to this area, we’ve provided a short description of this venture.
Charter schools are publicly funded institutions that operate under their own standards of conduct and curriculum outside the realm of local public school districts. Although these institutions are funded by tax dollars, charter school are ultimately given the freedom to establish their own methods of operation, similar to how many private schools are able to design their instructional and social practices. As in all Public Schools, students are not charged tuition.
According to the National Education Association, although some state statutes, regulations and rules may still apply to charter schools, they are generally outside the bounds of traditional educational oversight by the state and instead are governed by a board of directors.
The original impetus for the creation of charter schools was to increase competition for students, thus giving parents more choices in terms of where their children go to school.
If you are interested in learning more about this project, please attend this meeting Tuesday night, February 27, beginning at 7:00 pm. We hope to see you there.
Sugarloaf Valley Academy to file Charter Application
McFadden Files as Sebastian County Sheriff Candidate
Sebastian county native Randy McFadden filed yesterday as a Republican candidate for Sebastian County Sheriff.
“I am excited to focus on this campaign and share with local residents my vision for how this department can best serve them,” McFadden said. “I believe in honest, transparent leadership. The Sheriff’s office is a partner with the community and it is important that we have open communication with all people of Sebastian County.”
McFadden is originally from Fort Smith and graduated from Southside High School. He currently lives in Mansfield.
He brings broad experience to the position, with a background in traditional law enforcement and corporate security. This includes 20 years of law enforcement experience from the Springdale Police Department, and Washington and Sebastian Counties. Throughout his career, McFadden has worked to be a proactive leader with a team approach to solving current and future issues .
McFadden has shared his commitment to advanced training and equipment for the department, in addition to addressing the needs of employees to avoid costly turnover.
“From my experience in different types of law enforcement I understand the critical importance of advanced training and making sure the people sworn to protect us each day have the latest equipment and technology,” McFadden said. “I also believe my corporate business experience is an asset that could greatly help the department. I know how to serve the public and be an effective law enforcement officer, but I also understand how to manage people and lead on the business side of running a large organization.”
“We need to reduce jail and bailiff turnover to ensure a quality workplace and the safety and security of everyone involved with that facility.”
Randy and his wife Sherrell live in Mansfield and are members of Shady Grove Freewill Baptist Church .
McFadden believes that his faith as a Christian Conservative is consistent with being able to serve the department, treat all staff equally, and treat all citizens fairly.
McFadden’s father also served in law enforcement. He retired from the Fort Smith Police Department and subsequently served with the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Department.
Mansfield City Council Agenda for 02/22/2018
The agenda for the Mansfield City Council meeting tonight includes the following items.
Resident Press staff will be broadcasting the meeting through Facebook LIVE.
Waldron Nursing Center is Hiring
The Waldron Nursing Center located in the heart of Waldron, Arkansas is accepting applications for CNA’s, Medical Aid’s, LPN’s and RN’s with day or evening shifts available.
Job openings offer insurance benefits, holiday pay differential and bonus pay.
Applications can be picked up at 1369 W. 6th Street in Waldron. Applicants can contact Patti or Anne at (479) 637-3171
Mailing Address: Waldron Nursing Center, P.O. Box 223, Waldron, AR 72958
Mansfield Officials pass Municipal League Certification
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 21, 2018
Becky Walker, and Larry Austin pass League Certification program
The Arkansas Municipal League congratulates Becky Walker, and Larry Austin, who has maintained their status as a Certified Municipal Official through the League’s Voluntary Certified Continuing Education Program.
The certified municipal officials were honored at the League’s 2018 Winter Conference, held Jan. 10-12 in Fort Smith.
Numerous municipal officials representing cities and towns from across the state completed 21 hours of study in subjects such as budgeting, personnel management, methods of effective leadership and more. To maintain certification, graduates must complete six hours of continuing education classes each year.
The program continues in 2018 with classes held at the League’s North Little Rock headquarters and in June at the League’s Annual Convention in Little Rock.
