XTO Energy donates $50,000 With oil prices on the rise and the industry booming, the need for a skilled and specialized workforce is greater than ever. New Mexico Junior College has partnered with ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy to prepare and train students as potential employees for the energy industry. XTO donated $50,000 to NMJC for location equipment, program upgrades, and …

COLUMN by TJ PARKS, HMS superintendent Perhaps Mark Twain put it best: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” The quote was used to discredit statistical analysis. All too often we rely on statistics – which we correlate as data – to explain the past and predict the future. The problem is that data is only …

COLUMN by TJ PARKS, HMS superintendent Perhaps Mark Twain put it best: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” The quote was used to discredit statistical analysis. All too often we rely on statistics – which we correlate as data – to explain the past and predict the future. The problem is that data is only …

HMS gets mixed grade results A mixed bag of emotions landed on the doorstep of Hobbs Municipal Schools when district officials learned the grades for 18 Hobbs schools from the 2017-18 school year. The report card was handed out by the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) to school officials Thursday night and became available to the public on Friday. …

4 Places to Find Last-Minute Scholarships By ANNA HELHOSKI, NerdWallet Only a few weeks — or maybe even days — remain until college campuses reopen, but there may still be time to get a scholarship and reduce the amount of student loans you have to borrow. Here are four resources to find a scholarship to help pay for college before classes …

Poor attendance irks educators Poor summer school attendance has some Hobbs school leaders rethinking the school district’s policy allowing parents to override the grade retention of elementary students. School district superintendent TJ Parks told the school board Tuesday that summer school attendance has been very disappointing this year, with about 44 percent of high school students assigned to summer school …

Lovington sees big growth in math, reading The Lovington School District earned high ratings in the New Mexico Public Education Department’s recent reading and mathematics assessment report. Cabinet secretary Christopher N. Ruszkowski said in news conference Friday, “Lovington is the only district in the state of New Mexico in the top 20 largest that has made double-digit gains in reading …

Hobbs elementary students to be offered five library books this summer With an aroma of steak and baked potatoes, the Edison Elementary faculty and staff celebrated the end of the school year Wednesday. Edison principal Pat Duran, librarian Julie Rodriguez and Hobbs Superintendent TJ Parks sat next to each other while everyone enjoyed their hearty meals. Soon after, Rodriguez addressed …

NMJC approves pay raises, budget New Mexico Junior College Board members provided good news to staff, employees and president of the college at Thursday’s board meeting. In fiscal year 2019, staff members will receive a three percent pay increase and hourly employees a 25 cent an hour increase. The board also extended NMJC president Kelvin Sharp’s contract to June 30, …

The folklorico dancers of Lovington recently competed in Lubbock and won five trophies.