Predation, habitat loss, and bad weather all are suspects in the decline of Oklahoma’s wild turkeys, but the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation is looking inward as well — at turkey DNA.

ABOVE LEFT KAMILY WILKINS shows a lot of focus at the plate trying to get a good hit for the RATTAN RAMS during TBall action. ABOVE RIGHT HUGO CATCHER GAVYN GILMORE hustles onto the field with the baseball during recent 12U baseball action at Choctaw Nation Warrior Field in Grant.

THE HUGO AREA CHAMBER of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for new chamber member, Good Crops last Monday afternoon. The business, located on Broadway Street in downtown Hugo, has been open six months. Pictured: Chamber board members Lena Kopp, Valerie Powell and Jay Hinds pose with Good Crops owners Alexander Cornelison and Linda De La Garza, as well as Heather Morgan, Duane Morgan, Karen Morgan, Lisa Cornelison and John Cornelison.

Franccesca Dotsenko is the Valedictorian of Hugo High School’s Class of 2022. Her current weighted GPA is 4.08. She is a member of HHS Student Council, National Honor Society and she participated in Internship. She is Senior Class Vice President, Leo Club Vice President and Senior Editor of Yearbook. During high school, Franccesca enrolled in concurrent college courses through Murray State College, and she will begin her college career with enough credits to be considered a second-semester college student. After high school, she will attend the University of Oklahoma and pursue a degree in Speech-Language Pathology. Daughter of Judith Cavallini, and granddaughter of Judith Ramirez, Franccesca will be one of the first in her family to attend college. She is excited and looking forward to forging a new path for herself at OU and being a proud representative of Hugo, Okla.

STUDENTS AT HUGO HIGH School and Middle School staged a walk-out last Thursday, in protest of an administrative decision to reassign the middle school Dean of Students, Chris Scott. The students marched to the Administration office, chanting “we want Chris” and carrying signs in support of their teacher.

HUGO MIDDLE SCHOOL was awarded an Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust (OETT) grant in the amount of $40,000. This grant will help establish a digital student-centered learning environment based for Hugo students. The OETT grant will add new desktops and video production equipment so the students can creatively work in a digital environment focused on meaningful real-world learning. Hugo will partner with Oklahoma University’s K20 Learning Center to train faculty and students in using the technology awarded through this grant. Pictured is the Leadership Team (left to right): Stephanie Tanner, STEM teacher; Brandi Cook, Curriculum Specialist; Veta Massengale, Principal; Kelsie Lopez, eighth-grade science teacher.

HUGO SENIOR CLASS OF 2022! Graduation will be held at 10 a.m. at Gene Nesbit Stadium Saturday, May 21..