Poplar Bluff Lodge No. 209 of the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons recently donated $2,100 to Eugene Field and Lake Road Elementary, respectively, to purchase clothing items for students in need.

Since 2006, the Masonic Lodge has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the two R-I elementary schools through its Creating A Partnership program established by the Masonic Home of Missouri, which provided a 2:1 match this year, turning every local dollar raised to $3.

“Poplar Bluff Lodge is proud to have assisted Eugene Field and Lake Road schools over the years and believe that the total amount as of right now is around $25,000 for these two schools combined,” reported Past Master of Lodge No. 209 Terry Yarbrough, the Grand Chaplain for the Grand Lodge of Missouri.

Both Lake Road and Eugene Field applied their funding toward clothing items including outerwear, undergarments and winter accessories. Lake Road distributed the clothing to families as gifts prior to Christmas, school counselor Valerie Duncan reported, while Eugene Field stocked its giving closet in the nurse's office to go to students year-round, according to counselor Esther Luna.

The local contribution was generated from the Masonic Lodge’s Father Daughter Ball held in October at the Black River Coliseum. The annual ball was founded in 2013 by Yarbrough, who drew inspiration from the Mountain Home Christian Academy in Arkansas, and has since helped grow the event from about 100 attendees to an average of 700 people.

“What started as a way to fund our youth groups grew beyond anything we expected and now affords us the ability to give charitable donations,” Yarbrough said. In addition to the Creating A Partnership program, which further serves three other school systems in the region, proceeds from the fundraiser benefit the Divine Chapter Order of DeMolay open to young men and the Order of Rainbow for Girls, as well as the transportation fund of the Shriners Hospitals for Children, Yarbrough noted.

Above: Lake Road counselor Valerie Duncan, accompanied by the school’s new therapy dog Dorsey, accepts a donation from Poplar Bluff Lodge No. 209 by Worshipful Master Terry Campbell in December.

Below: Worshipful Master Terry Campbell of Poplar Bluff Lodge No. 209 presents Eugene Field interim nurse Lindsay Allbritton (left) and counselor Esther Luna with a generous donation last month.

The Poplar Bluff School Foundation recently voted to fund over $3,500 in competitive grants designated to benefit a range of students, both at-risk and gifted, at the Middle School and Junior High.

“I’m glad we have this many applications; that’s a good thing,” commented Emily Wolpers, Foundation chairwoman, during the November meeting of the nonprofit organization. A total of seven innovative educational projects were ranked in order by a sub-committee over the annual grant program, and the top two were approved, one fully funded and the other partially.

Middle School math interventionist Krystal Dover received the green light from the Foundation board for her $1,500 proposal to purchase several licenses to TouchMath Connect interactive software and apps for teacher dashboards across multiple devices, along with acquiring two additional iPads with cases for classroom usage.

“I have successfully used TouchMath resources to help my struggling students throughout my 16 years of teaching, through hand-me-down printables and free resources online,” Dover wrote in her successful grant proposal. “Now I would like the opportunity to utilize the app component of the program.”

Dover further explained that she would use the software to increase basic math concepts such as counting, adding, subtracting and multiplying for learners still struggling beyond structured interventions in place: “with a fun and engaging platform to make them enjoy, understand and possibly even love math.”

At the Junior High, Hilary Taylor, who teaches SINGS (serving the individual needs of gifted students) as well as a series of electives, received 60 percent financing toward a $3,200 Glowforge 3D laser cutter and engraver, with a building commitment to cover the remainder out of the supply budget, in addition to an air filter needed for the classroom.

“The Glowforge is a tool that can be used by every student in each class for a different purpose, while still allowing for critical thinking and problem solving,” Taylor stated. “Unlike many other tools and pieces of technology, this will give our students access to something that most will never be able to utilize otherwise …This could spark the love and joy of STEM to guide students into a future career path.”

Taylor broke down how her SINGS students can use the tool for entrepreneurial inventions or architectural challenges; the drama class can create marionette puppets during its puppetry unit; game design students can design a board game beyond the prototype step; and robotics students can create a hydraulic arm or devices for LEGO Mindstorm robots to complete tasks. The classes may also collaborate with PBHS business educator Pam Davis, who added a Glowforge in her building in recent months.

In addition to the innovative educational projects, the Foundation voted unanimously to fund its annual scholarship at $1,000 for a PBHS graduate planning to enter the field of teaching, spending the remaining proceeds from its annual golf tournament, which totaled $4,600 in April.

