By Winston spencer Jr.Wspencer@iteMonline.coM

Henry Massie Jr. had aproductive military career.One that has taken himaround the world, twice adrill sergeant and up to aseat of power inWashington. Massiebecame a soldier’s soldier.

“In May of 1970 I grad-uated from HuntsvilleHigh School,” Massiesaid. “By October I was inthe Army, and it’s beenleft-right-left for over 44years.”

Originally scheduled togo to Vietnam, he was

d ive r t edto Alaskab e c a u s ehe alreadyhad ab r o t h e rfighting inVietnam.Then itwas on toS o u t hKorea.

“I found myself lookingat those North Koreansacross the DMZ,” Massiesaid. “Every now and thenthey might throw agrenade, but they didn’twant none of this.”

Among one of the

greatest joys Massie sayshe experienced was beinga drill sergeant.

“No matter what, everysoldier remembers hisdrill sergeant,” he said. “Ihad the opportunity to beout on the trail twice.Once in Fort Dix, NewJersey and again at FortJackson, South Carolina.”

Some may think beingfrom Huntsville it mayseem like the duty inSouth Carolina may havebeen better because of thewarmer weather in thesouth.

“I was not authorized toget cold as a drill ser-geant,” Massie said. “All I

Visit us online: www.itemonline.com $1.50Sunday, November 23, 2014

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INdexHigh: 77 Low: 49

Looks like the rain is overand we’re back to good ol’ Texassunshine today. The weathershould be pleasant during theday with temps becoming cooleras we move into the evening.

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sOUtHLAnd CHAMPiOns!

New superintendent talks legislative wish listBy stephen green

sgreen@iteMonline.coM

Every two years, the TexasLegislature opens for businessto pass laws and budgets thatdictate state action for the fol-lowing two years.

It’s that time again and theusual mad dash for politicalpositioning is underway. Dr.Howell Wright, the lone finalistfor the Huntsville ISD superin-tendent job, is among those hop-ing he sees education reform

that benefits school districts. Wright has testified in front

of the Texas Legislature over hiscareer, most recently about amonth ago. His wish listsinclude more money forschools.

“I at least want (theLegislature) to get us as leastback to where we were in 2011,”he said referring to that sessionwhere representatives cut theeducation budget by about $5billion.

Some money was restored in

the 2013 session, but school dis-tricts say that’s not nearlyenough.

Although, Wright suspectsthat won’t be changed until alawsuit against the state forschool funding is resolved.

Wright goes a step furtherwith more specific requests forschool funding.

“I believe they need to look atlevel of funding for CTE (careerand technology) coursesbecause a lot of time thosecourses require fewer students

and more equipment,” he said.“The other thing really I’d like... is to fund with CTE for mid-dle school CTE courses so stu-dents start a little earlier.”

Finally, Wright would like tosee some attention given to theworkload put on school counsel-lors. Those employees now haveto create six- and four-yearplans for students. There is morepressure on these employeessince HB 5 passed in 2013 cre-ating degree pathways for cer-tain subjects like a college

major. “Counsellors need additional

support,” he said. “We alreadyasked a lot of them, but we arereally asking a lot of them now.”

He believes there are conver-sations about all those areaswithin the legislature. Fundingmight be the biggest concern.

“How likely those will gothrough (depends on the cost),”he said. “As long as it doesn’thave additional cost, they’re

Local soldier achieves high honor Celebrating 40 years of service

SUBMITTED PHOTODonna Little, left, smiles as she receives acommemorative plaque from the manager ofthe USPS Houston District celebrating her 40years of service. See guard, Page 6A

MAssie

JOSHUA YATES/THE HUNTSVILLE ITEMAt top, the Sam Houston State Bearkats hoist the Southland Conference trophy after defeating Central Arkansas 38-31 to claim a share of the Southland Conference championship. The Bearkats willnow head into the postseason after earning the Southland’s automatic spot to the FCS playoffs. The Kats will find out who they’ll play and when during today’s FCS Championship Selection Show,which will air on ESPNU at 10 a.m. Above left, Sam Houston State head coach K.C. Keeler leads the Bearkat Marching Band in the fight song following the Bearkats’ big victory on Saturday. Aboveright, despite the rainy conditions, Bearkat fans packed Bowers Stadium to cheer their team on to victory on Saturday afternoon.

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By J.p. McBride

JpMcBride@iteMonline.coM

It is hard to come by employees whomcompanies can retain year after year fordecades at a time.

That is what makes Donna Little’s 40 yearsof service with the U.S. Postal Service suchan impressive accomplishment.

For the past 32 years, Little has been work-ing as a rural carrier for the post office in NewWaverly and decided to retire after fourdecades of delivering mail for the governmenton Thursday.

Her efforts were rewarded recently, when amanager from the Houston district came toNew Waverly to personally hand her a 40year service award pin and certificate.

“It was humbling,” Little said. “I enjoyedworking there so much and the years past so

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See hisd, Page 7A