Raul Almaguer isn’t your average Edna High School graduate.

In fact, just last week he graduated in a class all his own at the monthly school board meeting held at the district’s administration building here in Edna.

A product of Edna ISD’s alternative education program, Raul was presented his official blue-bound Edna High School diploma by board president Brandon Peters as superintendent Mason Briscoe read the formal liturgy, certifying that Raul had completed all requirements set forth by the State of Texas and local school district to bear such an honor.

Then, after a few snapshots and congratulatory hugs and handshakes, he was gone, off into the world to put that newfound diploma to work.

And boy, did he ever.

Hard knocks

Believe me when I say this, I hear you: Alternative school, you say? What did he do?

The answer, it turns out, just might surprise you.

Right about Raul’s freshman year of high school, you see, his father’s health went from not-so-good to flat-out terrible. His dad, a laborer, lost his leg to diabetes and soon learned he needed regular dialysis just to stay alive, effectively ending the ailing man’s working days.

Still, there were mouths to feed — Raul grew up as one of nine in his home between his folks and seven children altogether, with Raul and his three younger siblings still living at home at the time — along with all the other typical household expenses to manage, plus now, regular doctor’s appointments to keep.

Raul’s mother, Maria, took on all the extra hours she could to try and make ends meet, but that’s not easy when you have kids to raise and a sick man at home.

Raul still vividly recalls some of those first trips to Victoria with his dad.

“Yeah, 4 a.m. comes awful early,” he told us in a phone interview last week. “But somebody had to take him to the doctor, and Mom had to work.”

His older siblings already had families and jobs of their own to tend to, so Raul became his dad’s caretaker and, ultimately, together with his mom, provider for his three younger siblings still living at home.

Turning point

Something had to give. Raul decided that something was his schooling. Still, he learned an awful lot.

“I tell you, watching him put on that prosthetic leg every day,” Raul said, his throat catching halfway through the word prosthetic. “That was hard.”

“Watching him every day, seeing a man who wanted so bad to go and work but couldn’t — he was just too sick — it made me want to work extra hard,” he said.

So, work hard, he did. Raul took work as painter’s helper with a company that landed a job at the nearby Invista plant in Victoria (formerly Dupont). After a few weeks on-site, giving his all, day in and day out, all that hard work seemed to pay off in a big way.

“One of the plant guys came up to me one day and asked me if I might want to work there on a more permanent basis,” he said. “They had this opening in their inspections department, he told me, and he thought I might be a good fit for it.”

Just as things were looking up, however, Raul said he got hit with a gut punch.

“He asked me if I had a high school diploma,” he recalled, regret still strong in his voice. “I had to tell him no.”

Now, Raul was hardly making chump change at his painting gig. In fact, he earned a good wage by any standard, especially for someone his age. Still, what the man at the plant was offering was easily twice that amount, maybe even three times as much after he put in a few years.

It didn’t take a diploma for Raul to figure out that he needed one.

Back to school

Restarting his education was no simple task. Between work, home life and no doubt sheer teenage procrastination, Raul said it took him a full month just to fill out all the required forms.

Then came the interview with his principal.

“I wasn’t sure they’d even let me back in,” he said. “But they did, and I couldn’t be more thankful.”

Principal Sonya Crull (formerly Sonya Proper) has headed the Edna alternative education program for about a dozen years now, but she remembered well that first call with Raul.

“He was supposed to graduate two years ago but faced some setbacks,” she said. “His dad had been sick, and Raul needed to help his family. So, he didn’t finish his courses and went to work. He called me this past year and wanted to try again to finish.”

While better pay served as his main motivator, Raul took up the task of finishing his education with the same tenacity he’d shown on the jobsite, efforts that came to fruition on Monday when he received his diploma at the school board meeting, his proud mother right by his side.

Also right there with him was his principal who, together with his credit recovery teacher Dana Mesa, Raul says helped him so much along the way.

Just one thing was missing at his graduation ceremony Monday, Raul told us. “I only wish my pops could have been there.”

