Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Writer
Dexter, Missouri - The Dexter Senior High School held their annual induction of new students into the Dexter Honor Society on March 7, 2013.
The Dexter High School Honor Society was founded in 2004 and is for Juniors and Seniors who have earned academic achievement and have displayed leadership, character and honor during their high school career.
Mr. Corey Mouser, DHS Principal began the even with a few short words and introduced Ryan Joyner, President of the DHS Honor Society. Ryan spoke and performed the Introduction of the Honor Code along with introducing each Senior who spoke and lit candles as part of the Honors Society Ceremony.
The first student introduced was Sam Ward and spoke of Leadership, followed by Sydney Graves who discussed Academic Achievement before lighting her candle. Katelynn Frazier talked about Character, Jessica Loflin spoke of Honesty and R.J. Phillips discussed Service.
Music prior to the ceremony was provided by Joseph Greer.The officers of the Dexter Honor Society were also introduced along with Ryan Joyner, were Vice President Jacob Robinson (junior), Sydney Graves Treasurer and Sam Ward Secretary.
The returning members of the Honor Society who were sitting in the audience and asked to stand and face everyone were Justin Cowart, Derek Felker, Damian Glasener, Joseph Greer, Brittany Harris, Hannah Huls, Darcie Lane, Jordan Myers, Natalie Parrott, Courtney Rasor, Alexis Rauls, Kaitlin Viers, Samuel Ward, Tiffany Watson, Logan Webb, Tyler Wilson and Chase Young.
After each officer lit their candle, the proposed junior class students were asked to stand, come to the stage, and take a candle from the table. While Corey Mouser read each name, Ryan Joyner shook their hand and congratulated each student.
The students formed a giant circle around the auditorium and one by one the students passed the flame from one candle to another until all were lit. The students recited the pledge lead by Ryan Joyner, "I pledge myself to strive toward higher academic achievement, exemplify good character in both school and community, and retain a standard of integrity while exhibiting leadership and service to the school and community."
Parents, grandparents, relatives and friends of the students clapped and yelled in support of their child standing before them. They were proud and should be as it is a great accomplishment for these students. Some students work after school and on weekends, some students compete in multiple sports, some have community service projects and others juggle more than one of these commitments during the school year.
The following is a list of new members who will honor the pledge: Wesley Ashley, Kelsey Bailey, Will Baker, Chelsey Berry, Cora Bradley, Morgan Cliff, Erika Cobb, Reale Cook, Baylee Cooper, Bridgett Dixon, John Durham, Sarah Durham, Shelby Edwards, Selena Flannigan, Jonathan Foels, Hunter Frampton, Kayla Hester, Kelsey Holder, Alison Jarrell, Tyler Jones, Katie Justice, Zach Kester, Randi Lacy, Sophie Lebel, Michaela Lesley, Ashley Long, Emily Long, Brianna Madigan, Tesa Martin, Drew Mason, Nick McCollough, Madison McGowan, Jacob Mier, Jacob Miller, Sarah Mouser, Cody Neldon, Nick Noble, Paige Patterson, Hannah Petty, Rebecca Reeves, Sarah Richardson, Riley Rickman, Brianna Roberts, Jacob Robinson, Zach Sims, Kendra Stevenson, Shanna Stonis, Kasity Twaddell, Kali Watson, Mollie Whitehead, Krysta Winstead and Mackenzie Young.Following the induction, everyone was treated to a very fine dinner cooked by the kitchen staff. You could not have asked for a better catered meal. Thank you ladies for all your hard work.
Congratulations to all of the students on their academic achievements!
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Writer
Poplar Bluff, Missouri - The Dexter High School students will be just a few of the hundreds of music students from high schools across Southeast Missouri will come to Poplar Bluff to compete in the annual Three Rivers College District Music Festival on March 21-22 at the college’s Poplar Bluff campus.
