Poplar Bluff, Missouri - Southern Bank has donated a large boardroom table to Poplar Bluff High School that is being used to furnish the conference room of the Oak Grove Road facility.
“The bank chose to donate to the school to help furnish the new facilities to benefit the district and enhance the learning environment for the students,” said Mel Jackson, community bank president.
Shown in the photo: High School students pictured are the children of Southern Bank personnel. (Clockwise, beginning in forefront) Audrey Cisne, Cassidy Steffens, Jason Brittingham, Lexi Hafford, Madison Decker, Dylan Cisne, Mel Jackson, Superintendent Scott Dill, Colton Jackson, Colton Sheppard, Luke Johnson and Megan Adams.
Article and photo submitted by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District
Poplar Bluff, Missouri - The Mules Booster Club has named wrestler Josh Lewis and swimmer Taylor Norwood the Poplar Bluff High School Athletes of the Month for February.
Taylor, a junior, was the first in Southeast Missouri to hit a state cut in every swimming event last school year, according to her coach Beth Lewis. A three-time conference MVP, she has gone undefeated in all her individual swims. She was the 2016 Semoball award winner for female swimming. She holds eight school records and numerous meet records. She has been named All State in the 200 individual medley and the 100 fly all three seasons of her high school career. She was part of the 2015 Medley Relay All State Team. In addition, Taylor maintains an 11.057 GPA in the classroom and is ranked 17 out of 364, her coach continued.
Josh, a senior, has a season record of 40-4 and a career record of 116 wins and 47 losses. This year he was the SEMO Conference champion; Class 4, District 1 champ; Tiger Classic champ for the past two years; and a three-time state qualifier, according to his coach, David Sievers. He is a four-year varsity letterman, and a two-sport standout, also playing football at defensive line.
Pictured presenting the awards on Tuesday, March 7, to Josh Lewis and Taylor Norwood is Booster Club member Brian Taylor.
Photo and article submitted by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District
Dexter, Missouri - The Dexter High School Prom is set for Saturday, April 22, 2017 from 7:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. with Project Prom to follow. Mrs. Patterson is in need of student volunteers to help with decorations. Parents are welcome to help as well. The more everyone can accomplish prior to prom the better experience high school students will have and the memories will last forever.
Below is a Prom Night work schedule and if anyone parent wants to volunteer please contact Judy Patterson at Dexter High School.
You don't have to work every night, maybe you can only work a couple of nights, but every extra hand is welcome to join in the fun! Want to relive some of your glory days of prom? Come out and paint, build, design, and create a wonderful atmosphere for your high school student to remember for years to come!
March 28th-6:00 pm behind BEC
March 29th -6 pm behind BEC
March 30th- After school behind BEC
April 2nd- 5 pm behind BEC
April 4th -6 pm behind BEC
April 5th-6 pm behind BEC
April 6th- After school behind BEC
April 11th-6 pm behind BEC
April 12th-6 pm behind BEC
April 18th- 6 pm behind BEC
April 19th-6 pm behind BEC
April 20th - 5 pm in the BEC (Everyone that can, should be there at some point. Parents welcome as well! We will work until around 11 pm)
April 21st - Prom workday!!!! 8:15-??? BEC
Poplar Bluff, Missouri - Poplar Bluff R-I’s newest school resource officer, Kenny Carpenter, completed his introductory presentations with the sixth grade last week at the Middle School.
Carpenter, who celebrated his 22nd anniversary with the Poplar Bluff Police Department on Monday, March 6, took the opportunity to further open the lines of communication with students.
“I depend on information from you,” Carpenter said to instructor Kelly Moore’s homeroom, the 16th class of his month-long tour. “Anything you know that protects safety—as far as faculty, staff and students are concerned—I expect you to come to me.”
He cited two incidents that he has been able to prevent this school year upon receiving information. Two weeks ago Carpenter, along with other emergency responders – both current and former, reportedly were able to help save a life as they resuscitated a victim who suffered a heart attack in her vehicle after dropping a student off at school.
