Northwest Arkansas’ school bells rang Wednesday morning as area schools began the 2009/10 school year.

Today the Rogers Fire Department trained for water rescues at Lake Atalanta in Rogers. It was raining but that did not slow these guys down. Here are some photos as they trained in the use of a rapid deployment craft to “rescue” two “victims” out in the lake. I found it kinda funny that the guys on shore were soaked from the rain but the ones who were in the water for several minutes were fairly dry when they got back on shore because they had on dry-suits.
Enjoy!

Watch as area residents compete for the title of Arkansas Idol at the Victory Theater in Rogers.

Rogers High School held their  commencement ceremony Friday May 22, 2009 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. Rogers High School had the largest class in Northwest Arkansas with 756 students. Next year the graduates will be split between the two Rogers’ high schools. The graduating class had 148 honor graduates with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4 point system. The graduates garnered $4,950,375 in scholarships. Of those, $340,000 were community scholarships. Rogers High School student Michael Tibbs received a $403,000 scholarship to the U.S. Air Force Academy. The RHS 2009 class motto is ” Behind us are memories, beside us are friends. Before us are dreams that will never end.”

The Mounties took on the War Eagles at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale on Friday evening. Here’s a gallery of photos from the game.

Justin Wedgeworth:

Today I had an assignment to photograph the Tax Day Tea Party in Bella Vista. This was a group of people coming together to protest high government spending. Some of the people at the event had reasons for being there, like Archie Birkner, of Bella Vista.

“I don’t like the direction the president and Congress are taking the country,” Birkner said.

He added that he didn’t like the probable taxes that would come from impending programs.

J.T. Wampler:
Several hundred protesters showed up at the Fayetteville square to protest taxes.

Josh Dooley:

I was responsible for photographing the economic protest in downtown Rogers today. The event drew several hundred people to Frisco Park. I can not recall having seen a crowd that large in Rogers for a political event during my almost ten years as a photographer here. It was good to see people exercising their rights. Being  citizens of the United States means we have great freedoms, such as those exercised today. I believe that with those rights come great responsibilities not only to exercise those freedoms wisely but to defend them from those who would take them or twist them for their own political or monetary gain.

A gallery of photos from the Mountie Relays track meet Friday in Rogers.

Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009, I had an assignment to photograph the Rogers Heritage High School Colors Day assembly. The new school doesn’t have any seniors yet, and so instead of crowning a queen it crowned a princess. Three juniors were candidates for the crown and I spent time with them as they waited to walk in the assembly.

Most of the time when I have this type of assignment, I try to go early so I can photograph something other than the crowning. Here is a photo of some of the girls waiting in the hallway leading to the gym.

Below is one of those little moments that will never see the light of day in newsprint. Marisa Shaw, left, later crowned princess, was joking with other members of the court in the dance room about how she would react if her name was called. She really isn’t crying, just acting. I thought that may be the highlight of my day.

However, as she started walking to meet her escort in front of the student body, she jokingly stuck out her tongue. Another photo I wouldn’t have been able to take, had I been grouped with the other shooters where the crowning would take place.

Here are some other photographs taken from behind the scenes. For those that attended the event, I hope this will give you a different perspective that you were not able to see from the stands.