“We expect to bring over 2,000 music students and their directors to our campus over the two days of the festival,” said Buddy White, Instructor of Music at Three Rivers and one of the festival’s organizers. “These are the best musicians of the area, and we’re always excited to have them all gather at Three Rivers.”
Fifteen high school bands and seventeen choirs will be competing for state-level titles on March 21, with dozens of solo and small-group performers vying for district honors on March 22. Those competitors in the district sections who achieve a top rating will qualify to move on to the state competition in April.
The Dexter High School Choir will be performing at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 21st and the Dexter Jazz Cats will be performing at 1:00 p.m. Along with their performances are large ensembles throughout the day.
“The college has hosted the festival for 17 years, and across that time, over 30,000 high school students have performed,” said White. “It’s been an honor to watch all of these talented musicians come across our stage.”
On Friday, March 22nd the Band and Choir small ensembles will leave for Three Rivers and begin their performances that morning.
The Missouri State High School Activities Association also sponsors the music festival, and is one of 20 such events hosted in the state. Judges for the event are drawn from across the Missouri and Arkansas area, including St. Louis, Little Rock, and Cape Girardeau. Participating schools in the Festival’s district include Poplar Bluff, Kennett, Malden, Neelyville, and Twin Rivers. The event is co-managed by Cindy and Buddy White, Instructors of Music at Three Rivers. In addition, Three Rivers students serve as room monitors and judging assistants.
All performances will be held the Tinnin Fine Arts Center at Three Rivers’ Poplar Bluff campus and are open to the public. For more information on the event, please call 573-840-9639 or email Buddy White at wwhite@trcc.edu.
Three Rivers College is committed to contributing to the quality of life in Southeast Missouri with quality, affordable higher education opportunities and community services that support and encourage the economic, civic, and cultural vitality of the region. For more information about college and workforce programs and upcoming events, visit trcc.edu.
Poplar Bluff, Missouri - The 2013-2014 school year will mark the end of an era at O’Neal Elementary School, but members of the community agree that the upcoming principal will keep things running smoothly for years to come.
O’Neal principal of 24 years, Lorenzo Sandlin, will be passing the torch to Angie Rideout after the school board unanimously voted Rideout during their monthly meeting on February 19th.
Principal Sandlin formally requested his retirement this past December will be missed at O'Neal but has decided to stick around and help transition Rideout into the leadership role at O'Neal throughout the next couple of months.
This is not Sandlin's and Rideout's first encounter, however. They have met before in 2001, where Sandlin gave Rideout her first job in the teaching field as he took her under his wing as his aide at O'Neal, the same elementary school where Rideout had completed her student teaching requirements as an undergraduate. She went on to teach at Zalma after graduation and is now back at O'Neal with her upcoming career as a principal.
“To know that I’m returning as an administrator to the place where I started teaching is a big honor for me,” Rideout explained.
Born in Broseley, Rideout earned her bachelor’s degree from Central Methodist University in Fayette and her master’s from William Woods University in Fulton. After she left to teach fourth grade for three years, she returned to Poplar Bluff as a third grade faculty member at Oak Grove Elementary School the following year.
“I feel she’s worked her way up the ladder to this position, which is very important, and will serve her well in meeting the challenges of principalship,” Sandlin said. “I’ll show her the ropes, and if she chooses to continue operating that way, it’s her world to make her own decisions. After 31 years in education, it’s time to allow someone else to come in with fresh ideas and new thoughts.”
Sandlin began his career in 1982 as a sixth grade teacher at O’Neal for two years before becoming head teacher at then Mark Twain School, which served kindergarten through sixth grade. In 1989, he was promoted to his present title as principal at O’Neal.
For those who worked closest to him, Sandlin will be best remembered for his giving heart and charities. His co-workers claim to be like family with each other, which is one of the reasons Sandlin is so close to their hearts.
Although Sandlin will be leaving after such a long career he has created for himself at O'Neal, Rideout is anxious to take a step into her own career and hopes to make it as successful and plentiful as Sandlin's.
