Editorial by Rickie R. Harris

Only two short months remain in the school year! The second semester is passing quickly; and, great work continues to happen in West Orange – Cove schools.

West Orange – Stark High School inducted 20 students into the National Honor Society Thursday. Earning selection to this organization is a great achievement. Inductees are selected because of their exemplary scholarship, leadership, service, and character.  As members of the Honor Society, students are expected to serve the community through various service projects, lead the student body, display upstanding character, and maintain their grades and scholarly endeavors. Congratulations to these new honor society members.

I would also like to recognize the West Orange – Stark High School participants in Youth Leadership Southeast Texas. They are Ashley McDonald, Craig Breaux, and Josh Funk. Their youth organization has been working with Leadership Southeast Texas to organize today’s Spring Fling for Summer Fun benefit at the Orange Church of God (1911 N. 16^th Street). The event benefits Court Appointed Special Advocates of the Sabine Neches Region. If you are able, please join us from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today for lunch and family friendly activities. Donations of new toys and sports equipment are welcome.

Our students also continue to thrive athletically. Keyshawn Holman placed sixth in his weight class in the State Powerlifting Meet last weekend. Congratulations! We are very proud of this young man. He, too, is a member of the WOS High School National Honor Society. Keyshawn will continue his academic career through a football scholarship at Texas Lutheran University.

The 2016 WOS High School football team continues to be recognized for their state championship accomplishment. Granger Chevrolet presented the team with the Southeast Texas Chevy Dealers Football Team of the Year trophy. MaxPreps, a CBSSports.com high school sports website, also presented the team with the Army National Guard National Ranking Trophy during their Tour of Champions. Our Mustangs finished the year as one of the best in the nation!

Additionally, our football team was officially recognized at the State Capitol Thursday. Six Mustang team representatives attended, as well as a few members of our coaching staff. Thank you to State Representative Dade Phelan for arranging this tremendous honor and experience.

Earlier this week, I had the honor or recognizing Mustang Heroes at our School Board meeting. It was my honor to show “Team Mustang” appreciation to Stephanie Forward, a member of our community. I also recognized Corey Rogers and Jacob Bilbo, representing firefighters from the Orange Fire Department, as well. Ms. Forward and the firefighters are all heroes of our school district. They prevented a Spring Break vehicle fire from spreading and causing extensive damage. Ms. Forward noticed the fire and called for help. Firefighters Rogers and Bilbo, along with Captains Randy LaSalle, Payton Smith, and Jeremy Burch, and Firefighters Brannon Lee, Cally Scales, and Jerry Picard extinguished the blaze promptly. We are truly appreciative of each of you!

As contemporary author John Maxwell said, “One is too small a number to achieve greatness.”

Go Mustangs!

Rickie R. Harris is the Superintendent at West Orange – Cove CISD