You see, despite leaving school to see to his care, Raul said he still lost his dad anyway.

Lessons learned

“I am proud of all of the students that choose this path, or it has chosen them for whatever reason,” Mrs. Crull told us in an email exchange.

“It takes real grit to complete this type of program, and it’s not for everyone,” she said. “You must have discipline to stick with it and determination to keep going when your peers have already graduated.”

Plus, Edna alternative school is responsible for meeting the same accountability ratings that all schools face, all governed by the Texas Education Agency.

“Our students must pass the STAAR tests to earn their diplomas,” Crull said. “They work on a computer-based software program to earn their credits.”

Through the years, Crull says she’s helped about 20 students through Edna ISD’s credit recovery program— each facing his or her own circumstances— life’s own burdens, if you will.

Seeing them succeed is what keeps her coming back.

It’s a pride you just can’t match, she says. In fact, the coming school year will mark her 31st year in teaching, and she says she remains just as passionate about the program as ever.

Raul said he couldn’t agree more.

“I tell you, Mrs. Mesa and Mrs. Proper (now Crull) became like second mothers to me,” he said. “They were like family. They gave me a second chance, you know. Not everybody will do that. And I can’t thank them enough for all they did to help me through all this.”

Editor’s Note: Bobby Horecka isn’t just the writer of this story. He’s also a benefactor of just such a program himself. Despite multiple hospitalizations during his sophomore year of high school back in the late 1980s, Horecka entered a similar program, which not only permitted him to make up his missed classes but also graduate a full year ahead of schedule, paving the way for him to land multiple degrees and certifications throughout his adult life.

Meteorologist Matt Moreland, out of Houston and Galveston met virtually to help others on where to find information online and elsewhere.

“It only takes one storm,” Moreland said.

“No matter whether it’s a quiet season, it only takes one.”

Whereas El Niño is generally safer for the Atlantic coast due to unusually warm water, La Niña is better for the Pacific due to unusually cold water. There tend to be fewer hurricanes due to stronger vertical winds with El Niño.

“Texas is usually in good shape once we get to October,” he added, “the storms steer east.

It’s in late August, early September when the storms tend to come.

Moreland said on the website hurricanes.gov, they give an outlook on the weather four times a day. More information can be found on weather. gov/hgx/hurricaneguide2026.

He also shared a term some might be familiar with: cone of uncertainty. In the past, the cone of uncertainty could prepare for two-thirds of the possible outcomes of a scenario, but a new cone of uncertainty has been refined, where it can be up to 90% correct.

“Most storms develop or rapidly intensify over the Gulf, which means it lowers your timeline in becoming prepared… when you hear the words watch or warning, a warning means it will happen,” he said. “Don’t focus on the number, focus on the trend, strengthen your home, and use caution after the storm because that’s when fatalities happen.”

Next, Samantha Fabian of STEAR, the State of Texas Emergency Assistance Registry, informed the people about what STEAR can offer during the storm seasons.

STEAR was a transportation assistance registry in 2005 and became STEAR in 2013, they have a new database that can be found at steam. texas.gov/ “STEAR is for Texans of all ages, medically fragile, or lack transportation assistance,” Fabian explained. “The registry is voluntary, and it’s best to register early, because last minute enrollments during a disaster could mean you not being able to reach a local emergency management office.”

She reminded everyone to not forget to dial 211 for evacuation routes, shelters, meals and financial assistance.

Visit ready.gov for more information on how to stay prepared.

County Judge Jill Sklar also reminded everyone that the county is using the CodeRed app for up to date information happening in Jackson County. Lane Larson is the county’s emergency management coordinator and can be reached by calling 361-703-4607, or emailing him at jceoc@co.jackson.tx.us Lastly paramedic Denver Eichler and his best friend, old but loyal chocolate Labrador who goes by the name Gauge, introduced ways of taking care of your furry friends during a storm season. He shared ways of checking a dog’s temperature, and said doing compressions for a K-9 dog is no different that doing it to a human.

