Dateline: October 17, 2002

HISD dedicates new building to Messer

By Roger Estlack & Cheryl Johnson, Clarendon Enterprise

Hedley school officials dedicated their new $1 million facility expansion to the late Evelyn Messer last Saturday as part of the 51st annual Cotton Festival.

Messer, who passed away in 2001, had worked in the Hedley Public School for more than 30 years, teaching English and drama while running the school library.

“Few places in this world can one find people so wholly dedicated to the development of children than Hedley,” said Superintendent Bryan Hill, who praised several long-time teachers. “Certainly one of those that you cannot help but think of when you walk into this addition is Mrs. Messer.”

Hill said he could not imagine the number of hours Messer spent getting Hedley kids through English or helping them learn to write intelligently.

The large crowd assembled in the school cafeteria for an all-school reunion responded with enthusiastic applause as Hill made the dedication.

A plaque was presented to Messer’s husband, Doyle, and a similar plaque will be affixed to the wall of the new addition.

“Maybe future generations will read it,” Hill said, “and maybe it will help us remember her contribution.”

Following the dedication, the crowd was allowed to tour the new addition, which has nearly doubled the floor space of the school’s main building. For the first time in decades, every teacher at HISD now has his own classroom.

The expansion includes four new classrooms – one of which is stepped in a lecture hall style – as well as two new administrative offices.

The highlight of the expansion is a new multimedia room which serves as a combination library and auditorium. A large, elevated stage in the multimedia room is available for school programs and plays, and the room can accommodate seating for 400 people.

The $1 million project was partially funded through an Instructional Facilities Allotment grant from the state. The IFA money will cover approximately 84 percent of the cost while the taxpayers of the Hedley school district will pick up the rest through a 15-year bond.