Dedicated band parents followed their musicians as they racked up the mileage on the family wagon to destinations such as Cody, Sheridan, Rock Springs and Cheyenne this summer as part of the Wyoming State Marching Band and their part in this year’s Rose Bowl parade.

According to SVHS Band and Choir Director, Kurt Sand, Dave Bellis of Worland is primarily responsible for the Wyoming High School All-State Marching Band which has been put together since 1991.  During that period of time, the group has performed in locations such as Washington D.C., Dublin, Ireland, Ediburgh Scotland, the Rose Bowl Parade.  The next trip is Bejing, China

Sand believes that the Star Valley musicians that attend make for a nice addition to the school’s classes.

“The kids that go to the All-State Marching Band experience, come back and are leaders in our program,” he said.  “They gain tremendous confidence and know how satisfying it can be to be part of an elite group that works really hard and performs really well.  They come back and make our program stronger.  In terms of student leadership and ability, they are leaders.”

This year, ten high school students and one middle school student will be part of the 2010 Rose Bowl edition.  The Rose Bowl annually pits teams from the Big Ten and PAC-10 conference as their first preference.

In other news in the music program, Sand stated that the SVHS marching band completed their camp approximately two weeks ago.  This year, the marching band will be performing the music written and performed by the group, Journey.

He also stated that pep band and marching band will perform throughout the fall with the choirs and jazz band performing later in the semester.  Sand will be handling all four choirs and all four bands this year and plans on some subtle changes.

“We’ll be tackling some music fundamentals in our choir program,” he stated. “ A process called Solfege which is learning a little more about music in terms of theory and sight singing.  Each note is sung to a specific syllable or the do, re, mi method.  I’ve visited with several other directors around the state and those who use this system have very successful choirs.  We have a great choir and I believe this will help us.  I believe it will improve our musicianship in our choir.”

In terms of encouraging students who are not involved with the program, Sand feels it benefits anyone at the secondary level.

“Make music part of your child’s high school experience,” he concluded.  We have a fine music program.  I hope people will support our fall musical as well which is “Bye, Bye Birdy”.  Auditions for that production will take place the first week of school with the performance taking place in November.”

School Board
There are three seats on the school board that are up for election in 2010.

The Area 2 seat, which is made up primarily of Fairview, Auburn, Grover and borders parts of Bedford, Thayne and Afton will be up for election.

Area 2 candidates for School Board include Alan Linford from Afton.

The Area 5 seat, which is made up of all areas north of Star Valley Ranch and Freedom is up for election.

Area 5 candidates for School Board include Donna Ivie of Etna and Tyler Brog of Freedom.

The third opening on the Lincoln County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees is an  at-large seat. Any individual that resides within the boundaries of Lincoln County School District No. 2 is eligible to run for the at-large position.

Candidates who have filed to run for the at large seat include John Wolfley of Etna, Stewart Petersen of Cokeville and Dave Johnson of Thayne.

Each Trustee term is four years.

Hospital Board
There are four seats on the hospital board that are up for election in 2010. Seven candidates have filed to run for positions on the board. Each seat is a four-year term.

Candidates do not have to live in specific areas within the North Lincoln County Hospital District to serve on the hospital board.

The list of 2010 candidates for the North Lincoln County Hospital Districe Board of Trustees is as follows: Ann Maki of Alpine; Marlowe Scherbel of Afton; Megan O’Rourke of Star Valley Ranch; Ed Bruce of Afton; Robert Hunsaker of Afton; Gerald Roberts of Thayne; and Kurt Garrard of Fairview.

“Youth in Star Valley will once again have the opportunity to compete in two VFW scholarship contests,” said VFW Post 4797 Commander Chuck Sutter.

The Patriot’s Pen is an essay competition open to students in the sixth through eighth grades. The essay is between 300-400 words expressing the writer’s views on an overall theme. The 2010 Patriot’s Pen Theme is “Does Patriotism Still Matter?”

“The top 54 students will compete for savings bonds totaling $91,000 with the first place winner receiving $10,000 and an all expense paid trip to Washington, D.C.,” said Sutter.

The Voice of Democracy is an essay competition open to students in the ninth through 12th grades.

“The Voice of Democracy Program has participants record an audio essay to submit to be judged and the theme for this year is ‘Does my Generation Have a Role in America’s Future?,’” said Sutter.

The top winner in the Voice of Democracy will receive a $30,000 scholarship. The 54 finalists in the competition will be awarded $151,000 in national scholarships.

