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(Hornets and Eagles battled for bragging rights Friday. Pictures on page 8. )
Volume 117 Number 48 - USPS 225-680
Community Events Calendar
Serving all of Prairie County, Arkansas
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Prairie County Democrats hear from gubinatorial candidate Jared Henderson
Thursday October 11 Hazen Lodge Meeting Lodge Hall 7:30pm De Valls Bluff City Council Meeting City Hall 6:00pm GFWC Elsie McCain Club Meeting 6:00pm Murry’s Restaurant Hazen Hazen Junior Hornets VS Clarendon Lions Lion Field 7:00pm Des Arc Junior Eagles VS Brinkley Brinkley Field 7:00pm Friday October 12 Hazen Senior Hornets VS Clarendon Lions 2018 Homecoming Hornet Field 7:00pm Des Arc Senior Eagles VS Brinkley 2018 Homecoming Eagle Field 7:00pm
Jared Henderson, the Democratic candidate for Governor met with voters at an event in Des Arc on Tuesday, October 2. The meet and greet was held at Dondie’s Restaurant. Henderson introduced himself and gave those attending a glimpse of his background as a candidate. He is a product of the Arkansas public schools system, and graduated from the University of Arkansas, summa cum laude, with bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Physics. Henderson later attended Harvard Business School where he earned a master's in Business Administration. He simultaneously studied under full scholarship at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government where he earned a second
master’s degree in Public Administration. In 2001 and 2002, Jared worked as a research scientist and operations manager at NASA. After his stint at NASA, he joined the business strategy firm, McKinsey & Company. He was the first person ever to be offered a job at McKinsey while still a student at the University of Arkansas. At McKinsey, he worked alongside Fortune 500 executives in multiple industries, a state superintendent of education, and supported mayors of two of America’s largest cities. For the last six years, Henderson has focused on public education. As an executive director and senior vice president of a national non-profit, Jared had responsibility for
The Hazen School District’s annual Report to the Public was the top of the agenda at the regular Hazen School Board meeting held on Monday, September 24 in the Hazen High School
Library. Present at the meeting were Board President David Strohl; board members Davy Williams, Darlene Connors, Freddie Rogers, Richie Ingle, Sandra Penn; and Superintendent
Wednesday October 17 Friendship Luncheon DVB Methodist Church 11:30am-2:00pm
Hazen Chamber of Commerce and the
Please call F&M Bank (255-3042) or The Grand Prairie Herald (255-4538) to list events.
ical practice. They have a baby boy, Duke. Henderson explained why he was in the race for governor. He stated that he would address many of the issues facing our state. Henderson thinks the state is not moving in the right direction regarding the tax policies that
are skewed toward the wealthiest instead of working class Arkansans. He has offered a plan to move the pay scale for Arkansas’ teachers to number one in the nation. He also addressed the need to improve transportation infrastructure.
Henderson addresses the group.
Hazen School Board hears Report to the Public
Monday October 15 First United Methodist Church Blood Drive 3:00pm- 6:00pm
Community events brought to you by
more than 1,500 teachers and 150 employees. He told the group that he believes that all students can learn and achieve if provided with equitable opportunities – and that great educators should be considered among the most important and talented professionals in the country. For two years, Henderson was the managing director of ForwARd Arkansas, working alongside dozens of Arkansans to develop a statewide vision for the future of public education. The vision, with the support of more than 90 recommendations was approved unanimously by the State Board of Education in 2015. Henderson and his wife, Dr. Melanie Prince, live in Little Rock where they own and operate a med-
The Student Councils from Des Arc High School and Hazen High School started a friendly competition in the fall of 2012 to raise food for the Prairie County food pantry. The Hazen Student Council purchased a plaque that would travel to the school that raised the most food each year. The winner of the 2018 Hornet vs. Eagle Pantry Pile-Up is the Des Arc Eagles with 25,800 items!!! Hazen’s total was 3716 for a total of 29,516. Congratulations Eagles on your win. However, the true winners are the families that are in need of food during this holiday season. The Student Councils at each school would like to thank everyone for bringing food. Congratulations to the student bodies of Hazen and Des Arc. You did a great job. Prairie County has some of the best kids in the state! Christin Young, a member of the Hazen High School Student Council, presented the plaque for the 2018 Food Pantry Pileup. (Photo by Ruth Corley.)
Bill Crowder. Crowder reported that the district’s enrollment has declined to 587 students, and the free and reduced meal status among those students has increased to 71 percent. The number of special education students makes up 15 percent of student population in the district. The district employs 94 people with 36 certified and 14 classified staff members in the elementary school, 14 certified and 8 classified members in the high school, and one certified and 14 classified district staff members. The elementary and high schools have one teacher in each who is
working on a waiver pending certification. Both buildings are accredited. Crowder reported that students showed reading growth from September to May on the new Isatation test given to the students in kindergarten through second grade.The student scores on the ACT Aspire exam (given to all students in grades 3 through 10) showed the students in grades 3 through 10 exceeding the state in the percentage of proficient students in English in grades 3, 4, and 5, but falling short of the state mark in the other grades. The Aspire reading scores in the dis-
trict only exceeded the state average in grade 4 last year. The Aspire math scores showed grades 5 and 8 in the elementary school and grades 9 and 10 in the high school above the state percentage for proficient, and the Aspire science scores were above the state percentage in grade 4 with grade 5 tying the state score. “The 6th and 7th grades were low across the board,” Crowder said. The ACT scores for the high school were one bright spot, with the students beating the state average in all areas except English.
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