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Hobbs students honored at Science Olympiad and a middle-schooler advances with essay on digital divide
Summary
Hobbs Municipal Schools recognized Science Olympiad and musical-theater honorees; Highland Middle School eighth-grader Jacob Murillo advanced in the U.S. Chamber Civics competition after a state-stage essay arguing schools should provide devices to close a digital divide.
Two Hobbs Municipal Schools students and several school programs were recognized at the board’s May 19 meeting, and an eighth-grader will represent the district at the state level in a national civics contest.
Board President Terry O’Brien opened recognitions for the district’s Science Olympiad teams and coaches, noting Houston Middle School placed sixth out of 21 regional teams, Highland Middle School placed nineteenth, and Hobbs High School finished tenth in its division. The board named several coaches and student competitors and congratulated two high-school students, Preston Evans and Angelica Perez, for first-place performances in a high-difficulty event.
Megill, a Highland Middle School instructor, introduced Jacob Murillo, who read his award-winning essay to the board. Murillo framed the piece around what he called the digital divide and its practical impact on youth. “The digital divide is just not a statistic. It creates challenges that limit opportunities,” Murillo said, arguing that roughly one in five U.S. teens lack reliable internet and proposing that schools provide laptops to students beginning in fourth or fifth grade and require return by senior year. He suggested partnerships with large technology companies to help supply devices.
Board members asked Murillo how the proposal could be implemented. Murillo pointed to Hobbs’s existing device program: “We get our computers early on, and then at the end of the year, we turn it in our twelfth grade year as our senior,” he said, noting the district’s current device-distribution practice as a model.
Natalie Stewart, a Hobbs High senior, also addressed the board to describe the Enchantment Awards and the experience of preparing a medley and competing statewide. “It was the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Stewart said, thanking the board for supporting the theater program.
The board congratulated the students and coaches and moved on to the business agenda. Jacob Murillo’s essay advanced him to the state competition in Albuquerque on June 13.
