News

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Planning is under way throughout many parts of Liberal with the holidays, and that includes the annual Downtown Christmas Parade.

The 2024 Downtown Christmas Parade will be Saturday, Dec. 7, with everything going through downtown, and the theme for this year is 'Candyland Christmas.' This year's parade route will be going from south to north – participants will line up and start at Trail Street (by the railroad tracks), go north and then turn off at 6th Street.

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and Christmas’s sights and sounds can be seen and heard in many places.

For a few years now, one of the holiday sights has been that of an angel tree to purchase gifts for community members put on by USD 483 in Kismet and Plains.

The angel tree is back for this year, and co-coordinator Norma Sanchez said registrations for this year’s tree can be done online in addition to in person.

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

Juggling expectations, demands and responsibilities is a part of life, but showing up as one’s best self in all areas of life means honoring one’s own needs too.

This is the goal of the upcoming  Rooted in Resilience Retreat hosted by Kansas Farm Bureau’s Women’s Leadership Committee (WLC) Nov. 22, 23 and 24 in Valley Falls.

KFB State Affairs Manager Claudia Hissong said a group of about 20 ladies have been invited to be part of an inclusive community of like-minded women, and the retreat will focus on mental health, self-care and the tools to find balance and build a more enriching life.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The teachers of USD 480 do great work every day in their respective classrooms, and recently, several were honored through the district’s Teacher of the Year program.

This year’s honorees are   Bella Ortiz (Bright Start Early Learning Center), Araceli Rios (Cottonwood Elementary School), Jeri Davidson (MacArthur Elementary School), Kris Classen (Meadowlark Elementary School), Jose Rodriguez (Prairie View Elementary School), Cassidy Zielke (Sunflower Elementary School), Amandria Hartnett (Eisenhower Middle School), Brandon Morgan (Seymour Rogers Middle School), and Caitlin Morgan (Liberal High School). Rios and Hartnett were also named the Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year, respectively, and both said they were shocked and surprised.