Local News – Friday, April 20th, 2018

The Salem R-80 Board of Education held their re-organizational meeting Tuesday at the District Administrative Offices. Re-elected board members Chris Heavin and Carrie Snider were swore in by Board Secretary Holly Erway. The board elected Bernie Sirois as the Board President, Dustin Howard as the Vice-President, and Holly Erway as Board Secretary. Larry Maxwell was elected as the MSBA delegate with the Carrie Snider elected as the MSBA alternate. The re-organizational meeting was then adjourned with the regular meeting to follow. Superintendent John McColloch gave a budget update before the building principals gave their reports. William Lynch Elementary Principal Kriste Crocker announced Kindergarten registration would be held May 8th and pre-school enrollment would be held May 16th and 17th. Children must be five years of age by August 1st to be eligible for enrollment in kindergarten and those who are three by that date are eligible for the “Tiger Tots” program. Upper Elementary Principal Melanie Wisdom announced their art show will be held April 26th and Serendipity will be held May 3rd which is a week earlier this year. Middle School Principal Scott Roberts saluted 8th grader Johnny Scott for taking 1st place and 6th grader Cooper Beeson for taking 2nd in the Trash Art category of the Earth Day Contest “Be a Hero-Your Planet Needs You” sponsored by the MRPC. He also congratulated the SMS Band for receiving a “1” rating at the St. James Music Contest on April 14th. High School Principal Marty Anderson talked about an additional 42 hours of dual credit being offered through MSU West Plans for the 2018-2019 year. He also discussed some changes to the student handbook for the next school year. The board set the tuition rate for the 2018-2019 year at $7,417.68 before approving the creation of two new school positions to be filled if the budget allows. Those positions would be a Security Resource Officer and School Psychological Examiner. The board also approved the Middle School Building Improvement Plan. The board accepted the resignation of High School English Teacher Eric Myers, 4th Grade Teacher Erin Blankenship, Upper Elementary Teacher Lori Beasley, Middle School Football coach James Joynt and High School Assistant Track Coach Natalie Sellers. The board went into closed session where they employed the coaches for the 2018-2019 season, hired Angie Loughridge for high school chemistry, Martin Gray as a high school math instructor and Scott Fredrickson for 6-12 music. The meeting was then adjourned.

Onondaga Cave State Park will host the first in a series of photography tours of Cathedral and Onondaga caves this Saturday. The Cathedral Cave tour will be from 9:00 in the morning until noon, and the Onondaga Cave tour will be from 1:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon. A member of the Onondaga Friends Association will lead the tours, showing participants the caves’ most interesting features and allowing ample time for plenty of photographs. Participants have the option to tour one or both caves on these adventures. There is a 1/3-mile hike to Cathedral Cave on the Deer Run Trail. Conditions in the caves include limited lighting, concrete walkways and metal handrails, a constant but cool temperature of 57 degrees and humidity of nearly 100 percent. Participants are encouraged to dress in layers of warm clothes and wear sturdy, closed-toe shoes or boots. No equipment will be provided for the tours, so participants should bring their own cameras and other photography gear. There is a fee associated with the photography tours and the fee and registration information is available at onondagafriends.org. Onondaga Cave State Park is located seven miles southeast of the Leasburg exit off of Interstate 44 on Route H. For more information about the event, contact the park at 573-245-6576.

Echo Bluff State Park invites the public to celebrate Earth Day by participating in the park’s annual Stream Team Cleanup event that will be held this Saturday from 10:00 in the morning until 1:00 Saturday afternoon. Participants will work with Stream Team volunteers to pick up trash and clean up flood debris along Sinking Creek. Participants are asked to meet at the check station in the park’s campground to register and pick up trash bags and gloves. There will be prizes for registered participants. Participants are welcome to float the creek, but must arrange their own shuttle transportation. For more event information and to pre-register, contact Connie Weber at 573-751-1224. Echo Bluff State Park is located on Highway 19, approximately 25 miles south of Salem. For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.