Puxico R-8 School District

🏆 BREAKING NEWS: Teachers DOMINATE in the first annual 5th Grade Students vs. Teachers Kickball Showdown, with a landslide victory of 21-3! 💥🥎 Despite the students bringing their A-game, the teachers proved that recess duty is a sport. 💪 Highlights included: • Mrs. Gillock sliding into third like it was the World Series 🧼 • Mrs. Copling has a mean kick! • And the 5th grade team got their principal out not once but twice 🤣 We may have crushed them on the scoreboard, but they crushed our hearts as we get ready to say goodbye. 😢💙 We’re going to miss our amazing 5th graders as they level up to Junior High — but don’t worry, we’ll still be here… icing our knees and talking about “the good ol’ days of 2025.”

Students enjoyed a day at Redman Creek Recreation Area for our end of the year trip. Students enjoyed playing volleyball, whiffle ball, basketball, card games, and fishing. Fishing was very poplar among students and there were even some first time fisheman They were super proud of their catch today. Students were hot and tired by the end of the day, but had a great time.

Big Win for the Puxico Indians! ⚾️ The Puxico High School baseball team came out strong and secured a dominant 11-1 victory over Charleston in the first round of District play! These boys have worked hard all season, showing grit, determination, and teamwork — and it’s paying off. This season marks the best winning record the Indians have had in several years, and they're not done yet! Next up: Puxico vs. Bloomfield — in the Semi Finals, TOMORROW at Charleston. Game time is still to be determined, so stay tuned for updates. Come out and support our Indians as they continue their incredible postseason run! Let’s go, Puxico!

April & May Citizens of the Month! We are so proud of this bunch for being outstanding classmates and citizens in their school community!

We had a wonderful evening Monday night at the Puxico High School Annual Athletic Banquet! A huge thank you to our amazing coaches for the time, dedication, and heart they pour into our athletes every season. We’re also incredibly grateful to the Puxico Athletic Booster Club for providing a delicious meal and for their continued support throughout the year. To all the families and fans—thank you for being there every step of the way, cheering on our teams and supporting our sports programs. Your encouragement means everything to our student-athletes. Congratulations to all the players who received awards Monday night—your hard work, determination, and sportsmanship are inspiring. A special congratulations to our Senior Athletes of the Year: Mason Parsley, Scyler Zimmerman, and Laney Porter! Your leadership and dedication never goes unnoticed. And congratulations to Laney Porter and Jarrett Powell, recipients of the Puxico Athletic Booster Club Scholarship—we can’t wait to see all the great things your future holds. Once a Puxico Indian, always a Puxico Indian!

Thank You to the Puxico School Board of Education, Administrators, and Community . From all the staff at Puxico R-8 School, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Puxico School Board of Education, our amazing administrators, and our loving community unity for a fantastic week of Teacher and Staff Appreciation! 🙌 This week was filled with delicious treats and thoughtful gestures: - **All Week:** Stocked workrooms and tasty coffee supplies - **Monday:** Sweet donuts provided by the Puxico Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) 🍩 - **Tuesday:** A fantastic grill day with hamburgers, hotdogs, and the delightful fresh strawberry shortcake from our Admin Team 🍔🍰 - **Wednesday:** Potato spuds served by Jennifer & Scott Jones – what a treat! 🥔 - **Thursday:** We “taco”bout how great we are with delicious tacos from Casa Lopez 🌮 - **Friday:** A warm breakfast prepared by First Baptist Church to wrap up the week 🍳 - **Still to come:** this week Patriot’s Auto Glass will be providing free window chip repairs to our staff on Wednesday! 🚘 We enjoyed fun games, winning prizes, and priceless fellowship, making this week even more special! Some received kind notes and gestures and other gifts from the community. Your support and appreciation for our teachers and staff mean the world to us. Feel free to share any other pictures you have! Thank you for making this another great year at Puxico R-8 School! Here’s to many more wonderful moments together! #orangeandblack #TeacherAppreciation #ThankYou #PuxicoR8

STUCO student leaders played a significant role in hosting an orientation for incoming 6th graders this week. They showcased their public speaking skills and provided guidance on navigating junior high. They did an excellent job welcoming our incoming students!

Our fourth graders had a blast at the Cape Conservation Department! It was a day full of outdoor fun, learning, and exploring nature. From hands-on activities to discovering local wildlife, everyone had a great time soaking up the sunshine and fresh air.

