During a panel discussion held at the Fort Scott Community College Monday, members of the community were able to hear comments from and ask questions of panelists who had each suffered from racism in different areas of life over the years.

“One way to honor Martin Luther King is to have good, honest conversations,” moderator Jared Witt said, saying it is an especially crucial time to hold such discussions because of recent events inspired by racism.

Dr. Larry Seals of Mercy Hospital, FSCC basketball coach Michael Cook and Fort Scott High School graduate and military member Carol Bakke shared of times when they were called racial slurs or treated poorly because of their skin color or country they were raised in.

“A lot of times, when you talk about racism, people don’t want to be honest,” Seals said, saying that fact almost discouraged him from being a part of the panel. “Racism as a whole, it’s still in existence.”

Cook recalled a time when he was the only African-American coach in his conference and had to deal with other coaches mistreating or ignoring him. Bakke said her first year of school in the United States after returning from Mexico as a teenager was difficult as others called her names or assumed she was an illegal immigrant. While deployed overseas, however, Bakke said she was looked down on instead for being a woman and an American by those from other countries.

When asked how he thought people could move beyond racism, Seals said that is difficult for many people since they were raised with that mindset and judge people based solely on the color of their skin.

“If you can treat people with respect and dignity, you’ll find out they’re so much more,” Seals said, saying it is important for people to treat others the way they want to be treated.

Cook said he encourages his players to get to know each other and their different cultures so they can accept them, even if it is uncomfortable at times. Panelists also agreed it is important to begin teaching children in the home that racism is unacceptable.

USD 234 Superintendent Bob Beckham asked the panelists what they thought Martin Luther King would think if he saw the current state of the United States, and they readily agreed that they believed he would be pleased with what he saw.

“I think he would be happy with the progress we’ve made,” Seals said—pointing out achievements such as the acceptance of biracial marriages, the election of an African-American as president and a general decrease in violence—but adding there is still a long way to go.

Cook said he believed King would say that the holiday named after him is for all people, not just African-Americans, just as racism is not just a one-sided issue, but one that needs to be dealt with by all people.

“My heart’s heavy,” Witt said at the close of the panel discussion, saying he was saddened by some of the experiences the panelists shared and other tragedies that have happened around the country. “But I’m also inspired.”

Submitted by Amber Toth, Jan. 18

We won! This weekend Fort Scott High School competed in the 4A State Debate Tournament in two divisions.

Our first place regional team consisting of Seth Cross (2nd year debater/Junior), Zach Humble (3rd year debater/Jr) , Isabella Provence (2nd year debater/Soph), Joe Adams (2nd year debater/Soph), and Breana Mooney (3rd year debater/Jr.) took 1st place, beating out Bishop Meige and Sumner Academy.

It was a hard-fought battle, but our young team beat the state champions from last year.

We also competed in the 2-speaker division. The team of Charlotte Hutchison (4-year Sr.) and Sebastian Loyd (4-year Sr.) only dropped one round in preliminaries and went into double-octo-finals in 4th place. They were able to win the double octo-final round and proceed to the octo-final round. Unfortunately, they dropped to Tonganoxie in a 2-1 decision, placing them in the top 16 out of 72 teams in the state.

Tayton Majors (2nd year/Soph.) and Sara Al-Shawish (2nd year/ Soph.) were a couple of speaker points from breaking into elimination rounds. The teams of Darby Toth (2nd yr Soph.)/ Rebekah Sweyko (Freshman) and Suzi Owen (2nd year Jr.)/Hunter Parker (2nd year/Jr), had to make major adjustments the week of state by obtaining new partners. Considering the circumstances, they did an amazing job. They were both able to pick up at least two rounds. Rebekah and Darby had better speaker points than many of the teams that did break into elimination rounds. I am so proud of these four. They took on almost insurmountable odds the week of state and did their very best for not only themselves, but also for their team.

Also qualifying for state were sophomore Jake Province, who was ill, freshman Ethan Tatro, and senior Garrett Tatro.

Submitted by Angela Bin, Jan. 13

Members of the Fort Scott High School Thespians Chapter #7365 attended the annual Kansas State Thespian Conference, Jan. 7-9, in Wichita.  The conference was attended by over 1,400 theatre students from across the state.

Eighteen members of the troupe attended award-winning theatrical performances and participated in a variety of performance and technical theatre workshops.  Students, along with Thespian Sponsor Angie Bin, participated in such varied classes as Prosthetic Makeup for the Stage and Screen, West African Dancing, and Auditioning for Commercial and Film, among many others.

Troupe president, Suzi Owen, presented the troupe scrapbook and interviewed for “Honor Chapter” status.  The FSHS troupe received a trophy for achieving the Bronze Level of Achievement.

The troupe competed in several group events and received a 3^rd Place trophy for Speed Charades.  Students also competed in Improvised Acting and Creative Costuming.

Senior Nate Mead and junior Suzi Owen competed in the musical duet category with the song “Back of the Bus” from Band Geeks the musical.  Junior Cire’ Miller performed a musical solo of “Bless the Lord” from Godspell the musical. Freshmen Brooklyn Lyons and Alyx Brooks performed a duet acting scene from The Bad Seed and freshman Hunter Adamson and junior Hunter Parker performed a duet from Wait Until Dark.  Sophomore Kiel Hall, junior Briant Martin, and freshman Daniela Belcuore performed a group acting scene fromThomas.  Sophomore Jake Provence also submitted his short film for competition.

