by Jessie Garcia - February 22, 2012

On Friday, the Valentine Pirate boys will travel to Imperial to play Water Valley Wildcats. We are hoping to bring a big win to the season. This game is to determine who goes into the next round. I am very pleased to hear that we will be getting out early, this will give all the students a chance to go see the game. The only sad thing about this game is there is no spirit bus. But we can all still go drive the long trip to cheer on our Pirates. Coach Mac has done a very good job on preparing the boys for this. All the fans have done a great job with the support. Well LETS GET E'M PIRATES!!!!!!! AAARGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

by Daniel Garnsey - February 22, 2012

In case you weren't at the Pete P. Gallego Center Monday night, (2-20-12) here's a little clip of the Pirates winning in overtime against the Buena Vista Longhorns. This is the overtime after the Pirates and Longhorns were locked at 49-49.

by Daniel Garnsey - February 21, 2012

As you may know, the Pirates are going on into the next round of the playoffs. The boys will be facing the Water Valley Wildcats to determine who goes on into the Regional Quarterfinals. The Wildcats are 28-1 over all, and 14-0 in their district.

"We need to play our absolute if we want any chance at winning,” says Daniel Garnsey. "These guys are going to be the toughest group of players that we have competed against in the past three years. It's going to be difficult.”

The game is going to be played in Buena Vista at 6:30 PM. School will be released at 12:05 PM so fans will have the opportunity to watch our Pirates take in another game on the hardwood.

On Friday there is also a Tennis Tournament being held in Van Horn. Kimberly Morton and Adriana Rangel are going to be the only ones competing that day. "It kind of sucks because I want to be able to see the Pirates play their last game of the season... if it is their last game,” said Kimberly Morton on not getting to go and watch the Pirates play.

The next day the Pirate and Lady Pirates track teams were scheduled to run in Fort Stockton, but Coach McWilliams has decided to cancel the meet.

Let's go cheer on our Pirates on Friday night as they take on the well coached team of Water Valley.

Here's a link to the official UIL Playoff bracket for the 2012 season.

by Aaron Morton - February 21, 2012

On February 24th, the Pirates will be playing a game against the Water Valley Wildcats at Imperial. The Pirates will have one heck of a challenge against Andy Copley's Wildcats, for a number of reasons.

Aside from the fact the Lady Wildcats' volleyball team won the Class 1A state championship this past November, the boys side of the program has experienced its fair share of success as well this school year. The Wildcats aren't used to losing — the six-man football and basketball teams have a combined two losses. On the football field, Water Valley won 12 straight games before falling in the regional round of the playoffs.

The No. 3-ranked Wildcats basketball team has also only had one setback this season, and carry a 28-1 record into the post-season. On the court, the Wildcats' work ethic has resulted in 24 straight wins, including a perfect 14-0 run to the District 12-1A title. Copley's squad is just shy of 2,000 points scored for the season, averaging more than 65 per game, with a deep rotation of players that contribute to the workload.

Defensively, the Wildcats' high-energy full-court man and extremely quick hands have allowed only slightly more than 35 points per game, leading to a margin of victory that soars over 30 points through 30 games.

The Wildcat team consists of- 6'1” Kellan Kirkland (soph. G), 6' Devan Glass (frsh. F), 5'10” Jude Tamplain (Sr. G), 5'9” Cody Zuniga (Frsh. G.), 5'8” Sterling Marschall (Jr. G.), 5'9” Garrett Fowler (Jr. G.), 6' Zach Glass (Sr. F.), 5'9” Tanner Counts (Frsh. G.), 5'10” Trae Hannon (Soph. G.), 6'1” David Williams (Sr. P.), 5'8” Connor Copley (Soph. G), 6'4” Matthew Harris (Sr. P.), 6'3” Brock Demere (Soph. F.), 6' Colten Zungia (Jr. F).

Again, the game will be at Imperial at 6:30. Prices are- students 2 dollars, adults 3 dollars. Hope to see you there!

by Kimberly Morton - February 21, 2012

History Fair isn't over just yet! This morning, (2/21/12) the senior girls, Adriana, Nicole, Cayenne and Amelia went back to the Blackwell school in Marfa with the history fair sponsor Bianca Porras to get more interviews, pictures and anything else they need to to make their website state worthy!

