ACF volunteers at the Port Aransas clean up site.

The outpouring of community support to help fellow Texans in the recovery and healing process after Hurricane Harvey has been huge.

Many local families, churches, businesses and organizations are backing the relief efforts. Here are a few examples of how local people are making a difference.

Makenna, 2nd grader at Grandview Hills Elementary, and Carter, 6th grader at Four Points Middle School, at their lemonade and bake sale stand over the weekend. They raised more than $1,000 for Hurricane Harvey disaster relief.

Grandview lemonade stand
“As my family and I’ve watched the news of Hurricane Harvey beating down on our friends, family and fellow Texans, we have been heartbroken and we wanted to find some way to help those affected,” said Annie Fojtik of Grandview Hills.

Annie, and her husband, Daryl, have two children, Makenna in 2nd grade at Grandview Hills Elementary, and Carter in 6th grade at Four Points Middle School.

The Fojtik kids had been asking all summer to do a lemonade stand and they turned the opportunity into a way to help those in need after the hurricane.

“We built the stand from lumber, painted the banner, bought the supplies, beat the eggs, whipped the batter, etc,” Annie said. They even squeezed lemons for lemonade.

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After four mailbox break-ins in Steiner Ranch this summer, several members of a mail theft ring are now behind bars, according to Mike Sullivan, postal inspector, US Postal Inspection Service.

After multiple break-ins, mailbox
improvements to come

By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News

Over the summer, there were four break-ins to community mailboxes in Steiner Ranch, affecting hundreds of residents. Mail thieves have been arrested and the homeowners association announced last week that it will spend more than $20,000 to update the mailboxes to deter it from happening again.

The most recent hit was at the end of July and arrests have been made, even though the investigation continues as financial losses continue to be reported when discovered by residents.

“The investigation is going on and arrests have been made. There are more than one person behind bars,” said Mike Sullivan, postal inspector at US Postal Inspection Service in the Austin area.

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7 local schools receive distinctions

Staff Reports

Leander ISD schools continues to shine, earning 39 state distinctions with all eligible schools earning the state’s highest accountability standard, according to a release from the Texas Education Agency.

TEA announced the results from the 2016-17 state accountability system on Aug. 15 and all 39 eligible LISD schools earned the state’s Met Standard rating.

“We are proud of our students, teachers and families for all student success,” said Dan Troxell, superintendent of schools. “State accountability is a necessary component of our education system, but our focus as educators in Leander ISD will continue to be success for the whole child. We have room to keep growing, and I look forward to working with our talented team to improve for kids.”

State accountability measures schools are based on performance on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR), End-of-Course Exams, and graduation rates across four indices – student achievement, student progress, closing performance gaps and postsecondary readiness.

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