For more information, one can also visit the Jackson County VOAD on their website, jcvoad. org or visit their Facebook page at JCVOAD.

Above are the new Jackson County VOAD officers for the upcoming year. This staff has made their presence known in the county and are growing slowly but surely.

Talk to one of them today about how to make a difference in the community.

Thanks to Bulldogs errors, the Maidens took an early lead and held on for the win.

Laci Holt opened the game, smashing the ball to the third baseman, who knocked the ball down, but as the ball rolled away, Holt grabbed the single. With one out, Kayln Benavides hit another ball to the third baseman, who fielded the ball cleanly but rushed the throw and fired it over the first baseman’s head and into foul territory allowing Holt to score and Benavides to move to second. After a groundout moved Benavides to third, Paisley Hajovsky hit a rocket to the left fielder. She barely had to move, but as she stuck her glove up to catch the ball, the ball flew right over her head, allowing Benavides to score.

Bosqueville also had a runner reach base via an error, but three quick outs ended the threat.

In the second, Avery Torres led off the inning with a single, however, the right fielder allowed the ball to go under her glove and Torres ended up at third. A couple of batters later, Holt hit the ball to the left fielder who fired a rocket to home to double off Torres, who was trying to score.

Bures struck out the side in the second, although Bosqueville got their first hit of the game.

Kyla Stancik opened the third by reaching on an error, and Benavides picked up a single. Raelynn Pena followed with a walk to load the bases. Hajovsky again crushed the ball to left field but this time the ball fell in and a run scored. Torres came through with a one out RBI single to plate the fifth Ganado run.

Be it nerves or not, Ganado now held a 5-0 lead, and Bosqueville had committed five errors. “It was a whole lot easier on us having already been here,” Saylor Bures explained. “We kind of knew what to expect.”

The Bulldog fifth inning began with a ground out, but a Maiden error and a single put two Bosqueville runners on. Bures got the second out on a fly out but Desi Torres made hard contact and she ended up at second, knocking in two runs for the Bulldogs. The following batter smashed a line drive, but it was right at Pena who snagged it and Ganado escaped the inning holding a 5-2 lead.

“I really wasn’t worried (when runners were on base) because I trust my teammates behind me,” Bures continued. “Getting those runs on the board early was a great stress relief on me.

Jordyn Bundick crushed a double in the top of the sixth but was left stranded and the Bulldogs went down in order.

Benavides led off the seventh inning getting drilled in the arm by a pitch. After a pop out, Hajovsky singled and the Maidens looked ready for a big inning, but the Bulldogs turned their second double play of the game and the game went to the bottom of the seventh.

After a strikeout and a fly out, Bures ended the game, and secured the MVP when she struck out the final hitter of the game to keep the state crown in Ganado.

Last year, Ganado defeated Riesel 5-4 to win their first softball State championship.

Torres, a senior, joined Hajovsky with two hits in the championship game.

“It is surreal (to get two hits in the State championship),” Torres said. After being a parttime player as a junior, Torres earned a starting role this year. “It feels great to play a bigger part this year. The nerves were definitely higher than they were last year because I got to do more for the team this year, but it was a great experience.”

Ganado finished the year with a 34-2-1 record, setting a school record for wins and fewest losses in a season. Last year the Maidens went 33-5-1.

She was a really good pitcher, but we’ve faced a lot of really good pitching so we were ready for it.

Ganado 5 - Bosqueville 2 Hajovsky 2 hits, 2 RBIs; Torres 2 hits, 1 RBI; Holt 1 hit, 1 steal; Benavides 1 hit; Bundick 1 double; Rhylee Green 1 steal; S. Bures 7 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 0 earned runs, 11 strikeouts.

