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You've got eMule!
Vol. 12 No. 9
Welcome back to The eMule! Here is the latest news from Poplar Bluff Schools. We proudly acknowledge all those who have worn the uniform!
Click here to view our photos from the Middle School’s annual Veterans Day Parade coordinated by the Counseling Department, featuring an estimated 50 veterans and a dozen volunteer organizations from across the district and the community.
| PBJHS students help nonprofit build bed for family in need |  | |
Poplar Bluff Junior High students helped civic leaders build bed No. 661 for an area child in need, as part of the school’s community service elective class.
Officials of Sleep in Heavenly Peace visited the seventh graders on Friday, Nov. 3, to help spread the word about the local chapter of the nonprofit, established in Poplar Bluff about four years ago.
“Our goal is to get to the point where some day, every kid in our town has a bed of their own,” co-founder Dave Elledge stated. “I think that’s kind of worthwhile.”
Before Elledge was most recently elected to the R-I Board of Education, he became involved with the school system as a member of the Bright Futures advisory board, an umbrella organization that provides framework for schools to match outstanding student needs with existing resources in the community via a rapid response system.
While accompanying the district’s social workers at a Kansas City symposium for the nonprofit in 2019, Elledge became aware of the child bedlessness crisis, he explained. Later that year, he and wife Luann, Junior High counselor, launched an SHP chapter, constructing 22 beds via an assembly line at River Radio. They hosted their next ‘build day’ in the R-I Administrative Building parking lot.
At present, 552 beds have been delivered to children, ages 3-17, in the greater Poplar Bluff region, as well as west near Doniphan and east toward Dexter, Elledge shared. The easy-to-follow design allows for around 30 beds to be built in under three hours, he estimated, noting that 30-50 helpers volunteer. A delivery team of two to four people then assemble the headboard and side rails in the home, complete with mattresses, pillows and bedding.
“It’s 100 percent volunteer-based and donation-supported, meaning it 100 percent happens because people care about kids,” Elledge continued. “We do it simply so kids can have a good night’s sleep.”
Elledge has served as guest speaker for the community service class in the past. The elective was previously taught by his daughter, Lyndsee Moon, a former Poplar Bluff social studies instructor, along with colleague Aaron Duncan, who since has transferred to the High School. Allison Bell currently serves over the semester-long course, designated for grade seven.
“Mrs. Bell has a real service-learning heart,” Junior High Principal Candace Warren stated. The class was originally created during a brainstorming session when Warren accepted her leadership post during the 2017/18 academic year, and shortened class periods so students—particularly those involved with band—can fit a second elective into their schedules.
“Some child is gonna benefit from the bed you built,” Elledge informed the students. “I think that’s pretty cool – to have an impact on a life like that.”
To fill out an application to request a bed, or make a monetary donation to SHP for lumber or mattresses, please visit www.shpbeds.org.
Above: School board member Dave Elledge, co-founder of a Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapter, teaches Junior High students how to build a bed on Friday, Nov. 3, in the gymnasium.
Below: The PBJHS community service class, under the instruction of Allison Bell, poses with headboards and side rails of a bed built for a child in need alongside the Elledges, and build director Steve Keith.
|  | St. Louis artist donates alphabetic sculptures to sign language class |  | |
The budding American sign language class at Poplar Bluff High School is the new home to 26 full-sized sculptures stemming from a connection made years ago with an artist who honed his craft under a Missouri luminary, and seized the opportunity to showcase his life’s work.
Steve Altom of St. Louis, once known as Steve the Clay Guy, donated a complete set of ceramic hands signing the alphabet, conservatively valued at a few thousand dollars, secured for the cost of 540 pounds worth of terracotta clay.
“I thought, ‘Here’s somebody that’s wanting to use this as a tool, something that I can contribute, and maybe in this way I can see it reaching its potential,’” Altom explained. “It might be my last opportunity to do something with this skill.”
ASL instructor Audrey Harris briefly met Altom in the early 2000s when he served as a resident artist in the St. Louis City Museum, operating the clay area of what was called Art City under the late Bob Cassilly, a nationally renowned sculptor, along with then-wife Gail Soliwoda.
