By Annabeth Miller
ShowMe Times Editor

With funding from the state for summer school programs still in doubt, the Dexter Board of Education gave the superintendent authority to develop a summer program that fits into today’s uncertain state budget.

The Dexter board made that unanimous decision in its meeting Monday evening on the recommendation of Supt. Dr. Thomas Sharp.

In the past, the state has funded summer school programs, enabling local districts to participate in offering classes and enrichment opportunities during the summer months. But Missouri’s budget problems may close the school building doors this summer.

It could be May before the Missouri General Assembly decides what to do with funding for summer programs in the state. That sort of tight timetable can mean for a lot of last-minute scrambling to prepare for programs that would begin in June. Therefore, the local board gave Sharp and the district’s administrators the authority to “make every effort” to schedule a summer school program that is fully funded by the state. This authority from the board includes making the appropriate applications, including food service plans.

Sharp said the plan to offer a “pay as you drive” Drivers Education program is still on the table. The board voted last month to offer Drivers Education to students for tuition. No tuition cost or other plans for the traditional summer program have been announced.

Sharp said new legislation would allow for limited funding for summer school programs, as long as courses offered were in the core subject areas.

“We want to provide as much as we can for summer school, but are concerned about the cash flow,” Sharp said. “That’s somewhat tricky. It’s important we offer the best program we are permitted to allow. We don’t want to spend money that we aren’t going to have coming in. Our object is to plan accordingly.”

School Food Service

The board approved the agreement for OPAA!! to operate the food service program in the local district. The 2010-2011 academic year is the first for the food management firm in the Dexter district.

Sharp said the conversion to a food management firm has proven to be a successful move for the district, Sharp explained.

“Opaa!! has illustrated that their purchasing power, employee training programs and existing accounting and control systems can provide student meals for less money than out own district-operated food service program,” he said.

The board also approved the meal prices for the 2011-2012 academic year. The rates will not increase next year. Rates include

• K-5 Student Breakfast - $1
• 6-12 Student Breakfast - $1.10
• K-5 Student Lunch $1.40
• 6-12 Student Lunch - $1.50
• Extra mill - $.35

In other business Monday evening, the board:

• agreed to move the April board meeting to 6 p.m., Tuesday, April 12

• approved a plant to re-seal the roofing seams and recoat portions of the roof at T.S. Hill Middle School during the summer months. This work will extend the roof warrant for 10 years.

• tentatively agreed to a special meeting for 6 p.m., Thursday, March 24 to hear a presentation from the vendor recommended by the district Insurance Committee. The meeting date may need to be adjusted if arrangements cannot be made on short notice.

• approved a bid to refinish selected gym floors this summer

• Sharp also discussed a plan for asphalt work for this summer.

• approved a request from the Bearcat Booster Club to be able to continue using the high school gym for certain fund raising projects, such as Donkey Basketball.

Photo Above: Dexter School Board member Jackie McKuin receives a plaque from Board President Rick Williams in recognition of her years of services on the local school board. McKuin is not seeking another term on the board in the April 5 election. (ShowMe Times photo by Annabeth Miller)

By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

Learning to ask questions, developing a hypothesis, testing, analyzing, drawing conclusions, proving if the hypothesis is true or not and finally reporting the results.

These are all the steps in the classic Scientific Method – something that the students in Pam Mills’ science classes at Dexter’s T.S. Hill Middle School know all too well.

The students have been busy all spring in preparing science projects, using these traditional steps to design, execute their experiments. A local science fair was held earlier this semester, and 35 students recently returned from the Southeast Missouri Regional Science Fair with 34 awards for Dexter students.

More than 340 students from 28 regional school districts participated in the annual Science Fair.

Four Dexter middle school students brought home first place awards:

• Drake Mitchell placed first in the Junior Medicine and Health Division. Drake also won a $100 savings bond from the Cape West Rotary Club; the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps Award, BROADCOM MATSTERS Applied Science Award (and an invitation to compete for the $25,000 grand prize) and Best Experimental Study Award;

• Miranda Rogers placed first in Junior Biochemistry, as well as BROADCOM MATSTERS Applied Science Award (and an invitation to compete for the $25,000 grand prize), and Best Experimental Study award;

• Afton Harris placed first in Junior Chemistry, and BROADCOM MATSTERS Applied Science Award (and an invitation to compete for the $25,000 grand prize) and Best Experimental Study Award;

• Honey Patel placed first in Junior Earth and Space Sciences; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Environmental Award, BROADCOM MATSTERS Applied Science Award (and an invitation to compete for the $25,000 grand prize) and Best Experimental Study Award;

Other awards include:

• Zach Midkiff won the American Chemical Society $50/Junior Chemistry;

• Brooks Probst placed second in Junior Botany;

