Liberty Breakfast of Champions - Liberty, Missouri

This morning I attended a special breakfast that celebrates and honors the business community in Liberty. A representative from AT&T presented a check for the AT&T Grant that I helped write with the Clay County Historical Society and Downtown Liberty organization. We are created a self guided history tour of Liberty that people will be able to access with cell phones.

Christmas Tree Lighting at Zona Rosa

Teacher of the Year Banquet

Student Trip to Truman Library for Presentation by Governor Holden and Representative Skelton

South Valley Jr. High School students with Bob Holden at the Truman Library

Today is Veterans Day and today I was able to commemorate this special day with some of my students at the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri. We attended a presentation of the Holden Public Policy Forum on Issues for the 21st Century. Speakers included former Governor of Missouri Bob Holden and current United States Rep. Ike Skelton. Mr. Skelton is the current Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and he spoke primarily on the current War on Terror. Several of my 8th grade students from South Valley Jr. High asked questions about the current state of the U. S. military to Rep. Skelton and the hour long presentation was also broadcast live to a global audience on the Internet. The Holden Public Policy Forum is sponsored by Webster University.

Former Governor Bob Holden and I at the Truman Library

The students were able to tour and visit the Truman Library prior to the speech. The twenty-one students I was able to take with me to the presentation were well behaved throughout the day and I was very proud of the manner in which they conducted themselves during the presentation and while asking questions.

Check out a story about the presentation which appeared in The Examiner newspaper on November 13, 2007.

Read an online story about the presentation from the Missouri School Board Association web site.

Thanks to Mr. Holden and Joel Denney, Associate Executive Director of the Missouri School Board Association for an enjoyable day.

South Valley Jr. High 8th grade students at the Truman Presidential Library

2007 Missouri Academy Educator Appreciation Banquet

Tonight I had the pleasure of speaking at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri at the Missouri Academy Educator Appreciation Banquet. The Missouri Academy is an amazing program in which high school students take college courses on the campus of Northwest University and graduate with a high school diploma as well as an associates degree.

The Educator Appreciation Banquet is an opportunity for the students attending the Academy to say thanks and formally recognize a teacher who has made an impact on their life. After eating a delicious meal and learning more about the program from several students, I gave a presentation on the use of technology in today's classrooms using Web 2.0 tools.

It was a great evening and I enjoyed my first visit to the campus of the Northwest. Special thanks to Robert Bryant Jr. and Dee Dino of Northwest.

Liberty School District Foundation Honoring Our Own

The Liberty School District is very fortunate to have an organization that helps teachers obtain the extra resources they need to bring extra projects to life - The Liberty School District Foundation. Each year teachers can apply for grants for classroom projects funded by the foundation - Learning Enrichment Grants. The foundation also hosts the student H.O.P.E. (Honoring Outstanding Personal Effort) Awards and an evening program entitled Honoring Our Own which recognizes Liberty Public School Alumni who have been successful in their profession. For the past two years the Foundation has also recognized the Liberty School District Teacher of the Year in addition to the accomplished alumni.

This year's honorees included Brigadier General Jack Capps, Dr. Vicki Johnson, Captain Jacqueline Rychnovsky and Juarenne Hester. It was an honor to be recognized with these outstanding individuals.

I was also very surprised to learn that I am the recipient of a Major Saver classroom grant worth $1,000. I plan to use this funding to implement a family oral history project with my students in the spring of 2008.

Thanks to the Liberty School District Foundation and Major Saver for an amazing evening.