The Arkansas Municipal League is a service and advocacy organization for the municipalities of Arkansas. The League offers its programs and services to 500 cities and towns in Arkansas and was created in 1934 to assist cities with information and representation in the public affairs of our state and nation. To find out more, please visit www.arml.org.
Waldron Nursing Center Crowns 2018 Queen
Story by Christine Lees
Queen Dianne Brennan, is 69 years young and has lived at Waldron Nursing Center for the past three years. She was born January 15, 1949 in New Jersey. She was raised in the city of New Jersey with her 3 brothers. Dianne was the only girl from this family. Her parents were both Postal Workers.
Dianne met the love of her life, Larry Brennan, in New Jersey and raised a family of 3 girls and 1 boy. All of her children are still living in New Jersey.
In her adult life she went to school and became a LPN where she worked in a New Jersey Hospital. She later worked in a Pharmacy there helping fill prescriptions and other things in the Pharmacy.
Later on she moved to Arkansas with her husband, Larry, who had been in the military in previous years but is now deceased. When asked about her life accomplishments Dianne stated it was going to school to get her Nurses license. Her hobbies was making lots of afghans when doing her crochet work. The thing she is most proud of in her life are her children and being able to get her Nursing Degree.
Her biggest life event was being a Nurse and working in the hospital in New Jersey before moving to Arkansas with her husband.
Things she enjoys doing in the Nursing Center is going to crafts, playing bingo, visiting with the fellow residents and the staff who love to tease with her. She loves to laugh and is always an enjoyment to be around. Reading paper back books and watching television. Her favorite television program is “The Golden Girls”. If you say “Go” Dianne is always ready and willing to participate in whatever is scheduled. She especially enjoyed riding on the Home Coming float in the down town parade with fellow residents all dressed up in evening gowns.
Everyone at Waldron Nursing Center is proud to present our new Queen, Dianne Brennan, who will remain our Nursing Center Queen until around this same time next year. Dianne will be participating in the District II Ms. Nursing Home Queen Pageant on February 22nd at 6:30 PM held at the Bell Park Pavilion in Greenwood, AR. Everyone is invited to attend and cheer her on. Alex Carter, Activity Assistant, will be her escort.
Dianne is wearing a lovely mid length Deep Purple gown accented by her beautiful jewelry. Congratulations, Dianne.
Junior High Lady Tigers Finish Strong
Mansfield Junior High Girls Basketball Team ended their season on Wednesday February 7th with a semi-final loss to Cedarville in the district tournament.
On Monday February 5th the Junior High Lady Tigers travelled to Cedarville to compete against Greenland in the first round of the district tournament. Led by Freshman Danielle Lillie the Lady Tigers defeated the Lady Pirates. Danielle had 16 of the team’s points along with multiple steals, rebounds, and a charge. Mikayla Harrison, Haylee Helms, Olivia Bouse, Amber Elmore, Sadie Roberts and Hailea Raines all had points during the game.
The girls started off slow but picked it up in the second quarter to get us a good 19-9 lead going into halftime. The Lady Tigers continued to build on their lead until the conclusion of the competition with a 39-19 victory.
Since the Lady Tigers won they moved on to the semi-final round of the Junior High District Tournament to face Cedarville.
The Lady Tigers battled hard against a very good Cedarville team. Lead again by Freshman Danielle Lillie, the Lady Tigers overcame a few obstacles during the game. The lady tigers doubled their point total from the last time they played the Lady Pirates and we defended the press better than we had in previous games. Ultimately the Lady Tigers were defeated by the Lady Pirates which ended up being their final game of the season.
“I am proud of my team,” said Coach Bryan. “They overcame many different adversities throughout this basketball season and began to show pride in their sport by competing at a higher level than they thought they could. We will work hard this summer to become even better for next season.”
The Lady Tigers will compete in a different conference next season. All the teams in our new conference are: Cedarville, Charleston, Elkins, Greenland, Lincoln, Mansfield, Waldon, and West Fork.