At the time, Harris was seeking out art activities for her children, now grown, as part of a homeschool group – and observed a similar set of clay hands on display on the third floor of the former International Shoe building in the downtown area.
“I fell in love with them because, well, that’s my language,” said Harris, who estimates she has about 20 percent of her hearing left. “Back then you didn’t see a lot of sign language; it was kind of uncommon.”
Originally “thinking small,” like spelling out her name for a display piece, Harris held onto Altom’s business card, she recalled. With a renewed purpose for her classroom around spring of this year, Harris decided to phone the artist, and to her delight, his number remained the same.
While still living on the south side of St. Louis, Altom had been almost a decade removed from working at the City Museum. Although he did not remember Harris specifically, having entertained hundreds of visitors each day during his peak, he was motivated by imagining that students may use his creation as a reference point. “They just needed to be made, at least once,” he concluded, adding that the only other complete set in existence was for Cassilly himself.
Altom studied illustration and design at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle after beginning his higher education at Meramec. When he returned to Missouri, he joined Cassilly’s construction crew, and ultimately would be given free rein to teach ceramics to groups of children in the renovated complex.
In an effort to get his boss’ attention, reflected Altom, he made an intricate hand out of clay one day. “A great subject for students, especially poor, is yourself,” explained Altom, adding: “The hand is an easily accessible part of your body that you can hold up, without needing a mirror.”
He had a co-worker at the time, hard of hearing, who mistakenly thought the sculpture was intended to depict sign language, giving Altom the initial notion, since each practice piece could then be of use afterward. He would proceed to churn out scaled-down letters, or one-offs, for dozens of clients, but was never able to fully realize his vision of being commissioned to create sets for schools for the deaf across the country.
“You can thank Bob Cassilly,” Altom stated. “I see him as the only true patron of the arts I have ever known. He would pay people to practice [their craft] because he knew the world needed it.”
Altom went back and forth with Harris over the summer, making minor tweaks to the ceramic hands, and delivered the final product to her classroom last month. She had the perfect space for the pieces on top of the cabinetry along the back wall of her classroom. According to the arrangement, the sculptures remain property of the school since the supplies were paid for out of the building budget.
“When Mrs. Harris approached me with the generous donation offer from the artist to make ASL alphabet clay hands, I knew this was something we needed [in order] to increase the opportunity for student learning,” PBHS Principal Dr. Valerie Ivy said. “…The positive impact Mrs. Harris is making on our students through teaching this course is amazing. Our students are using these lifelong skills at home, at work, and in the community.”
In its third year as a foreign language offering at PBHS, Harris was able to add ASL III this August, after moving solely to teach the subject on a full-time basis last school year. While the course is not necessarily commonplace in public schools across the country, according to teaching groups Harris is associated with, she noted that ASL is the third most common language utilized in the United States.
"It's hard to teach 3D in a 2D format," Harris said, pointing out how students previously were referencing images on posters so they could practice fingerspelling the ASL alphabet. “It’s the language of the hands.”
Above: Ceramic hands spelling out the ASL alphabet were donated to Poplar Bluff High School on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
Below: American sign language teacher Audrey Harris holds up a life-sized sculpture hand-crafted by a St. Louis artist for her classroom.
|  | Sho-Me Band finishes second, before concluding successful season | |
Poplar Bluff High School’s Sho-Me Marching Band placed second out of 14 bands in the most competitive division—Class 5A— last month during the 21st annual Potosi Bi-State Invitational.
In addition to advancing to the finals, the percussion and color guard sections held the second-highest scores of the day, based on the difficulty of the routine and how the playing matched with the overall band sound, Band Director Stephen Winters explained.
“We are so proud of the work the students have been doing this year,” Winters commented. “We have the largest competitive band in Southeast Missouri and they represented Poplar Bluff well.”
The Sho-Me Band went on to complete their competitive season the following week, finishing fourth overall out of 22 bands on Saturday, Oct. 21, during the Rebel Park Hill Marching Invitational.
