Holy cow, Batman, the end of the first six weeks is almost here. Time sure flies when you are having fun. As usual things are happening at Cleburne High School at a rapid pace. Sometimes you just kind of got to hold on.

Fall is now upon us, and hopefully cooler weather will follow. Of course in Texas that simply means the high temperatures won’t get into the 90s as often. But the month of October will see the opportunity for students to take the TAKS retest. Oct. 21 is the date of the English language arts test. Oct. 22 is the math test, Oct. 23 is science, and Oct. 24 is social studies.

The district will provide tutors for those students who need to take the exit-level TAKS test; for more information on that, please contact Donna Smith at 817-202-1200.

Beta Club is beginning another year of active leadership and service to the school and community with a September service project donating school supplies. Each month the service projects will alternate among service to the school, community and a global campaign. Our students at CHS truly know how to give back to this community.

From the library, the high school has online databases that are available to our students 24/7. This Internet access is safe, relevant, accurate and has up-to-date information. The databases can be accessed from the CHS library home page at www.cleburnehighschool.com/library. User names and passwords are available in the library. Students may also search the library catalog from the Web page. You may contact Fran Rader, Cleburne High School librarian, at 817-202-1232 for more information.

The 2008-09 teen library board is meeting. There are 48 members this year. Students on teen library board complete service projects to promote reading at CHS and in the community, create library displays, write book reviews and help select books to purchase. There go those CHS students again doing service projects for this community. Outstanding!

Seniors at CHS this paragraph is for you. All seniors need to contact David Beans Studio at 817-641-3841 to schedule the yearbook picture. The picture must be taken before Christmas break. Semester one early graduates must submit your letter of intention to the principal by Nov. 1. On Oct. 24 there will be a senior class meeting after the pep rally and a Jostens representative will be there to give out details for graduation.

The Health Occupations Students of America, or HOSA, participated in the United Way Day of Caring on Saturday. This is another service project done by the students of CHS. Awesome!

The counseling department will start next week going into the 9th grade classrooms educating the freshmen on the three types of graduation plans, 4 x 4 graduation requirements and credit-coursework required for graduation from a Texas high school. The Class of 2011 is the first class that will be held to the 4 x 4 graduation requirements of four years of science, math, social studies and English. This year’s freshmen, the Class of 2012, will be the second class to have to meet this rigor of coursework.

The swim team has been working all summer to prepare for this season. The first home meet was last Thursday and witnessed some great times. When this is printed the swim team will have competed at the Frisco Sprint Invitational. This will have provided some great competition from the Metroplex. Good luck swim team and keep up the great effort and traditions of success.

Chris Poss would like to thank the community for making Homecoming such a great success last week. The parade, the community pep rally, the Ex-Students Association breakfast, the game itself and the dance were all a huge success. Thanks once again to all who made it work. Mr. Poss, who replaces the legendary Earl Wall, is the student council sponsor at the high school.

The yearbook staff will sell yearbook ads at the home football game against Waco High on Oct. 17 and will announce who purchased those ads at the home football game against Corsicana during the halftime festivities.

For the parents of a senior here is a quick note about financial aid. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid has changed this year. This is the application you must use if you want any type of financial aid, especially federal aid. The Counseling Center has been notified that FAFSA will no longer accept paper applications and all applications must be done online. Worksheets will be available in the Counseling Center, and if you need assistance they will be glad to help in any way. Seniors need to go online and register with FAFSA and create their own PIN number and start the process of applying for financial aid.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Kay Fenn for all of her service to the Cleburne ISD. Fenn is the high school assistant principal’s secretary and has announced her retirement from CISD effective at the end of this month. Kay will be missed because her spirit, smile and friendship will be hard to replace. Kay has been such a joy to work with, and we all wish her the best in her retirement as she and her husband, Don, travel around the country in their motor home. Just remember to come see us once in a while.

That’s it for this article. It was good to see a lot of you at the open house last week. Thanks for coming out, and if we can be of assistance please let us know.

Monte Pritchett is

the principal at

Cleburne High School.