VOL. 1 | NO. 1
PROSPERTIMES Friday May 5, 2017 | Prosper, Texas
WeAreProsper.com | $1.00
D r. Bu r d e tt m e e t s p a r e n t s a n d s tu d e n t s He says pep rallies will continue By Joyce Godwin PROSPER TIMES The Prosper High School new principal, Dr. John Burdett, hosted a meet and greet in the school’s cafeteria Monday evening and parents had plenty of questions for him. He showed his lighter, comical side while addressing serious issues. One thing parents and students alike wanted to know — will the pep rallies continue. Burnett was quick to say they will, but they will be different. For one thing, they won’t all be during school. Ten to 15 percent of students have been checking out of school during the pep rallies,” he said. That means there are 10 to 15 percent of students not interested in participating in the pep rallies. It could be that some pep rallies will be held after school. “We don’t know yet how this will change,” he said. “One thing is for sure — I won’t be a part of the pep rallies. That is not me.” That remark brought laughter across the room. Burdett stressed that changes will be made according to what the
students want. One parent asked about parent engagement and how that will continue with the burgeoning school population acknowledging there will be 3,000 students next year in the high school. Burdett pointed to several parent organization and expressed his support for parents’ participation in the school whether it is observing classes or volunteering; parents will always be welcome. “My phone number [direct line] at the school will be published and I will answer it myself so you have a direct line to me,” he said. “You won’t be going through a secretary.” Burdett talked quite a bit about the graduate profile and said a lot of the standards they will hold will line up with the graduate profile. If interested, see the profile on line at http://prosper-isd.net/Domain/827. “Our students work hard, they are nice and good citizens and kind to one another. If they leave that way, we are successful,” he said. See Dr. Burdett | Pg 3
Photo by Joyce Godwin/Prosper Times - Dr. John Burdett speaks to parents gathered Monday night in the Prosper High School cafeteria where they came to meet the new high school principal.
Collin County publishes e l e c t i o n i nf o r m at i o n o n l i n e f o r Ma y 6 r e g u l a r e l e c t i o n By Joyce Godwin PROSPER TIMES There is one contested election in Prosper for May 6. Two places on the Town Council are in expiring terms, but only one race is contested. Councilor Curry Vogelsang represents Place 3 on the council and currently serves as Mayor Pro Tem. He has no opponent. Councilor Michael Davis, Place 5, is also in an expiring term but has chosen not to run. On the ballot for Place 5 are Jeff Hodges and Laura Thomas. The Prosper Independent School District Trustees have expiring terms as well, but no opponents have filed to run in the election so there will be no election for the school district. See Election | pg 3
To w n C o u n c i l h e a r s a s s e s s m e n t summar y on downtown area By Joyce Godwin PROSPER TIMES
The time-tested custom of trying to knock off the reigning champion has reached the It’s Time Texas Community Challenge and Prosper is still the champ for the second consecutive year. A good-natured wager between the mayor of the second place team and the Mayor of the firstplace team meant the mayor of the losing town would have to wear a T-shirt for the winning town. Pictured is Marcus Knight, mayor of the city of Lancaster wearing a Prosper shirt at his council meeting last Monday night.
PHS students lead the community for another Relay for Life event By Renee Marler and Joyce Godwin PROSPER TIMES Relay for Life is more than one event for Prosper High School students who have made the event their own. For several years now, Jan Brown’s leadership class has planned and carried out multiple activities to raise funds for Relay for Life throughout the school year. Students work in teams to conceive the ideas of fundraising events and get the support of PHS Principal Greg Wright. By October 2016, PHS students raised $18,414.57 toward their goal of $50,000. Wright has a personal reason for wanting to help with raising funds for the fight against cancer. His wife was a victim of cancer. She is currently cancer free and they both continue to be involved and help any way possible. Wright said students raised more than $45,000 last year and he is proud of the plaque the school received from the Relay for Life organization acknowledging the donation. The threat of inclement weather Friday night, April 21, did not derail the annual PHS Relay for Life event. Originally planned for the track area, everything was set up inside the arena and went off without a hitch. More than 400 students, parents and community members including cancer survivors and caregivers, purchased the $10 admission bracelet for the grass roots, community-based team event benefitting the American Cancer Society. See RELAY | pg 3
INSIDE PT Community Calendar - pg 2 Drug Takeback - pg 2
In Other Words - pg 3 Bethlehem Place - pg 4 In His Presence - pg 4 In Good Taste - pg 5 Eagle HYPE - pg 6
The Prosper Town Council heard a summary report for Prosper’s Old Town area assessment in its regular business meeting April 25. John Webb, director of development services, explained to the Council that no action would be required during the meeting on Prosper’s Old Town. A public hearing was conducted to share information. Webb said the Town retained the professional services of Kimley Horn to assess the opportunities and constraints of the commercial core of then Old Town area. The goal is to develop a shared vision and create a list of implementation strategies. Webb said he has worked with the Kimley Horn team before and the team has extensive experience recently completing downtown projects in Richardson, Rowlett, Fairview and Bulverde. “Downtown revitalization is never easy,” Webb told the Council. “It happens because the private and public sectors join together to make revitalization happen.” The report presented to the Council included a vision statement, guiding principles, development framework plan, market analysis and possible strategies for implementation. The Old Town Area Assessment Summary Report which was shared with the Council may be seen on line on the Town of Prosper website at www.prospertx.gov. Webb said that most locations don’t get revitalized until someone takes an interest in it and decides to start building it up. “The town is being proactive rather than waiting for someone to take an interest in it,” Webb said. Councilor Curry Vogelsang said the project needs to be economically viable. “We may say we want this but we need to make sure it is practical for Prosper,” he said. Councilor Kenneth Dugger said he doesn’t think people realize how much will have to be built in the downtown area. “We are going to be starting from scratch because we don’t have that many buildings still standing. Also, there is no perimeter access so we probably need to have some destination points mentioned [in the summary]. I think there is a lot we can do and I think we can make it great. I don’t want the main attraction to be our town hall.” In other business, the Council held a discussion on the location of the Lower Pressure Plane Ground Storage Tank and Pump Station before going into closed executive session to discuss and consider economic development incentives and to talk about acquiring property. The next Town Council meeting will be at 6 p.m. May 9 in the Prosper Municipal Chambers.