Above: The PBHS Sho-Me Marching Band takes the field on Saturday, Oct. 14, at Potosi High School.
| October Athletes of the Month named |  | |
The Mules Booster Club has named Olivia Thetford and Blaise Rowland of Poplar Bluff High School the October Athletes of the Month, presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors.
Blaise, a senior soccer player, ended the season with 23 goals and 12 assists, reported his coach Rusty Crafton, who noted that the student has displayed a “great attitude.” In the classroom, he maintains a 10.905 grade point average.
Blaise is a “great leader, student and super competitor on the field,” Crafton continued. The coach added that he is "looking for good things to happen to [Blaise] in the future.”
Olivia, a junior golf player, scored a career-low round of 70 (-2) at the Farmington Match Play Tournament; placed second individually in the district championship during the Rockwood Summit with a score of 77 (+5); and was the first female golfer in the history of the emerging program to achieve All-State status with a two-day total of 154 (79-75).
“Olivia is a phenomenal athlete and hardworking… always ready to go out and try to do better than the day before,” stated Tyler Davis, her coach. “I am excited to see what the future holds for her, because I know she will be ready to face it head on with the same dedication and determination that she has exhibited all season.”
Above: Blaise Rowland and Olivia Thetford are presented the AOM awards by Booster Club member David Rowland on Tuesday, Nov. 7, at Mules Stadium.
| Bonus: Impromptu hayrides | |
The R-I Maintenance Department, under the supervision of Colt Sievers, constructed a trailer adorned with Halloween décor so hayrides can be offered to students, grades preK to elementary (with the exception of Oak Grove due to a scheduling conflict). They volunteered their services prior to the holiday on Tuesday, Oct. 31.
“The Maintenance Department has outdone themselves this year,” reported Kindergarten Principal Jessica Thurston, following the center’s annual fall festival. “So much fun!”
Above: District maintenance workers bring their decorated trailer attached to a tractor to help students celebrate Halloween last month, beginning at the Kindergarten Center.
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Imagination Library
Parents of eligible children, birth to age 5, may enroll here to receive a FREE high-quality, age-appropriate book monthly in the mail via Dolly Parton's Imagination Library for all children in Missouri. Full funding was included in DESE’s 2024 budget to establish and administer the program.
Thanksgiving Break
School will be dismissed for students from Monday through Friday, Nov. 20-24, in celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday. School will resume on Monday, Nov. 27.
Goosebumps
The PBHS Drama Club will present R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps The Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 2, as well as 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3, in the Kay Porter Theater. Tickets are $5.
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On Thursday, Oct. 19, ESPN named PBHS a Nationally Recognized Honor Roll School for its Unified Champions movement!
On Tuesday, Oct. 24, the DAR reported about the district engaging in professional development with author Dr. Todd Whitaker; and recognized the Sho-Me Band for placing during the Wright City Marching Invitational.
KWOC promoted our mum fundraiser for our PBHS FFA.
On Wednesday, Oct. 25, KBSI Fox23 reported about The Kinders performing for our Early Childhood and Kindergarten centers; as well as our elementary students using a NASA solar telescope supplied through the Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries program.
The DAR recognized our September Athletes of the Month.
On Thursday, Oct. 26, KWOC promoted our “Goosebumps” musical presented by the PBHS Drama Club.
On Saturday, Oct. 28, the DAR reported about our annual Kindergarten field trips to the Municipal Library; as well as our TCC’s annual pumpkin carving contest.
On Tuesday, Oct. 31, the DAR reported about our solar telescope activity in collaboration with the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library.
On Wednesday, Nov. 1, KWOC reported about PBHS being named an ESPN Honor Roll School.
The DAR reported about Mid-Continent Steel and Wire’s stove donation to our PBHS Independent Living class.
On Friday, Nov. 3, the DAR recognized our Middle School Honor Roll.
KWOC promoted Lake Road’s inaugural Costume Dash.
On Saturday, Nov. 4, the DAR recognized our All-District Choir students.
On Wednesday, Nov. 8, KWOC helped promote our annual Community Thanksgiving.
On Thursday, Nov. 9, the DAR reported about our PBHS StuCo powderpuff game.
On Friday, Nov. 10, KWOC helped promote our Veterans Day Parade.
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