“You have to have that team atmosphere, where everybody feels that connection or unity,” Rideout said. “I’ve worked with many teachers at O’Neal, all here for the good of the students, and my plan is to just keep growing and learning with them.”
Dexter, Missouri - It’s that time of the year again, in schools across the state of Missouri, students of all ages will be casting their votes at the Mark Twain, Truman, and Gateway Voting Parties. Each of these Voting Parties is divided into different age groups. The Gateway books are focused on the high school students (9-12th grade), while the Truman books are more associated with the junior high readers (6-8th grade), and the Mark Twain books are more open to the elementary readers.
Each year, the Missouri Association of School Librarians chooses a number of books by some well-known authors and writers to place on these three lists. The books that are chosen are usually of great variety. Some might be coming of age novels while others might be the start of a newer science fiction series.
If a number of these books on the list are read and student or reader successfully passes a computerized test on the Accelerated Reader Program on that specific novel, then they will be signed up for the Voting Party that took place in schools all over throughout the past week. At the Voting Party, the students will vote for their favorite book that was on the list and their favorite author that wrote the book. Students that read all of the books on the list instead of the minimum number required to attend the Voting Party, will receive a special trip at the end of the school year.
The fourth and fifth grade students at Central Elementary School just celebrated their Voting Party. To be able to attend the party and cast their vote, the students were required to read at least four of the twelve books on this year’s Mark Twain Award Nominees. The first through third grade have also participated in this event and have been reading the Show Me Award Nominees. The twenty-nine fourth and fifth graders that had the privilege of reading all twelve nominees will be rewarded with a trip to Cape Girardeau at the end of the school year.
The Richland students of all different ages and grade levels will be having their Voting Party within the next couple of weeks. The students at Richland will be rewarded with a pizza party thrown by their librarian and a number of their teachers.
The winning book and author of each of the Award Nominee categories will be announced in April at a Missouri Association of School Librarians conference that will take place in Tan-Tar-A.
Congratulations to all of this year’s dedicated readers!
Warrensburg, Missouri - Archery is the new hit thing, or at least that is what the numbers produced from the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Conservation Federation of Missouri are saying. Last year, there were around 1,300 archery participants that are training as student archers. The latest reports are saying that there are more than 1,600 student archers that are now participating in competitions.
There are sixty-four different schools around the state that are preparing to compete in the fourth annual state tournament held by the Missouri National Archery in the Schools Program that will take place on Saturday, March 23rd, at the University of Central Missouri Multipurpose Building in Warrensburg. This event was originally planned as a one-day-event but due to the high amount of participants and interest, additional shooting flights have been added on Friday, March 22nd.
This upcoming event is free to attend and is completely open to the public. Student archers with a qualifying score at the Missouri State Tournament will be offered a spot on the National Archery in the Schools Program World Championship, which will take place over the summer in St. Louis at the America Center and the Edward Jones Dome on June 28th through the 30th.
The Missouri National Archery in the Schools Program is coordinated through the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Conservation Federation of Missouri and has many participating schools and numerous supporting organizations throughout Missouri. This program and its many training courses and competitions promotes education, physical activity, and participation in the sport of archery for students throughout the fourth through twelfth grade.
Most practices and training take place during physical education classes during the school day. The program’s main idea is to improve attendance, get students interested in the subject matter, increase self-esteem, and get kids to enjoy the outdoors. The archery is an in-school hobby that could because an after-school activity or a weekend event.
More than 58,000 Missouri students from nearly 260 schools participate in this program. Saxony Lutheran High School, Meadow Heights High School, and South Pemiscot High School are all schools from the surrounding area that will be happily participating in this upcoming tournament. The tournament and program has grown tremendously each year and will most likely continue to grow rapidly in the future. This program hopes to grow by offering teacher training and equipment grants to get schools started and teach students of all ages hand-eye coordination and other great skills, both physical and mental.
