i
10 [ The Lovell Chronicle J October 6 2011
BY DAVID PECK
A Lovell man is part of
a group of men who have
formed a Wyoming branch
of a national Masonic orga-
nization devoted to chari-
table works and motorcycle
riding.
Mike Verdetto is the
secretary-treasurer of the
Wyoming Founding Grand
Chapter of the Widows Sons
Masonic Riders Associa-
tion. Former Frannie resi-
dent Riley Cooke is the or-
ganization's vice president,
and Joe McNeil of Cody is
the president.
Verdetto said the orga-
nization is open to all Mas-
ter Masons who enjoy the
sport of motorcycling and
want to ride and associate
with their fraternal broth-
ers. The goal of the organi-
zation is to:
1. Contribute to the re-
lief of Masonic widows and
orphans.
2. Raise Masonic aware-
ness in the world of sport
motorcycling.
3. Introduce the sport
of motorcycling to Masonic
brothers.
4. Support local blue
lodges through regular at-
tendance and assisting with
or attending lodge events.
The national Widows
than 7,000 Widows Sons
members around the world,
Verdetto said.
In the spring of 2011,
four Wyoming Masons came
together to form the found-
ing grand chapter in Wyo-
ming, and with the support
and assistance of seven oth-
er brothers, the Wyoming
chapter was granted a char-
ter on July 7.
%Ve're trying to at-
tract brothers that ride and
would like to become a part
of it," Verdetto said. "We
have new members from
Buffalo, Sheridan and Jack-
son Hole."
Verdetto emphasized
that the organization is not
.............................. a gang or a motorcycle club.
COURTESY PHOTO
Local members of the Widows Sons organization
pose during a motorcycle rally on the Big Horn
Mountains Sept. 1 I. Pictured are (l-r) Mike Verdetto,
Jimmy Dunlap and Joe McNeil.
Sons organization began
in Chicago in 1999 when a
Master Mason named Carl
Davenport had recurring
dreams that featured a dis-
traught woman. He inter-
preted the dreams to be im-
ages of a Mason's Widow,
and he set about to form a
support organization to help
widows, as well as orphans.
Taking care of widows and
orphans is one of the charg-
es of a Master Mason.
By the summer of 2000
chapters had been started
in Illinois, Florida, Maine,
California, Arizona, Texas,
Australia, South Africa and
the Netherlands. A chap-
ter formed in Montana four
years ago. There are more
The Widows Sons is a rid-
ing association that does
not "claim territory."
The Wyoming chapter
meets the second Sunday of
every month at noon at the
Outlaw Bar in Meeteetsee.
The group does not meet
in December, and Verdetto
said there would likely be no
motorcycle riding in January
and February, though meet-
ings would still be held.
The group recently held
a rally on Sept. 11, driving
from Cody to Burgess Junc-
tion, Greybull and back to
Cody.
Bridges resigns
BY KARL& POMEROY
Big Horn County Fair
Board member Willie Bridg-
es submitted his letter of
resignation to the commis-
sioners and the fair board
Tuesday afternoon.
He said, "It's been an
honor to serve. I appreciate
it."
In his letter Bridges
said, "I have appreciated the
confidence and support that
the commissioners and the
public have shown me over
the last eight years as I have
served on this board. In ad-
dition, it has been a privi-
lege to serve with the other
members of the fair board
during this time. They are
men and women of integrity
and honor. I will miss their
association and the oppor-
tunities that the fair brings.
However, due to personal
reasons, I must ask that you
accept my resignation to be
effective Nov. 1."
Bridges said he will still
serve through this month as
the board works through fi-
nancial and personnel is-
sues.
He said he has commit-
ted to the board to continue
to work on the indoor arena
and the Daniels Fund grant.
He said the grant has been
pushed back to the next
quarter of applicants as the
committee is seeking more
information from the board.
Bridges added in his let-
ter, "I would like to take this
opportunity in a public set-
from fair board
Willie Bridges
ting to thank all the many
volunteers, superintendents
and staff that have worked
so hard over the years to
bring about the Big Horn
County Fair. It takes a lot
of dedicated people from all
over this county to make a
successful fair and I applaud
those who have helped make
it happen."
The board could be faced
with additional vacancies at
the end of the year. Alfred
Anderson has said he would
not seek another term, and
Tuesday said he initially
thought his term ended this
year. In fact, it does not, but
he said he likely would be
resigning at the end of the
year, anyway.
Mitch Shelhamer's term
does end this year and Shel-
hamer did not indicate at
Tuesday's commissioner
meeting whether he would
seek reappointment.
Enrollment and PAWS
BY PATTI CARPENTER
Superintendents from
school districts No. 1 and
No. 2 were the featured
speakers at a chamber of
commerce luncheon held
Sept. 19 at the Brandin'
Iron Restaurant.
Supt. Dan Coe of Dis-
trict No. 2 and Supt. Shon
Hocker of District No. i pre-
sented an overview of en-
rollments and PAWS test
results for their school dis-
tricts to the audience, which
was made up mostly of local
business people.
