Tours of the campus will highlight numerous improvements at Bossier High, which include painting school-wide, enhancements to the student common areas, new girls locker room, total renovation of the girls gym, new home and visitors side restroom facilities at football stadium, completely renovated concession areas on both sides of football stadium and an updated field house. A new clock is being designed for installation on the main building to replace the original clock that was removed over 30 years ago. Any questions about Open House may be directed to the school’s main office 549-6680 or Open House Coordinator Robin Nichols at 549-6719.

Hildebrand became the second quarterback from a Bossier Parish school this week to commit to a Southland Conference university.

Haughton quarterback James David Almond committed to Northwestern State Monday.

Hildebrand, who will be Airline’s starting quarterback for the third straight season, is joining a Central Arkansas program that finished 9-4 last season and second in the SLC at 6-1.

The Bears advanced to the second round of the Football Bowl Subdivision playoffs. They also almost pulled off an upset of Louisiana Tech before falling 48-42 in the second game of the season.

Hildebrand said Central Arkansas offered him a scholarship after a member of the coaching staff visited Airline during spring practice.

“I didn’t give them much of a chance at first, but I went up to a camp and I met the coaches and toured the campus and I loved it,” Hildebrand said. “The campus gave me a feeling like I was at home. The coaches made me feel at home, too. They were really nice and interested that I was there.

“I went up there again and toured one more time and learned about their offense. Their offense is really quarterback-oriented The last two quarterbacks they’ve had have been All-Americans and NFL prospects.”

Another plus, Hildebrand said, is the coaches told him there’s a good chance he could come in and help them immediately.

Hildebrand, who passed for a Bossier Parish record 2,707 yards last season, said Northwestern State and McNeese were among other schools he considered.

He didn’t rule out listening if any other offers come his way this fall, but he said he’s firmly committed to Central Arkansas.
The 6-foot-3 Hildebrand is also a three-year starter at guard on the basketball team and was a first-team All-Bossier Parish selection last season. He is also a three-time first-team All-District 1-5A selection.

“I have a few offers there, too, and at the beginning of high school I thought that was what I was going to do, play basketball,” he said. “But when coach (Bo) Meeks got here and introduced me to this offense I fell in love with football. I got a lot of attention last year and once these schools started coming through I felt that this was what was best for me right now.”

He also had his Airline jersey retired during a ceremony in 2011.

Saturday night, Robinson will be inducted into the Ark-La-Tex Sports Museum of Champions along with four other area sports figures. The induction ceremony starts at 7 at the Shreveport Convention Center.

He said this ranks up there with the other honors he’s received.

“It’s probably one of the biggest accomplishments I’ve experienced in my life including world championships and being inducted into the hall of fames and having my high school jersey retired,” Robinson said.

“It means so much because this is the city I grew up in. I love Bossier City and Shreveport. It’s a huge honor because I’m being recognized in my hometown. It’s something that’s really unexplainable.”

Former Bossier Press-Tribune sports editor Jerry Byrd will receive a special lifetime achievement award for his contribution to sports. Byrd has written about area sports for more than 50 years.

Robinson is among five inductees that will join 118 others already honored in the Sports Museum.

The other four are current Grambling State head football coach Doug Williams, a former star quarterback at GSU and in the NFL; former Northeast Louisiana University (now ULM) basketball star and Olympic team member Glynn Saulters; former LSU and NFL quarterback Y.A. Tittle, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame; and Lee Hedges, the winningest high school football coach in Bossier City-Shreveport history.

Robinson, the director of customer relations for Future Technology, LLC., led Airline to a 30-0 record in the 1985-86 regular season.

He played two seasons at Eastern Oklahoma State Junior College before going on to star  at Centenary, where he led the Gents to the Trans America Athletic Conference title and was named league MVP.

From 1990 to 2002, he played for eight NBA teams, winning an NBA title with the Houston Rockets.

He also played in three other professional leagues as well as in France, Spain, the Phillipines, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

The Bossier  13-year-old All-Stars don’t begin play in the Dixie Junior Boys World Series until Saturday, but it’s already been a fun trip.

To break up the 930-mile journey to Christiansburg, Va., the All-Stars, coaches and traveling party spent Wednesday night in Atlanta.

They went to Turner Field and watched the Atlanta Braves defeat the Miami Marlins 4-2.

Tonight, the All-Stars will participate in the opening ceremony. Saturday, they’ll open play against host Christiansburg.

The 13s team is the only one in the Bossier Dixie organization still playing this summer.

Two Bossier teams were knocked out of World Series tournaments earlier this week.

Bossier qualified for the World Series by winning the 13s state title last week at Walbrook Park.

Bossier manager George Fauber thinks his team has a good chance to win its first game against Christiansburg, which automatically qualified as the host team.

If they win that game, Sebring, Fla., which won the 2011 O-Zone World Series, could be waiting in the second round of the 12-team, double-elimination tournament.

“If we can get past them we’ve got a favorable bracket,” Fauber said.

“In the state tournament and even our last several practices the pitchers are pitching well and hitting their spots. The breaking pitches look great.

