Latest news with #WebbCityHighSchool
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Oronogo bank vault related to Bonnie and Clyde robbery to be saved, rebuilt in Louisiana
Online For the latest on the restoration of the Oronogo vault, visit the Bonnie & Clyde Ambush Museum's Facebook page at To watch Aiden Chamber's story about the Oronogo bank robbery and hear other Jasper County stories, go to his Facebook page at ORONOGO, Mo. — If the cinderblock structure on the southeast corner of First and Central could talk, what a tale it would tell. Thanks to a man from Texas and a 2025 Webb City High School graduate, the structure will get a chance to tell its tale at a museum in Gibsland, Louisiana. It is a tale was about a failed bank robbery by Clyde Barrow, of Bonnie and Clyde fame, and two henchmen on a November day in 1933. The cinderblock vault is 11.5 feet long by 11.5 feet wide by 8 feet high, and it stood for more than 120 years until Tuesday. It was part of the former Farmers and Miners Bank on the corner of First and Central. Jeff Hill, a former television meteorologist and current nursing student from San Angelo, Texas, said he was looking for the former vault and bank but mistook the small building on the southeast side of the corner as a boiler room. Aiden Chambers, a recent Webb City graduate who loves to tell forgotten stories about Webb City, Oronogo, Joplin and other communities, pointed him in the right direction. 'Aiden went back to the site with me and pointed to the other side of the street and said that was the bank,' Hill said. Chambers said many people, even residents of Oronogo, are confused about that corner. 'A lot of people think it's in this grassy area behind the post office on the west side of the corner, but it's not,' Chambers said. 'The vault was in the back of the bank, and right here you could walk right over to it.' Chambers said he discovered where the bank was located by matching the rounded concrete lip at the base of the entire building with a picture of the bank from the Webb City Sentinel taken in the early 1900s. Hill said he's cutting up and removing the rounded curb and taking it to Louisiana where it and the vault will be part of a display at the Bonnie & Clyde Ambush Museum. That museum is located 7 miles north of the spot where the couple met their death in an ambush by law officers on a gravel road in rural Louisiana. The building the museum is located in was once a cafe and historians say that cafe is where Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow enjoyed their last meal before leaving to meet a hail of gunfire. 'The plan is to rebuild the vault, and I'll have to use a lot of new material because most of these bricks are brittle and tend to crumble in someone's hands,' Hill said. 'The plan is to install the curved lip at the front of a patio and put the vault in the back and it'll be another location where we can hold reenactments of bank robberies at the annual Bonnie and Clyde Festival we hold every year.' The heist took place Nov. 30, 1932, with Barrow, Hollis Hale and Frank Hardy. The group used a hotel in Carthage as a base for a series of robberies in Jasper County and surrounding counties for several days before leaving the area. Hill said the heist in Oronogo went wrong from the start and that a number of Oronogo residents heard about the robbery in time to grab their guns and trade gunfire with the gang as they fled the bank with only a few hundred dollars. About five months later, Parker and Barrow returned to the area with new gang members and moved into an apartment over a garage at 215 W. 34th St. in Joplin, resting and recuperating for about 13 days before the deadly shootout April 13, 1933, where they shot and killed Constable Wes Harryman and Joplin police Officer Harry McGinnis. The two were killed in an ambush May 23, 1934, near Sailes, Louisiana.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Golden Lion Award: Emma Hudson
WEBB CITY, Mo. — The end of the school year is just days away. With it comes our final Golden Lion Award winner of the year. 'I'm a senior at Webb City High School,' said Emma Hudson, WCHS senior. Emma Hudson's time on campus isn't just class time and homework. 'I've been in FBLA for four years, and I've done DECA for three years. So those are business clubs that we have here at the high school. I was involved with FTA for three years. And then I help with Special Olympics,' said Hudson. Like track meets at Webb City High School. Emma is a unified buddy, meaning she's committed to helping students with disabilities. 'We have unified classes, where we have our PE class. They do their activities and everything, and us buddies trying to help motivate them. We work with them just make sure that they're having fun. And then whenever we have Special Olympics, where they're cheering them on,' said Hudson. Emma has also spent extra time with the Future Business Leaders of America, including hosting Webb City's first Business Bash. 