Community News

Graduates line up to receive their diplomas at the University of Alaska Fairbanks 2024 commencement ceremony May 4 - Photo by Leif Van Cise
FAIRBANKS, AK (05/23/2024)-- The University of Alaska Fairbanks honored the Class of 2024 during its 102nd commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 4, at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.

Claire Byer of Silver City received the following degree(s): Bachelor of Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies.

The university's first commencement took place in 1923, when the sole graduate, John Sexton Shanly, received a bachelor's degree in agriculture. This year, UAF conferred approximately 1,156 degrees on 1,031 students. Some students received more than one degree.

The commencement ceremony included graduates from summer and fall 2023 and spring 2024.

Pictured from top to bottom, left to right: Adam Senter, Kevin Peterson, Sonny Sherwood, Zion Lopez, Bodhi Baker, Joshua Estrada, David Pecotte, Sisco Aguilar, Jaime Villanueva, Kai Shaw, Meliani Diaz-Urbina, Willow Sprague-Robinson, Ronan Euler, Pranay Kyasa, Nathaniel Castillo, Siobhan Pyper, Eva Engstrom, Cedar Markham, and Maya Reeves - Photo by Jessi Ann Crocker On Saturday, May 18 Aldo Leopold Charter School (ALCS) held their graduation ceremony at the Ben Altamirano Field on the Western New Mexico University (WNMU) campus.  

The keynote speaker was teacher Zachary Tecca who focused his remarks on the topics of curiosity and motivation, encouraging students to continue to explore the world around them. 

Mr. Tecca concluded, "So here is the lecture where I impress upon you the merits, that I believe, make a person successful. It isn't the typical senses of achievement, like strictly wealth or education, that make a human successful. It is the motivation that comes from a person's deep-seated interest in discovering the unknown.

Silver City, NM – Message from Robert Whitaker, CEO:
Dear Gila Regional Community Members,

Gila Regional Medical Center is embarking on its first ever Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). A component of our plan is to have a community townhall to allow you to have input into the assessment. This is in addition to forum groups, surveys, and other modes of hearing from you about the health needs of our community.

LEVELLAND, TX (05/20/2024)-- Ketch Bays of Hurley, NM (88043) was named to the South Plains College Spring 2024 President's List.

Bays was among more than 400 students named to the list.

To qualify, students must earn a GPA of 4.0 and complete a minimum of 12 credit hours.

South Plains College is a comprehensive, two-year community college that serves the greater South Plains area of Texas with innovative educational programs that span the arts and sciences, technical education, continuing education and workforce development. Serving a 13-county area that comprises the southern portion of the Texas High Plains, the college's main campus is located in Levelland. SPC also offers educational programs at three locations in Lubbock - the SPC Lubbock Downtown Center, SPC Lubbock Career and Technical Center, and the SPC Reese Center - as well as an extension center in Plainview.

Prof. Heather Frankland was proclaimed Silver City and Grant County's sixth Poet Laureate at the Town Council Meeting by Mayor Ladner on May 14, 2024.

The Poet Laureate Program of the Silver City/Grant County area, established in 2011 by the Steering Committee of the Southwest Festival of the Written Word, and endorsed by the Mayor and Town Council of the Town of Silver City, strives to promote a meaningful poetic presence as part of the diverse cultural fabric of our town and region.

MANCHESTER, NH (05/15/2024)-- Diego Esqueda of SilverCity (88061) has been named to Southern New Hampshire University's Winter 2024 Dean's List. The winter terms run from January to May.

Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.500 to 3.699 for the reporting term are named to the Dean's List. Full-time status is achieved by earning 12 credits over each 16-week term or paired 8-week terms grouped in fall, winter/spring, and summer.

Dean of the WNMU College of Education Cindy Martinez (right) and Professor of Bilingual/TESOL Education Alexandra Neves (second from left) visited multiple classrooms in Spain this springSILVER CITY, NM – Two members of the WNMU College of Education, Dean Cindy Martinez and Professor of Bilingual/TESOL Education Alexandra Neves, spent part of spring semester in Asturias, Spain, where they visited la Universidad de Oviedo (the University of Oviedo), gave presentations, and made a number of classroom visits.

The University of Oviedo is familiar to Neves, as she spent a year teaching there while on sabbatical from WNMU in 2019. The university is also an international partner of WNMU, and the two universities have a memorandum of understanding that allows students from either institution to study at the other.

President Shelley Topmiller presents Molly with her 50-year certificate.PRECEPTOR TAU CHAPTER HONORS MOLLY HEALY

At its annual Founder's Day celebration, members of Preceptor Tau Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi conferred the Golden Ritual on Molly Healy.

The event was held at the Little Toad and included dinner and the traditional program.

In her 50 years of membership, Molly has spent 49 years as an active member in various Grant County chapters.  She has served in many offices and committees, and is always available to assist in the many social, service and fundraising projects.