For more information about the Poplar Bluff School Foundation, visit https://mules.me/foundation. All donations to the 501c3 are tax-deductible.

The Poplar Bluff School District qualified nationally in 16 competitions plus was awarded one Golden Ticket during recent state Beta Club conventions in which 113 students participated.

During the Missouri Senior Beta Convention held last month in Springfield, Piper Duncan of Poplar Bluff High School placed first in Division II Onsite Drawing; Kylie Darnell placed second in Division II Digital Art; Dean Hester placed third in Ninth Grade Math; and Adeeti Mishra placed fifth in Twelve Grade Math. 

In addition, Emma Papanicolaou earned a Golden Ticket during the Solo Talent dance routine, further qualifying to perform during the opening ceremony of the National Convention to be held July in Nashville. For the first time, PBHS also had a student run as a candidate for vice president of the student organization, according to co-sponsor Stephanie Kuper. “While we didn’t win, I am incredibly proud of the candidate, Nya Cram, and all the students who participated in the campaign skit,” Kuper said.

During the Junior Beta Convention, held prior in Springfield, the Poplar Bluff Middle School team of Camden Donnell, Bridget Popp, Clint Wallace and Addy Yarbro placed first in Elementary Quiz Bowl – Oral, as well as second in Written; Mason Howell of Lake Road placed second in Elementary Speech; Jackson Kennedy of Junior High placed second in Seventh Grade Science; Tenley Moss placed second in Elementary Performing Arts – Solo; Christian Acevedo of Middle School placed third in Fifth Grade Science; Alex Gholson of Lake Road placed fourth in Sixth Grade Math; Connor Haywood of Middle School placed fourth in Sixth Grade Science; Nakayla Randolph of Lake Road placed fourth in Elementary Creative Writing; Ella Rushin of Middle School placed fourth in Elementary Black & White Photography; Emmalynn Dennis of Middle School placed fifth in Elementary Painting; and Molly Murphy of Middle School placed fifth in Elementary Drawing. 

Each of the top five students, along with only a handful of Golden Ticket winners, are eligible to compete on the national stage this summer. Lake Road co-sponsor Kasi Aldridge noted that the elementary school Quiz Bowl team placed among the top eight, and she is “incredibly proud” of their “flexibility” in navigating the competition, considering it was just their second convention.

Above: Poplar Bluff Middle School students (left to right) Camden Donnell, Addy Yarbro, Bridget Popp and Clint Wallace placed first in the Elementary Quiz Bowl – Oral competition during the 19th annual Junior Beta Convention held in December in Springfield.

Below: Poplar Bluff High School senior Piper Duncan took first place in Division II Onsite Drawing during the 72nd annual Senior Beta Convention held last month in Springfield.

On Monday, Dec. 20, KWOC reported about our Middle School’s toy drive collection taken up for tornado victims. 

On Tuesday, Dec. 21, the DAR recognized our Junior High Students of the Month.

On Wednesday, Dec. 22, KWOC reported about our playground expansion at the Middle School. 

On Thursday, Dec. 23, KWOC reported about our Middle School’s partnership with the Street Department. 

The DAR published a photo gallery of our Christmas activities at the Kindergarten Center. 

On Friday, Dec. 24, the DAR reported about the concert put on by The Kinders at the Kindergarten Center.

On Monday, Dec. 27, River Radio began streaming the entire Poplar Bluff ShowDown tournament with commentary via YouTube.

On Tuesday, Dec. 28, the DAR produced a video highlighting the basketball contests at the Poplar Bluff ShowDown; and reported about our internal Mules Football awards during the end-of-the-season banquet.

On Thursday, Dec. 30, the DAR reported about Middle School student Terrell Causey’s art project display for the building.

On Tuesday, Jan. 4, the DAR reported about the Bread Shed’s partnership with Manchester UMC Bike Rehab Ministry to give out bicycles to Poplar Bluff students; and recognized our November Athletes of the Month.

On Thursday, Jan. 6, the DAR reported about PBHS choral students performing with the All-State Choir and competing in the Sight-Singing Bee; Breann Thresher of PBHS signing a National Letter of Intent to play softball at Williams Baptist University; and Ella Zgaynor signing to play softball at Webster University.

On Friday, Jan. 7, the DAR reported about Paul Innes of PBHS signing a Letter of Intent to play golf at John A. Logan College.