And she’s only a sophomore, so there’s no telling what she’ll accomplish in her future. “It’s really cool to be a state medalist as a sophomore and the only one for my school,” she said. “Everyone (at UIL) that I talked to there was a junior or a senior, so when I told them I’m a sophomore, their response was, ‘wow!’” In addition to news writing, Abigail also competed in feature writing and headline writing at the state level. Although she wasn’t planning on competing in more than news, her coach Lisa Bullock nudged her over time and convinced her.

UIL

“I competed up to Regionals in news writing last year, and I’d say it’s definitely my best event,” she commented.

“I fell in love with news because it’s black and white, but it still allows you to be creative, and news is a little bit of both. The facts are black and white, but you get to be creative on how you integrate the quotes and twist the story.”

Bullock shared her thoughts on Abigail’s work and her progress in such a short time.

“It’s exciting to think about the future of journalism when I read her stories. She examines all elements of a story with an inquisitive, insightful and balanced approach,” the coach said. “You can just see the way her mind quickly processes the story, finds the most important information and expertly pieces together the facts and details with seamless transitions and effective quotes.”

Abigail prepared for the competition by doing tons of practice prompts Bullock had collected over the years—a file cabinet filled to the brim with practice prompts.

She also wrote sports articles about the Cobra football games for the Jackson County Herald- Tribune in 2025.

Not to mention, even though Bullock already left for another teaching position in Victoria, she still coached Abigail over the phone and email, giving her tips and answering her questions.

“(Bullock) She’s an amazing coach, I couldn’t have done it without her. I’ve also learned so much from my teammates this year and last year, especially Whitney Kurtz and Kaylee Cooper,” Abigail said. “They’ve both been state medalists in the past, and they were right there with answers, tips and pointers, even though it meant me being in competition with them. They were always cheering me on even if that meant me doing better than them.”

It appears that Kurtz and Cooper’s behavior influenced Abigail and the way she works with others on the Cobra journalism team. Bullock spoke about the way she would assist anyone without hesitation.

“She’s a team player— not in it for herself.

I could always count on her to check in with other journalists and keep them up-to-date with topics, stories, contests and practice details.”

Abigail’s state prompt was about a school security system which had been under false alarm lockdowns 11 times in a semester, due to the teachers’ buttons being extra-sensitive, therefore wasting lots of class time. Abigail’s approach was to look for the most current information first, which was that the police department held a safety meeting with the staff.

“From there it was the transition/quote formula like it always is,” she said.

The competitors had a time limit of 45 minutes, and Abigail would try and leave five minutes free to edit and check for misspellings, grammar and flow. One could either choose to write on notebook paper or use a laptop.

By the end of the state competition, Abigail learned of what she earned.

“I was honestly shocked. The whole goal was just making it to state, so to medal as a sophomore was amazing.”

Abigail is the daughter of Aaron and Jill Phillips. In addition to her UIL involvement, she is a member of the cross-country team, varsity cheer, Student Council, National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Students, 4-H, and was named Duchess on the Queen Victoria Court several months ago in February.

For some, he was their school counselor. For others he was a teacher.

Some knew him as a songwriter, friend, bandmate, mentor, rancher, husband of 53 years, dad, or one of a dozen other things Motley was, and did, in his 78 years.

On May 17, Jack drew his last breath, surrounded by loved ones, and for many in Jackson County, his passing felt like the end of an era.

Social media exploded with tributes and anecdotes as the community reacted to his passing. People shared memories, lessons, and favorite moments with Motley.

“In a part of my life that was arguably one of its lowest points at the time - he showed up, festooned in tie-dye, beads, glow sticks and feathers,” said David King on Facebook.

Motley was heavily involved in the local music scene and, along with the Texana Arts Council, organized a monthly “creative circle” that allowed artists - mostly musicians, but all art was welcome - to share their creations with spectators and other artists.

“Jack created a space where people felt seen, valued, and inspired” read a statement from the Texana Arts Council. “Jack lived a life filled with love, creativity, and community, and his impact will continue to be felt for years to come.”

Motley was known for taking people under his wing and helping them through hard times, encouraging them to reach their goals, or get over a hump they couldn’t seem to scale by themselves.