Last week the woman, now with a pacemaker, exited her vehicle and hugged Carpenter while he was on morning traffic duty. “It was a touching moment yesterday,” Carpenter said to the students.
Carpenter, the father of two PBHS alumni and one current student, worked in the patrol division his entire tenure until he transferred to the SRO post in November, when the school board approved his position. He graduated in 1994 from the Law Enforcement Academy at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.
He received 40 hours of training for his school certification, which included topics such as youth mental health first aid. Missouri is one of 13 states to require additional training for SROs, according to Carpenter’s presentation.
The district employs two other SROs: Officer Jason Courtney at Junior High and Cpl. Richard Knapp at the High School. In addition to law enforcement duties, their job is to serve as informal counselors/mentors for the student body. The first such school post in the United States was created in 1958 in Flint, Mich. According to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics, there were 28,550 SROs in 2015.
Pictured: Officer Kenny Carpenter is pictured in his centrally located office on the Middle School campus.
Article and photo submitted by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District
Poplar Bluff, Missouri - World War II veteran Cloyd Cook, a recipient of four Bronze Star Medals, spoke to advanced American history students about some of his early involvement in helping to stop Nazi Germany and Japan over 70 years ago.
Among less than a million remaining who served the greatest generation, Cook was featured last month in the Daily American Republic in advance of his 95th birthday celebration. Poplar Bluff High School students read the article and inquired whether he can be a guest lecturer, since they were studying the Allies and the Axis powers. Social studies instructor Paul Conover was able to make the arrangements since he happens to attend Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church with Cook.
Cook was greeted on Thursday, March 9, by JROTC students, who stood at attention lining the hallway of the High School. “I wish I had a chance to go through school because what you miss, you miss all your life,” said Cook, who did not enroll in high school because of the Great Depression.
Born in Stoddard County, Cook moved to Butler County when he was 9 years old. As a young man, he spent a couple years in Caledonia, Miss., serving the Civilian Conservation Corps as part of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. When work dried up, Cook decided he would join the U.S. Army, but failed to pass a physical in St. Louis, so he returned home.
Shortly thereafter, Cook said he heard about Japan bombing Pearl Harbor. The following day he went to a neighbor’s house to listen to Roosevelt declare war over a dry cell radio, he said.
“It wasn’t very long before I got a letter saying, ‘We want you,’” Cook stated. “They drafted me, and put me in charge of 17 other men! I made some friends on that trip, but they didn’t all come home.”
Upon completing training—basic and advanced—Cook was assigned to the 94th Infantry Division. In 1944, he headed to the British Isles by way of New York aboard the Queen Elizabeth, along with 15,000 passengers and an 825-person crew to run the troopship, he said. He noted that it was an armored outfit with yet an additional 2,500 troops to protect from enemy attacks in the English Channel.
After zigzagging across the North Atlantic for several days, soldiers landed near Glasgow and headed to Southern England, some on a duty train while others walked, he recalled. Cook’s first assignment was to guard 60,000 German prisoners of war. Later the 94th joined Gen. George Patton’s Third Army when Cook first stepped foot on German soil.
Cook served a total of 209 days on the front lines before the war ended on Sept. 2, 1945, according to a letter signed by Pres. Harry S. Truman that he read to students. He said he passed on many of his military artifacts to his grandchildren, and sold other items when he later fell upon hard times in Rombauer. He showed students a scrapbook, which included a remaining set of dog tags, a letter of recommendation after being honorably discharged, along with various black and white photos. He generously gave a shoulder patch from the 94th Division to one of the students in attendance, freshman Gaelan White.
As a very small token of appreciation, students presented Cook a signed painting of an American flag, which he said he will display in his living room. “I’m no hero,” said Cook, as the class gave him an ovation. “I just done what they asked me to do to the best of my knowledge.”
Pictured: Social studies instructor Paul Conover holds a scrapbook, while Cloyd Cook explains some of the items from his time serving the country.
Photo and article submitted by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District
