Dorothy Fowler/News-Sun When newly appointed president of New Mexico Junior College Derek Moore and his wife, Pinkie, came to Hobbs the first time, they flew from their home in El Dorado, Ark. The view of the long, often barren vistas are not as visible from the air as they are from ground level in a car, so it may be …

Andy Brosig/News-Sun Superintendent in the Jal Public Schools Brian Snider figures families typically pay $200 or more at this time of year to stock their children up on school supplies. But, this year, the families of Jal Elementary will get a break on that annual expense, courtesy of the staff of Jal Medical Clinic in town. Clinic staff are supplying …

Andy Brosig/News-Sun Mohammad Moghaddam has been exceeding expectations since his first day of kindergarten. When his parents enrolled him in Hobbs Municipal Schools, teachers questioned his English proficiency, in part because he’s shy and wasn’t a big talker. He was placed in a special program to learn English, but when he came home that first day, he was upset. “We …

Curtis Wynne/News-Sun EUNICE — Janelle Lujan, the salutatorian of Eunice High School’s Class of 2022, gained an interest in medical service early in life. She hopes to make it her career. After a year of gaining basic courses at the New Mexico Junior College, where she already has some classes in her resume, Janelle expects to enter the sonography program …

Gabrielle Arsiaga/News-Sun JAL —Jal High School’s 2022 valedictorian is Stanton Richard — but he didn’t even know he was in the running until last year. Even so, Richard — a life-long resident of Jal — has worked hard his whole high school career to get to where he’s at today. “I didn’t learn I was in the running for this …

Starla Jones/Hobbs Municipal Schools Life may have turned out differently for Juanita Castillo had she not gotten pregnant in ninth grade. But Juanita – who would marry at the age of 15 – never regretted devoting herself to her husband and a family that would eventually number seven children. Life – then and now – is good. Still, Juanita, a …

Curtis Wynne/News-Sun EUNICE — Carla Gavilan, valedictorian of the Eunice High School Class of 2022, hopes to get her associate’s degree from New Mexico Junior College by the end of summer. She said she’s just that close. “This year has been very hectic because I took some college classes, about six of them, so I’ve been running around like a …

ANDY BROSIG NEWS-SUN It was almost too close to call coming down to the wire, with just a few tenths of a point difference in the race for valedictorian and salutatorian for the Hobbs High School Class of 2022. It’s almost been a race between seniors Ann Mary Thomas, 18, and Brieanna Carr, 17, since the pair met during their …

Dorothy Fowler/News-Sun At a Wednesday afternoon special meeting members of the New Mexico Junior College Board named Derek Moore to be the seventh president of the college. Moore, who was the first of five applicants interviewed by the board in April, said he plans to be in Hobbs and on the job by the third week in June. Steve McCleery, …

For the News-Sun LOVINGTON – During Tuesday’s Lovington Board of Education meeting, Superintendent of Schools LeAnne Gandy announced her retirement. “I want to share the news that I plan to retire from the Lovington School District on Aug. 1,” gandy said. “I am eternally grateful to the community and the school board for allowing me to have had the opportunity …