Supt. Coe was the first
speaker. Coe announced
that enrollments have held
steady in his district and
have actually increased by
one student since the first
day of school attendance
count. After the first 10
days of school, administra-
tors look at enrollments for
the school year.
"Kids move during the
summer with families etc.,
so you always wait until
that 1 lth day to see who is
on the books compared to
that first day when every-
one is on the books."
Figures on the first day
of school for Lovell's schools
were kindergarten 60 stu-
dents, 1st grade 71, 2nd 47,
3rd 53, 4th 48, 5th 56 for a
total of 335 at the elemen-
tary school level. The mid-
dle school had 58 enrolled
in the 6th grade class, 52 in
7th and 54 in 8th for a total
of 164 students. The high
school had 60 students en-
rolled in 9th grade, 48 in
10th, 53 in llth and 48 in
12th. He cited an overall
enrollment of 709 on day
11 of this year. The overall
enrollment from the same
time period last year was
663.
According to Coe, the
11th day count is actually a
true count of students who
are actually in school that
have not moved.
"The growth we're see-
ing is very healthy for us
and reflective of what is
happening in the communi-
ty," said Coe.
Coe pointed out that
the schools are funded in
part based on student en-
rollment.
"So, the more kids, the
more money," he said.
Next he reviewed the
results of the PAWS test,
which measures a student's
progress against predeter-
mined standards for the
state of Wyoming.
"This is not a norm ref-
erence test. By norm refer-
ence I mean that it does not
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take a student and compare
that student to other stu-
dents his or her age across
the country based on basic
skills. It is only measuring
that student and how they
measure in regard to Wyo-
ming standards."
The test measures stu-
dent proficency in reading,
writing, math and science.
A standard percentage is
set for each subject and the
goal of the district is for
each student to meet or ex-
ceed that standard. In ac-
cordance with Wyoming
law not all grade levels are
tested at each school. At
the elementary school level
only three, four and five are
tested. At the middle school
all three grades are test-
ed, which includes grades
six, seven and eight. At the
high school only grade 11 is
tested.
In reading, as a dis-
trict, the measurable objec-
tive was 80 percent. The el-
ementary school met the 80
percent standard and the
high school actually exceed-
ed the standard at 86 per-
cent. The middle school fell
short of the standard test-
ing at 78 percent.
Coe explained that the
district has brought in Dr.
Tim Rush, an, expert in
reading to help teachers
improve the curriculum in
reading at the middle school
level.
The standards for both
writing and math are set
at 80 percent and all three
schools met that objective
in those subjects.
In science, the bar is set
lower at 60 percent. Accord-
ing to Coe this is because
it is a different type of test
than the others. Both el-
ementary and high school
level students met the ob-
jective, but middle school
students fell short at 48
percent.
"We take a look at this
testing data and look at
what we do well and what
we need to do better," ex-
plained Coe.
"Math obviously is a
strong suit in the curricu-
lum we are using and the
delivery of that curricu-
lum. Writing is going well.
Reading is an area we need
to work on and that is why
we are focusing on that
area this year with profes-
sional development by Dr.
Tim Rush, who is a leading
expert reading. Science at
the middle school obviously
needs work, too."
"Like any business, we
look at what we are doing
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right and what we need to
improve and that's where
we are going," said Coe.
Shon Hocker was the
next to speak about District
No. 1 schools.
He began with the an-
nouncement that more
than 150 students have
enrolled in the new Wyo-
ming Connections Academy
(WCA). The on-line school
was started last year and
is open to students from all
over the state.
"The online school con-
tinues to grow and our regu-
lar brick and mortar schools
are up by about 25 kids or
so," explained Hocker. "Pre-
school enrollment numbers
are solid at 45 students."
On the first day of
school District No, 1 report-
ed 28 pre-school students,
198 elementary school stu-
dents, 91 middle school stu-
dents and 126 high school
students.
Hocker also reported
that the graduation rate
in the district was 88.52
percent in the school year
2009-2010.
"Not bad, but of course
we strive for 100 percent,"
said Hocker.
He reported that junior
ACT scores were higher
than the state average at
21.6 composite.
He alsb reviewed fa-
cility projects like moving
into the new district office
in July 2011 and the com-
pletio new six-lane,
tracks: Projects currently
under construction include
a much-needed mainte-
nance shop/bus barn facil-
ity.
He also presented a
breakdown of PAWS results
for the district. In reading
4th grade tested 97.3 per-
cent, 8th grade 68.2 per-
cent, llth grade 83.7 per-
cent. In writing, 4th grade
tested 89.8 percent, 8th
grade 89.8, llth grade 83.3.
In Math, 4th grade test-
ed 94.7, 8th 85.2 and llth
tested 76.8. In science, 4th
grade tested 76.3 percent,
8th tested 63.2 percent and
llth tested 54.8 percent.
Compared to other dis-
tricts both District No. 1
and No. 2 tested higher
than other school districts.
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