The Big Lake Wildcat (Big Lake, Tex.), Vol. 58, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 30, 1983 Page: 1 of 12
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Chamber to furnish fireworks display
“Old fashioned" 4th of July set for Saturday
The banners are up and every-
thing is falling into place nicely
for Big Lake Chamber of Com-
merce's old fashioned July 4th
celebration which will be held
this Saturday - July 2. Chamber
of Commerce Manager Terrie
Schneemann said 'Everything is
going smoothly and the celebra-
tion is really looking like a suc-
cess at this point."
The July 2 celebration will
start off with a kiddie parade to
begin at the Reagan County Fire
Station at 9:00 a.m. Reagan
County Lions Club member
Gary Vickers will be grand
marshall of the parade.
There will be activities all
through the day after the parade.
There will be swimming relays
and contests at the county pool, a
noon barbecue dinner at the pic-
nic area then afternoon games at
the park including washers,
horseshoes, dominoes, bridge,
a cow chip toss, and 3 legged ra-
ces. At 6:00 p.m. there will be
a 3 legged race followed by a li-
ars contest at 7:00 p.m.
The Chamber of Commerce
has purchased over $600 worth of
fireworks which will be set off at
dark. Chamber President Joe
Daugherty said 'The Chamber is
proud to be the coordinating
sponsor of this old fashioned
4th of July and we hope our
members and the people who
come will enjoy our efforts. It
should be fun/
Chamber Manager Schnee-
mann said the groups involved
have made the whole project
come together. The various re-
freshment booths and game
booths will include homemade
ice cream-Eastem Star; popcord
and lemonade-Big Lake Grade
PTA; snow cones and balloons-
Rcagan County Little League;
soft drinks and sandwiches-
VFW Post 3216; Mexican food-
St. Margaret's Catholic Church,
and baked goods-Reagan Garden
Club and 20th Century Club
'TFWC. Area bands will perform
and the VFW will hold a dance
after the fireworks display. Rea-
gan County 4-H will be serving
barbecue plates until 2:00 p.m.
A dunking booth will be spon-
sored by Boy Scout Troop 58 with
El Rancho Grande Club sponsor-
ing the 3-legged race. Big Lake
Chili Cookoff Association will
sponsor washers, horseshoes and
a cow chip throw. Dominoes and
bridge will be sponsored by the
Trail Blazers.
Prizes will be awarded in the
parade for the 'most original cos-
tume,' 'most patriotic costume,'
'best decorated vehicle' and oth-
er categories.
The old fashioned July 4 cele-
bration promises to be fun for all
this year and if more informa-
tion is needed, it may be ob-
tained by calling Terrie Schnee-
mann at 884-2980.
“A Strong Voice for Big Lake and Reagan County' ’
VOLUME 58 NUMBER 26 BIG LAKE, REAGAN COUNTY, TEXAS * JUNE 30,1983 (USPS 055-860) JJ*
Testing could be criteria for graduating seniors
TABS results show weak/strong points in local schools
Reagan County School Trus-
tees reviewed the results of the
Texas Assessment of Basic Skills
(TABS) test which was adminis-
tered in the local district and dis-
cussed the results with Counsel-
or Linda Settle Lippe and the
school administration.
The TABS test is a program for
basic skills improvement that
includes an annual assessment of
student achievement in reading,
writing, and mathematics. It
is designed to provide informa-
tion which can be used in plan-
ning instruction for students in
those three curriculum areas.
The State Board of Education
has set as a target for increasing
student achievement that by
1983, 85% of students that com-
plete high school will demon-
strate minimum exit level mas-
tery of essential mathematics
. and reading objectives, and that
by 1985, 85% of the high school
students will demonstrate mini-
mum exit level mastery in writ-
ing. Mastery of an objective
means that out of 4 questions in
a given area, the student must
correctly answer 3 of the 4 ques-
tions. Mastery of a total test in
exit level means that 30 or more
of the test items out of 44 in math
and reading must be correct.
All students in grades 3, 5, and
,9 with the exception of those
identified by exemption guide-
lines take the test. Those ex-
empted are special education
students. Students in grades
10, 11, and 12 who failed to dem-
onstrate mastery are given the
opportunity to retake the test.
Also, students in grades 10, 11
and 12 who have never taken the
TABS are included in the test-
ing. The testing was done in
February of this year.
THIRD GRADE RESULTS
Reagan County Third Grad-
ers have shown steady improve-
ment in mathematics since 1981
in mastery of the subject. In
1981, 69% showed mastery,
in 1982 78%, and in 1983 80%.
Third graders showed strengths'
in multiplying whole numbers -
95% mastery; add whole num-
bers 93%; identify fractional
parts 90%; identify values of
money 89%; solve word prob-
lems 84%; read and write whole
numbers 82%; complete number
patterns 79%; substract whole
numbers 79%; order whole num-
bers 59%; and select units of
measure 58% mastery.
In reading objectives, 93% of
the third graders recognized
words through phonic analysis;
follow written directions 92%;
recognized words by sight 86%;
use context clues 84%; under-
stand word structures 78% re-
call facts and details 75%; se-
quences of events 64%; and
identify main idea 61%. The
reading also has improved over
the years. In 1981 77% mas-
tered the entire test, in 1982
73%, and in 1983 79% mastered
reading.
Third graders have been con-
sistent in the last three years in
their writing tests. In 1981 75%
mastered writing, in 1982 71%,
and 75% in 1983. This year 86%
mastered spelling; capitaliza-
tion 80%; correct English usage
79%; sentence structure 67%;
and punctuation 53%.