• Alexis Smith placed second in Junior Medicine and Health;

• Brandon Berry placed second in Junior Medicine and Health;

• MacKinlee Rogers placed second in Junior Medicine and Health;

• Colton Averett placed second in Junior Biochemistry;

• Rachel Putnam placed second in Junior Biochemistry;

• Shayna Bess placed third in Junior Behavioral and Social Sciences;

• Hayley Chapman placed third in Junior Chemistry;

• Madison Christian placed third in Junior Chemistry;

• Katie DeWitt placed third in Junior Medicine and Health;
• Keasha Hubbert placed third in Junior Chemistry;

• Toppy Hux placed third in Junior Behavioral and Social Sciences;

• Brandon Quertermous placed third in Junior Chemistry;

• Katie Reiker placed third in Junior Medicine and Health;

• Oliver Warren placed third in Junior Environmental Science;

• Kelsi Wood placed third in Junior Chemistry


According to Mills there were 267 Junior Projects, more than any year since 2005. Junior Division schools included Cape Junior High, Delta, Dexter, Farmington, Gideon, Leopold, Malden, Nell Holcomb, Oak Ridge, Poplar Bluff, Portageville, Risco, Sacred Heart Catholic School in Poplar Bluff, Scott City, St. Ambrose in Chaffee, St. Denis in Benton, St. Paul Lutheran in Jackson, St. Vincent in Perryville, Trinity Lutheran in Cape Girardeau and Twin Rivers.

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By Annabeth Miller
ShowMe Times Editor

Jazz is America’s music. Its birthplace may be New Orleans, but its soul is American.

Jazz legend Louis Armstrong said, "Jazz is music that's never played the same way once." Duke Ellington once said that "music itself is a category of sound, but everything that goes into the ear is not music." Jazz is the art of expression set to music; it is the fundamental rhythms of human life.

There is a group of Dexter students who have those definitions down pat, and are working on their own definition of the musical form.

The Dexter High School Jazz ‘Cats – hot off a big performance at the 2011 Jazz Festival at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale – this last weekend were the “cool cats” at the Carol Moore Memorial Jazz Contest at Mineral Area College in Park Hills.

The Dexter ensemble won its class and received the highest score awarded for the daylong festival. The DHS Jazz ‘Cats competed with four other schools in Class 4 Division – Seckman (Fox School District), DeSoto, Farmington and North St. Francois County.

“We received a score of 93 – and the closest score of the day was 88, received by North County,” Scott Rybolt, director of the jazz band, said.

Rybolt also reported the three DHS students received Outstanding Musician awards. Brandon Moore, Steven Harrellson and Joseph Greer all received recognition for their musicianship and performance, Rybolt said.

The Jazz Festival celebrated its 25th year at MAC. Four regional jazz greats participated as guest artists – Jim Widner (bass), Kim Park (alto sax and flute), Brett Stamps (trombone), and Mike Shannon (tenor sax). In addition the festival featured three renowned adjudicators – Dr. Bob Conger of Southeast Missouri State University, Tim AuBuchon of Truman State University, and Jay Contrio, a graduate of Berklee/UNT.

Other area schools participating in the jazz festival include Poplar Bluff junior and senior high, Hillsboro, Bunker, Herculaneum, Farmington Jazz Lab, Crystal City and Charleston.

“The kids played really well – it was a good day and fun,” Rybolt said.

Photo Above:


The DHS Jazz ‘Cats shined at the 25th Annual Carol Moore Memorial Jazz Festival at Mineral Area College on Saturday. Band members include (front row, from left) Rhythm section members Owen Flowers, Joe Greer, Sam Long and John Durham; (second row, from left) saxophonists Steven Harrellson, Blake Kimbrough, Shelby Lintz, Brandon Moore, Tyler Jones and Lauren Dudley; (third row, from left) trombonists Luke Dachs, Alex Rybolt, Kendra Stevenson, and Chuy Lara and rhythm players Brandon Propst and Chandler Crowley; (back row, from left) rhythm player Nathan Elliott and trumpeters Alex Allstun, Hannah Huls, Chris Littleton, Robbie Sandage, John Reeves and Beth Crone.

By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

A true sign that spring is at hand this weekend - the arrival of Daylight Saving Time.

Missouri and much of the rest of the nation will switch to "summer time" this Saturday night by resetting clocks before going to bed. Clocks should be set ahead one hour – “spring forward” - Saturday night. It is encouraged to set clocks before retiring Saturday, so families won't be late for church services the next morning!

The official start time for Daylight Savings Time is 2 a.m. Sunday, local time.Sure, it means a short night, but that hour of lost sleep will return with standard time in the fall!

