Members of the Beatty High School student council were already at work a week and a half before the start of school, planning activities for the coming year and providing service to spiffy up the campus.
New turf football and baseball fields have provided the biggest excitement for the coming year. The football field, dedicated to longtime Beatty General Improvement District member Jack Crowell, will be rededicated in recognition of the major upgrade. This will happen just before the first home football game on Sept. 7.
The baseball field will be dedicated at the beginning of baseball season in honor of former Beatty Principal Keith Koerner.
The school is still looking to find a science teacher. Principal Chris Brockman says that they are talking to a candidate from out of state. In the meantime, former Beatty student Eric Moen will be filling in as a long-term substitute.
Another former student who has been on the faculty for several years will be changing content areas. Steven Sullivan, who has been teaching math, will be taking over the social studies classes previously taught by Bruce Moen, who retired last year.
Math teacher Michael Lyke will be transferring to Beatty from Pahrump Valley High School. Brockman, who originally recruited Lyke when he was principal there, says he is a “great teacher.”
No significant changes are expected in Beatty Elementary and Middle Schools. As in the rest of the county, the first day of school for all students is Aug. 13.
Richard Stephens is a freelance reporter living in Beatty.