MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Scott Rybolt, DHS Band Director would like to announce the up and coming 6th Grade Beginners Band Camp next Monday.  Mr. Rybolt would like to welcome and congratulate  all those students choosing to participate in the Instrumental Music Program at Dexter Public Schools.

"We intend for it to be an enjoyable and life enriching experience!" noted Mr. Rybolt.

Monday, July 23

Through

Friday, July 27th, 2012

 

Beginning Band Camp!!!

The times scheduled for each section of the camp are listed below for your convenience.

           8:30 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.        Tuba and all Saxophones

           9:30 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.      Trumpet, Baritone and Flute

           10:30 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.     Percussion and Clarinet

           1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.        Trombone and Bassoons

           2:00 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.         Horn and Oboe

There will be a parent orientation meeting Tuesday, July 24th and Thursday, July 26th, 2012, 6:30 p.m.  Parents of students participating are encouraged to attend at least one of these sessions.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call Mr. Wade at 624-6372 or Mr. Rybolt at 624-6760.

By: Taylor Eggimann
ShowMe Times Staff Writer

Bloomfield- Toni Hill has taken over as the new Bloomfield Superintendent as of July 1st. She was the superintendent at Portageville for the last six years before coming to Bloomfield where she was a teacher and principal once before.

Hill and her family have just recently moved to Bloomfield and they have been very busy. Between getting things ready for the school year and getting moved into their new home she has been swamped. Luckily she is no stranger to the town. Her husband, Jeremy Hill, went to Bloomfield for a few years and they have family in the area. She has two sons Jake Young, a sophomore at SEMO and Dawson Hill, a third grader at Bloomfield and one daughter Lindsey Young who is about to start her sophomore year of high school.

Hill is from a family of educators. Phil Dawson, a superintendent at Bernie Schools for twenty-one years is her father and her mother, Penny, taught Fifth grade at Dexter for several years. Hill graduated from Bernie High School and also played volleyball. While working at Portageville she coached volleyball for one year.

Hill is taking over the superintendent job after Dr. Nicholas Thiele. She is not new to Bloomfield schools. After graduating from SEMO and teaching one year of Sixth and Seventh grade math at Hayti, she started teaching freshman math and science at Bloomfield. While she was teaching she was also working on getting her administrator's degree from SEMO. After teaching for two years she started as a part-time Middle School principal and still taught freshman science. After one year of that she became the High School principal where she worked for six years. After leaving Bloomfield she took a job as a superintendent at Portageville where she stayed for six years.

Hill should be great for the job. She has plenty of experience and is familiar with the school and the area. She seems eager for the school year to start and is ready to attend her first school board meeting tonight July 16th. 

POPLAR BLUFF - Three Rivers College will host a public wall-breaking ceremony to commemorate the beginning of the renovations to its Academic Resource Commons and Rutland Library.

The event will begin at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 19, inside the ARC on the Three Rivers campus in Poplar Bluff. Current and former students, employees, community members and the media are encouraged to attend.

At its June board meeting, the Three Rivers Board of Trustees awarded the $2.2 million renovation contract to low bidder C.A. Walker Construction of Dexter.

The ARC currently includes the Rutland Library and the Public Computing Center. The renovated ARC will also house all academic assistance programs, with spaces for tutoring, Student Support Services, the TRiO program, study rooms and more.

Photo Above: An artist's rendition of the renovated Rutland Library/Academic Resource Commons on the Three Rivers College campus in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Three Rivers College will soon oversee the Practical Nurse programs located in Kennett and Hayti, MO.  The Practical Nursing programs are one-year Licensed Practical Nurse certificate programs offered at the Career Technical Centers in both towns.

“Typically, adult learners enter these classes who have not necessarily taken college classes,” said Kim Shackleford, former Director of Nursing at Three Rivers.  Shackleford has since stepped down from the position, which is now held by Staci Campbell.

“There are no general education requirements for these programs,” said Shackleford, regarding the programs’ accessibility.  “All of those pieces are built into the curriculum.  Students train to become eligible to sit for the NLCEX PN exam to become a licensed practical nurse. From there, they can build up experience or attend additional classes, like LPN-to-RN bridge programs, pending additional general education requirements.”

“According to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC), the state of Missouri will need an additional 7,800 Licensed Practical Nurses by the year 2018,” reported Campbell.  “The rate of growth for this profession is expected to triple that of the state’s average growth, so there is expected to be a high demand for LPNs.   The average yearly salary for a LPN in the state of Missouri is $34,178 with entry level at $28,654.”
 
