Community news for Amarillo area for week of April 30, 2023

Amarillo Globe-News
·8 min read

Discovery Center brings a doctor of internal medicine for May Girls Who Science program

For their Girls Who Science program happening Monday, May 1 at 4:45 p.m., the Don Harrington Discovery Center is bringing in Dr. Joanna Wilson, a doctor of internal medicine, as their guest speaker.

Dr. Wilson specializes in Women’s Health, and she teaches medical students at Texas Tech Medical School while also seeing patients in her clinic at Amarillo Medical Specialists.

“I enjoy using my time and energy to help young women achieve their health and career goals,” Dr. Wilson said. “I am an internist who specializes in Women's Health, particularly family planning, healthy aging, and how diseases affect women and men differently.”

For her education, Dr. Wilson went to the University of Michigan for her undergraduate degree, attended the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center in Fort Worth for medical school, and did her residency at St. Paul University of Texas Southwestern in Internal Medicine in Dallas.

After going over her career and answering questions participants may have about the medical field, Dr. Wilson plans on taking the Girls Who Science participants through simple disease algorithms to watch how doctors think. “It removes some of the mystery and they can diagnose diseases by themselves,” she said.

The Girls Who Science program is free to young women ages 10-18 and is at 4:45 p.m. every first Monday of the month. Esteemed women professionals in the STEM industry are brought in for conversations, a presentation, and Q&A's with young women aspiring to go into STEM. After the presentation from the guest speaker, the Discovery Center will also provide an activity related to their field of study and a snack for participants during a break in the program.

“Our mission is to provide a fun environment where our female youth can understand what they can achieve and the steps it takes to meet these goals,” Jen Noble, Community Engagement Manager.

Medicine, engineering, coding, biology, and animal science are just the start of what DHDC plans to cover in this program. Young women in upper elementary school through high school are encouraged to attend. Follow The Discovery Center on Facebook and Instagram for more information on their community programs. Information can be found on their website as well.

Get lost ... and then know what to do when you are

Wildcat Bluff Nature Center invites you to come learn all about wilderness survival skills and the basics of how to take care of yourself in the wild.

The Wildcat Bluff Nature Center (WBNC) and The Discovery Center will be hosting Plan to Get Lost on May 6 and May 13, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Plan to Get Lost is a two-part wilderness survival program that takes place on the Wildcat Bluff trails. The program includes lectures, demonstrations, and discussions from nature educators Wayne Benson and Bill Briggs. Topics include fire, water, and shelter.

Tickets for the program are $25. This includes trail fees, a reference binder to take home, and all instruction for part 1 (May 6) and part 2 (May 13).

Participants will need to register at www.dhdc.org and be prepared to bring a day pack, water, lunch, and trail snacks. For more information, visit DHDC.org or Wildcat Bluff’s Facebook page.

WT memorializes students lost in 2022-23 academic year

CANYON — West Texas A&M University flags flew at half-staff April 28 in honor of students who died during the 2022-23 academic year. A student memorial service was also held in the Joseph A. Hill Memorial Chapel on WT’s Canyon campus, with a reception in the commons area of the Jack B. Kelley Student Center.

The service and half-staff flags commemorated the lives of nine students who died during the academic year:

  • Mallory Anderson, a senior nursing major from Bridgeport;

  • David Batch, a freshman strategic communication major from Hamilton;

  • Scott Raines, a graduate student in social work from Amarillo;

  • Amanda Soliz, a freshman mechanical engineering major from Amarillo;

  • Sarah Haass, an MBA student from San Antonio;

  • Jenifer Salinas, a junior criminal justice major from Plainview;

  • Blake Loria, a sophomore digital communication and media major from Amarillo;

  • Joe Hoot, a senior biology major from Canyon; and

  • Jadyn Boyd, a sophomore agriculture education major from Lamesa.

“The Student Government Association places a high importance on ensuring a lasting legacy of our late students,” said student body president Annie Valicek, a junior agribusiness and economics major from Houston. “This ceremony is a time for the campus community to come together and honor the memory of these students. Uniting as one Buffalo family creates an atmosphere of encouragement and inspiration that is truly unmatched.”

