Julie Hallmark
Dateline: Study Butte, Texas. In May 1996, newspapers from Oregon to New York proclaimed that the longest bus ride in the United States for high school students was coming to an end. For years, students from Study Butte, Terlingua, Panther Junction, Big Bend National Park, and Lajitas had been commuting by bus to Alpine to attend high school, a round trip of 179.6 miles. This year for the first time ever, those students would have their own high school. I was delighted to have the opportunity to visit my favorite part of Texas recently and learn first hand about the exciting events taking place in and around Terlingua.
The newly incorporated Big Bend High School (BBHS) serves residents from an area of 2,280 square miles in the southern part of Brewster County. The total population of 600 in this vast region includes 151 students in pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. Of these, 33 are the high school students who make up the student body of the new school. Some of these students still have very significant commutes, often on dirt roads, to get to Terlingua from their homes, but certainly enjoy an improvement over driving to Alpine and back every day.
Parents in this remote part of West Texas have contended with challenges in educating their children since the early days of the big ranches. In the past, some families moved to Alpine temporarily until their children finished high school. Others sent their high-school age students to boarding schools in distant cities.
Two school districts, San Vicente and Terlingua, cooperate in the operation of the new school. Joint superintendents Shirley Coleman of San Vicente and Kathy Killingsworth of Terlingua work together in such matters as administration and planning, curriculum development, and raising money. Cooperation is critical indeed! With only 11 taxpayers (none of whom have children), the San Vicente district consists mostly of Big Bend National Park whose employees do not pay school taxes. State funding based on attendance records is reduced further when students who live close to the borders of the Marathon or Alpine districts transfer to those schools.
I had the opportunity to visit several classes and was immediately struck by the favorable student- teacher ratio, which is 12:1 overall. The largest high school class has 16 students. What an advantage for these students, especially in classes with a great deal of student-teacher interaction such as computer literacy or Spanish. Most teachers are bilingual, as are the two superintendents. Ms. Killingsworth notes that the pool of qualified teachers is growing, as more highly educated individuals move into the area and seek teaching positions.
I was impressed with the industrious, polite, enthusiastic manner of the students I observed. Everyone participates and everyone receives a lot of personal attention from the instructor-- there’s certainly nowhere to hide in the back of the room, with the hope of remaining anonymous. Thus, Big Bend High School presents quite a contrast to the frenetic, tense, often over-crowded environments of very large high schools. The “cafetorium” where students gather for lunch is a simple, open-air, roofed structure with picnic tables. Many Texans travel long distances for the views these students enjoy daily during their noon hour! And having Big Bend National Park on one’s doorstep presents invaluable opportunities for science field trips.
The community had hoped that their students would be in the new school by September 1996, but funding for the building has not yet been secured. Meanwhile, high school students attend classes at Terlingua Common School in previously existing facilities and temporary buildings. The superintendent’s office is in a nearby house trailer. The Proposed New Building
Architect Gary Donaldson of San Angelo has produced plans for the spartan, six-room high school, shown in figure 1. The building’s foundation was poured in June, but additional progress awaits completion of the current fund drive. Big Bend Educational Corporation, the nonprofit financial arm of the district, is currently engaged in raising the final $175,000 of the approximately $450,000 needed for the new building. Included in the money already raised is a generous donation of $174,500 from the Meadows Foundation of Dallas; this donation, however, is contingent upon raising the additional funds required to execute a construction contract by March 1997. Thus, time is running short. With a total tax base of only $30 million in both districts, bonds are out of the question.
In musing over the contrast between her financial dilemma and the funding priorities of wealthier school districts in Texas, Ms. Killingsworth pointed out, “In comparison to the large expenditures for athletics and other programs in many parts of the state, we have no organized athletics, no science labs, no shop facilities, and no musical instruments. Our focus is on academics, and we can’t raise our last $175,000 to build a high school.”
Perhaps even more than in other Texas schools with traditional population and geographic patterns, technology can play a significant role in the Big Bend High School. With the relatively small numbers of students and classes, circumstances are ideal for distance education. Courses brought to Terlingua by satellite, Internet, or interactive video would offer enormous benefits to these remote students, supplementing the current course offerings with electives which could not be justified locally. However, technical and financial barriers have not been solved.