If you do not know, they are doing their project on Segregation in West Texas but mainly concentrating on Blackwell. "We saw a lot of newer items they had just recently displayed and we got some new info, so the outcome was great!” said Adriana Rangel. State competition is May 4-5 in Austin and they decided to almost start all over again to make their website the best!

Here's a link to their site, go check it out and good luck at state girls!!

by Daniel Koch - February 21, 2012

The poll on if you are interested in a Ping Pong club has been up for a few weeks now and the final results have been decided. "Yes" won with an astonishing forty votes or 95%, and no came in last with two votes or 5%.

It is not for sure whether we will have a ping pong club but it is a work in progress. First, we need a ping pong table, paddles, and balls. Next we will need a place in the school and a sponsor to open the doors to let everyone play. Thank you for voting on the poll and we hope that you continue to participate.

by Brad Bernards - February 20, 2012

The Buena Vista Longhorns were unable to sink Valentine as the Pirates showed them how it was done in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Gallego Center at Sul Ross Monday night.

The final score was 56-49 in what was a close contest much of the way with the lead changing hands several times in the second half. The Imperial team tried to run out the clock with over a minute left in the last quarter only to miss the shot and force the overtime.

The Pirates started strong leading 12-7 at the end of the first quarter and maintained the lead until halfway into the 2nd quarter. At 3:55, Buena Vista took the lead for the first time 19-17 to strong applause from a vocal but smaller Imperial crowd.

The Pirates squandered some opportunities and got a little sloppy toward the end of the first half and headed to the locker room with the Buena Vista team up by seven points 28-21.

When the boys returned to the court, they played with renewed vigor. Coach McWilliams deserves credit for whatever he said as his team was able to battle back. The third quarter ended with the Pirates down by only one point 38-37.

From there, it was a see-saw affair with the lead changing hands several times until they tied at 49 apiece.

Then, came the Longhorn's failed attempt to run out the clock - missing their winning shot in an earned anticlimax. The misstep cost Imperial the game. To me, the stalling seemed way too long to be sportsmanlike.

In a strong overtime finish, the Pirates scored seven unanswered points. The Valentine crowd was thrilled with the win and smiles abounded at the Gallego Center Monday night.

Daniel Garnsey was the high scorer of the night with 25 points, followed by Aaron Morton with 18 points. Enrique Navarrete had 11 points with a great 3 pointer in the 3rd quarter; and Latham Garnsey contributed to the Valentine win with 2 points.

The next game will be against Water Valley Wildcats on Friday, February 24th at Imperial at 6:30 pm. Let's continue to support our Pirates!

by Daniel Garnsey - February 20, 2012

The Lady Pirates have acquired some new weight equipment from Fort Davis. The girls have not yet started using the weights, but they do have it all set up. Coach Mac and Mr. Cook are the ones who traveled to Fort Davis to retrieve the new equipment.

The girls have started practicing for tennis now and they might start using the weights to get their serves and power hits down with more power. "I really enjoyed the weights when we were working out,” said Kimberly Morton. "Now we don't really use them that much. I really hope that we use the new weights for tennis. I would really like to improve my serving and forehand shots.” Coach Bianca Porras believes that even some of the staff and faculty members might start to use them once they are set up properly.

by Cayenne Webb - February 20, 2012

Saturday's track meet in Presidio was sure interesting, but somewhat exciting for the Pirates! Amelia threw the shot put. She threw an average distance 24' 6". Cayenne had an interesting 3200 race. She'll do better next time. The men did well on the 3200. Latham got 2nd place, Aaron got 4th, Daniel G. got 5th, Daniel K. got 6th, Rye got 7th, and Enrique got 8th. They did well even considering that they waited a good 20 seconds after the gun went off to start. Coach McWilliams wanted to be sure there were no injuries before tonight's playoff game. After all the events were over with, the team went to El Patio to eat a good meal. The next meet will be held in Fort Stockton on the 25th. Good Luck Pirates!!