For more information on the Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen programs, contact Chuck or Cheryl Sutter at 883-4312.

School Board
Filing forms for positions on the school board will be available at from the school district office, the Lincoln County Clerk or online at   lcsd2.org/administration during the candidate filing period.

There are three seats on the school board that are up for election in 2010.

The Area 2 seat, which is made up primarily of Fairview, Auburn, Grover and borders parts of Bedford, Thayne and Afton will be up for election. The seat is currently held by Alan Linford.

The Area 5 seat, which is made up of all areas north of Star Valley Ranch and Freedom is up for election. That seat is currently held by Donna Ivie.

Candidates running for a specific area seat must live within the boundaries of that area.

The third opening on the Lincoln County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees is an  at-large seat. Any individual that resides within the boundaries of Lincoln County School District No. 2 is eligible to run for the at-large position.   Randy Thompson currently holds the at-large seat on the board.

A detailed map, showing the areas can be found by going to www.lcsd2.org or by calling the District Office at 885-3811.

Each Trustee term is four years.

Hospital Board
Filing forms for positions on the hospital board will be available at the Star Valley Medical Center Administration Office.

There are four seats on the hospital board that are up for election in 2010. Each seat is a four-year term.
Seats on the hospital board that are up for election in 2010 include two Afton area seats. The seats are currently held by Jerry Hansen and Rod Jensen.

A Bedford/Etna area seat is up for election. The seat is currently held by Drew Izatt.

An Alpine area seat is also up for election in 2010. That seat is currently held by Ann Maki.

According to Pam Clement, administrative assistance at the Star Valley Medical Center, candidates do not have to live in specific areas within the North Lincoln County Hospital District to serve on the hospital board.

Filing forms for the hospital board can be turned in to the administration office at the hospital during regular business hours until 5 p.m. on Aug. 23.

The Spotted Knapweed may look pretty with a vibrant purple color, but it is a bane of nature with the ability to affect several different ecosystems with just a single plant.

“The largest negative that the weed can have is it’s ability to take over large patches of ground and squeeze out the useful growth stated Lauri Coates, Public Relations with the Lincoln County Weed & Pest.  “It releases a toxin that affects the plant growth in the area.  The elk winter range may be reduced by up to 90 percent because it chokes out the natural and native grasses.  It increases surface runoff and stream sediment and it also eliminates ground nesting bird habitat.”

According to Coates, there are large concentrations of the plant in an around Alpine but the plant is making its way south towards Thayne and Afton.

The Spotted Knapweed is already causing this list of problems in the Greys River area.

Referred to as this generation’s Leafy Spurge, the knapweed responds best to chemicals rather than digging.

“The county is providing the cost of the herbicide at a 100 percent discount to combat the problem,” Coates added.  “There is also a limited number of backpacks and ATV sprayers that we will lend out for the control of this weed.”

In addition to it’s aggressive nature, the Spotted Knapweed is also very prolific.

According to the Weed & Pest, a single plant can disperse up to 25,000 seeds among wind, animals and people.  Incredibly, these seeds can be viable for up to eight years.

Coates and the LCW&P encourage valley residents to come and get the herbicide so that the office can verify that it is indeed the correct plant and enter the location within their database.

Statewide, Wyoming improved to 79 percent, a five percent increase from the year before of 74 percent.
Some other districts in the West also did well with the newest numbers.  Cody increased from 89 percent to 92 percent while Jackson moved from 87 percent to 91 percent.  Other schools were not as fortunate.  Pinedale decreased from 93 percent to 85 percent while Evanston also saw a slight decrease.

Some of the numbers are skewed as they count enrolling freshmen and then count that student for that school even if they move and never enroll at a new school.

Although there is some question as to how actual percentage is calculated and that there are some loopholes that at times drag down overall progress, the district is pleased with the progress that they are seeing.

“Of course those numbers are always a year behind so  a lot of times the things that you put into action don’t have results for some time,” stated LCSD #2 Director of Instruction Mark Taylor.  “One of the things that we’ve really tried to do is the Freshman House at Star Valley High School. To try keep every single freshman  and get them  to buy into the school and be a part of the school so SVHS deserves a lot of credit for that for what they’ve done with Freshman House.”

Taylor firmly believes that the number of 87 percent is too low.

“We truly believe that it is higher than that as there are some irregularities with the formula,” he said.  “We don’t believe 13 percent of our kids are not graduating but that’s what the numbers will say.”

Regardless of formulas and calculations Taylor also believes things are going in the right direction.

