The Plainsman Press - South Plains College

“I expect to see her walking down that hall, and into my class,” said Smith, coordinator of the Associate of Arts in Teaching program at South Plains College. “I still have to stop and remind myself.”

She has been reflecting for the past two weeks on the loss of one of her students, sophomore Danielle Newman, who passed away Oct. 16 after a brief illness.

“I remember seeing her that Thursday, before she was admitted in the hospital during the weekend,” said Smith. “When I got the call that she was in the Intensive Care Unit at University Medical Center, I just froze.”

Foreign Language Festival set for Nov. 3

by Courtney Bullard, co-news editor

South Plains College says “bienvenidos” to local high school students for the annual Foreign Language Festival.

The festival will be held on Nov. 3 from 8 a.m. to 3p.m. Students from local high schools such as Dimmit, Friona, Levelland, Muleshoe, and New Deal will be among those participating. They will be competing in various events to test their foreign language skills.

There are 12 events, including, broadcasting, written tests, sight-reading, skits, puppets, and folklore dance.

Approximately 400 students and sponsors will be attending this year. There will also be 93 student volunteers from SPC ‘s Levelland campus, Reese center, and Texas Tech University.

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SPC host disaster drill to help prepare emergency response of community

by Courtney Bullard, co-news editor

The bubonic plague was released by terrorists as a weapon of mass destruction during a tailgate party prior to a football game between Texas Tech University and the University of Texas.

This was the scenario given to the Hockley County Emergency Operations Team for the disaster drill on Oct. 24-Oct.25. The Levelland Police Department acted as the Emergency Operations Center, with the City of Levelland Municipal Building acting as the Incident Command Center. The Point of Distribution (POD) was set up at South Plains College.

Plainsman Press earns four awards at TCCJA

by Jacob Tucker, associate editor

The South Plains College Plainsman Press won yet another set of awards for the wall.

The awards were announced during the Texas Community College Journalism Association Fall Conference held Oct. 20 in Texarkana, Texas.

Ray Buffington, who is in his third semester as editor-in-chief of The Plainsman Press, came away from the contest with Honorable Mention recognition in news writing for his story on the murder of SPC nursing student, Michele Lavato. Photographer Michelle Lojewski, also received Honorable Mention in the feature photo category for her photos of the Lubbock Arboretum in the story “Secret Garden.”