Never, Never.... Never

GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY WARMER FRIDAY!

Congratulations GHS Choir Student Reagan Menard! Reagan qualified and competed at the Area Choir round of the All-State Choir Contest. He is the first GHS student advance to this level in choir. Excellent job Reagan!

Graham FFA- Congrats on a great showing at the Young County Livestock Show!

• Ag Mechanics
• Grand Champion, Gate Project-Cody Henderson, Dylan Allred, Kody Keeter, Tyler King, Riley Wyatt
• 1st place wooden porch swing-Pavel Banuelos, Tristen Wilson, Blake Mead
• 1st place shop table-Gustavo Ramirez, Aaron Rice, Jose Hernandez
• Sheep Show- 2nd Aaron Rice;
• Rabbit Show- 7th Abby Casbeer
• Steer Show- 1st Bailey Logan, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, Shanna Gleason, 2nd Klayton Read
• Swine Show
• Grand Champion, Champion Duroc, 2nd White OPB, 2nd Cross-Cade Anderson
• Reserve Grand, Champion Hamp, Reserve Cross, 4th Cross-Jordan Crago
• Champion Cross, 1st place-Creed Jordan
• Champion WOPB, 1st place, 4th place Cross-Gustavo Ramirez
• Reserve WOPB, 2nd place-Brailey Brooks
• Reserve Hamp, 1st place-Michael Moore
• Reserve Berk, 1st place-Heather Cash
• Reserve York, 2nd cross, 2nd place showmanship-Tyler Walls
• Kimber Pratt-2nd Berk
• Jackson Osborne-4th Berk
• Keagan Dowdy-2nd Berk, 2nd hamp
• Amanda Richards-2nd hamp, 2nd chester
• Tucker May-3rd chester, 2nd hamp
• Riley Lanham-3rd Duroc, 3rd Chester
• Kaitlyn Slavings-2nd Duroc
• Mathew Baxter-7th Duroc
• Anthony Carillo-6th Duroc
• Toby Moore-2nd Duroc
• Jade Jordan-1st Hamp
• Tyler Headrick-3rd hamp, 3rd BOPB
• Mason Mathis-4th hamp, 3rd spot
• Corey Ballew-4th hamp, 5th hamp
• Feli Werner-3rd hamp
• Riley Wyatt-1st cross, 3rd hamp
• Alee Alvidrez-1st cross, 2nd BOPB
• Riley Langford-4th BOPB
• Garrison Stovall-2nd BOPB
• Joe Todd-5th cross
• Mathew Magby-6th cross,
• Terry Don Wainscott-1st cross
• Lilly Cusenbary-1st & 2nd cross
• Ian Magby-3rd & 3rd showmanship
• Jorden Todd-3rd cross
• Ashley Swider-2nd cross
• Hayden Leach-3rd cross
• Levi May-3rd cross, 5th cross
• Tatum Trester-2nd cross
• Hiram Fuentes-2nd cross
• Jared Reeves-2nd cross
• Kyle Moore-3rd cross

Congrats Graham Steer Tucker Horn! Tucker was named a Semifinalist for Offensive Player of the Year by the 1st Down Club of Dallas-Ft. Worth.  He was honored last night at a banquet in Mansfield, TX.

Praise and Celebration Sara Jo Carrico- Ms. Carrico is a Project Lead the Way teacher at Graham High School. She was recently named by the Project Lead the Way organization as a Master PLTW Teacher and will now be teaching other educators in the program.  Congrats Ms. Carrico!

Praise and Celebration Coach Ken Davidson- Coach David was honored as a Coach of the Year Semifinalist by the 1st Down Club of Dallas-Ft. Worth.

Lady Blues Basketball- Congrats on the two BIG WINS this past week versus Hirschi and Burkburnett!  Keep it rolling tonight at Iowa Park.

Graham Steer Basketball- Best of luck tonight tonight vs Iowa Park!

Graham Steer Soccer- Good luck at the Kennedale Tournament!

Lady Blues Soccer- Good Luck at the Stephenville Tournament!

RSB3- Best of Luck to our band students participating All-Region Band Clinic/Concert today! The students include: Kyle Adair, Luis Anaya, Cassidy Freeman, Evelynn Griffin, Alex Husen, Anthony Martinez, Rachel McGregor, Reagan Menard, Madalyn Oakes, Alicia Olvera, Jorge Ramirez, Brian Sierra, Alex Trejo and Kaylea Wright.

Never, Never… Never

With the release of the movie Darkest Hour, Sir Winston Churchill is a “hot” commodity once again. It seems that every generation, his name and reputation flow in and out of our national attention. Since this movie is getting so much Oscar attention, we may be talking about Churchill longer than usual.

Sir Winston is a particularly interesting study. While he was born into an aristocratic family, his life was far from easy. Because he was such an active and difficult child, Winston was sent to Harrows, a boarding school, as a child. He was terribly homesick and would write long letters begging his mother to visit him. For some reason, she seldom made the trip for a visit. Some now think he had ADHD, and that, combined with a heavy lisp, made making friends difficult. From all accounts, he was a depressed, sad, and lonely child. His academic record was decidedly mixed. He could be an excellent student in academic endeavors he enjoyed, but was a miserably poor student when the topics bored him. In fact, he failed the entrance exam for the Royal Military Academy twice and finally gained acceptance by applying to the cavalry rather than the infantry because it had a lower entrance standard.

As a young man, Winston’s fortunes did not improve significantly. His proposals for marriage to two different young ladies were rejected. He was fired from his first cabinet post. He lost three political elections between 1922 and 1924 and five elections during his lifetime. In 1922 he described his situation this way: “I found myself without an office, without a seat (in parliament), without a party, and without an appendix.” Did I mention that he was criticized by other politicians so often that he switched political parties twice?

Yet, Sir Winston Churchill is considered one of the greatest leaders, especially a wartime leader, of all times. Why? Because for every setback, for every failure, through self-will and character he rebounded. Eventually, a marriage proposal was accepted and a beautiful marriage with five children resulted. He served England not once but twice successfully as its Prime Minister. At times it seemed that it was only Churchill’s dogged determination and fighting spirit that lead the allies to victory in World War II.

In 1941, after England had been fighting the Nazis for two years, Churchill was invited to return to Harrows, his old school, to address the boys. In his address, Winston offered the boys some words of advice that are remembered even today: “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” So, there’s your “why” he is such a memorable leader!

Those words delivered by Sir Winston Churchill to the young boys at his old boarding school during the dark days of World War II are a tribute to you, also. Texas public school educators do not know how to give in. When you are questioned about your commitment to students, you “never give in,” and you keep meeting each child where he/she is to provide each with the best shot at success.  Regardless of the challenge or roadblock that comes, you “never give in.”

While there may never be a movie made of your life, each of you have some Winston Churchill in you. Your grit, your determination, and your dedication make you memorable. Our communities are blessed that you serve their public schools!

Corny Joke of the Day:

What sort of fish performs operations? (Scroll down for the answer.)

A Sturgeon!