“The state average is going up and our personal average is going up,” he added.  “The next year will reflect two years of freshman house at Star Valley High School.  We like to think that the transition from middle school to high school, which is a tough time, we think the teachers are doing a great job there and I feel real good about our awareness of those students and how we are keeping them engaged in the school.  I think there’s a greater awareness in our school district to try not to miss anyone.”

But, beyond the technicalities Taylor also believes that there is work to do.

“That 87 percent is not high enough,” he replied.  If we have one kid slipping through the cracks then we still have work to do.”

The age groups that are invited to attend are those who will be attending fourth through eighth grades this fall.  On each day of the camp the schedule will be broken up into two sections.  4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. will be for fourth, fifth and sixth graders.  5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. will be for seventh and eighth graders.

The cost for the skills camp is $30 which will include a t-shirt.

To sign up for the camp or for more information, contact Howell at 885-7847 or  (435) 764-2494

The event will take place at the Afton City Hall, starting at 7 p.m. The community is invited to attend.

“Marta Heap and Dan Dockstader will present a program on their recent humanitarian visit to Mongolia,” said Jermy Wight of the historical society. “Representing the Rotary Club they carried needed supplies and equipment to hospitals and medical clinics in this far away Asian country.”
The presentation is part of the Star Valley Historical Society’s ongoing community discussion series.

At times the media pundits delight in speaking of the troubles of public education in America.  Low test scores, general misbehavior and the inability to find Pakistan on a map.   In Wyoming and Star Valley we know better and if you’re going to have a map test for SVMS student, Zachary Dubisz, you’d better be prepared to ask him some tough questions.

Dubisz recently won the statewide geography bee, earning a $10,000 scholarship, a $100 cash prize, and an all expenses paid trip to our nation’s capitol to compete against other winners from around the United States.

The national competition will take place May 25-26, Where all 50 states and Puerto Rico will have their own respective winner to compete for an additional $25,000 prize.

“Every school in Wyoming has a geography bee and they select a  winner,” stated SVMS Social Studies teacher Joe Hale.  “Then there is the state competition which pits the winners of each school and that’s done all across the United States.   Every state is responsible for getting the best student geographer and for Wyoming that’s Zach.”

Hale, who taught Dubisz in seventh grade, will join Zachary and his mother Amy on the trip to Washington D.C. where the young Star Valley scholar will have a chance to build on his education fund even more.

“He’s just a great kid,” concluded Hale.  “He studies hard and really takes his schooling seriously.  He’s very dedicated;  I expect him to do very well.”

The Independent congratulates the Dubisz family on this honor and wishes them the best of luck next month at the national competition.

Saras was approved by the board at their monthly meeting on Thursday evening after his name was submitted at the conclusion of the interview process.

Saras is no stranger to the  hardwood as he has served as the head basketball coach at various locales around the state of Idaho.  That experience includes head coaching positions at Mountain View, Caldwell, Shelley, Ririe, Skyline and Valley View high schools in the Gem State.  Currently Saras is serving on the staff as the sophomore coach at Centennial High School in Boise, Idaho.

With a coaching career that spans the aforementioned schools and with more than 280 varsity coaching wins to his credit dating back to 1982, Saras will take over a program that is anxious to build success at Wyoming’s 4A Classification.

“First of all, he’s a highly recommended classroom teacher,” stated SVHS Activities Director Homer Bennett.  “That was our first priority.  Secondly, he’s a veteran coach who has addressed a multitude of challenges in his career.  I also believe he will be an excellent mentor to our younger coaches and they will benefit from his experience.”

Saras has stated his desire to begin working with the Braves in terms of summer camps and implementing his philosophy as soon as the situation allows.

“One of the expectations will be working with the Braves this summer and learning his system,” added Bennett.  “I was really concerned that there might be a gap.  We wanted them [players] to have as much continuity as they can.  They came from some very good coaching under Mark Taylor and they will have some very good coaching from Coach Saras.”

Saras was gracious enough to give a moment of his time late Thursday evening

“I’m excited, I wish I could get it started tomorrow,” he replied.  I”m excited to meet the kids and the community and the townspeople.  I’m hoping to get into town for a couple of days soon so we can get a staff together  and get to meet some folks and get the summer stuff going.   More than anything I’d like to get with the kids and see where they want to go and what they want to do so we know where things are going.”

Look for a full interview with newly minted SVHS basketball coach, Tony Saras, in the April 22, 2010 edition of the Star Valley Independent.