Scholarships of $700 for the 2023-24 academic year were given by SGA in memory of those nine Buffs to current students in the same field of study:

  • Mariela Flores, a senior nursing major from Arlington, in Anderson’s memory;

  • Elizabeth Waters, a senior strategic communication major from Amarillo, in Batch’s memory;

  • Keila Enciso, a senior social work major from Pampa, in Raines’ memory;

  • Emmalee Wood, a junior mechanical engineering major from Lakehills, in Soliz’s memory;

  • Lindsey Clements-Acosta, a senior management major from Amarillo, in Haass’ memory;

  • Korbyn Oakes, a sophomore criminal justice major from Amarillo, in Salinas’ memory;

  • Jordan Conde, a junior digital communication and media major from Dumas, in Loria’s memory;

  • Nehemiyah Meresa, a sophomore biology major from Amarillo, in Hoot’s memory; and

  • Lyndsey Rangel, a sophomore agriculture education major from Lyford, in Boyd’s memory.

To be eligible for the scholarships, students must be at least sophomores with a 2.5 GPA or higher and be active in extracurricular or community service activities.

TxDOT hosts open houses, virtual opportunity to discuss BI-40 (Amarillo Blvd.) improvements

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Amarillo office is offering opportunities for the public to learn about proposed improvements on Business I-40D (Amarillo Boulevard).

On Thursday, April 27, TxDOT hosted in-person open houses on the proposed improvements, between I-40 West and SW 9th Avenue, which would include modifying existing median cross-overs, (reconstruct, remove, and/or relocate), constructing turn lanes, extending the limits of safety illumination, constructing median barriers, and constructing continuous sidewalk or shared use path.

The events were held at the Amarillo College West Campus, and online at www.txdot.gov, with the keyword: BI-40D.

All maps and exhibits on display at the open house presentations are also available for viewing at the website through May 12, using the keyword BI-40D at www.txdot.gov . Comments must be postmarked or received by Friday, May 12, to be included in the official open house meeting record.

Saint Francis to host virtual town hall meeting for foster families

On Wednesday, May 3, from noon to 1 p.m., Saint Francis will host a virtual town hall meeting via Microsoft Teams for Texas Panhandle and South Plains foster families to hear the latest updates, discuss policies and current issues, clarify processes, ask questions, and voice concerns.

For May’s meeting, guest speaker Erica Bright, Executive Director of Lubbock area nonprofit Reclaimed43, will share about the organization's mission and services provided to aging-out foster youth.

For the meeting, all microphones will be muted unless speaking, and they encourage use of the chat box feature for all questions. There will be plenty of time to speak after the presentation, and there will be a moderator to help keep things running on time.

For more information, follow Saint Francis Ministries on Facebook or email Erin Baxter, Director of Community Engagement, at erin.baxter@st-francis.org . The town halls are held every month, on the first Wednesday.

WT Spanish Program to offer training for area interpreters

CANYON — West Texas A&M University’s Spanish program is partnering with an Amarillo nonprofit to offer a training session for area interpreters.

WT’s Translators in Residence, a community-facing project organized by Spanish-program faculty and students that explores the professional applications of bilingualism, will host “Best Practices in Community Interpretation” at 12:30 p.m. May 1 at The PLACE Multicultural Community Center, 3107 Plains Blvd., Suite 500, in Amarillo.

The PLACE — which stands for The Place for Language, Art, Culture & Economic Growth — offers support for resettled and new refugees in Amarillo. More than 30 community interpreters from across the diverse population of the Amarillo area are expected to take part through the Refugee Language Project in Amarillo. Such interpreters help residents navigate health, legal and financial services available to them.

“Unlike professional translators, community interpreters typically have little formal training on how to fulfill their roles,” said Juan Garcia Oyervides, assistant professor of Spanish. “This semester, we worked with students to reflect on their personal experience growing up as cultural mediators for their families and communities, and researched the common issues facing community interpretation. Our aim is to share the outcome of this process with the interpreter community in Amarillo and bring awareness to how multilingual education can strengthen the development of our students and surrounding communities in the Texas Panhandle.”

The Translators in Residence project recently won the Innovative Academic Program Award from WT’s Student Government Association.

APD warns of more thefts coming during warmer weather

With the warmer weather, thieves will be out looking for things to steal. Help the Amarillo Police Department (APD) help you, and don't leave your cars unlocked or anything of value in your vehicles.

Make sure you secure your gates to your yard, a simple piece of wire is all it takes to prevent a thief or burglar from opening your gate and entering your yard.

Don't leave bicycles or other valuables in your yard overnight.

"Just a few simple things to remind everyone what we already know," APD said in a Facebook post.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo area Our Town briefs for April 30, 2023