The Indianola High School softball teams annual “Strike Out Cancer” night is tonight against rival Southeast Polk, a longstanding tradition to raise funds, awareness, and to support those around the programs who have been affected by cancer. Head coach Stacy Evans tells KNIA News the annual game has honored many former players and coaches who have been affected by cancer, and presents an opportunity to come together as a community.
“It’s something that hits home to many of us. My father died of cancer, and he lives within me every day that I step out on the field and every breath I take. And I want others to know that it’s ok, and there are people fighting all around us, and if we can give them any strength by organizing an event like this, I think it’s just more bang for the purpose. I’m just glad that coach Stiles (SE Polk Head Coach) and I have been able to gear up for this every year.”
Though the years bleed together, Sergio Hernandez still remembers a special Abilene High-Cooper High football game at Shotwell Stadium.
For the past 20 years, he was in charge of making the athletic home of Abilene ISD s two high schools look immaculate.
But that one night, it rained. And rained. Saturday morning, there were giant trucks pulling cars out of the mud, Hernandez said. Things like that you still remember.
Hernandez s 29-year career in the Abilene ISD maintenance department came to an end in December. But on Thursday, he joined other school district retirees, along with a number of employees who earned their milestone service awards, for a special ceremony at the Abilene Convention Center.
Starr Williams gives the valedictory speech at Berkshire Community College s 2019 commencement. I like to be a statistic breaker, says Soncere Starr Williams. That s putting it mildly. At age 40, Williams, Berkshire Community College s 2019 valedictorian, has overcome more obstacles than most people would in a lifetime. Once a high school dropout, she is the product of an abusive foster home who entered into a dark world of substance abuse, mental illness, and juvenile crime. Today, she s an outspoken advocate for the underprivileged and she s headed to Columbia University for a master s degree in social work (MSW). I come from poverty. I come from a place where people don t succeed, because there are far too many barriers to climb over. It s one of the reasons I m in social work, says Starr, who graduated BCC with a perfect 4.0 GPA, earning an associate s degree in human services and an addiction recovery assistant certificate before transferring to Elms College in