“My happiest, angriest, saddest moments were with this unique, wonderful man,” said Jack’s friend and bandmate John Garza.

The Shack, a venue Motley played regularly, called Jack “a great and unique guy whose gift of songwriting was unmatched.”

Jack’s family plans to have a celebration of his life in July. Meanwhile, part of Motley lives on in his music, and in his legacy of leaving people better than he found them.

“Right then and there, I thought, ‘well, here we go,’ and Aunt Susi’s Schoolhouse was born from there,” she said.

266 kiddlets, 40 years later and a couple of Fridays ago, Aunt Susi held her last program, where hundreds of her ‘kiddlets’ showed up to celebrate their time there. Kiddlets are what she called the children, the mothers her crew, and the fathers her gentle giants.

In the schoolhouse, Susi had poster boards with every year listed and the students she taught, plus photo albums full of pictures over the years.

“When they told me they couldn’t remember what they were wearing during their program, I told them to go find their name, follow the year, find your album and your pictures are in there. They were so happy,” Grissom said.

Aunt Susi’s Schoolhouse students learned so much: from letters, numbers, animals, colors and shapes, to presidents and naming states. They learned manners, responsibilities, and accountability. They read a whole lot, danced and sang together, went for walks, picked up trash, and checked manholes with a ruler to see how much rain was collected.

In a way, Aunt Susi not only taught the kiddlets, but the parents as well.

“My goal was to teach kids things they should know, but they don’t.

I got them Hooked on Phonics, and they themselves will tell you, ‘phonics is the key,’” Grissom said. “The teachers I know want all their kids to go here because they’ll be that much more prepared.”

Grissom said her favorite part of the day was when her kiddlets walked through the door. When asked if saying goodbye was the hardest part of it all, she said no.

“The thing is, when I said goodbye, I knew they were ready to move on to the next level.

Watching them become independent is what I want, when they know how to tie their shoes, clean up after themselves,” she said.

Programs like Sesame Street, Babes in Toyland, The Roaring 20’s, Jungle Book, Cinderella and many more were remembered during the last program. Over the years she’s painted her own signs, stitched the kiddlets’ costumes by hand, and made them their own report cards.

At every program she wrote a paragraph about each child and shared with everyone.

Grissom is retiring to spend more time with her husband, Kelly, because he lives in a nursing home. Every day after work Grissom visited his nursing home to help him with dinner.

Legend

She’s also been developing relationships with other people who don’t have family nearby.

“We met out of high school and then he went to Vietnam in the Air Force. He sent a tape home and asked my daddy if he could marry me, so we courted through love letters throughout the year,” she reminisced. “God brought him home to me, and when the people at the airport learned he was coming home from Vietnam, they cleared a way for him.”

The couple has been married 56 years, raised three children, and enjoy a handful of grandchildren.

Grissom shared one of her many memories about her kiddlets.

“I heard a knock on my door and it was one of kiddlets grown up. I asked how he was doing and he said he was fine and wanted to sit in his chair one more time.

So I said come on, let’s go. While he was sitting there he looked up at me and said he was going to Afghanistan,” she said.

“So I told him to be watching for boxes, so we sent him goodies on the holidays.”

And in case you’re wondering, the kiddlet did come back home.

The reason why you’re reading about it now is because he hosted the blood drive at the St. Agnes Catholic Church in memory of his father, Adam Garcia.

Mason didn’t want to build anything for his Eagle Scout project, although through FFA he built and entered end tables at the Jackson County Youth Fair. His Scoutmaster, William Reeves, gave him some ideas and a blood drive was in the list.

“At first I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but after a lot of praying and thinking I made up my mind,” Mason said. “So when this came together, I definitely wanted to do this in memory of my dad, so the meaning became a whole lot more to me.”

Delia, Mason’s mother, shared with him that blood drives were done for his father while he was still alive, so he contacted MD Anderson in Houston.

“He spoke after mass at church to invite the congregation to donate blood,” she said. “32 signed up, but we’re expecting walk-ins, too.”