’Time’ For Smoke Alarms

For Dexter Fire Chief Al Banken, the switch to Daylight Savings Time also is the time to check smoke alarms.
“This weekend when you set your clock back for Daylight Savings Time, people should check out their smoke detectors,” Banken said. “Change the battery and make sure it is clean.”

Banken is adamant that every home must have a smoke detector.

“We provide smoke detectors for people who cannot afford to buy them,” Banken said. He explained the Dexter Fire Department receives donations from local groups that enables to department to purchase smoke detectors to give to those who need them.

“I cannot believe that people do not have smoke detectors,” he said. “It’s a definite fact that smoke detectors lives. They have saved lives in Dexter.”

Banken said smoke detectors are credited with helping a local man during a recent home fire on West St. Francis Street. The fire chief said the gentleman living in the home indicated smoke detectors plus the “popping and crackling” of the fire awakened him from sleep and he was able to exit the burning home unharmed.

“Smoke detectors are guarding us when we are asleep,” he stressed. “They never sleep.”

Banken said it takes just a small amount of smoke to set off a detector – if the smoke detector is clean. He said dust and cobwebs can reduce a detector’s effectiveness.

Above all, Banken said the battery from a smoke alarm should not be pulled without being replaced. A smoke alarm should be operational at all times.

’Spring Forward’

For most Americans, Daylight Saving Time 2011 starts aSunday, when most states spring forward an hour. Time will fall back to standard time again on Sunday, November 6, 2011, when Daylight Saving Time ends.

The federal government doesn't require U.S. states or territories to observe Daylight Savings, which is why residents of Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Marianas Islands won't need to change their clocks this weekend.

Ben Franklin — of "early to bed and early to rise" fame — was apparently the first person to suggest the concept of daylight savings, according to computer scientist David Prerau, author of the book Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time.

While serving as U.S. ambassador to France in Paris, Franklin wrote of being awakened at 6 a.m. and realizing, to his surprise, that the sun would rise far earlier than he usually did. Imagine the resources that might be saved if he and others rose before noon and burned less midnight oil, Franklin, tongue half in cheek, wrote to a newspaper.

"Franklin seriously realized it would be beneficial to make better use of daylight but he didn't really know how to implement it," Prerau said.

Since the end of World War II, though, daylight saving time has always been optional for U.S. states. But its beginning and end have shifted — and occasionally disappeared.

During the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo, the U.S. once again extended daylight saving time through the winter, resulting in a one percent decrease in the country's electrical load, according to federal studies cited by Prerau.

Thirty years later the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was enacted, mandating a controversial monthlong extension of daylight saving time, starting in 2007.

Photo above Dexter Fire Chief Al Banken with a pair of smoke detectors. Chief Banken encourages people to check smoke detectors this weekend to ensure the detectors are working properly. The Dexter Fire Department has smoke detectors available for individuals who do not have a fire detector in their home and cannot afford to purchase one.

By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times editor

Dexter police will have three new in-car cameras thanks to a grant from the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

The Dexter department, as well as law enforcement agencies in Bernie. Essex, Puxico and Three Rivers College will benefit from the grant through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. State Sen. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, made the announcement this week.

"Securing the safety of our local, county and state officers and the general public they serve is always a top priority,” said Sen. Mayer. “I’m proud that three counties and nine cities in my district will receive the funding needed to help provide adequate safety measures to protect the citizens of our state.”

At Three Rivers’ main campus in Poplar Bluff, the new Police department will be able to purchase four new bulletproof vests.

“We are going to buy four bullet proof vests for our full-time officers,” Cagle said. Three Rivers is set to receive #3,385 through the grant. “They cost right at $1,000 each.”

Cagle said his department and the college was excited to learn of the grant award. Three Rivers established the police department on the main campus in January 2010 and it has four full-time commissioned officers and five part-time commissioned officers.

Three Rivers has record-breaking enrollment on its 80-acre campus in Poplar Bluff.

“We have 4,000 students enrolled and close to 200 living in Rivers Ridge student housing,” Cagle said. “For our department to just be a year old and to receive this grant is really something special.”

Grants awarded in Stoddard County include:

CITY	GRANT AMOUNT	LOCAL USE
Bernie	$8,359.72	28 Light bars/Lights
Dexter	$8,977.50	3 In-car Cameras
Essex	$5,399	1 Light bar/Lights, 1 Siren Box, 1 Flashlights
Puxico	$2,328.26	1 Light bat/Lights, 1 Siren Box, 2 Ballistic Vests
Three Rivers College	$3,389.36	4 Bullet-proof Vests

The grants are to be used to help agencies obtain essential law enforcement equipment necessary to increase public and officer safety. In all, cities and counties in the 25th senatorial district that Mayer represents will receive more than $85,000 in grant funding. Awards are limited to a maximum of $10,000 each and there is a 10 percent local match requirement.