A Poplar Bluff elementary school has been nationally recognized for its exceptional student achievement for the third year in a row.
Oak Grove was one of two federally-funded schools in Missouri and only 73 in the United States to receive the 2019 National ESEA Distinguished School award Wednesday, Feb. 5, in Atlanta. The other Missouri school was New Madrid, also located in the Southeast region of the state.
"Your dedication and hard work never go unnoticed," stated R-I Assistant Superintendent of Business Dr. Amy Jackson, congratulating Oak Grove Principal Jenifer Richardson. “You are a remarkable leader and have worked tirelessly for many years to ensure our students’ success and teachers’ success!
Oak Grove was selected for ‘exceptional student performance and academic growth for two or more consecutive years,’ which is one of three award categories. On the Missouri Assessment Program test in the 2018/19 school year, the elementary school scored 85.5 percent proficient or advanced in math, up from 84.5 the previous year, and 81.9 in English language arts, an increase over 75.7 during 2017/18.
Lake Road was named a National ESEA Distinguished School in the same program category in 2018. In 2017, Oak Grove first earned the honor, formerly known as the National Title 1 award, for ‘closing the achievement gap between student groups for two or more consecutive years.’
In its school biography on the network website, Oak Grove attributed its recent accomplishments in part to community partnerships that include AmeriCorps, the Boys and Girls Club, its Bright Futures Site Council, the Butler County Community Resource Council and an active Parent Teacher Organization, supporting activities such as power hour, the lunch buddy program, the Jingle Jog, Math-A-Thon and more.
“The work that I’d say has driven our success is the collaboration taking place among our teachers, but it takes every single person—day in and day out—to make this happen, and you can’t let up,” Richardson said. “We have the framework in place that guides us, but we have flexibility within that framework because things are constantly changing, and you need to readjust and recalibrate for each individual kid every year in order to achieve maximum student performance.”
Since 1996, the national program has highlighted up to two selected schools per state that have successfully used federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to “improve the education for all students,” including those who are “economically disadvantaged,” according to a press release from the overseeing association.
Pictured: Oak Grove Principal Jenifer Richardson accepts the National ESEA award earlier this month in Atlanta, with support on stage from (left to right) teachers Becky Ingle, Carey Wilkerson and Gabby Bullock; R-I Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Patty Robertson; and Title 1 Director JoAnne Westbrook.
Photo and article submitted by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District
A second student at Poplar Bluff High School has earned a four-year U.S. Army scholarship.
Aaron Taylor, a senior, will attend the University of North Georgia, one of six senior military colleges in the nation, where he plans to pursue a degree in international affairs.
Taylor said he chose UNG because of the rigor within its ROTC Corps of Cadets, and the fact that the institution has a Russian language program.
“Taylor has been very engaged with us; he’s a very dynamic leader within our organization,” said Maj. Gregory Crites, senior Army instructor at PBHS. “He’s also very involved with the choir and his youth group at church. He’s just an all-around good citizen.”
Serving as command sergeant major over the Pvt. Billie G. Kanell JROTC Battalion for two years, Taylor has held leadership roles on the drill team, the raider team and the color guard.
Classmate Elizabeth Shirrell previously received a four-year college scholarship from the Army in the first round of selections. Less than 1,000 such scholarships are awarded each year nationally, according to Crites.
Photo: PBHS senior Aaron Taylor, JROTC cadet command sergeant major, received a four-year Army scholarship to attend the University of North Georgia.
Article and photo by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District
The Poplar Bluff High School JROTC has been accredited as an Honor Unit with Distinction for scoring a near flawless 98.5 percent on a recent program evaluation.
As a result of receiving the most sought-after unit award, cadets of the Pvt. Billie G. Kanell Battalion have earned the privilege of wearing the Gold HUD Star badge on their uniforms. The inspection takes place every three years, according to Gregory Crites, PBHS senior Army instructor.
“It’s not just another shiny thing,” Maj. Crites stated. “They work hard to be ready for the evaluation and if they’re able to show improvement, they are rewarded on behalf of the district. The challenge now is to maintain that, and they will.”
U.S. Army Cadet Command representatives from out of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps brigade headquarters in Naval Station Great Lakes visited PBHS on Wednesday, Jan. 15, to receive a briefing about the students’ improvement plan, service learning project and program curriculum, plus conducted a drill and color guard evaluation.
Photo: The result of a successful three-year inspection, cadets will now don the Gold HUD Star badge displayed beneath the Poplar Bluff JROTC logo on their uniform.