'We were able to bring in some community members and have kids from Neosho come and learn about business. It's really helped our school as well kind of introduce kids to business and some new career pathways that they hadn't really realized,' said Hudson. She also helps with younger students as part of the cadet teaching program. Webb City teacher Amanda Eckols says that's just one reason Emma is a great example of a Golden Lion. 'She's very much a leader by doing rather than a leader by saying. She doesn't have the loudest voice. Uh, she doesn't stand up and tell everybody else what to do. She jumps in and has that servant leadership. That is a good role model for others,' said Amanda Eckols, WCHS teacher. MSSU hosts 84th Commencement Ceremony Golden Lion Award: Emma Hudson MSSU unveils new 3D printing center for health sciences Senior year is just about over for Emma, but she's already looking ahead to the next step. 'I'm going to MSSU in the fall. I'm going to be getting a major in elementary education with a certificate in birth to kindergarten,' said Hudson. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Golden Lion Award: Nina Nguyen
WEBB CITY, Mo. — There's a new winner of the Golden Lion Award, a brilliant student with a big heart for helping others. 'I'm a senior and I go to Webb City High School,' said Nina Nguyen, WCHS senior. In fact, senior Nina Nguyen is a lifelong Cardinal. This has developed into a hectic schedule of class time, homework, and extracurriculars. 'I'm really involved in show choir and theater and a little bit of speech and debate,' said Nguyen. And Nina likes to give back. She's a National Merit Finalist and likes to coach other students in math, English, and science. 'I was part of the Academic Help Center, during the study hall homeroom block, a group of the upperclassmen go and tutor for anyone who needs it,' said Nguyen. She's also helped out with the Webb City High School Link Crew. 'Link Crew or freshman orientation, where we show them around, take a tour of the school, and have ice breakers, kind of get them settled in to start high school,' said Nguyen. Nina has mentored younger students and volunteers her time to help out in summer school classes. And she especially likes to spend time on Carterville projects. 'For the Summer Fun Day, which is an event that the park committee does, and I used to be a student of Carterville Elementary, so that's kind of my home as well, even though we were only there for two years,' said Nguyen. More Golden Lion Award winners Webb City High School teacher Stacy Stockton says the best thing about Nina is that she's always willing to pitch in when there's a need. 'Had a concession stand. She was the only student who showed up to work the concession stand. And instead of complaining, she did double the work that the other kids should have been helping with. It's remarkable to have a student who just will volunteer for whatever needs to be done,' said Stacy Stockton, WCHS teacher. Nina is already working toward her May graduation, getting ready for the transition to higher ed. 'I plan to attend Missouri, Southern State University for secondary mathematics education,' said Nguyen. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Webb City senior named candidate for U.S. Presidential Scholars Program
WEBB CITY, Mo. — An area graduating senior has been named as a candidate for a prestigious honor. According to a press release, Webb City High School graduating senior Jackson Dobbs was named as one of 5,000-plus candidates in the 2025 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. PREVIOUS: Joplin student is a candidate for the US Presidential Scholars Program Established in 1964, the program recognises a number of graduating seniors for their accomplishments in various areas, mostly focused on academic achievements. Out of the over 5,000 candidates, up to 161 U.S. Presidential Scholars are chosen. PREVIOUS: Local Carl Junction senior earns semifinalist status in Presidential Scholars Program Before the finalists are chosen, approximately 600 semifinalists will be selected early next month, and the U.S. Department of Education will announce the scholars in May. Scholars will be awarded the Presidential Scholars Medallion to commemorate their achievement and will be honored during the National Recognition Program in June. Over 8,000 U.S. Presidential Scholars have been honored since 1964. For more information on the program (and to see a list of candidates), visit the U.S. Department of Education's website, here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
