Albany High School seniors will be very busy during the next two weeks, with several activities planned during the time leading up to graduation.

Pictures should have already been turned in to class parent Tisha Wilkins for the senior slide show, including one baby picture, one elementary or junior high photo, and one senior picture from each senior. 

“If for some reason they have not yet been turned in, they need to be turned in to me as soon as possible,” said Wilkins.

Educators at Albany ISD were provided snacks, meals, and gifts during Teacher Appreciation Week, May 6-10, courtesy of the Albany Parent Teacher Organization, parents of local students, Brookshire’s, and the Albany Masons. 

“I think that it’s important to recognize the work the teachers do all year,” said PTO president Ginny Ivy. “We want to show our appreciation for all that they do for us and the students.”

The PTO arranged for Prairie Star to provide breakfast to school staff members on Tuesday. 

High school graduation is only two weeks away, and seniors and their parents are making plans for the celebration, including the traditional Project Graduation party.

Project Graduation is an all-night drug-free and alcohol-free party following commencement exercises and has been an annual tradition in Albany since 1988.

The project was started by the efforts of the Albany Drug and Alcohol Task Force, and several people, especially Ann Jones, were instrumental in organizing the local event.

Six members of the Albany Volunteer Fire Department spent all of last weekend at the 46th annual Wichita Falls Fire School training in fire fighting, fire company operations, fire hydraulics, search and rescue in a structure fire, ropes and knots, and lpg fires.  

“These men and women were working their tails off to learn and to make themselves better firefighters in order to protect you and yours,” said fire chief Kyle Tischler.

The Old Jail Art Museum won the Mitchell A. Wilder Award for excellence in publication and media design in the Marketing Materials, Supplementary Materials, and Posters category at the 40th annual meeting of the Texas Association of Museums.

OJAC executive director Patrick Kelly was in attendance at the conference, and he accepted the Gold Citation certificate from TAM president Chris Dyer at the awards ceremony on Friday, April 5, in the Philanthropy Theater of El Paso’s historic Plaza Theatre.

Red Steagall will tell viewers about the Fort Griffin Fandangle on the RFD TV show “Red Steagall is Somewhere West of Wall Street” at 8:30 p.m. (Central) on Monday, May 13.

Steagall filmed the segment in Albany at the Old Jail Art Center on Oct. 31.

Parents of students and prospective students at Moran Independent School District have been asked to look over possible changes to the 2019-2020 school year calendar and then fill out an online survey.

Both the calendar and the survey can be accessed from the MISD website home page at www.moran.esc14.net. 

The modified schedule would lengthen the school day to last until 4:00 p.m. each regular day, 22 minutes longer than the current release time of 3:38 p.m. The proposed calendar also includes several scheduled half days with a 12:00 noon release.

Rain gauges across Shackelford County measured well above average rainfall during 2018, and that trend is continuing in 2019. 

Residents reporting totals to the -USDA-Service Center office showed anywhere from 34 inches to over 40 inches of rainfall in various parts of the county during 2018, even though there were several months when less than 25 percent of the expected normal was reported. 

Albany ISD will release at 3:00 p.m. today, May 9, and students have a holiday tomorrow, May 10.

Friday, May 10 is designated as a staff comp day, and it is the last student holiday before the school year ends on May 22.

Teachers will still report for work days on May 23 and 24.

High school commencement will close out the school year and takes place at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, May 24.

In February, the Alzheimer’s Association – North Central Texas Chapter launched meetings for a new caregiver support group in Abilene. 

The Memories Matter group meets the last Thursday of each month from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Lyndale Abilene – Memory Care, located at 6568 Central Park Boulevard. The next meeting is set for May 30.