Mason spoke about what he thought his dad would think about what he was doing.

“My dad was so proud of everything I did, so I know he would be with this, too. A time came where I didn’t want to continue in the Boy Scouts, but my mom and I talked about it and she helped me to see that my dad would’ve wanted for me to see this through,” he said. “And I’m glad I did. All the planning and the hard work, I see the payoff, and I’ll know I will feel so much joy and pride when it’s finished.”

Reeves said Mason to be smart, a good kid who pays attention to everything around him.

Mason is also very involved with St. Agnes by helping with fundraisers and volunteering at the Chuckwagon during the fair.

He is the son of Adam Garcia, Delia and Clay Tomanek, and plans to earn his electrician degree at Victoria Community College.

“Although camping and volunteering is the fun stuff, the Boy Scouts has prepared me in a way I didn’t think I needed to be prepared for,” Mason said. “It helped me with a lot of life skills, and the family life that surrounds us in the Boy Scouts is so supportive.”

“It was very nerve-wracking to go up there, I expected others to be up there with me, so it surprised me,” she said.

A Man’s World is a sculpture, painted with acrylics, of a woman’s face and part of her shoulder coming out of the ground, and a number of hands were grabbing her face and shoulder, appearing to pull her back down.

The sophomore said her inspiration came from a combination of looking at how things are and how they used to be.

“It was a work of trial and error,” Brooklyn said. “I think I did the face about three times to get the eyes and the face shape right.”

Both Brooklyn and her art teacher Jessica Woodring agreed it took Brooklyn several months to complete A Man’s World.

“Brooklyn has a phenomenal work ethic, she stays ahead of me,” Woodring said. “I never have to give her assignments, she’s already got two or three going on simultaneously.”

Brooklyn is the daughter of Candice and Scott Rozner. This is her second time attending state, the first being marching band.

This is Woodring’s second year at Industrial as their art teacher, and said going back to state is what her and students are striving for, with Brooklyn as one of the leaders, being that in addition to art, she attends an art lab as a class during the day.

“Brooklyn’s growing into a leader by setting a great example, plus she’s kind and a good listener,” she said. “Other students ask her questions about technique and building, and she helps them with that.”

Bauner Inc. is a manufacturing company from the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Joining a delegation from Kazakhstan and Washington, was Edna City Manager Gary Broz, Victoria Economic Development Corp.

Regional Partnership President Jonas Titus, CEcD, and Operations Director Diane Drussell.

The project will localize production of premium aluminum extrusion profiles and architectural façade systems to better serve the growing U.S. construction market while ensuring full compliance with U.S. standards and regulatory requirements.

“Bauner selected Edna for its strong community character and pro-business environment,” Broz said. “It’s a great-sized business for us, and this was a truly great day for our city.”

According to its website, Bauner was founded five years ago with the ambitious goal of reforming the construction industry through innovations in facade technologies. Over these years, Bauner has evolved into one of the market leaders in the segment of ventilated facade systems, offering products that combine aesthetics, durability, and environmental friendliness.

“The company is owned by a sister and two brothers,” Broz said. “She fell in love with Edna and the facility was purchased. I’ve been told they will not use the silos, but it’s not official, but they will be using the two warehouses.”

The Edna facility will enable Bauner to reduce lead times, improve order fulfillment, and strengthen service capabilities nationwide as part of its long-term North American expansion strategy. By integrating efficient production processes, the company aims to deliver consistent, high-quality products while fostering partnerships with U.S. developers and contractors and contributing to regional economic growth and job creation.

The facility is expected to employ around 10 to 15 workers once it is operational.

“Edna is a great place to invest,” Titas said. “The VEDC Regional Partnership continues to work to promote opportunities to invest in Edna. This is a great partnership and one that we are very proud of.”

Broz said next steps will be getting more communication time with the Bauner leaders.

To learn more about Bauner Inc., visit their website at https://en. bauner.kz/.

