Week ending March 22: PreK, Hataway- Jaxson Key; K, Kern- Christopher Maddox K, Myers- Dillon Morales; 1st, Christy- Mileidy Anzaldua; 1st, Stringham- Andrea Hataway; 2nd, Sistare- Eda Gilliland; 2nd, Flisowski- Tres Canales; 3rd, Hons- Adrian Munoz; 3rd, Petrisky- Ivin Vazquez; 4th, McGee- Shaley Edwards; 4th, Schultz- Spencer Allen; 5th, Canales- Damien Cardiel Junior High: Henderson- Dustin Nguyen; Cady- Abbi Luna; Parnell- Angel Chavez; Anderson- Ahniwake James; Sternadel- Lauren Salinas; Charnetski- Marliegh Mangum; Smith- Walker Canales; Lillge- Iris Maddox; Blackburn- Gage Daniel; Beaver- Arnaldo Rodriguez

Week ending March 28: PreK, Hataway- Zoey Henning; K, Kern- Destiny Starkweather; K, Myers- Mackenzie Moncrief; 1st, Christy- Mileidy Anzaldua; 1st, Stringham- Jenna McManus; 2nd, Sistare- Blake Bundrick; 2nd, Flisowski- McKenzie Bierschwale; 3rd, Hons- Destiny Garza; 3rd, Petrisky- Landen Rasmussen; 4th, McGee- Matthan Morgan; 4th, Schultz- Karmine Castillo-Martinez; 5th, Canales- Dylan Cameron Junior High: Henderson- Hector Morales; Cady- Abbi Luna; Parnell- Felix Ruelas; Anderson- Peper Jennings; Sternadel- Trevor Williamson; Charnetski- Ty Boedecker; Smith- McCade Stafford; Lillge- David Holley; Blackburn- Ty Boedecker; Beaver- Mychaela Bierschwale

Week ending April 5: PreK, Hataway- Layla Myers; K, Kern- Kylee Green; K, Myers- Maci Bryan; 1st, Christy- Mrs. Banda; 1st, Stringham- Phong Hoang; 2nd, Sistare- Ryan Cain; 2nd, Flisowski- Tyler Henson; 3rd, Hons- Cassandra Perez-Vallejo; 3rd, Petrisky- Austin Cameron; 4th, McGee- Brenner Marek; 4th, Schultz- Zachary Henson; 5th, Canales- Abigail Vallejo Junior High: Henderson- Nereida Torres; Cady- Victoria Gilliland; Parnell- Heather Glover; Anderson- Krislyn Key; Sternadel- Trey Allen; Charnetski- Mariah Wilson; Smith- Ty Boedeker; Lillge- Camryn Edwards; Blackburn- Christopher Morales; Beaver- Robert McWherter

Week ending April 12: PreK, Hataway- Candynce Gonzalez; K, Kern- Nevaeh Rangel; K, Myers- Ariel Henson; 1st, Christy- Trinity Morgan; 1st, Stringham- Cruz Mayorga; 2nd, Sistare- Mason Moncrief; 2nd, Flisowski- Mercadee Owen; 3rd, Hons- Terrick Martinez; 3rd, Petrisky- Trenton Goodman; 4th, McGee- Jackie Cedillo; 4th, Schultz- Andrew Ragusin; 5th, Canales/Hahn- Rebecca Mendez Junior High: Henderson- Carlos Pena; Cady- Arnaldo Rodriguez; Parnell- Jennifer Rodriguez; Anderson- Daniel Martinez; Sternadel- Joe Aguilar; Charnetski- Joe Aguilar; Algebra Class- Mrs. Smith; Lillge- Krislyn Key; Blackburn- Kaylene Frazier; Beaver- Alexandra Martinez

Week ending March 22: PreK- Luke Doggett; Kindergarten- Liz Ixtepan; First Grade- Kyle Doggett; Second Grade- Chase Harding; Third Grade- John Rosenboom; Fourth Grade- Brooklyn Redmond; Fifth Grade- Javier Ayala

Week ending March 28: PreK- Jaydin Rhoads; Kindergarten- Liz Ixtepan; First Grade- Sergio Sanchez; Second Grade- Kalynn Harding; Third Grade- Anthony Luna; Fourth Grade- Kinley Lowery; Fifth Grade- Trey Hagler

Week ending April 5: PreK- Lupe Garcia; Kindergarten- Angela Salinas; First Grade- Alex Lopez; Second Grade- Ashton Albrecht; Third Grade- Joey Helms; Fourth Grade- Esmeralda Garcia; Fifth Grade- Clayton Maraggia

Port O’Connor’s Kindergarten Class celebrates the wrap up of Texas Public Schools Week. -Renee Hawes

Week ending April 12:PreK- Orion Ragusin; Kindergarten- Justice Epley; First Grade- Melany Romo; Second Grade- Mrs. O’Neill; Third Grade- Alexandria DiClemente; Fourth Grade- Collin Branch; Fifth Grade- Paige Satterfield

How good are your olfactory senses? They vary among folks; some can sense the tiniest variations in an odor while there are those who, like me, that do not. I can tell that there is a difference between a woman’s perfume and barnyard perfume. Most of the time I can also tell whether that difference is a good one or a bad one.

As a result, it is quite often that I will say something like, “that flower has a good smell”. Some one will point out that the fragrance of a flower is not a smell it is an aroma. The flower smell is usually lovely, like the scent of coffee is invigorating in the morning.. However, it may be correct since the dictionary tells us that the word smell, among other things, means to detect the scent with one’s olfactory nerves; actually, there are something like eleven synonyms for the word smell.

As an engineer or possibly a scientific sort of oddity I would turn to biology and it would tell me that smell was the sensation in the olfactory nerves that was activated by certain chemicals in gaseous form especially when their molecules impacted on my nostrils. That sort of response makes me something of a nerd. Accusation accepted. However, it is scientifically correct nerdness.

Needless to say, over the years wisdom has grown and now the reply is “ahh yes how silly not to recognize the difference.

It seems that semantically smell can be generally classified as having threes states. They are in ascending order 1. Negative 2. Neutral and 3. Nice

Let me point out that one can substitute a number of names for the scents which I label as negative, neutral or nice. For instance, flowers have nice scent; hay may have a neutral scent and a barnyard most likely has a negative scent. With practice you can differentiate and identify these smells by determining the state and commenting as if you were one with a sensitive nose.

The semantic rules are three as listed below:

1. That a negative state smells bad or may even stink

2. That a neutral state would be an acceptable odor

3. That “nice scent” is a lovely aroma

I must again point out that if you have an olfactory disability such as mine it is not all bad. For instance, it is rarely upsetting or offending when the bad scent or stink is present. This saves me much discomfort. Seeing those with sensitive olefacts wrinkle their noses at those smells feels good for a change.

However, on the other side of the coin, rarely does one get the benefit of a very lovely aroma, say from a rose. They all just smell good to me. That is most likely why the fellow said “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” My version would be “A rose by any other name would have just as many thorns” Such is the fate of those of us who are lacking in olfactory skills.

Hope High School Environmental Club took part in the annual Don’t Mess with Texas Trash-Off.

The club is part of the Adopt-A-Highway program and keeps Alcoa Drive trash-free for much of the year.

A total of nine bags of trash were collected during this cleanup.

Back row (left) : Login Athey, Eric Ray, Brandon DeLaGarza, Austin Galindo, Zoe Ramirez, Dalton Simmons

Front row (left): Julio Flores, Dentin Henderson, Michael Martinez, Jace Lancaster

-Laurie Weaver