MISD to start break Dec. 21
By Sam Waller
Moran Independent School District will close for the holiday break following classes on Wednesday, Dec. 21.
The school district will conduct a staff development day on Monday, Jan. 9 before starting the spring semester on Tuesday, Jan. 10. Classes will be held that Friday, Jan. 13, the last scheduled Friday classes for the school year.
Moran schools will be busy right up to the break, principal Jo Hise said. Two end of course exams were administered this week, while students and staff prepared for holiday programs.
Breakfast With Santa
Moran students will get one more chance to tell Santa their wish list at Breakfast with Santa, scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20 at the Moran cafeteria.
The event is open to the community.
Christmas Program
Moran will hold its Christmas program at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20 at Moran Event Center.
The program will be presented by Pre-K through fifth grade students. Light refreshments will be served.
Angel/Teacher Trees
Moran is conducting its Angel Tree and Teacher Tree programs in December.
Angel Tree serves Pre-K through fifth grade in a manner similar to Believe Tree for Teens conducted by the Albany Ministerial Alliance.
Teacher Tree is geared toward helping faculty members be properly equipped.
Deadline to provide items for the projects is Monday, Dec. 19.
College Visit
On Monday, Jan. 12, Moran superintendent Dr. John Denson and six Moran seniors attended a luncheon at Weatherford College.
Denson said the trip was a reward for passing the meat science certification test last week in the dual-credit animal science class he teaches.
“It’s a pretty hard exam,” he said.
Denson said the luncheon was hosted by Weatherford College’s ex-students association. Denson attended and graduated from the school.
“They had a little music program and fed us,” Denson said. “The kids got to see a little bit of the college. I got to see some of my old teachers and some of the admin that were there when I graduated.”
FFA Recognized
Moran FFA was recognized for finishing fifth in sweepstakes last spring on Monday, Dec. 5 at the Big Country District Banquet at Taylor County Expo Center in Abilene.
“All the students enjoyed attending the banquet, which was a nice way to end the LDE season for 2022,” FFA adviser Minnie Denson said. “Now we’re starting to switch gears to think about the springtime teams and trainings. Everyone is excited to start those.”
Dairy Presentation
On Wednesday, Dec. 7, Moran students were treated to a presentation by Southwest Dairy Farmers of Sulphur Springs.
The program included live milking demonstrations for elementary and secondary groups.
“We broke up the students into groups of Pre-K through sixth grade and seventh through 12th for a high school demonstration,” Minnie Denson said. “Each kid who wanted to ask questions about the dairy industry got to do that. I think everybody had a really good experience.”
And not all the questions were about how to get milk out of a cow.
“When the fellow doing the presentation asked if there were any questions,” John Denson said, “one of my elementary students raised her hand and said, ‘Have you ever had a cow prolapse?’ I was so proud. The guy looked at me like he’d never had that question before, especially from an elementary kid.”
Minnie Denson said the purpose of the program was to expose students to different areas of the agriculture industry.
“The No. 1 dairy county in Texas is still Erath, and that’s just an hour down the road,” she said. “I wanted students to get that exposure to the dairy industry because they drink milk; they eat yogurt and ice cream. They use all these dairy products and they might not even know they’re dairy products.”
Minnie Denson said the program helped show just how integral agriculture is to the general public.
“My main goal was getting these kids to realize these products don’t just come out of thin air,” she said. “They come from a producer, a farmer, and get put together. Whether it’s milk products or clothes, everything revolves around the agriculture industry.”