“I feel pretty confident. Even if we do get beat I feel we can come back in the bottom end of the losers’ bracket with the pitching depth that we have.”  

Bossier does have some World Series experience.

Last summer, Josh James,  Coleman Nerren, Peyton Jordan, Jake Mayfield, Hal Gatti and Peyton Donaldson played on the 11-12 O-Zone team that finished tied for third in the World Series.

Other members of the Bossier team are Ryan Lawhorne, Zach Hire, Thomas Bush, Connor Jack Smith, Jonathan Plant, Anthony Mulrenin, and Ethan Parks. Duane Lawhorne and Keith Bush are the coaches.

Both of us quickly made our presence felt at the Natchitoches school – McNew on the football team and me as the sports editor (and, later, editor) of the student newspaper, The Current Sauce.

I  graduated from Fair Park High, although I never lived in the Fair Park school district while I was in high school. I went to Fair Park because I had a severe stuttering problem at that time, and it was the only school in this area that offered a remedial speech class, taught by Lillian Polk.  (In recent years, my biggest speech problem has been that I don’t know when to shut up.)

Fair Park also had a journalism class, taught by Antoinette Tuminello, and she appointed me sports editor of the student newspaper, The Pow Wow, launching my sports writing career.

The Indians’ football team gave me plenty to write about that year, winning the state championship for the only time in the school’s history. Sixty years later, Fair Park is still looking for its second state title.

Fair Park was in the state finals for the third year in a row in 1952, but the previous two teams lost to Istrouma (Baton Rouge) in championship games. The 1952 Indians also lost to Istrouma, 2-0, in a regular-season game, but that was their only loss in 12 games.

They finished the season with three straight shutout wins over Byrd, 27-0, on Thanksgiving Day, and Sulphur, 14-0, and St. Aloysius, 21-0, in road playoff games, outscoring their last three opponents 62-0.

Fullback Tommy Davis and tackle Harley Brown were the only All-Staters on the 1952 Fair Park football team. But halfback A.L. Williams, who later starred at Louisiana Tech  and was head coach at both Northwestern State and Louisiana Tech, scored all five playoff touchdowns. Davis later helped LSU win its first national football championship in 1958, and set a National Football League placekicking record by making 234 consecutive extra points. Davis also had a career punting average of 44.7 yards. When he retired, that was second on the all-time NFL list to Sammy Baugh’s record 45.1.  Davis was later inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

Haughton won its only state football title in 1977, when Coach Bobby Ray McHalffey’s Bucs wrapped up a 13-1 season with a 21-0 victory over Vandebilt Catholic in the Class 3A  title game. That was the Bucs’ second biggest winning margin of the season, surpassed only by a 35-0 rout of Northwood in the third week. The only blemish on Haughton’s record in the championship season was a 22-20 overtime loss to North Caddo. The Bucs’ closest win was a 7-6 squeaker past Ruston in their final regular-season game.

Airline won its only state football championship in 1967, the fourth year of the school’s existence, although the Vikings didn’t win the district title that year.

Their only losses were to city rival Bossier High, 13-7, and to district champion Woodlawn (led by quarterback Joe Ferguson), 28-14. The Vikings scored only five touchdowns in three playoff games, but that was enough, thanks to a great defense. They wrapped up the championship with a 20-7 victory over Holy Cross (New Orleans), with Eric Kilpatrick returning the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown that put the underdog Vikings ahead to stay.

Kilpatrick was the only All-Stater on Airline’s championship team. Runnerup Holy Cross had seven All-Staters, and Holy Cross John Kalbacher was selected Coach of the Year. But Airline beat Holy Cross 20-7 in the title game at Shreveport’s Independence Stadium.

Yolanda Jefferson believes that a school’s culture is determined by its leader.

As the new director of Louisiana New Tech @ Plain Dealing, she plans to maintain a positive learning environment through the school’s unique curriculum while growing the school and community as a whole.

Jefferson made the move to Plain Dealing from Haughton High School, where she spent eight years as assistant principal. She said although it may be hard adjusting to the New Tech learning style, it’s one she’s ready to take on.

Jefferson, a Grambling native, said the transition into her new role and town was easy because she can relate to students on a personal level.

“I’m from the small town with the close-nit community where everybody knew everybody,” she said. “I feel like I understand what it’s like for these kids growing up in a small community and I want to be a role model and example for these students to understand that you can make something out of yourself coming from a small town. Whatever they want to do, they can do it.”

Jefferson described herself as a motivator, team player and authoritative when needed.

“I am firm, consistent and will always be fair,” she said. “I follow the rules and enforce them because people like consistency. I don’t play favorites.”

Her goals for this year include improving state test scores, motivating teachers and students with a ‘no excuses’ attitude, maintaining a high level of success in academics and extracurricular activities and getting the community involved more in  school functions.

“We will work together as a team and not let failure be an option,” she said. “We may fall a little, but we will pick each other back up. We are not going to fail.”

Most importantly, Jefferson is hoping for a strong score from the New Tech evaluation this year and implementing additional changes from the state level.

Due to the New Tech learning method, Jefferson said Plain Dealing students are already a step ahead.

