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WEDNESDAY , MAY 4 , 2016
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USD 251 BOND FAILS

By Jessie Wagoner jessie @ emporia . com
For the second time in less than a year the citizens of north Lyon County have voted down a proposed bond to build a consolidated K-12 building . The most recent election , held Tuesday , resulted in 762 against and 603 in favor .
Lyon County Clerk Tammy Vopat said that turnout for the election was steady throughout the day . A total of 1,369 votes were cast out of the 2,279 registered voters in north Lyon County . This equaled a 60-percent voter turnout , compared to a 65-percent voter turnout in the last bond election .
“ It has gone very , very smooth today ,” Vopat said . “ I checked in with the supervising election workers at the polling places and at about 3 p . m . we were at 43-percent voter turnout which included the advance voting early totals .”
Candace Blomenkamp , election official in Americus , said that voter turnout at the board building in Americus was good .
We ’ ve had a good turnout overall ,” Blomenkamp said . “ I ’ m very impressed with the turnout today . I ’ m glad that the young people are coming in .”
Cheyenna Crane is a senior at Northern Heights High School and she was one of the young people casting votes in Americus on Tuesday .
“ I voted yes because I feel like we need a better school . Because I ’ m a senior at Northern Heights High School and I feel we would be
“ I voted yes because I feel like we need a better school , because I ’ m a senior at Northern Heights High School and I feel we would be better educated if we had a better school .”
CHEYENNA CRANE , Senior , Northern Heights High School better educated if we had a better school ,” Crane said .
Jodi McCullough of Americus agreed with Crane .
“ I voted yes ; I ’ m for the school ,” McCullough said . “ We need a new school for our kids and I think it ’ s sad people think we don ’ t need a new school . If they have memories , they can take a picture . It doesn ’ t last forever .”
Margaret Gillen of Americus was one of the 762 individuals that voted no . She and others said they voted against the bond because “ I don ’ t want my taxes going up .”
“ It was good enough for my grandpa so it ’ s good enough for me ,” Susan Huls said on Facebook .
Now that the bond has failed to pass , the North Lyon County USD 251 Board of Education will have to decide how to move forward . The Board of Education released the following statement following the conclusion of the election .
“ I don ’ t want my taxes going up .”
MARGARET GILLEN Americus
“ Obviously , we are very disappointed that the bond did not pass ,” Aron Dody , district superintendent said . “ However , I totally believe that the board of education is committed to providing our students the most efficient and effective education possible . The board of education will have to start immediately , looking at options of what that efficient and effective education will look like moving forward in USD 251 .”
Dody did confirm that the board will begin scheduling special meetings soon to create a plan . Those dates will be provided in the coming days . Dody could not confirm what changes may be made but district patrons are predicting that Reading Elementary School will close soon .
“ Uh , oh , Reading will close anyway ,” Sally Goff said on Facebook .
— Gazette reporter John Robinson contributed to this article .
“ I voted yes , I ’ m for the school . We need a new school for our kids and I think it ’ s sad people think we don ’ t need a new school . If they have memories they can take a picture , it doesn ’ t last forever .”
JODI MCCULLOUGH , Americus

FIVE EHS STUDENTS NAMED ACADEMIC ALL AMERICANS

By Jessie Wagoner jessie @ emporia . com
Emporia High School students Ashley DeBauge , Daley Keister , Chelsea Herrarte , Caylie Ratzlaff and Tommy Pham have been named as National Speech and Debate Association Academic All Americans . The award is in recognition of speech and debate excellence and academic success .
Students must meet several requirements before they can be nominated for the prestigious award . They must maintain a gpa of 3.7 to 4.0 or higher . In addition they must earn an ACT score of 27 or higher or a combined SAT score of 2,000 or higher . Pham said he worked hard to prepare for the ACT so he would be eligible for the award .
“ I ’ ve been working to get to here ,” Pham said . “ Trying to get my ACT score to 27 in order to be eligible .”
The National Speech and Debate Association is the largest interscholastic speech and debate organization serving middle , high and collegiate students in the United States . The association provides competitive debate activities , high-quality resources , comprehensive training , scholarship opportunities and advanced recognition to more than 130,000 students and coaches every year .
DeBauge , who began as a forensic student , decided to try to debate her senior year . As a novice debater she says that the experience was rewarding and she now wishes she would have debated earlier in her high school career .
JESSIE WAGONER / GAZETTE
Five Emporia High School students have been named Academic All Americans . Pictured are Tommy Pham , Chelsea Herrarte and Ashley Debauge . Not pictured are Daley Keister and Caylie Ratzlaff .
“ I ended up doing debate and I really liked it ,” DeBauge said . “ It ended up being a lot of fun . I ended up liking more than forensics I think .”
Pham says that debate has helped him in all of his academic courses throughout his time in high school .
“ It has made me pretty knowledgeable about the outside world ,” Pham said . “ It has helped me learn more about the foreign world and international relations . It allows you to know more about different areas .”
All of the students are coached by Scott Bonnet . Bonnet is very proud of the students and said that they have put a good deal of effort into their academic achievements .
“ We try to promote the program among kids that are pretty academically focused , intellectually curious and tend to be pretty good students ,” Bonnet said . “ Those are the kinds of kids that tend to make up our program .”
Four of the students are seniors and will attend college next year ; Pham will complete his senior year at Emporia High School and plans to continue with debate throughout his final year . DeBauge will attend Trinity University in San Antonio , Texas next year and Herrarte is attending the University of Kansas . Keister is attending Kansas State University and Ratzlaff plans to attend Emporia State University .
“ I am majoring in biochemistry ,” Herrarte said . “ And sticking with it for the pharmacy degree . I also plan to minor in business .”

CELEBRATE CINCO DE MAYO WITH HOTT

By Regina Murphy regina @ emporia . com
Hispanics of Today and Tomorrow ’ s third annual Cinco de Mayo Celebration commences at 11 a . m . Saturday in the 800 block of Commercial Street . An evening event at the Granada Theatre has been cancelled , so the party has been extended to 7 p . m .
“ Come for lunch and music , then stay for dinner ,” said HOTT organizer Sally Sanchez . “ There will be plenty to enjoy .”
Grupo de Danza Lindo Michoacan will perform at about 11:30 a . m . and DJ Mario will provide music throughout the day .
“ Bring lawn chairs ,” Sanchez said . “ There will some bleachers , but they will be in the sun .”
Next are Mariachi Girasol of Topeka , performing from noon to 1 p . m . Raices Hispanas Folklori-
Please see HOTT , Page 5
VOL . 124 , NO . 262 GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Members of Raices Hispanas Folkloricos perform at the Cinco de Mayo Celebration in 2015 .