by Amelia Santillan - February 20, 2012

Even though Coach Mac told them to give the other schools a head start running the 3200, our boys still managed to place at the Presidio track meet last Saturday the 18th. Here we see Rye Webb and Enrique Navarrete during the event. Keep running guys!

by Jessie Garcia - February 20, 2012

Mrs. Slover has been here many years and helps out the school a lot. I, Jessie Garcia, got the honor to sit down and talk with her. She has told me that she works as: Teaching 3/4 grade English Language Arts and Social Studies, student attendance, grade reporting, registration, bus driver, and teaches special ed. Mrs. Slover, as you can see, has a lot of work to do, but she has told me that she loves doing every bit of her work. "My mother told me to just work hard and so I did, and I was never sorry because I really love it.”

Mrs. Slover even gave me the inside scoop on how much the school has changed. She told me that back then they had a room (where Mr. Bernards classroom is located) and there they had a ping pong table and also played badminton!. Whenever they did good, they got rewarded by being able to go play table tennis.

She even told me that back then when she was in school this school did not have many problems with the kids. They did have football teams, basketball teams, and even track and tennis. They even had one more little class that we do not have anymore, music class. Twice a a week a teacher would come down from Fort Davis and everyone would have a music lesson.

For 35 years of teaching here in Valentine Mrs. Slover calls it a "Special place and I don't know why.” I can tell you why. All the students here make a family together. She told me she would not want to change a thing about this school, except save a little bit of money. Mrs. Slover has told me all of her hobbies and they are: collecting rocks, coffee pots, butterflies, flowers, and trees. She loves to cook, and to look at birds all over Texas, she even loves to identify. She got married to Mr. Slover in 1962 and in March they will have been married 50 years!

Since her daughter has gotten 5 cows Mrs. Slover is learning how to make cheese. Cheddar is some of the types of cheeses she makes. She loves to eat hot chile, " Give me some frijoles and I will survive forever.” It looks like this school has not gotten boring for Mrs. Slover yet, and I don't think it has for anyone. A big thank you to Mrs. Slover for everything you do to make this school shine.

This is the program that features Valentine ISD. Taped the first week of school, it was shown across the state during Christmas vacation. The permanent link is above under Media>Texas Country Reporter>Texas Country Reporter Video.

by Cayenne Webb - February 16, 2012

During the school board meeting that was held last night (2/15/12), they went over the usual, which is approving minutes, and approve the bill paying. The board approved Maria Grubb as the election judge for the May 12th school board election. Joan Henry was appointed alternate judge. The board adopted the official calendar for the 2012 – 2013 school year.

Contracts were extended, for Dawn Houy as the principal, Ernie Villarreal as Directed of finances, and Brad Bernards as the Technology coordinator.

History Fair results were discussed. The Jr. High got 1st place on their exhibit about the Vietnam War, and the High School senior girls got 1st place with their website over the Blackwell school. The teams will be traveling to Austin for the state competition, on May 4th - 5th.

Also discussed was the playoff game that will be held in Alpine, Texas on February 20th , at the Sul Ross gymnasium. The Board also receive monthly SuccessMaker report.

by Daniel Koch - February 16, 2001

Recently Mrs. Matthews has been cataloging all the books from the Valentine library into our own account on Kohalibrary.com. Once they are cataloged into this website all we have to do to find a book is go to the Valentine ISD website and press on the button in the navigation bar that says "Library.”

Every book in the library is not on there yet, but they should be in there soon. So far, Mrs. Matthews has cataloged over three-thousand books into the website. Thanks to Mrs. Matthews, we will be able to find the books we are looking for without having to look endlessly for the books that are not there.

Not too long ago, Mrs. Matthews was having trouble with the Kohalibrary.com website when it crashed in June. Mrs. Matthews said "There are probably about 8000 to 9000 more titles to catalog and bar code. It is a "work in progress" and hopefully will be finished this time next year.”. Well we all know that it all can't be done in one click of the mouse, so next time you see Mrs. Matthews, be sure to thank her for all her work in cataloging all our books.