Article and photo by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District
Poplar Bluff Middle School students are creating eBinders, or online portfolios, designed to preserve their best work so they can reflect on what they have learned throughout their educational careers and ultimately utilize on college applications.
The project is being spearheaded by Media Specialist Michele Carmode, who has served in the repurposed librarian position for grades 4-6 since the 2017/18 school year. She has made arrangements to collaborate with instructional coaches at Junior and Senior High so students can continue submitting their learning artifacts in participating classes.
“It is a way to organize a collection of work, a place to reflect on the learning processes, and finally it is a recollection of what students learned for purposes of sharing or studying,” explained Carmode, upon helping a test group of students create templates and personalize their digital Trapper Keepers on Google Chromebooks last week.
In order to make the knowledge visible and be considered an artifact, an object must be lasting, durable and materially present, for example: a photo taken during an activity, a Google Slide presentation, video, essay or work from another application such as Booksnaps or Flipgrip, Carmode continued. “The creation and display of these artifacts allow students opportunities for engagement, revision and feedback, all hallmarks of quality learning design,” she said.
For sixth grade teacher Krissey Whitlock, her favorite aspect about signing up her class is that the internal websites can be used to track progress during student-led parent-teacher conferences. “Students will be able to take ownership of their own growth much faster,” she said. Artifacts uploaded, guided by instructors, will include a reflection piece either written out, as an infographic, or in video format.
Carmode recently became the first Google for Education Certified Trainer in Poplar Bluff among only a few in the region, she reported. With a tenure that spans over two decades in public education, Carmode earned her master’s degree in technology and education from the University of Missouri at Columbia.
She is the “real deal” and an asset to the entire district, according to Middle School Principal Dr. Brad Ownings, who led the effort to evolve his librarian post to meet the needs of Generation Z. “There are tons of articles about how librarians have turned into curators of books, and we need to move on to digital literacy, technology integration and makerspaces,” Owings stated.
Media Specialist Michele Carmode helps a group of students create eBinder templates to collect educational artifact submissions on Tuesday, Sept. 24, in the Middle School Media Center.
Photo and article by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District
Chartwells began offering dinner services for free last week at five additional school sites where after school enrichment programs and services such as tutoring, club activities and latch-key are available to all students.
Approved sites under Missouri’s At-Risk Afterschool Program include the Kindergarten Center from 3:55-4:30 p.m., Oak Grove and O’Neal Elementary from 3:50-4:30 p.m., Junior High from 4-4:30 p.m., and Poplar Bluff High School from 5-5:30 p.m
Students participating in athletics or band can receive meals to go, which “is going to touch a lot of lives,” Assistant Superintendent of Business Dr. Amy Jackson reported Thursday, Sept. 19, during the school board meeting. Superintendent Dr. Scott Dill added that the meals would be “nutritionally balanced,” as opposed to vending machine snacks.
Chartwells, a long-standing partner of the R-I school district, received a total of $15,000 in grant funding through No Kid Hungry Missouri in order to purchase backup ovens, as well as warmers and coolers to create the storage space necessary to serve the additional meals.
So far 260 dinners are being served daily by kitchen personnel, officials have recorded. Dinner is already available at Eugene Field, Lake Road and the Middle School for students who participate in ‘power hour’ through the Boys and Girls Club on campus.
“Mom or dad may have to work until 5 or 6,” explained Dixie Harden, food services director. “Now you know your child has had something to eat and you’re not in rush mode when you get home to feed them, because you no longer have to worry about your child being hungry.”
Dinner through Missouri’s At-Risk Afterschool Program, administered by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, is federally-reimbursable under the United States Department of Agriculture since the approved schools serve at least 50 percent of children eligible for free and reduced-price meals.
Following summer school, Chartwells provided children a total of 8,500 meals for lunch and breakfast at Poplar Bluff Head Start and Wheatley School with help from a near $5,000 grant under the same initiative, in cooperation with Family and Community Trust. Meals served throughout July exceeded 10,000 counting those offered through the BGC, Harden reported. Chartwells also sponsors the district Mule Packs program, distributing around 150 bags of nonperishables bimonthly to students in need.
“When you’re in the cafeteria, you can tell when kids are hungry, and to know some kids may not get a meal when they go home [drives] me,” said Harden, noting that dinner is optional if students have arrangements afterward. “I love challenges and am blessed to have the team I have and be able to help in these ways.”
Janice Vincent (forefront) and Angie Kearbey of Chartwells serve hot ravioli to elementary students on Thursday, Sept. 26, at O’Neal.
Photo and article by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Director, Poplar Bluff R-I School District
