Dexter, Missouri - The annual CTA Retirement Tea was held on Thursday, April 28th with seven teachers retiring from Dexter Public Schools. In all, these seven teachers will end their teaching career with 193 years of service. Teachers honored were Sherry Chance, June Lawrence, Ramona Lemons, Shannon Putnam, John Stephens, Shari Stickles, and Debra Thrower. (Each teacher will have their own article and a description of their years of service in education.)
Sherry Chance began teaching with the Dexter Public Schools in January of 1998. Se was hired to teach 6th and 7th grade reading at T.S. Hill Middle School. The following year, she had the privilege of creating curriculum for an elective, 8th Grade Literature.
After six years of teaching Reading, in 2005 she moved to the English Department to teach 8th grade English.
Sherry is ending her teaching career teaching 7th grade Social Studies. All of her 18 1/2 years of teaching has been in the classroom at T.S. Hill Middle School.
"The Dexter Public Schools commend them for their dedication and service to educating all the students they have come in contact with over the many years," commented Rick Williams, Dexter School Board President. "We appreciate their service."
Dexter, Missouri - The Dexter Elks Lodge held their annual Students of the Year Banquet on April 19, 2016. Roger Tripplett, Exalted Rule welcomed the 14 students who had already been honored as a Student of the Month at their respective high schools. Larry White introduced each student and thanked everyone for attending. This was his 11th year of hosting the Students of the Year banquet.
Representing Bell City are Rebecca Heuring and Peyton Maddox, from Bloomfield are Adrianna Gensler and Tyler Battles, from Dexter are Erin Lauters and Garrett Kyle, from Bernie are Cybil Voss and Brock Beacham, from Richland are Makala Pinkley and Matthew Miller, from Puxico are McKenna Hawthorne and Nathan Dare, and representing Advance are Jennifer Beal and Creighton Miles.
Bill Hampton, Director of Three River College Center at Dexter, was the guest speaker. "You are the best of the best," Hampton said of the students in the audience. "The Elks are extremely active in the community with Youth Basketball Shootout, Drug Awareness, Three Rivers Patrons of the Arts, Goodwill Games, and Youth Wrestling. When you finish college remember to give back to your community by joining an organization such as the Elks."
"If it is to be it is up to me!" Larry White said those are the top ten words to live by. "When you leave the nest, get involved in the community, join a civic organization, become a youth coach or run for city council, just get involved in your community."
Students who earned top honors as Elks Students of the Year are Jennifer Beal and Tyler Battles.
Beal is the daughter of Jesse and Jonna Beal. She will attend School of the Ozarks in the fall and major in Music Education.
Battles is the son of Kristie Battles and Michael Battles. He is yet undecided as to where he will attend college, but he plans to major in Biology.
Shown in the photo are Elks Student Awards coordinator, Larry White, with Students of the Year Jennifer Beal from Advance and Tyler Battles from Bloomfield. Along with their plaques, the two each received a $200 check for their achievements.
Dexter, Missouri - The Dexter Elks Lodge held their annual Students of the Year Banquet at the Elks Lodge on April 19, 2016.
Two students from each school district within Stoddard County were recognized throughout the year as Dexter Elks Lodge Students of the Month.
Each April, all of the students are recognized at the annual banquet to honor their achievements and to name the Students of the Year.
The Dexter Elks have sponsored this program for 40 years and Larry and Carol White have headed the program for the past 11 years.
Students, their parents, and their school counselor were treated to a delicious meal catered by the Elks. Each student was invited to the stage to introduce themselves and who attended the banquet with them.
Shown in the photo are front row seated from left to right: Rebecca Heuring, of bell City, Adrianna Gensler of Bloomfield, Erin Lauters and Garrett Kyle from Dexter, and Cybil Voss of Bernie. Standing are from left to right Brock Beacham of Bernie, Skie Pinkley and Parker Miller from Richland, Nathan Dare of Puxico, and Jennifer Beal of Advance. Not present for the photo were Tyler Battles from Bloomfield (He was at a baseball game and came later to the banquet), McKenna Hawthorne from Puxico, and Creighton Miles of Advance.
Dexter, Missouri - Erin Lauters is the 2016 recipient of the Beta Sigma Phi Scholarship.
Presenting the scholarship are Laura Lee stone of the Beta Sigma chapter and Debbie Essner of the Gamma Delta Masters chapter.
The four local chapters of Beta Sigma Phi, Xi Lambda Psi, Beta Sigma, Xi Lambda Eta, and Gamma Delta Masters, contribute to scholarship fund.Each year, a Dexter senior is selected to receive this $500 scholarship.
Erin Lauters is the daughter of Ron and Kollete lauters.
She has been a member of the DHS Marching Band all four years of high school. She has also been a member of the Jazz Cats all four years of high school.
Erin is a member of the Rotary Interact Club, student Council, Future Teachers of America and has been on the Scholar Bowl team her junior and senior years. She is in the Top 10% of her class.
She has been a member of the All-District Band for three years and All-District Jazz Band for two years. Erin was a delegate for Missouri Girls State in 2015.
Her plans are to attend Arkansas State University and pursue a degree in Elementary Education.
Congratulations Erin!
Poplar Bluff, Missouri - Two Poplar Bluff High School Math Club members earned top placement during Math Field Day on Thursday, April 14, at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.
Humza Siddiqui, a junior, and sophomore Adeesh Mishra placed first and second respectively in the computational math competition. Adeesh also came in second in non-routine level one and Humza placed second in trigonometry.
A total of 25 PBHS students participated in the annual event, vying individually and as part of a team. The Math Club has been preparing for the competition by participating in monthly Missouri Mathematics League activities.
Shown in the photo is the Math Club who participated in Math Field Day earlier this month at SEMO.
Photos and article submitted by Tim Krakowiak, Communications/Marketing Coordinator, Poplar Bluff R-I School District.
