Poplar Bluff, Missouri - The final touches are being made on the 38th house constructed by the Building Trades program of the Poplar Bluff Technical Career Center.

The three-bedroom/two bath, 1,694-square-foot house including a two-car garage, is expected to go out for bid next month for opening by the school board during the July 20 meeting.

“Going over the bookwork, and then seeing that excitement when students do something and it works—it’s a good feeling,” program instructor Jody Cochran said. “Not all kids are college-bound. You need kids with skills to earn money so they can make a living.”

While some vocational schools teach students to build modular structures such as sheds, the TCC has maintained its tradition over the decades of constructing a full house that is up to code and completed under professional carpentry standards, according to TCC Director Charles Kinsey.

During the two-year program, students prep the site, dig the foundation, pour the concrete, lay the floor, frame the walls, wrap the structure, install windows and doors, place vinyl siding and put up a roof. Then they place drywall, paint, lay the carpet and flooring, install cabinets, hook up plumbing, perform electrical work, connect the appliances, et cetera. When designing the layout, Building Trades students subcontract the HVAC class to install the heating and cooling system.

“Like Mike Rowe (of ‘Dirty Jobs’ fame) says, the community would be lost without your technical people,” Cochran said. “Your lights would no longer work. The plumbing would shut down. Automobiles wouldn’t run without mechanics.”

While Cochran has been building houses in the field for over 20 years, this will mark the first house completed from start to finish under his supervision as an instructor. Having started his tenure at Poplar Bluff R-I during the 2014/15 school year, Cochran was named the TCC Teacher of the Year both in 2016 and ‘17.

Two open houses at the 108 Avery Street location will be scheduled this summer. Advertisements can be found in the Daily American Republic in the near future, or look for updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pbtcc.

Pictured are standing in the new kitchen are (back, left to right) Teddy Luttrull, Jody Cochran, Cody Buffington, Luke Cook, Matt Harwell and Ronald Anglin; and (front, from left) Austin Farley, Johnny Jaco, Nick Loyd and Ariana Burkhart.

Article and photo submitted by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District

Poplar Bluff, Missouri - Graduating Poplar Bluff High School senior Hamiz Mirza has been awarded the $1,300 Mary Lynn Wolpers Scholarship.

Mirza plans to study biology at St. Louis University and then transfer to medical school. He also has an interest in dentistry, he said, having volunteered over 200 hours to the Smiles of Hope Dental Clinic, among other nonprofit operations. Mirza was recently presented the Missouri Award for Outstanding Achievement in Citizenship.

The Wolpers scholarship, designated for a PBHS senior, was endowed in 2007 and has since bestowed a total of $13,300 to students.

Pictured: Foundation member Emily Wolpers, sister of the late Mary Lynn, presents Hamiz Mirza a scholarship on Wednesday, April 26.

Article and photo submitted by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District.

Poplar Bluff, Missouri - Mackenzie Moore has been awarded the $1,000 Poplar Bluff Public School Foundation scholarship.

Moore has completed 59 credits at Three Rivers College while attending high school through the College Now program. She has plans to enroll in Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, where she will study elementary education with a focus on middle school language arts. Upon completing her master’s, she hopes to secure a teaching job in Poplar Bluff, “giving back to the community that gave so much to me,” she said.

The foundation scholarship has been awarded to Poplar Bluff High School students, past graduates or present-day, since 2001. The foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to furthering the educational opportunities of its students and promoting innovation in the classroom.

Pictured: Foundation president Dr. Amber Richardson awards PBHS senior Mackenzie Moore a teaching scholarship on Wednesday, April 26.

Photos and article submitted by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District

Poplar Bluff, Missouri - Poplar Bluff High School senior Hamiz Mirza was among 15 select students to receive the Missouri Award for Outstanding Achievement in Citizenship on Monday, April 17, in Jefferson City.

The annual state honor—based on academic achievement, participation in extracurricular activities and service to the community—was established in 1989 as a provision under Senate Bill 198. Mirza will also be recognized on the American Bar Association’s Civics and Law Honor Roll.

“A lot of kids can ace government class, but it’s another thing to go out into the community and change lives,” said Mirza’s AP government teacher Mitch Davis during a special recognition Thursday, April 20, at the school board meeting.

Davis and R-I Superintendent Scott Dill presented Mirza with resolutions from the Missouri House of Representatives and Senate signed by Speaker Todd Richardson and Sen. Doug Libla, respectively.

Mirza, who has been accepted at St. Louis University, received straight A’s in several advanced social studies classes throughout his high school career, during which he served as captain of the speech and debate team, placing first last year in a district contest. This school year he helped found the Politics Club, a non-partisan student organization that meets weekly, and was responsible for hosting a watch party attended by over 100 students on presidential election night.

“I would argue he has been successful in changing the dialogue in our school from hyperpartisan to more of a reflective, collegial atmosphere where it is now ‘cool’ to hear the other side’s views about the role and scope of government in our everyday lives,” wrote Davis on Mirza’s nomination form, which was also signed by PBHS Principal Mike Kiehne.

Perhaps even more meaningful, as Davis indicated to the Board of Education, Mirza volunteered over 200 hours to Smiles of Hope Dental Clinic, a nonprofit operation that began with one philanthropist making monthly clinical visits to a church. The clinic grew within several years to acquire about a dozen licensed dentists, treating more than 2,000 people and extracting over 6,000 teeth, for little to no cost to the patient.

Mirza was further inspired to spend 50 hours of his own, teaching proper dental care to children at churches and schools. He also volunteered 120 hours at the United Gospel Rescue Mission, along with splitting another 100 hours between hospital work and teaching swimming.

“While witnessing single mothers struggling to feed their children, a health care system that has failed many, and a country that is more divided and partisan than ever, it is easy to allow pessimism to leak into one’s own life,” wrote Mirza in a qualifying essay about citizenship. He went on to state: “As citizens of a representative democracy, the burden of ensuring our government is running properly doesn’t just lie with the people working in Washington – it relies on the work and involvement of everyday citizens who vote and raise awareness for what they believe is right.”

Pictured are PBHS instructor Mitch Davis (left) and R-I Superintendent Scott Dill (right) present Hamiz Mirza with official resolutions for his model citizenry during the school board meeting.

Photo and article submitted by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District

Poplar Bluff, Missouri - Montana Chitwood was Poplar Bluff High School’s fourth recipient of the $400 Kyle Dicken Memorial Scholarship. 

Chitwood plans to study music education at Missouri State University in Springfield. “She’s in the marching band, jazz, concert – pretty much her whole schedule is band,” said instructor Stephen Winters, half-jokingly.

Curtis and Wanda Dicken, the grandparents of the late Kyle, who would have graduated in the Class of 2014, would like to grow their endowment fund, which they say is the only scholarship available exclusively to local band students. For more information, email the Community Foundation of the Ozarks at awingo@cfozarks.org or call 573-803-1248.