Hello February! The cold has arrived so you know it must be time for district soccer games, baseball, softball, and track in the Texas Panhandle. Harvester soccer had two athletes honored this week with Justin Martinez being named as the Amarillo Globe News male athlete of the week and Ever Martinez made the Texas High School Soccer Player of the Week list from the entire state. Tuesday night was an awesome experience as our athletic department put on our Softball Chili Supper (which sold out so thank you to all who supported that program) and Military and Veteran Appreciation Night at the basketball games. It was a wonderfully orchestrated evening that featured numerous veterans presenting our colors prior to the game. I love the pride and pageantry this community displays for those who choose to serve. The icing on the cake for the evening was both the Lady Harvesters and Hustlin’ Harvesters walked away with big wins over Borger. Wednesday was national signing day where athletes all across the country sign their letters of intent to partake in athletics at the collegiate level. To this point Pampa High School has four athletes who are committed to play at the next level. They are Mikalie Floyd (Lubbock Christian University Volleyball), Andres Cervantes (Hardin Simmons University Football), Madox Jones (Hardin Simmons University Football), and Tyler Reed (Southern Nazarene University Baseball). Thursday we were blessed to announce a new endowment for our students who will be attending West Texas A&M University through the generosity of Bill and Carol Cofer. Bill and Carol have been active members in our community for years and have chosen to set up a rotating full ride scholarship that will be awarded to Pampa High School and White Deer High School students. I’m so thankful for their generosity and for giving our students (many of whom would not be able to afford it) a chance for collegiate success. Several of our students gave the gift of life on Thursday as we hosted our annual blood drive. The level of service our students display is definitely a badge of honor for us at PHS. The week was capped with our wrestling teams competing at our district wrestling meet in Amarillo. If you are unfamiliar with our wrestling district, it is arguably the toughest in the state with three powerhouse programs who compete year in and year out for team state championships. Our Pride of Pampa band took 30 students to Solo and Ensemble. Of the 30, 27 received Division 1 ratings (best possible score) and 26 of those 27 were certified to state. I love the growth and culture that is fostered in this program over the past year! Our basketball teams hosted Canyon, boys soccer traveled to Perryton, and the Lady Harvester soccer team tangled with Perryton at Harvester Stadium. Baseball and Softball both had strong showings in their first scrimmages of the year as well.
I wanted to share this as well. I know our kids are not perfect (if they were they would have no need for us) but at times it seems like the youth of America get a tough reputation. PHS welcomes recruiters from all branches of the military during the year. Here is what one had to say about our students this week when he was talking with one of our counselors. The recruiter needed a copy of a senior’s ASVAB score (standardized test given to seniors) which was exceptionally high. The recruiter commented that Pampa High School seniors consistently score higher across the board than most other schools in the panhandle. He felt like that reflected very highly on our staff and how they prepare our kids. In addition, he said that he and the recruiters from all the branches had discussed not only how well our seniors score, but also how well they behave during the ASVAB. In his humble opinion, our seniors are some of the best in this area.
Our staff and students make everyday a blessing and I’m so thankful to get to lead Pampa High School. It’s a great day to be a Harvester!