See you next season and thank you for your support! GO TIGERS!
The Value of Peanut Butter
“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” ― Thomas Fuller
Many of us have experienced hard times in our life. I remember a few times in life that I would have given anything for a cold glass of milk and a peanut butter sandwich. There is no doubt that at times, nothing tastes better, especially to a starving teenage boy. Of course, when isn’t a teenage boy starving? Allow me to take this opportunity to introduce you to some special young men that I believe many in our community are very proud of. It is the hard working gentlemen in grades 7-11 in the off-season football program.
These guys quietly put in some very hard work, some even doing extra work and giving their best to represent you next fall on the gridiron. These young men are your family or neighbor. For many of you, they are an integral part of your life in some form or fashion. Some of them have plenty and some may be in need, regardless, these are our boys, our team, representing our town. Like it or not, we are truly one big family and if you are an alumni of our beloved school, you own a piece of the school, this town, and this team. We appreciate you and all your help and support.
One of the key goals that head football coach Tim Cothran has continued to implement is a good off-season program. One that emphasized weight training as well as speed and flexibility. After much strategizing in the coach’s office the plan was made to do our best to improve their nutritional training as well. Otherwise, all their hard work would be minimized. Hard to beat milk and peanut butter for that task.
Now as you are all aware of, it can be quiet difficult to get a teenager to eat properly. So we felt we needed to be proactive regarding our athletes. We make it mandatory for each athlete to eat and drink his portion before leaving for the day.
Another key point that we discussed was financing for our little endeavor. We thought the best way to handle this was to every athlete to bring a dollar. Of course every once in a while the till will run a little shy and some anonymous person will help us out. In this day and age though, it seems that at times a dollar is a difficult task. With household budgets running close to the red every week, we understand that even to scratch out a dollar can be difficult.
Our hopes in writing this little article is two-fold. First, if you are the parent or guardian of one of our athletes, keep trying your best to make them eat right. Remind them to “feed the machine” and that by eating it will maximize all their hard work. Like the old saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child, so we need all the help we can get. Second, if you are in the community and want to help our program to be the best we can be, contact Coach Cothran.
“These donations are vital to our off-season football diet needs,” stated Cothran.
Any and all donations of milk, bread, peanut butter, money, or anything else we can use to make these guys the best will be appreciated beyond words.
We are proud to say that after every weight day (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) we make every athlete eat a peanut butter sandwich and drink a cup of milk (with exception obviously to food allergies). By our estimates, the athlete is getting approximately 20 grams of protein per serving. Now this is nowhere near the total amount of protein needed but it is a good “shot” of protein in a necessary time where their bodies need it most.
As coaches, we have such a small window to impact their health and development. We need your help. This is as much your team as anyone’s. The name Mansfield is across the front of their jerseys. They play for you, the school, and our community. Borrowing from Thomas Fuller’s quote, we will never know the value of peanut butter until our young athletes have become old men and the well has run dry. Now is the time to develop these young men, now is the time to make them bigger, faster, and stronger. Now is the time. Please, help us to make them the best they can be.
Celebrating our Senior Sweethearts
By Tammy Moore-Teague – RP Contributor
Above, Kennith and Josie Elmore of Huntington enjoying the Senior Center festivities
Valentine’s Day was a day of sweet celebration at the Mansfield Senior Center. Although this is an annual event for them, it did not make it any less of a treat for the old and young alike.
The cooks and workers at the center worked tirelessly for days to prepare and decorate for the event. The meal which included turkey and dressing, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, hot roll and a strawberry cupcake drew not only the crowd of regulars but some newcomers as well.
Everyone who attended enjoyed the party which included finger foods and punch as well as entertainment and door prizes. Perhaps most importantly, everyone embraced the social interaction and company of one another.
But, something was different this year. A pillar and mainstay of the center, site director, Georgina Edwards suffered a fall recently and has been undergoing rehabilitation. Edwards, who has served in this capacity for many years, is extremely missed and coworkers and friends are praying for her speedy and complete recovery.