“They are already integrating the common core values that other schools are just now transitioning to,” she said. “It’s all part of the New Tech curriculum so we’re actually ahead right now. We just need the equipment to keep up.”

Technology is the key element to running a New Tech school, Jefferson said. She attended the national New Tech conference in Michigan over the summer to familiarize herself on what it takes to run a school of its type.

“The challenging part is not having all of the electronic equipment needed to function as a New Tech school,” she said. “New Tech requires us to have a 1:1 ratio for students and devices.”

A major setback came during the April special election when the public voted against the school board’s proposed recurring technology fund. Those funds, she added, would have been useful with keeping New Tech updated with the latest and greatest educational tools.

“Our school strictly runs on technology. We don’t use textbooks at all,” she said. “The bond issue could have helped us get the technology we really need.”

Instead, Jefferson said they will rely on the equipment already available and what students are allowed to bring with them. She also hopes to find sponsorships and implement fundraisers in the future to raise enough funds for technology.

“This school already allows students to bring in their own technology, but we’re going to have to depend on that a little bit more until we can get sponsors and fundraisers going,” she said.

She added that the town of Plain Dealing and school alumni will play a vital role in the school’s future.

“If we can get the community involved, we could really do some things and make things happen,” she said.

With anything new, there are sure to be changes. Jefferson hopes the Louisiana New Tech family will be supportive and accepting of the new rules and policies in order to achieve the significant academic, social and athletic success she hopes to achieve this year.

“I’ve gone from Bucs to Lions and I’m happy about it.”

More than 100 new teachers were officially welcomed into the Bossier Schools family Wednesday at the Bossier Chamber of Commerce annual new teacher luncheon.

The event is held each year to welcome new teachers to the community, give words of encouragement through team-building keynote speaker Bonnie Dubin and provide a place to meet new friends and community leaders.

Chamber President Lisa Johnson said the Bossier Chamber recognizes the relationship between local businesses and the school system and how important education is to the Bossier community.

Rita Sullivan will start her first year at Bossier Elementary School as enrichment teacher. She walked away a big winner at the luncheon when her ticket number was called as the winner of a new iPad, courtesy of Barksdale Federal Credit Union.

Sullivan said her job will be very hands-on role and the new device came at the perfect time. At a time when technology is most beneficial to students, Sullivan said the iPad will be a useful tool for academic success.

“There are all kinds of educational apps that will benefit all types of learners,” she said. “I’m so happy that I will be able to use it with my students and bring additional technology and teaching methods to our students at Bossier Elementary School.”

Superintendent D.C. Machen thanked event sponsors for playing a vital role in the school system as supporters of positive learning experiences.

“From every facet of our community, there is an extended family reaching out and providing encouragement,” Machen said. “They recognize the role [teachers] play as educators in developing our community and future leaders.”

Sullivan extended a special thanks to Barksdale Federal Credit Union for supporting the school system and for providing unique teaching opportunities for the students.

“This is the latest and the greatest and I got it,” she said with a smile. “We are blessed to have the community support in ensuring academic success of our students.”

Teachers will begin the new school year Monday, Aug. 6, with in-service workshops. The first official day of school is Thursday, Aug. 9.

“Whenever we have a rash of vehicle burglaries, we always provide these two tips,” Mark Natale said. “You have to keep in mind that these criminals who target vehicles are opportunists, and the key is to eliminate the opportunity for these criminals.”

According to Natale, public information officer for Bossier Police Department, Jan. 1 through July 30 of this year, there were 253 vehicle burglaries in the City of Bossier City, and that is down compared to last year where there were 286 vehicle burglaries during the same time period.

Also according to www.voices.yahoo.com, “By parish, four of the best places to live in Louisiana are located in St. Tammany Parish, three in or partially in Lafayette Parish, two in Caddo, East Baton Rouge, and Jefferson Parishes respectively, and one each in or partially in Ascension, Beauregard, Bossier, La Salle, Livingston, Rapides, St. Martin, and West Baton Rouge Parishes.”

Recently vehicle burglaries were reported at Port Au Prince Apartments and Preston Place Apartments in Bossier City.

One vehicle burglary was reported in June and another in July of this year at Port Au Prince Apartments.

A purse was taken in both events, and neither vehicle showed signs of forced entry.

At Preston Place Apartments, an apartment complex near Port Au Prince, the victim of a vehicle burglary in July reported to Bossier Police Department that he believed he had left his vehicle unlocked.

Natale stresses these basic safety measures to ensure that property in your vehicle is safe and hidden from criminals.

“Do not leave valuables in your vehicle, and if you do, conceal them by placing them underneath the seat or in the trunk,” He said. “Also, simply lock your doors.”

He said the BPD observes criminals’ behavior, and they have found that these are the two most important tips for citizens to keep in mind.

“We found out that a majority of these crimes are committed by individuals who simply go through parking lots and pull on door handles,” Natale said. “If the vehicle is unlocked, they open it up and look inside.”

Other tips have also been proven to be very effective including parking in a well-lit area and making sure your car alarm is functioning properly.

“What is important to remember about these criminals is that they do not want to draw attention to themselves or be seen,” he said. “They rather find a door that is unlocked, rather than breaking a window and making noise.”