Administrators of the two practical nursing programs at the Career Technical Centers in Hayti and Kennett contacted Three Rivers officials in the spring of 2012.

“The CTCs at Hayti and Kennett are on a cash-based accounting system,” said Shackleford.  “In order for them to continue to offer the PN programs and for the students to be financial-aid eligible, they would have been required by the federal government to switch over to an accrual-based system.”

According to Shackleford, this would’ve been cost-prohibitive, as the PN programs were their only adult education programs at the CTCs, and the only programs that would require this switch in accounting.

“With Three Rivers administering the program, students in these areas can continue to get this training and receive financial aid to pay for it,” said Shackleford.

The program is Pell-grant eligible, so several forms of financial aid can be used to pay for the training, including WIA and TRA funds.

“The Practical Nursing programs are a valuable resource for the community,” said Campbell.  “They  allow residents to obtain an education that will provide them with a life-long career.  Three Rivers College welcomed the opportunity to assist in continuing the education of practical nurses in southeast Missouri.  Both programs have a history of success , and Three Rivers hopes to continue that tradition as we take the programs into the future.”
 
“We’ve admitted the first class, and they’ll start on July 23,” said Shackleford.  “Our deadline for admission to the next class will be February 1, 2013.”
 
“What’s great about us taking over leadership of the two PN programs is that we can start to advise these students from the beginning,” said Shackleford. “Gen education courses are not required in the PN program, but students can actually take gen ed classes while they’re in the program so that they’re 100 percent ready to enter our bridge program once they’ve become an LPN.”

The PN programs teach basic nursing skills with a pediatric component, an obstetrics component, mental health, geriatrics, surgery, IV therapy, plus training in leadership and management roles.

“The PN program offers more hands-on, practical didactic experience, whereas the RN program focuses more on the theory behind the application of nursing,” stated Shackleford, who also said that the programs will be very similar to what the CTCs offered before.

 “The biggest difference is that we’ve converted the coursework from non-credit hour to credit-hour curriculum,” said Shackleford.  “This is a 65-credit hour program, so they’ll actually be getting 65 college credit hours, but the amount of course work and clinical work is virtually the same.  If another institution that teaches nursing has an articulation agreement with LPN schools like us, they’ll accept those hours and transfer credits toward an Registered Nurse degree, and graduates of our program would only have to take one additional year to become an RN.”

The program will accept applications again in 2013.  Applicants must hold a high school diploma or GED, must take the TEAS-V exam and go through an interview process.  Those admitted to the program are determined by a combined score based on the results of both their TEAS-V exam and their interviews.

For more information, contact the Nursing and Allied Health Center at Three Rivers, the Career and Technical Center in Kennett or Pemiscot County Career and Technical Center.

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The American Red Cross and the Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at Southeast Missouri State University invite you to “Rock ’n’ Roll Up Your Sleeve” to donate blood from 1 to 5 p.m. July 18 at the CIE blood drive at 920 Broadway in Cape Girardeau.

According to the American Red Cross, “every two seconds, someone in the United States needs a blood transfusion.” Donating blood can help save up to three lives because blood is separated into its components – red cells, plasma and platelets – to treat patients with different needs. The Red Cross blood supply has reached emergency levels with 50,000 fewer donations than expected in June. This shortfall leaves the Red Cross with half the readily available blood products on hand now than this time last year.

All presenting donors will receive a Rock ’n’ Roll T-Shirt (while supplies last) and be eligible to win a Gibson guitar. As a special incentive for young donors, anyone age 16-21 can enter to win a $5,000 scholarship. Visit RedCrossBlood.org/SummerYouth2012 for more information about the scholarship.

Those wishing to donate on July 18 are asked to call Heather at (573) 651-5156 to schedule an appointment or stop by between 1 and 5 p.m. A blood donor card or driver’s license, or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental permission in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

The Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is one of the most comprehensive entrepreneurship-focused university centers in the Midwest, offering a wide array of academic and outreach programs and services, including: innovation development and research; entrepreneurship education, training and mentorship; and business consulting, incubation and development services. The CIE supports Southeast Missouri State University’s strategic priority to accelerate entrepreneurial growth and development that improve the quality of lives, communities and businesses in southeast Missouri and the Southeast region.

For more information about the CIE and the entrepreneurial support services it offers, contact (573) 651-2929 or visit SEMO.edu/CIE or for more information about donating blood or to find other blood drives in the area, visit RedCrossBlood.org.