Mansfield is a fortunate community as our senior center continues to be funded while others have been forced to close their doors. I’m certain many of the kind deeds these employees do on a day to day basis may go unnoticed by the rest of us, but to that one home bound elderly person it means the world. They can count on that daily van visit with perhaps their only hot meal for the day.
Seeing the love in action that these employees have for the seniors in our community is heartwarming and worthy of recognition.
Moore of a Memory
By Tammy Moore-Teague – RP Contributor
The memory of one of my first feature stories flooded my mind when Jason Baggett, owner and publisher of Resident Press, asked me to come on board.
It was a vivid memory, his father, Don Baggett, in a golden yellow shirt and a brown pipe. I can still hear him calling my family’s name one by one as we entered the back door of the pharmacy. As we traipsed down the stairs one by one “more Moores,” he’d say. I wanted to capture that feeling in my first assignment at “The Citizen.”
That feeling of community, small town-where everyone knows you by name. I remember the gracefully retired, white haired men sitting around the tables at the drug store. Each of them with a cup of coffee in hand. I listened to them speak of politics and how they had the every day common sense that would fix our nations’s woes. Most of these gentlemen have since passed and their voices silenced. Never forgotten, however, is the impact they had on some of my generation.
That story ran in the summer of 1999, and I was afforded the opportunity to continue to write about the things that touched my heart and about our community for the following five years. My mother, as I shared with Baggett, proudly kept and stored away each of those issues. Who knows, maybe somewhere in the dusty corner of our storage building lies the tales of Geraldine Repass and her “Huntington Happenings” and the meticulous weather reporting of Charlie Bennett.
Each one I had the privilege to get to know and establish great rapport. Of course I could never neglect to mention the hard work and dedication Ann Blythe had while working there. She was, as far as I was concerned, the glue that held things together after the passing and new ownership following the late Frank Boyd. I worked with some very good people and made life long friends. Afterward, I worked for the Times Record, yet my heart wasn’t in it. I love to write but there is no substitute for writing about things you’re truly passionate about!
When I received the invitation to contribute to the Resident Press, I felt truly fortunate to once again be given the opportunity to express that passion.
Community journalism, it’s not the same hard hitting news you can view on your television or read in the daily paper. It’s the news that touches the heart, and that parades the compassion of every day, ordinary people.
One of my great mentors, Dr. Van Tyson, helped me understand the difference. Although he is now retired, I couldn’t help but inform him of my newest endeavor. His reply, “sounds promising.” I had to giggle as I remembered him telling our small group at Arkansas Tech to “learn to like coffee black,” and that one day the printed paper as we knew it would soon be replaced by online versions.
That day is here and although the outlet is different than what I’m accustomed-the stories, and the people, they are the same. It’s those things and to those people whom I look forward to being of service. So many of you that are regular viewers of the Resident Press know me.
Perhaps you know me, as Baggett jokingly stated, as “Tammy Moore.” But for those of you who do not, I’m a Mansfield native and graduated in 1995. I attended and graduated from Arkansas Tech University in 1999 with my bachelors in journalism. Besides my work at The Citizen and Times Record, I have also been contributing to Sherry Barnes bi-monthly newspaper, the Heartland Heritage for the past few years. In 2003 is when I made that name change and married a farm boy from Northeastern Arkansas.
Jason and I have children of the fur kind, two to be exact, and they let us live in “their” home just outside the city limits. Our home is where I am fortunate to be able to care for and make daily memories with my precious parents Leon and Sue Moore. The wonderful Christian values they raised me with is the greatest gift a parent could give to their children. My family is so blessed by the precious friendships and our church family at Westside Pentecostal Church in Huntington.
This is my life in sum, but if you don’t remember me you’re not missing much-it’s Jesus that I hope people see in me, and He is everything! Again I am very excited to see what future holds, and I look forward to sharing it with each one of you! Blessings!