Dexter, Missouri - The Stoddard County Athletic Association brackets for the Junior High basketball tournament this week fins the Advance Hornets as the number one seed in the tournament. The 8th grade teams have been very competitive among the top three seeds this season as Bloomfield and Dexter trail Advance closely in the 2nd and 3rd seed respectively.
Bloomfield was able to defeat the 8th Grade Bearcat team this past week. This will be a tremendous game to see should both teams get past their first round games. Bloomfield will play Bernie at 10 AM on Saturday and Dexter will follow that afternoon at 5:30 PM against the Richland Rebels.
The tournament action will begin this Saturday, November 10th at the Bernie High School gymnasium.
The tournament action will begin this Saturday, November 10th at the Bernie High School gymnasium. The Dexter 7th Grade will play the 7th seed Richland Rebels at 4:15 in the afternoon.
Written by
Jessica Snider SMT Writer
Recently, some students of Southwest Elementary School in Dexter have enjoyed reading week. Every reading week has a theme, and this time around the theme is “Vote For A Good Book.”
Of course the students who attend Southwest Elementary are too young to actually vote in the Presidential Election, but this gives them a way to feel directly tied into the 2012 Election.
Students in Mrs. Shannon Putnam’s first grade class had a few guests to come and read to the classroom. The class chose between three of the books with each student voting for their favorite.
After casting their vote, the students received an “I voted” sticker just as they would after voting in a real election.
Pictured in the above photo is one of the guest readers, Christy Dorton. She is shown with her daughter, Emma Dorton.
Jessica Snider SMT Writer
Recently, Dexter T.S. Hill Middle School has made a decision that has made lots of students very happy. They have decided to include National Junior Beta to their school.
The mission of the National Beta Club is to promote the ideas of academic achievement, character, service and leadership among elementary and secondary school students.
Beta Club is one of the nation’s leading youth organizations. Academic achievement is the first requirement of membership in the Junior Beta Club. Apart from academics, Junior Beta members are also required to keep good attendance, and have good character in and out of the school.
“We are jumping in feet first! After a lot of research and looking into it, it’s going to be a great fit for our Middle School,” says T.S. Hill Middle School Principal Scott Kruse.
Junior Beta Club will require and help the students learn: leadership, service, academics, character building, and also the incentive to excel in the classroom/ school.
The students of T.S. Hill Middle School are very excited about this new addition. There are over 260 students who have received invitations and the response has been outstanding.
Some of the Middle School sponsors for Junior Beta Club include: Mr. Kruse, Mrs. Duncan, Mrs. Boles, Mrs. Cato, Mrs. Thurkill, Mrs. Delay, and Mrs. Thurmon.
Kruse says, “The Dexter School Board and the superintendent need to be thanked for supporting ideas like this!”
Kruse also mentioned that he was proud to be apart of the addition of National Junior Beta Club and looks forward to a ton of great moments these kids have through the club.
Written by
Jessica Snider,
story submitted by eMule Newsletter
Thirty years ago when Alana Robertson, Poplar Bluff school board member, began teaching in the school district, there was not one computer in the whole building.With no computers in the building, there of course weren’t any in the classrooms, which is totally different from today’s classrooms.
Recently, 100 MacBook Airs have been distributed to the students in Junior High at Poplar Bluff as part of a pilot program. The pilot program causes the laptops to be rotated in each of the classrooms for two-week periods.
Kathy Beck, junior high social studies department chair stated, “I’ve always been interested in incorporating technology in the classroom. I was one of the first in the building to use PowerPoint, and I immediately noticed students’ scores go up.”
The main goal of this digital conversion initiative is to get a computer in the hands of ever junior and senior high student by the 2014-2015 school year.
Superintendent Christ Hon first conceived the initiative among reading in education digests about how Mooresville Graded School District in North Caroline provided a laptop to all fourth grade students, and has since seen their academic achievement increase significantly.
During the Missouri Association of School Administrators conference in March, Hon and assistant superintendent met with Mooresville Superintendent, Dr. Mark Edwards, the pioneer of the one-to-one laptop initiative.
After speaking among teachers and school board members, it became obvious that almost everyone was all for the initiative and thought it could only improve the academic studies of the students.
Each student would be supplied a special backpack in which to protect the laptop that they will also be allowed to bring home. Additional insurance policies will be offered for parents to take out on the devices. A fee of $50 is likely for the laptop usage, with payments plans or school service options available.
Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce President Stave Halter stated, “I am thoroughly excited about this program and glad to see Poplar Bluff R-I be proactive on any issue that deals with technology. I think his will help give our students a competitive edge.”
One of the arguments used to gain the computers for each student was that many times when asked to do a project at home, some students would bring in work that looked like it came straight out of a print shop, while other students used paper and crayons. It is said that providing the computers will close the gap between the have and have-nots.
As Poplar Bluff school district takes the first step in participating in the laptop pilot program, many other school districts have their eyes focused on getting involved as well.
It is true that in a few years, some schools may be guilty of getting rid of all or most their textbooks in order to send children home with a computer to do homework.
Technology is truly changing society one school district at a time!
