More Reasons Missouri
Public Schools
are Great Places to Grow
 Great
things are happening for students in public schools all across
Missouri.
Missouri educators have shared school success stories with
us as examples of the many reasons Missouri public schools
are great places to grow.
Scroll through this section to learn about some of the great
things happening in your public schools, or click on the name
of the district(s) whose stories you’d like to learn more
about:
Independence Public
Schools . . . Great Places to Grow
The Independence School District made
a commitment to train all kindergarten and first grade teachers
in Phonemic Awareness in the past two years, with second grade
teachers being added next year. The training is one week long
with materials, support and follow-up meetings throughout
the year.
The Independence district has already
seen measurable improvement in the ability level of their
kindergarten students, with 94 percent of last year's kindergartners
entering the first grade having mastered the skill of letter
naming. This is an increase of 53 percent from the previous
year. Of these same students, 85 percent ended kindergarten
able to identify sound/symbol relationships compared to only
five percent of those the year before.
This success story was submitted
by Kathy Swanson, Glendale Elementary.
Kirksville
Public Schools . . . Great Places to Grow
The faculty at Kirksville Junior High determined that an
after-school mentoring/tutoring program would be more beneficial
in addressing the academic and social problems of junior high
adolescents than the existing Title I pull-out reading class.
The purpose of the class, called "Stand By Me," is to
assist students who may: be struggling with homework; have
low achievement test scores and/or grade point averages; have
been retained from the previous year; have experienced a crisis
situation; or who are referrals from the Adair County Juvenile
Office or Division of Family Services.
The program, which is funded by Title I, serves approximately
65 students with a ratio of five students per one tutoring
teacher. After-school tutoring sessions are held for one hour,
three times per week, with limited bus transportation provided.
A monthly in-service training is provided for teachers that
cover at-risk topics affecting the students and their families.
A quarterly pizza party, which usually features guest speakers
and an incentive point system in which tutoring students can
earn school supplies, rewards them for their hard work.
This is the sixth year for the successful "Stand By Me" After-School
Tutoring Program. During the 1997-98 school year, 56 percent
of the students increased their grade point averages. Almost
1200 parent contacts were made. In addition, the students
show a tremendous growth in their social skills and development.
This success story was submitted by Connie Johnson, Kirksville
Junior High School.
Odessa Public Schools
. . . Great Places to Grow
This past school year, Superintendent Sandra Sloan wrote
and secured a grant for a day care program for infants to
pre-school age children of teen parents and/or teachers. This
enables teen parents to continue their education and provides
them an opportunity to learn some parenting skills in the
hour they must spend in the day care. The teachers pay for
their child care costs, which helps to pay for the program
and the salaried day care attendants.
This new program provides students and their families with
the security of knowing that their children are well cared
for while they are in class. Teachers benefit from the program
by having their children nearby, thus enabling many of them
to stay in their building working instead of making the mad
dash to pick up their kids at the babysitters.
This success story was submitted by Angie Arndt, McQuerry
Elementary School.
Clayton
Public Schools . . . Great Places to Grow
All eighth graders at Wydown Middle School participate in
a Global Summit Conference where problems are explored and
resolutions debated and passed. Students choose a country
at the beginning of the year and follow the events of that
country throughout the year. They research various aspects
of the history and culture of the country they have chosen.
The countries are grouped by regions, and regional meetings
are held to discuss regional and international issues. Following
the Global Summit Conference at the end of the year, students
and faculty are asked to evaluate the program and provide
suggestions for the following year.
This success story was submitted by Ed Wright, Wydown
Middle School.
Springfield
Public Schools . . . Great Places to Grow
Students in Jacob Wadsworth’s class are provided with several
opportunities for hands-on, interactive lessons in world history.
One example of such an activity is the World History Newspaper
Project. Students work in groups to create a newspaper/journal
for the Greek civilization. Each person in the group must
contribute articles, while the editor and the researcher have
additional tasks. Each article in the newspaper must have
at least three sources to be included in the paper, and students
determine the layout for their own paper. The newspaper includes
articles covering political, social, economic, military, human
interest, daily life, art, science, etc.
The students are involved in setting the deadlines they
must meet in submitting their rough drafts and final product.
Students benefit from assignments that allow them to explore
different ideas, and working together lets them draw on their
individual strengths.
This success story was submitted by Don Sartin.
Bayless Public
Schools . . . Great Places to Grow
The Bayless Consolidated School District is involved in
a three-year project designed to improve energy efficiency.
The elementary building has installed computer-regulated heating.
The intermediate building is in the process of installing
new, energy-efficient windows and a new heating system. In
the junior high, the entire heating system is being replaced.
Students from science classes have been involved in observing
and recording these activities and suggesting ways that fellow
students and staff can be even more energy efficient.
The district hopes the results of these efforts will be
lower heating bills and a greater comfort level in all classrooms.
This success story was submitted by Laura Murphy, Bayless.
Share your story.
Click here if you’d
like to share a success story from your district for future
inclusion in this section of MNEA’s website.
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