Ganado’s 2026 prom king and queen are Sergio Corona and Josselyn Sanchez.

One person was declared dead at the scene and two others were transported to area hospitals for burn treatment.

One member of the four-man crew was not on site at the time of the incident.

Jackson County Sheriff Rick Boone said that the Railroad Commission and National Transportation Safety Board are also investigating the incident.

While the names of the victims have not been released, Sheriff Boone said the crew was from outside of Jackson County and not local residents.

This is Sarah Mercer Bradley’s fifth year as Edna’s UIL academic coordinator, and also teaches forensic science and dual credit psychology. She is the coordinator and the glue of the team, not to mention the coaches as well.

“Six years ago we were in eighth place, fifth place, third place, and then we were second place three years in a row,” she explained. “So when the year started the kids felt like it was their year, and they believed they had their name attached to that district title. We increased our points exponentially and had 12 individual district championships and six different teams.”

And their faith honored them: Bradley said they knew it was possible and waited until the end of the ceremony because they wanted to receive the plaque.

Upon winning, everyone wanted to hold it, take pictures with it, and they all intend to sign their names on the back of the plaque.

Preparation for a win like this has been years in the making for Edna, and it starts as early as elementary school.

Brandie Roe, Assistant Superintendent, said they’ve been focused on this win for years.

“We started with them young, in elementary and junior high, and made sure the coaches were invested in it as well,” she said. “Sarah is outstanding at making sure the coaches and teams had what we needed before competitions.”

Bradley nodded. “In years past we’ve had the kids, but they hadn’t bought in yet, and we didn’t have the coaches.

So these kids are going down in history for unseating the top spot in the UIL Academic Meet.”

The students who moved up to Regionals will compete this weekend in New Braunfels, and Bradley said this is the first year they have the highest number of people attending: 24 students. The state competition will be held during the last week of school.

“It goes all the way down to elementary, the numbers were bigger as well,” Bradley said.

“We had 100 elementary students competing this year.”

Another thing the coaches focused on was the alternates, and reminding them not to give up, due to a good number of seniors leaving. Then the teams wouldn’t start from scratch. Something else Bradley focused on was the top 10 in the class: in years past the smartest kids in the class weren’t on teams, so a little nudge in their direction and they felt confident enough to join a team or two.

“Looking to the next year we told the younger ones, ‘you are going to be the leaders next year,’ and we have a great underclassmen group ready to take over,” Bradley said.

“And we’re going to be in a new district next year so we’re trying to be prepared for that and find out where our competition is.”

The students practiced in the morning, after school, had some practice time during the day, and they put in a ton of work at home. Bradley said she even had students come to her for more practice tests.

“Our goal in not to be a one-and-done, so we’re ready to see what the new district will bring,” Bradley said.

Roe said Bradley is a huge piece to the win. “Plus the kids—I can’t say enough about them—and to see their faces when our name was announced was priceless. We are an academic school and we can win an academic meet, we’ve proven that now.”

For 23 years Industrial ISD has held first place, and sat in second place this year with 398 points. Edna finished with 592 points.

Coaches: Mary Williams, Anthony Norman, Sarah Mercer Bradley, Robin Hicks, Kensey Allen, Mark Ruiz, Michael Schrader, Rebecca Stedje, Robin Palacios, April Wittnebert, Elyse Bauerle, Betsy Thompson, Kenneth Osore, Dustin Lampen, Aldric Edwards, Irma Gomez, Shannon Beaird, Matthew Beaird.

UIL Categories: Ready Writing, Number Sense, Prose, Poetry, Copy Editing, Current Events and Issues, Calculator Applications, Informative Speaking, Persuasive Speaking, Accounting, Spelling and Vocabulary, News Writing, Science, Feature Writing, Social Studies, Editorial Writing, Mathematics, Headline Writing, Literary Criticism, Lincoln- Douglas Debate, Computer Science, CX Debate, Barbara Jordan Essay, Theatrical Design, Congressional Debate, One Act Play Cast and Crew.