FSHS Thespians also had the unique opportunity to view the United States premiere of James and the Giant Peach the musical with a cast of leading student actors from across the state.

In the past month, work began on preparing the intersection at Main Street and the railroad tracks for a Quiet Zone that will prevent trains from blowing their horns within a quarter of a mile of the intersection.

Public Works Manager Chad Brown said Wednesday that contractors have completed a new portion of roadway running north towards the animal control facility, the curb work along the north and south sides of Wall Street are finished and only some of the sidewalk remains.

Thursday morning, equipment began tearing up some of the street in preparation for the center median. Lanes remained open despite the road work.

After that remaining construction is completed, Brown said the traffic lines will be painted and required signage put in place. Leading up to the project, City Manager Dave Martin said the quiet zone is expected to be complete by the summer.

USD 234 received a positive report from certified public accountant Terry Sercer during their meeting Tuesday evening, saying they found no issues with the school district’s financial statements.

“You have pretty healthy cash balances,” Sercer said, saying part of that is because of the recently approved bond projects.

The audit verified the school’s financial statements by checking accounts, receipts and checks, while also making sure the results were in compliance with state statutes and federal law. Sercer told the board they received an unqualified opinion, as well as no federal or state violations, resulting in “three stars out of three” for the audit report.

Sercer said such a positive report is never a guarantee for any organization and that the cooperation and courtesy provided by the school administration helped make the process easier for him.

Superintendent Bob Beckham also gave the board an update on the bond projects, saying bids were approved from different local and out-of-town contractors while those same contractors have received approval to move forward with the projects.

“Finally the fuse is lit,” Bekham said, saying fences have been going up at some of the different schools in preparation for the equipment that could be brought in as early as this week.

Already, drawings are complete for the some of the different projects while concepts have been approved according to fire codes and for traffic flow, which might face changes in the upcoming months. In upcoming weeks, a plan for the remodeling of the school auditorium could be available as well.

“It’s finally time,” Beckham said, saying he has been excited to hear the sound of jackhammers working at the school. “We’re finally ready to build things now.”

Other school board members expressed their pleasure at seeing the fences being raised and said they look forward to seeing work done within them. But throughout the entire project, those members asked that the community be patient and understanding as changes are made and the schools have to make adjustments accordingly.

Between the first varsity basketball games of 2016, Fort Scott High School named their homecoming king and queen Friday evening while the boys’ team clinched a win against the Labette County High School Grizzlies.

Abigail Denton was crowned homecoming queen while Vince Tome accepted the crown as homecoming king of the spring semester coronation. Other candidates included Bailie Brown, Maggie Findley, Karlea Harris, Madeline McCoy, Aaron Baugher, Austin Cook, Garret Tatro and Carter Young. Nathan Mintz and Aubrie McGhee participated in the event as the little people, carrying the crown and tiara.

The Fort Scott Tigers boys’ team then protected the court against the Grizzlies, holding onto the lead for a 54-46 win despite a persistent Grizzlies team that fought until the final minutes, trailing by just five minutes in the fourth quarter. The win brought the Tigers to a 2-4 overall record.

Senior Kaleb DeLaTorre led the team with 19 points while seniors Marcus Stepps and Josh Hudiburg added 10 and eight points, respectively. The Tigers led by as much as 11 points in the fourth quarter, their defense preventing the Grizzlies from scoring in the first almost four minutes of the quarter.

The lady Tigers team was unable to come away with a win, however, as they faced the undefeated Grizzlies, whose defense stifled the Tigers and forced numerous turnovers in the Tigers’ 67-36 loss, giving them a 2-4 record

The Tigers could not stop sophomore Tristan Gegg, who scored 29 points with four three-pointers, while Erica Gartner added 12 points on four three-pointers. The Tigers’ sophomore Madison Cook led the team with 12 points while senior Ashley Cook had nine.

During their first meeting of 2016, the Fort Scott City Commission approved the area airport’s five-year plan, including a variety of projects to be completed from 2017 to 2021.

Airport Manager Kenny Howard presented the capital improvement plan to the commission, which will then be submitted in order to receive federal grants to help cover the costs. Projects included replacing runway and taxiway edge lighting systems, land acquisition and runway extension.

Howard said the Federal Aviation Administration scores projects and  distributes funding based on those scores. If they do not receive as much funding as they would like, they will focus on projects they consider a priority and postpone others.

The total cost of the projects will likely reach more than $2 million, with about 10 percent of the fees being paid for locally.

The commission also agreed to a change in local election schedules after a recent decision by the state requires elections to be held during the November elections instead of the more common spring election, beginning during the November 2017 election.

While having a spring election meant the city had to pay extra for the separate ballots, city attorney Bob Farmer said most local government entities chose that schedule because it kept the local elections from being overlooked during November elections.

“Most of the counties felt that it was worthwhile because of the importance of the election,” Farmer said of discussions he participated in on the topic. “What we had worked fine, but a lot of things are being driven by pure economics now.”

Mayor Cindy Bartelsmeyer said she heard similar discussions during meetings she attended during the previous summer, and she heard many municipalities speak against the change, which will be applied to school boards as well.

Farmer said the state considered making the elections partisan, but decided against that change.

The current elected officials will continue in office through the November 2017 election, with new terms beginning in January of 2018. Lengths of terms and how many are elected at a time will remain the same after that point.

The commission approved the change with a 4-1 vote, with member Lucas Cosens voting against it.