City of Kyle kicks off February with Black History Month, 2 other proclamations

Every year, the City of Kyle recognizes February as Black History Month, Career and Technical Education Month and Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month.

Black History Month

In celebration of American Black history, the City of Kyle proclaimed this year’s theme as Black Health and Wellness.

“Black history can be seen in Kyle within its entire scale of history,” read the proclamation, “From the enslaved people at its founding to the courageous Freedmen who settled in the area; the early traders representing business in Kyle to those who have served and represented Kyle’s growing community in various capacities including publicly elected offices, like former councilmembers Mattie Welch, Ray Bryant and former mayor James Adkins.”

“Not only do we have a dialogue for peace and progress to come, but we have an amazing display at our library all month,” Councilmember Dex Ellison said. “We’re also putting together some videos and reading displays.”

Career and Technical Education Month

An estimated 1.5 million secondary students are enrolled in one or more career and technical education courses, or CTE, in 1,200 school districts throughout the state, according to the Texas Education Agency.

According to the proclamation, over 6,550 Hays County students are enrolled in CTE courses, which offer occupational training in fields such as agriculture, computer science and healthcare.

“We are blessed in our public school system to have a career and technical education department that has been focused on increasing educational and vocational outcomes for our students,” Mayor Travis Mitchell said. “Our job market continues to evolve on what seems like a daily basis. But one thing that’s becoming clear is that there are great career and technical education jobs available for students who obtain certain credentials immediately out of high school.”

CTE students are taught specific career-related knowledge and essential skills such as time management, problem solving and critical thinking, “which better prepare them for the challenges and opportunities of the workplace.”

“There are opportunities to make a good living,” Mitchell said. “We’re doing the very best that we can. Our CTE department is doing the best that they can to make those opportunities available to as many students possible.”

Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month

Nearly 1 in 11 female and approximately 1 in 14 male high school students report having experienced physical dating violence in the last year, according to the CDC.

In 2021, the Hays-Caldwell Women’s Center, or HCWC, provided 157 dating violence prevention and healthy relationships presentations to 3,141 teens and young adults in the county.

“Everyone involved with youth and young adults can strive to model healthy relationship behaviors and our interactions with them,” HCWC Prevention Coordinator Kara Nicholson said. “We can help them lead us to a generation free of abuse and unhealthy relationships.”

HCWC aims to provide teens and young adults with education about healthy relationships and relationship skills by changing attitudes on violence.

“Sadly, what [the HCWC] offer is unique,” Councilmember Yvonne Flores-Cale said. “What you have to offer is priceless; giving people an outlet or a place to feel safe is really amazing. The fact that [the HCWC] starts with kids is gonna fix a lot of issues before they even start.”