Sales tax rebates are
comparing with 1982
Big Lake's sales tax receipts
held steady this past reporting
period although total receipts
from the one percent collections
are still lffeging behind last
years figures.
The state comptroller re-
turned $10,865 to Big Lake as
its share of the tax which com-
pares favorably to last years
payment at this same reporting
period of $10,922.11. Local
1983 payments to date total
$76,845.
Total payments to other area
cities this reporting period are
as follows: Crane $4,025 and
payments to date in 1983 are
$61,394. Irion County-Mertzon
received 3,150 for a year to date
total of $21,128. Stanton re-
ceived $1,756 for a year's total
of $24,087. Eldorado received
$2,686 for a total of $38,300.
Sonora got $10,764 for a total of
$124,218. McCamey received
$5,170 for a total of $56,565.
Rankin received $2,074 for a to-
tal of $22,986.
The State Comptroller sent
checks totaling $43.8 million in
local sales tax payments to
974 cities that levy the one-per-
cent sales tax.
"The cities who lean most
heavily on oil and gas for their
local receipts are still suffering,
but the rest of the state is be-
ginning to make up for the
drops in revenue we saw earlier
this year," Bullock said. So
far this year, local sales tax
cities have received $353.5 mil-
lion, less than one percent be-
hind the $354 million total paid
by this time last year.
Houston received the largest
Midland and Odessa pay-
ments still lag behind last
year. Odessa's $456,000 June
payment leaves 1983 year-to-
date payments to that city 32.1
percent behind last year. Mid-
land received $376,000, leaving
that city 25.5 percent behind
1982.
FIFTH GRADE RESULTS
The fifth grade results in
math, reading, and writing were
part of the TABS testing along
with third and ninth grades. In
mathematics in 1981 71%
showed mastery, 1981 80%,
1982 75%, and in 1983 89%
showed mastery of the test. The
highest 5th grade scored was 99
per cent mastery of interpreting
graphs and went on as follows:
divide whole numbers 94%;
add whole numbers 94%; select
units of measure 92%; order
whole numbers 92%; multipli-
cation 91%; substration 91%;
solving word problems 91%;
identify geometric terms-figures
88%; fractions 81%; interpret
place value 79%; and solving
multiplication word problems
76%.
In the reading test of fifth
grade 94% could use context
clues; use maps-charts 93%:
follow written directions 89%,
use index 90%; identify charac-
ter feelings 88%; draw conclu
sions 79%; recall facts-details
79%; sequence events 77%; pre-
dict outcomes 74%; identify
main ideas 67%; and distinguish
fact-non fact 59%. Mastery of
reading skills in 5th grade has
improved. In 1980 49% showed
mastery.- In 1981 70%, in 1982
70%, and in 1983 80%.
98% of 5th graders mastered
spelling. Commonly used forms
96%; capitalization 95%; sen-
tence structure 87%; punctua-
tion 77%; and correct English
usage 73%. In 1980-84% mas-
tered the writing test. In 1981
81%; in 1982-81% and in 1983-
87% showed master of writing.
NINTH GRADE RESULTS
In 1981, 60% of RCISD Ninth
Graders showed mastery of
mathematics. In 1982, 75% mas-
tered and in 1983, 83% mastered
the test. The individual objec-
tives and ranking by percent of
mastery are as follows: Add-sub-
tract whole numbers 94%; find
dollar amount/correct change
92%; determine distance/loca-
tion on maps 90%; read-interpret
charts/graphs 90%; multiply-
divide whole numbers 88%; use
(Continued on Page 5)
Court hires Pat Guerin
to head Trail Blazers
Reagan County Commission-
ers went through a short agenda
last Monday, but discussed very
important issues including coun-
ty roads, Trail Blazers director,
and the next fiscal year's bud-
get.
Commissioners hired Pat
Guerin as director of the local
senior citizens organization
Big Lake Chamber of Commerce Director Wayne
Smith presented a congratulatory cake to Frank and
Bonnie Sandel last week on the occasion of their
20th business anniversary. The Sandels founded
Globe Well Service 20 years ago, and the cake was
presented to them by the Chamber at their company
barbecue at Globe’s Shop.
known as Trail Blazers. Mrs.
Guerin will be succeeding Aud-
rey Fox who resigned effective
July 1. The court praised Mrs.
Fox for getting the program off
the ground and for laying good
groundwork for her successor
Mrs. Guerin.
The court discussed county
roads and the fact that the newly
hired road supervisor would be
starting his duties here on July
15. The road supervisor is David
Chaney from Marfa. He is mar-
ried with at least one child in col-
lege and two children at home.
He is very experienced in heavy
equipment operations and will be
coming to Reagan County direct-
ly from a private contracting
company.
County officials discussed the
roving road crew and responsibil-
ities of the road supervisor. It
was the opinion of commission-
ers that the road supervisor
would have the authority to hire
and fire when he is working in a
particular precinct and that he
would be expected to have his
crews put in full, hard work
days.
Commissioners amended the
1983 budget by $38,250 to take
care of higher costs. A 1984 fis-
cal year budget hearing was held
by the court but no citizens were
present to offer input on the bud-
get. Total disbursements for
1984 will be in the area of
$2,425,266. Total disbursements
for 1983 are expected to be near
$1,936,378.
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Werst, David. The Big Lake Wildcat (Big Lake, Tex.), Vol. 58, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 30, 1983, newspaper, June 30, 1983; Big Lake, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth658256/m1/1/: accessed May 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Reagan County Library.