This one has nothing to do with students, but everything to do with the people who made them happen. I am talking about Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and Dad. I want to thank all of you. You know what, let's throw in: Uncles, Aunts, other friends of the family that just never miss a game. Y'all are the ones that going to games fun for me. I enjoy our conversations when I got to games and watch. You cheer passionately. Sometimes too much... But you care. You don't miss a game, rain or shine, sleet or snow. You are more reliable than the post office. I have witnessed some of you somehow magically make it t three locations in the same night because you had a granddaughter playing high school basketball in Hiawatha, a grandson playing high school basketball in Oskaloosa and somehow also were at JH to watch a niece cheer the middle school on.

You go go to every Forensics meet and have no clue how the scoring works but you politely power clap anyway. You sit in the back of the room of every scholars bowl match and silently curse that your kid didn't know the answer to that question that the two of you talked about the other day. You go to watch powerlifting on Saturday and enjoy the smells of sweaty teenagers in a not so well ventilated space. You post every picture and are so proud of every one. And I am absolutely grateful for every one because I am still not all that great at taking pictures so I wind up using a lot of them in my weekly Cobra Strikes. You cheer on the Cobras win or lose and I love it.

You show up.

For that I thank you all. For every grandma hug I get at a game, I am thankful. They give me energy to keep going on.

And guess what, next week doesn't look much less busy

"Always try to be nice, but never fail to be kind" The Doctor

From the first day to the last day, It's a great day to be a COBRA!

Derek E. Smith

https://www.jhcobras.net/article/2045457

https://www.jhcobras.net/article/2045453

https://www.jhcobras.net/article/2045451

https://www.jhcobras.net/article/2045451

Monday: FFA Morning Mints

• MS Boys Basketball NEKL Vs. P Ridge @ ACCHS 5:45 pm
• Culinary Field Trip

Tuesday: FFA Deal or No Deal

• MS Boys Basketball NEKL TBD @ McLouth
• ACT Testing
• League Forensics @ Horton 4:00 pm

Wednesday: FFA Tractor Day

• MS Boys Basketball NEKL TBD @ McLouth
• WorKKeys
• FFA Selection Day

Thursday: FFA Dinner and a Movie (The Cowboys)

• HS Mens Basketball @ Cair Paravel 7:00 pm

Friday: FFA Aggie Olympics

• HS Womens Basketball @ Horton 7:00 pm

Saturday:

• Forensics @ ACCHS

Last night we had our first Bingo night in the commons and oh man it was a beyond a fun night. We had a great meal beforehand and then had a fun night of Bingo. I personally had a blast watching the students realize how much fun Bingo can actually be. We gave out some great prizes along that were a great mix of JH memorabilia and local shop give a ways. The night raised $650 for Honor flight and solidified that we will keep this train going next month and beyond.

Mark the calendars for the last Saturday of the month in March (29)

No Bingo in April as that day is the Prom (the sponsors didn't find it amusing when I joked with them about moving the date of Prom)

We will then take it back up in May (31)

At the end of the school year we will discuss doing it over the summer if there is enough interest from the community.

We have made the selections for the Honor Flight 11 Guardians. They are:

Chesnea Cochren, Anna Schierling, Alexis Richter, Layla Cochran, Emma Sides, Josie Jager, Jace Doyle, Alexis Denault, Tryston Honeyman, Michael Robertson, Blaine Burdiek, Talen Browning, Laramie Self, Jen Mellies, Jackson Holliday, Gage Holliday, Teagen Bowhay, Nicole Amon, Anthony Gulotta, Ashlyn Brucken, Duke Condo, Kyla Milligen, Alexa Rash, Gracie White, Brooke Slipke

Congratulations to the Guardians, Now the work begins of getting us off the ground next November!

It was tough to accumulate a whole lot of points in all of a day and a half, but I still enjoyed interactions with students this week seeing them make the most of the days they were here. I got out into classrooms quite a bit on Friday and, even after three years, I still can't get over the energy in the classes at Jackson Heights. It is almost impossible to explain without seeing it first hand.

Receantly my unit from Osan Air Base In Korea from 2003 put together a reunion group and we have been talking about getting back together. Of course this has been bringing up some of the old memories from back in the day. I spent roughly from January of 2003 until June of 2007 continuously living overseas in various countries and it started with Osan Air Base South Korea (Jan 2003- Jan 2004). Yes I had deployments before that, but those were from when I was stationed in Florida. This was my first full overseas duty assignment. It was hard, we had frequent fires, a few plane crashes. hard times make for better units. That crew was and is like family to me. Over twenty years has passed and we are talking like we saw each other yesterday. That year was arguably the best single year of my entire career.

It's a great day to be a Cobra!!

Email: derek.smith@jhcobras.net

Website: jhcobras.net
Location: 12692 266th Rd Holton, KS 66436
Phone: (785)248-4386
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jackson.Heights.USD335

https://www.citylinktv.com/channel/cobra

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a0QJd_3uUnHcCppNy4KIttr-i_TO_Q1QcxSKC8PZaHo/edit