Bernie, Missouri - KFVS12 honored dozens of the Heartland's Best on Saturday, May 30th at a banquet ceremony for high school valedictorians.

Among those honored was Joe Foster representing Richland High School.

The 30th Annual Heartland's Best ceremony was held in the University Ballroom on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.

All Heartland valedictorians and their parents were invited to attend the ceremony.  Students who attended recorded greetings that have been featured in special announcements airing throughout the summer on KFVS12's Heartland News.  Kathy Sweeney and Crystal Britt, anchors for Heartland News, introduced each valedictorian with a summary of their honors and achievements.

Joe is the son of Donnie and Tish Foster. He received the Essex Area Development Youth Service Award and was named to All-District Choir and received a #1 rating at the State Music competition.  Joseph will attend Southeast Missouri State University.

Photo provided by Kyle Carter, Richland School District.

Essex, Missouri - Richland R-1 student Kate Wyman won first place in the Language Arts Division II competition at the 19th Annual National Junior Beta Club Convention over the weekend in Nashville, Tennessee.

Wyman defeated 22 other competitors from 10 other states including: Illinois, Texas, North Carolina, and others to bring home the title of champion. Wyman traveled to Nashville and did her preregistration work for the event on Thursday.

She then took the timed multiple choice test on Friday afternoon.  "Much of the national test focused on reading comprehension while much of the state test was on grammar," stated Wyman.

After seeing her name on the Top 10 list on their way into the Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center on Sunday morning, she was surprised to hear her named called to receive the top honor. 

Wyman won the right to compete on the national stage by taking third place in the state competition in Poplar Bluff back in December. Wyman will be a freshman this fall at Richland R-1 School.

Congratulations Kate! 

Essex, Missouri - Kyle Carter of Richland R-I Jr/Sr High School has been named the Missouri Journalism Education Association's Rising Star award winner.

For the past two years, Kyle Carter has been teaching business and advising the yearbook. In his short time as an adviser, Carter has done big things for the program. An accomplished photographer himself (a Mississippi Press association award winner with photos published in USA Today and Sports Illustrated to name a few), his students have been recognized with a number of awards for their photography under his guidance.

Carter explains his greatest enjoyment in his role this way: “I LOVE taking someone who is a self-professed ‘good photographer’ and starting them on the Three Things We Can Control lesson. This lesson both opens their eyes to the possibilities of different styles of photography and helps them understand their own personal style better."

"I also LOVE advising, especially onsite work. Sitting with another shooter and picking their brain about what they could have done differently or why they used a f/4.5 on a double play instead of f/3.5. I enjoy helping them understand as much as they can about the assignment they are shooting as well as the camera principles. I enjoy seeing the satisfaction in the students’ face when they get their first really good photo - are published on the front page of the paper for the first time or even the gleam of pride in their eyes after they’ve won their first award. Most of my students come to me with the world’s preconceived notion of what a photo should look like - I teach them how to break down a photograph into their individual pieces (f/stop, shutter speed, ISO, etc.) and then advise them on how to make their art work even better than the previous photo they’ve seen.”

He was nominated by one of his students, Parker Miller. A junior in his first year on the yearbook staff. In his short time as a staff member, Parker Miller is a Gold Key winner from Quill and Scroll, an MJEA Photo of the Year Finalist and a member of the 2015 MJEA All-State Journalism Team.

The Richland Director of Music and Bands, Amber Dulley,  said, “Our current yearbook and journalism program is only in its second year, and has made unprecedented advances in student involvement, student skill level, use of technology, and quality of product."

The Missouri Journalism Education Association is the largest state scholastic journalism organization formed to help protect and enhance scholastic journalism in Missouri. MJEA works to provide outreach and support to advisers and journalism programs across the state. MJEA supports free and responsible scholastic journalism by providing resources and educational opportunities, by promoting professionalism, by encouraging and rewarding student excellence and teacher achievement, and by fostering an atmosphere which encompasses diversity yet builds unity.

Essex, Missouri - Richland R-1 Schools junior Parker Miller has been selected by the Missouri Journalism Education Association to be one of the first honorees to be named to the inaugural MJEA All-State Journalism Team.

Unlike other All-state honorees that can be recognized multiple years while in high school, his award is cumulative and can only be received once during a students’ high school career.

Miller was one of only 10 students throughout the state of Missouri selected for the team. Including this award, Miller has amassed seven different local, state, national and international awards for his photography in the 2014-2015 school year.

Richland’s yearbook, which Miller is the co-editor of this year, has received 21 different individual local, state, national and international photography awards during the 2014-2015 school year for their excellent photography work. The awards have come from various sources including: Jostens, Journalism Education Association, Quill and Scroll as well as others.

"The Missouri Journalism Education Association sponsors the annual All-State Journalism Team for Missouri high school students. Members of the 2015 team will be selected in the spring. The MJEA invites all its advisers to nominate students for this honor."

"The purpose of the All-State Journalism Team is to recognize those students who have proven themselves to be indispensable to their respective school media. Missouri has numerous journalism contests that recognize “bylined” excellence. The All-State Team recognizes those students who are “most valuable players” – those students whose leadership, energy, dedication and expertise make their publications possible but whose main contributions often occur behind the scenes."

"The Missouri All-State Journalism Team consists of the top students who practice excellent journalism in any of the following venues: newspaper, magazine, yearbook, broadcast, radio or online. All Missouri student journalists in grades 9-12 are eligible to be nominated. A student journalist must be nominated by his or her adviser. The adviser must be a member of the Missouri Journalism Education Association. Nominations may not exceed two students per school. Students are eligible to win the award once in their high school career."

Congratulations Parker!

Photo by Kyle Carter / Richland School

Essex, Missouri - Richland R-1 School eighth grader Emily Blunt shows off her first place medal after she recently received First Place in the Junior Division of History Day’s Individual Documentary Competition in Columbia.

Students in grades six through eight were in the junior group; high school students made up the senior group.

Blunt will represent the state of Missouri while competing in the National History Day Competition in June in Washington, D.C.

Blunt will also be competing in the National Junior Beta Photo Competition in Nashville, Tennessee, which is also in June.

"National History Day in Missouri, launched in 1980, is the state affiliate of National History Day. Each year, nearly half a million students nationwide—grades 6 to 12—participate in this innovative educational program. They conduct extensive research on a historical subject that they choose and present findings their way by creating documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances or websites.

The State Historical Society of Missouri, in partnership with the Missouri Humanities Council, administers National History Day in Missouri. Over 3,000 students participate in local and regional competitions each year, with nearly 600 advancing to the state contest at the University of Missouri in April.

Top winners in each category earn the opportunity to serve as Missouri delegates to the Kenneth E. Behring National History Day Contest in College Park, Maryland in June. Missouri's students represent the Show-Me State well, frequently bringing home medals in both the junior and senior divisions!"

Congratulations Emily Blunt!  We are proud of you!

Photo by Kate Wyman / Richland School