The Leonard High School Yearbook Staff has "joined the big dogs", as Advisor Nancy Longino said, after a recent award given to them by publisher Balfour Yearbooks. Each year, a panel of judges nominates schools to be included in the Yearbook Yearbook - a book featuring "the best of the best" from across the nation. This year, they judged work from 2011 and the staff from Leonard High School was chosen to receive an Honorable Mention Certificate of Recognition.

Wednesday, Feb. 8, was the three-month anniversary of the death of Leonard City Councilwoman and Leonard Elementary teacher Tammy Barnes. While difficult, friends, co-workers and former students chose to honor her - on what would have been her 46th birthday - by breaking ground on the first trees planted in the Leonard ISD Outdoor Learning Classroom, a project Barnes was co-conspirator on with friend and co-worker Sheri Watson. The teachers’ dream of students learning in the area still under construction on the north side of Leonard Elementary came to fruition even before the space was completed as Barnes’ former students were instructed on the proper techniques of planting trees and got a hands-on lesson in her honor.

The Outdoor Learning Classroom was originally a creative vision of Watson, though it quickly became a tag-team project as she approached Barnes about helping her - specifically with obtaining grant money to fund it - and Barnes, as was always the case when it came to helping kids, jumped in head first without a second thought. The first funds were obtained in 2009 through First Choice Power’s Reduce Your Use Grant, which provides funds to Texas schools, chambers and non-profits who are looking to make energy-efficient upgrades, products and programs. At that point, the project was off the ground.

Over the next few days, the Leonard High School basketball teams will be competing in some important games, and some support from a large crowd of fans would help tremendously.

The girls district season has ended and they will play their first playoff game in the bi-district round on Tuesday, Feb. 14. Come out and help them get a sweetheart of a win on Valentine’s Day. This game will be against Whitewright  at Anna High School at 7 p.m.

After defeating the Tom Bean Tom Cats Friday night by a score of 14-13, the Leonard Tigers clenched a spot in the 2011 play-offs. Their appearance in the post-season hinged on the last day of regular season play. Not only did their win over Tom Bean play a part, but so did the result of the Gunter vs. Whitewright game, which was taking place at the same time in Gunter. Gunter won 42-26 to finish first place in district, and Leonard took second place with their win - finishing with a 4-1 district record. Whitewright finished in the district's third place position possessing a 3-2 record - with their other loss being to Leonard two weeks prior when their already-sought-after-by-college-scouts quarterback, junior Tyrone Swoopes, was unable to play due to an injury. Tom Bean was edged out of a play-off berth with the defeat by Leonard.

June 23, 2011 - Jerry and Ruby Polston of Gober will be honored with a 50th Anniversary Reception from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 25, at the Gober Community Center in Gober. They married on June 24, 1961, in the home of the bride's parents, the late George & Effie White of New London, Calif.

June 23, 2011 - Currently, 60% of the City of Leonard's school age children in the elementary alone are on free or reduced lunch, district wide is at 57%. Many of the children only receive food at the school. This poses a problem for the weekend where many do not receive adequate food during this time.

June 23, 2011 - Leonard ISD basketball coaches Jeff Smith and Kyle Phifer held their boy's basketball camp last week at Leonard High School gym, and the coaches and their assistants had a good number of future basketball stars to train for the week. On Friday, parents were invited to join the boys on the last day of camp to watch the boys play some ball and participate in an awards ceremony, where each received awards for their individual strong points.

June 16, 2011 - The baseball coaches for District 12-AA recently met and picked all-district selections from each team within the district.

June 16, 2011 - Listed below are the Leonard Junior High students who made the A and A/B Honor Roll for the entire 2010-11 school year:

Sixth Grade -A Honor Roll - Nathan Anderson, Trey DeVincentis, Charles McBroom, Brex Schur, Maggie Scoggins and Wyatt Springer; A/B Honor Roll - Ashleigh Alexander, Courtney Billy, Hailey Black, Cassidy Burns, Kenzy Cotten, McKinzie Gentry, Alexis Hattaway, Ian Jones, Zachary Kay, Katelyn Klaus, Emily Lipsys, Matthew Majeau, Cassidy Monck, Madison Sacco and Jacob Terry.

June 9, 2011 - After the classrooms cleared last Friday, Leonard ISD administration held an awards assembly for their employees, honoring those retiring and presenting service pins to those working for the district in five-year increments.