Morgan Wheatly

Hedley ISD trustees named Colby Waldrop as their lone finalist in their search for a new school superintendent last Thursday, April 2, during a called board meeting.

Interim Superintendent Bill Wood said the board was unanimous in its selection of Waldrop after considering four applications and interviewing two candidates.

Under state law, HISD must now wait 21 days before formally hiring Waldrop. That action is expected to take place at the board’s regular meeting on April 23, Wood said.

Waldrop, who is the current principal of Jayton-Girard ISD, is no stranger to Donley County, having taught at coached at Clarendon High School from 2006 to 2008. He also attended and played basketball for Clarendon College, and his parents live in Clarendon.

The incoming superintendent says his family is looking forward to returning to Donley County.

“We’re real excited,” Waldrop said. “We’re glad to be getting back near family. It’s something we’ve been looking forward to.”

Waldrop is in his 20th year in education and his third year in administration. He first spent three years at Nazareth ISD and later taught and coached in Lubbock, Ackerly, and Claude before taking the position at Jayton-Girard.

Waldrop and his wife, Crystal, are both Texas Tech University alumni and have been married for 14 years. They have an 11-year-old son, Grayson, and an eight-year-old daughter, Kennady.

Waldrop said his official start date in Hedley won’t be set until after the April 23 meeting, but he expects to be working part time at HISD starting in May and then full time in June.

 

Runners and walkers will gather on the Clarendon College campus this Saturday, April 11, to raise awareness about child abuse during the third annual Chance Mark Jones Roar ‘N Run 5K.

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 135 people had registered for the event, which is hosted each year by the Clarendon Lions Club and coincides with Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Sign-ins start at 8 a.m. at the Bairfield Activity Center. The 9 a.m. race will start and end at the Bulldog Gym and through the city; in front of the First Baptist Church; down Fifth Street along Clarendon Junior High; past several historic structures, including the S.W. Lowe House, the First United Methodist Church, and the Donley County Courthouse; around Prospect Park – the site of the Chance Mark Jones Memorial Playground, and then back up through the southwest part of the city to the college.

Race packets and race route maps will be available for pick-up all day this Friday, April 10, at the Clarendon Visitor Center inside the Mulkey Theatre.

Proceeds from the race will benefit the charitable community activities of the Clarendon Lions Club, including eyeglasses for underprivileged students, Chrsitmas baskets for local families, local scholarships, continued park improvements, contributions to other local charities, and hosting of the local office of The Bridge – Children’s Advocacy Center inside the Lions Hall.

The annual Roar ‘N Run 5K honors the life of four-year-old Chance Mark Jones, who died from abuse in 2011.

For more information about this weekend’s Chance Mark Jones Memorial 5K, contact Lion Ashlee Estlack at ashlee.estlack@clarendoncollege.edu or 806-874-4808 or 806-662-4687 or Lion Roger Estlack at tourism@cityofclarendon.com or 806-874-2421.

 

Clarendon College is changing the way development education is taught and putting students on a fast track to success, and now the word is spreading among academic circles.

Last fall, CC undertook a new math pilot program where students needing developmental education were enrolled directly into college level courses paired with a supplemental lab, rather than the typical one- to three-semester route of taking developmental level courses and labs and then the college level course afterwards.

This shortened path has proven to increase the percentage of entering developmental students that successfully complete a college-level course and has cut the time to complete that college-level course by up to three semesters. Additionally, this has resulted in a significant tuition savings to students and a greater overall chance of graduating from college.

CC President Robert Riza said the pilot program was an idea that made sense when faculty presented it to his office and that it was supported with the resources it needed.

“Obviously, students will rise to the level of expectations held by their faculty members, and this is seen in the results and successful completion rates of this math program,” Dr. Riza said. “This is what happens when motivated faculty find new ways to help students succeed.”

The college faculty responsible for the innovative program will soon be on the road to discuss CC’s groundbreaking work at two national conferences.

Math faculty members and program developers Dr. Jeremy Sain and Linda Rowland, joined by CC Director of Institutional Research Robert Taylor will first attend and present at the 2015 National Benchmarking Conference at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan., May 12-14.

The National Benchmarking Conference attracts a wide range of participants from institutional researchers and executives to national and regional educational policy decision-makers.

Two weeks later, the same group will be in Austin for the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) 2015 International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence, May 23-26, 2015, where Sain and Rowland will be speaking.

NISOD’s International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence attracts educators from around the world and is the definitive gathering of community and technical college faculty, administrators, and staff seeking to engage in deep conversations about best and promising practices designed to improve student achievement.

CC Vice President of Instruction Roger Schustereit said the math pilot program is part of a continuous improvement process.

“Clarendon College is always looking for ways to better serve our students,” Schustereit said. “The math pilot program at Clarendon College was developed by Mrs. Rowland and Dr. Sain. I am proud to work with such teachers dedicated to the well-being of their students.”

Instructor Linda Rowland said CC’s math pilot program is designed to help students accept their responsibility as college students.

“They are responsible for the information they are learning,” Rowland said. “As an instructor, we can teach the concepts and the skills, but if the students are not willing to take the responsibility to learn then they will not learn. Many students right out of high school are led to believe that in college they will receive the same treatment as in high school.”

Rowland said if other colleges adopt CC’s pilot program, it will do away with developmental education on the college level and put the responsibility back where it belongs, which, she says, is on the public school system.

Clarendon College Director of Institutional Research Robert Taylor reports that the numbers are already showing the success of the math department’s approach.

“In Fall 2013 under the previous program, 15 percent of Level 1 and 2 developmental Math students completed a college-level Math course within three semesters, while 20 percent of Level 3 students completed a college-level Math course within two semesters and an additional 10 percent after three semesters,” Taylor said. “This new program resulted in 39 percent of Level 1 students and 55 percent of Level 2 students (46 percent combined), and 62.5 percent of Level 3 students passing a college-level Math course during the student’s first semester.”