Small school in Texas Panhandle among finalists to win $1 million for repairs

article

Sunray High School damage | Credit: Erin Boatmun, Sunray ISD superintendent

SUNRAY, Texas - The City of Sunray, nestled away in the Texas Panhandle and boasting a population of less than 2,000, is in desperate need of funding for their school district's damaged facilities. 

Through a statewide movement of Texans taking a moment to vote for Sunray High School, they're among the finalists in a race to win $1 million to reach that end.

Here's how you can help make it happen without spending a dime. 

Severe weather rocks Sunray

The backstory:

In the middle of the night in early August, just before the start of the football season, an anomalous straight-line storm brought near-100-mile-per-hour winds to Sunray. 

On the morning of Aug. 3, the small town awoke to find severe damage to buildings and properties. 

Among the devastation was the Sunray High School football field. After the town had already banded together, voluntarily raising taxes in past cycles to support the district, their facilities were thrown into disrepair. 

What they're saying:

Erin Boatmun is the superintendent for Sunray ISD. FOX Texas Digital reached out to her for her perspective on the school's situation. 

"My husband, our athletic director and head football coach, and I stood at the fence wondering how in the world we were going to move this mountain, and then we saw our community come out of their homes, survey their damage, and then immediately go to their neighbors to survey theirs," Boatmun said. "Everyone in Sunray has given of their money, their time, their energy, and their resources repeatedly to keep this community thriving."

Boatmun said the community has already rallied behind their school. One farmer in particular, who asked to remain nameless, gathered other locals to make the field playable.

"Those men removed our visitor bleachers that were totaled by our insurance, repaired our home bleachers, built a wall to keep people from falling off the back where our home press box once was, cut and capped the old stadium lights that were totaled by insurance, and prepared the ground for our next set of visitor bleachers," said Boatmun. "They helped move that mountain."

The school applied for the competition soon after the storm hit, hoping to prevent the community from feeling obligated to burden themselves further. 

"Honestly, my heart was aching for my community because they had already voluntarily raised their taxes twice in order for us to pay off debts and rebuild our district's fund balance, said Boatmun. "We absolutely cannot ask them for another dime, but we saw this as an opportunity to find a revenue source that would bring not only the possibility of a million dollars, but something to rally around and bring excitement to our community."

In that, Boatmun said, they've succeeded. All that's left is to bring home the prize.

T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights

Every year, T-Mobile holds the Friday Night 5G Lights competition, giving schools in small US cities a chance to win the $1 million grand prize. 

Sunray sits at sixth place as of Wednesday night. 

What you can do:

Voters can input a submission every day until Oct. 24. The winner will be announced on Oct. 30. Click here to see the 25 finalists.

If you'd like to vote for Sunray, click here.