The Pfluger Elementary School Choir sang “This Land is Your Land” at the dedication of their new campus last weekend. The school is named for longtime Hays CISD school trustee Ralph Pfluger. (Photos by Jim Cullen)
Carpenter Hill Elementary School fourth grader Taylor Cooper sings a solo during the school’s dedication ceremony on Friday as choir teacher Holly Gandy looks on.
by JIM CULLEN
Community members turned out in droves on Friday to dedicate Ralph Pfluger Elementary and Carpenter Hill Elementary, the Hays school district’s newest campuses.
At Pfluger Elementary, principal Robin Kelley welcomed a turnout that included more than 400 students, teachers and staff as well as the school’s namesake, longtime Hays CISD trustee Ralph Pfluger.
Addressing the crowd, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett called Pfluger “the real mortar for this school” and said the school is evidence that “one person who cares and who is willing to devote the effort can make a real difference.”
Later in the morning at Carpenter Hill Elementary, principal Jodie Wymore welcomed the packed house of her own 600-plus students and staff, parents, district staff and honored Carpenter family guests. Keith Townsend, a Carpenter descendant, and other family members presented the school with framed historical documents and photographs about the family for whom the school is named.
The Carpenter Hill student body all took part in a rousing rendition of “Deep in the Heart of Texas” and “Texas, Our Texas” with fourth-grader Taylor Cooper handling soloist duties. By the time the morning was all over, two exuberant groups of elementary students had enjoyed a dose of local heritage and place that they won’t soon forget.