Some of these barriers are being addressed by Sul Ross University. A T1 hook-up via the University as the regional hub is under development; in addition, Sul Ross will provide an Internet server, network software, and staff training. Needless to say, BBHS is most grateful for this assistance. School officials are also exploring Technology Infrastructure Fund (TIF) funds for Internet access and two-way video. The Ti-In satellite system can be used for one-way video, two-way audio courses.
Unfortunately, Internet access remains problematic. In October 1996, a fiber optics line was completed only as far as the local telephone company office, still some distance from the high school. Thus, excessive line noise continues to be a significant barrier. Access to the Internet through Tenet is limited due to the long delay in processing new accounts. Access through America Online works well but is exorbitantly expensive for any extended use by students and faculty. Lack of money for the necessary hardware and software for graphics and interactivity also limits Internet use. The school has only one 486 computer with Windows, a modem, 486 processor, and a dedicated phone line.
Jennifer Turner, who teaches the school’s computer courses hopes to obtain a publication workstation so that the students can produce the school’s yearbook and newspaper. She explains, “Our students have learned word processing and spread sheets and want to move on to more challenging software.” Acquiring the items on her modest wish list would enable Ms. Turner to expand into digital imaging and desktop publishing. Software such as QuarkXpress, FreeHand, and Adobe Photoshop, along with a Power Macintosh, 17S monitor, and laser printer would go a long way in Terlingua.
The present library has served the pre-kindergarten to eighth grade Terlingua students for many years. Situated near the elementary classrooms in a small attractive stone building, the library is an historic landmark for the community. The general public makes frequent use of the library, not only to check out children’s books or consult the limited reference collection, but also for community meetings and other events. For example, the Terlingua Water Corporation recently met in the library to discuss the establishment of a community water system. As Ms. Killingsworth points out, “It’s important for the school and the community to be a whole, and the library will be a way to accomplish that.”
The library’s 1996-97 budget for new materials is $3,400, out of which must come the first selections for high-school level students. These students were formerly served by the high school library in Alpine. Two library aides handle daily operations with the assistance of a consultant on contract who occasionally visits from Alpine. Now that the Alpine Public Library “branch” (a table with a few dozen books) no longer exists at the Study Butte General Store, the citizens of the area look forward to the establishment of the new high school library, which will offer materials for all ages and serve everyone in the community. As is often typical in communities without public libraries, citizens in this huge geographic area are dedicated library supporters and eagerly look forward to the day when the new library opens. Meanwhile, the current collection will soon be enhanced by the generous gift of 3,000 books from the Pecos School District. Many citizens in the community enthusiastically told me of this upcoming donation. Since no extra space exists in the present quarters, the newly-acquired materials will be housed in the English classroom.
After the high school is completed, community efforts will be focused on raising additional funds for construction of the new library building. The Big Bend Educational Corporation will continue to coordinate this effort. The library (resource center), with exterior dimensions of approximately 100 by 70 feet, will be located immediately adjacent to the school. As a true community library, its existence separate from the high school itself is ideal. Several individuals expressed regret that the library could not be constructed immediately, but everyone agrees that classrooms must be the first priority. The architect’s sketch illustrates the proposed site layout.
The story of Big Bend High School is one of vision and determination. Against all odds, a group of parents, students, board members, teachers, community supporters, and school administrators and staff are achieving what appears to be an almost impossible undertaking--building a substantial, functioning high school and library in the most demanding and challenging of circumstances.
Examining the facts, the casual observer might well conclude that this project in the “Wilds of Texas”--as The Oregonian put it last May--was doomed from the start. Without a tax base or any established educational infrastructure and with so few people in such a large, remote area, how can success possibly be attained? The answer lies in the people--resourceful, enthusiastic, talented, determined people with a collective can-do attitude that does not allow for the possibility of failure.
I urge those of us who live in more conventional communities with bond elections and substantial property taxes and with schools and libraries already in place to join in the ambitious establishment of Big Bend High School and the community/high school library and to help our fellow Texans in any way that we can. Donations of money, software and hardware, or library materials; advice on potential funding sources; and any other kind of support would be welcome. The folks in Brewster County have their work cut out for them. I for one am convinced they will be successful. Note: My sincere appreciation and thanks go to all of the members of the faculty, staff, and administration who so graciously assisted me during my visit to Terlingua’s Big Bend High School.
Julie Hallmark is a professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, The University of Texas at Austin, and may be reached at hallmark@gslis.utexas.edu.
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Last Modified: 3/25/1997