
By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor
The kids in kindergarten in Dexter are doing a good thing for a good cause.
As a part of a special study on recycling, the students are for asking the community’s help in recycling everything from printer ink cartridges to old cells phones.
Kindergarten teacher Amy Pixley said that the recycling program is a part of a kindergarten enrichment program – and they are asking for assistance with the students’ project.
“We are asking the businesses of people in town to help out. We will be recycling old cell phones, print cartridges, mp3 players, GPS devices, and digital cameras,” Mrs. Pixley said. “When we recycle these items we will earn points that we can then use the points to buy items for our school that we need.
Pixley and fellow kindergarten teacher Katrina Prance are spearheading the project and are working with FundingFactory, a firm that recycles the collected items.
Pixley said there are a couple of ways the community can become involved. First, items may be dropped at the kindergarten lobby at Southwest. Second, businesses may signed up with Funding Factory’s Business Support Program to get free prepaid shipping labels sent free of charge. When a business needs to recycle something they can simply load boxes and ship using the prepaid label that has a code for Southwest Elementary.
“If you are interesting in supporting us in this way, please call FundingFactory at 1.888.883.8237,” Prance said. The school identification code to use is 308602.
Last year, more than 300 million cartridges were just thrown away in America, and 30,000,000 cell phones were tossed or stuck in a desk drawer.
“We’re alleviating the volume of waste that goes into the landfills, while collecting supplies we need in the classroom,” Pixley said. Each week during this project the students will be studying recycling and completing a project about recycling.


The district will participate on Tuesday in The Great Shake-Out - the state earthquake drill. The drill will be held at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday in both the elementary and high school buildings.
The Great Central U.S. ShakeOut is an eight-state drill spanning much of the central United States.
The Richland Book Fair will open on Thursday, Feb. 9 with an open hour at 6 p.m. for students and parents.
Richland Librarian Karen Lane said the theme this year for the book fair is "Book Fair Luau - It's a Reading Celebration!"
The week will culminate on Friday with History Day and the annual Homecoming basketball game and coronation.
Homecoming candidates this year include:
- Seniors - Mallory Hillis and Austin Maddox
- Juniors - Jessica Hill and Nick Daniels
- Sophomores - McKenzie Hillis and Tyler Maddox
- Freshmen - Hailey Laws and Charlie Atchison.
ShowMe Times Photo Gallery
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Richland Homecoming 2012
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Photos provided by RHS

Two Dexter Future Farmers of America members placed first in proficiency award judging held at Twin Rivers High School on Wednesday, Feb.. 1. Chelsey Massey (right) won first place for in Swine Production Ownership. Chelsey is a sophomore and the daughter of Allen and Kim Massey. Derek Felker won first in Environment and Natural Resources Management. Derek is a junior at DHS and the son of Steve and Lisa Felker. The proficiency awards were judged by area vocational-agriculture teachers and based on an FFA member's SAE project and leadership activities in the FFA. Both received first place from the area and will get to attend the State FFA Convention held in Columbia April 19-20. Derek also placed 2nd place in Wildlife Management; Will Baker placed 2nd in Oil Crop production. (Photo submitted by FFA Chapter Advisor Ronnie Shipman; thanks, Mr. Shipman!)
