Students, teachers look to create club to support ESL learning
Manuel Trejo
When Manuel Trejo entered Liberal High School as a freshman, he hardly spoke English. His language barrier forced him to withdraw from learning.
"I was one of the persons who came in not caring," Trejo said. "Not wanting to do anything because I didn't know English. I thought I was left out. Everybody in my class would be able to pay attention and do work. I didn't care. I would just go home and sleep, or when I started working my sophomore year, I would just go home and work."
Liberal High School students traveled to Dodge City last month to attend the Fourth Annual Latino Leadership Conference. Photo submitted by Lisa Wiley
Results from local bond election different from other Western Kansas vote
The election results for the Southwest Medical Center's $17 million general obligation bond became official Friday morning by the Seward County Commission.
The county election office staff brought before the commission 32 provisional ballots for consideration. Eleven votes were deemed unaccepted because of no signature or because the ballot was casted by an unregistered voter.
The election abstract was released with 1,135 votes in favor of the $17 million hospital renovations and additions and 255 votes against. Mar 8, 2010, 09:45
While the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday that unemployment in the United States held steady at 9.7 percent in February, Liberal has reasons to stay optimistic.
In December, BLS recorded around 436 people without jobs, or the equivalent of a 4.1 percent unemployment rate, for people living in Seward County. Additionally, Liberal's workforce center offers help to people still struggling to find jobs.
Melissa Guerrero assists Kathi Eustice with an assessment in the Liberal Workforce Center Friday afternoon at Seward County Community College/ Area Technical School. Photo by Christina Maness
Mar 8, 2010, 09:34
UH OH...
Liberal Police investigators filed no citations after finding Martha Kitch, 83, accidentally slipped her foot off the brake and drove through the front entrance of Check ‘n Go Pay Day Loans just before 1 p.m. Wednesday at the 600 block of North Kansas. Neither Kitch, nor anyone inside the business, was injured in the accidental drive through. Kitch’s daughter, Jaine, arrived moments after the accident thankful for her friendships with several firefighters. “It’s really nice to have that rapport,” said Jaine Kitch. “The fire department came and got me at work. I’m grateful for their assistance.” Liberal Fire Fire Kelly Kirk said, pending any major snow storm, the structural integrity of the building should be okay until repaired. Photo by Tony Hernandez Mar 5, 2010, 10:37
Seward County Woman, Infants and Children (WIC) director Tiffani Krause said her WIC office space is tight.
Prior to Monday, members of her staff shared desks and one employee kept bruising her leg as she slid her desk chair just a few inches into a nearby filing cabinet.
As of this week, that employee will see no more bruises. While, working conditions at the WIC office can now be seen as less tight, the office remains busy and crowded, Krause said.
Seward County Woman, Infants and Children (WIC) director Tiffani Krause shows off the clerk’s office. Prior to this week, the office housed three clerks, the WIC dietitian and immunization nurse. Photo by Laura Eastes
Tyrone, Okla., author Sherrilyn Polf credits the accomplishment of her fist novel “A Matter of Trust” to her love of writing and old, unwanted letters and drawings from the World War II era.
“I’ve always wanted to do a major book,” said Polf. “It just never seemed like the right time. About two years ago, my son-in-law came home from cleaning out an old estate of an engineer. They were throwing these old letters away and charts ... My son-in-law picked them up and brought them back to me.”
Kansas was not among the 15 finalist states, and the District of Columbia, selected by the federal government to receive Race to the Top funds, however USD 480 administrators say the district continues to plan on receiving federal funds for restructuring South Middle School and Liberal High School.
RTF was a program created by the Obama administration to push school districts and states into a competition for $4.35 billion in federal education funding. Kansas ,along with 40 other states and the District of Columbia, applied to receive its piece of the $4.35 billion pie.