It is great to be a graduate 🧑‍🎓Our Kindergarten Graduates celebrated with ice cream sundaes! 🍨

Puxico CEA knocked it out of the park at the end of year Aloha Dinner! The main event included honoring our retirees and celebrating our staff members of the year. All guests enjoyed a tasty dinner catered by Lennie & Trish Holloway. We played games, discovered staff members superlatives, and enjoyed fellowship. This year we honored 3 upcoming retirees: RETIREES: -Mr. Todd Jenkins; 25 total years in public education, 2 years at Puxico. -Mr. Wade Sanders; 19 total years in public education, 12 years of service with Puxico R-8 School. -Mr. Jeff Davis; 25 total years in public education, 19 with the Puxico School District. We are thankful for their service to our school community and wish them the very best in their retirement. We also enjoyed recognizing our staff members of the year. TEACHERS OF THE YEAR -Puxico Elementary, Samantha Lawerence -Puxico Junior High, Kelly Smothers -Puxico High School, Samantha Hood SUPPORT STAFF MEMBER OF THE YEAR: District Bookeeper and Board Secretary, Tammy Wheetley Congratulations to all, and thank you CEA for all of your hard work!

Mrs. Skillman's 6th grade students presenting their projects to the rest of the classroom.

Puxico Junior High and High School students show off their amazing talents, as we hosted our annual art show and music concert. Our art students showed off their masterpieces in the lower hall of the high school. While our bands students played some masterpieces from composer John Williams who composed some of your favorite themes from some of yer favorite movies like Star Wars. We would also like to send a shout out to Mrs. Williams and all of her hard work with our art students and helping them showcase their talents. A huge shout out goes to Mr. Luecke for all of your hard work put into the band program this year and helping them cap off an amazing year!

🌟 Staff & Teacher Appreciation Week🌟 Dear Puxico R-8 School Community, As we approach Staff and Teacher Appreciation Week, we want to take a moment to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our amazing educators and staff members. From Monday, May 5 to Friday, May 9, let’s come together to celebrate their commitment to our students and our school community. Puxico R-8 School wants to invite you to help us wrap up the year by celebrating each member of our wonderful school staff. If you have a favorite bus driver, cafeteria worker, paraprofessional, secretary, principal, teacher, or other staff member, please use this time to help your child share a card, drawn picture, or a kind word with them. If you are a local business or organization that wants to participate with the Puxico R-8 School Staff Celebration Week (May 5-9) please make prior arrangements by contacting our coordinator and elementary principal, Jessica Thurston, at (573) 222-3542 or by email at jthurston@puxico.k12.mo.us Click on the images below for more details. Thank you! Cindy Crabb

Due to upcoming retirements, we are recruiting trip and substitute bus drivers for next school year. Mr. Wade Sanders has met all the requirements to successfully train interested drivers and to be able to help them prepare to take the tests. We have one opportunity scheduled early this summer, as Mr. Sanders prepares for retirement himself, to get drivers fully trained and licensed before he finishes this school year. We desperately want to be able to approve, and provide, transportation for after school activities, sporting events, educational field trips, and club trips. By working together, we hope to prevent a situation where we have to cancel/reschedule events due to a driver shortage. Our hourly pay and our trip pay is already very competitive. For example, if you normally attend a ballgame as a spectator, you could easily earn $70 additional per night for driving to a local game/contest. While extra trips aren’t always guaranteed, if we get a “regular” driver that commits to an event or sport we try to keep them on the same schedule for the season. You can also see our current compensation rate for substituting on a regular bus route. To top it off, all of our morning and afternoon regular bus routes are less than 1.5 hours round trip. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please reach out to central office, or you can email Mr. Sanders for more details: wsanders@puxico.k12.mo.us For individuals outside of the district that are interested, please fill out a support services application and put substitute bus driver on the position line on the second page. Here is the link: https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/.../Support... SPECIAL NOTE: Our regular board meeting this month is early, Thursday, May 1, due to graduation and other end of the year district events. Please do not hesitate to pick up an application and get it turned in as soon as possible for consideration. Getting your permit passed is very simple, and we have study resources to help you do that. The permit is the paper test that you would need to pass prior to learning to drive one of our buses – our targeted goal for individuals to complete that part is May 16. Once that is passed, then the skills part of the training can take place. Mr. Sanders, Jim Clark, Garrett Payne, and others will be around, and they are all very supportive in getting practice time in behind the wheel. We are also willing to arrange an opportunity to ride and observe a trip or a route, once you are approved by the District and you have cleared background screenings! After approval, the District assumes all costs related to driver physicals & drug testing. The driver just pays for the actual license fee at the DMV. If the training is completed by the June board meeting, we will consider reimbursement for that fee. Please let us know if you have any questions. Puxico Central Office 573-222-3762

7th Grade Buddy Poppy poster contest for Auxillary Post to VFW 7832. 1st place -Brylee Campbell, Layla Stewart, Emma Payne, Skyla 2nd -Lucy Wheetley, Addison Runzi, Reese Mattingly, Aybreyann Buckley, Jess’s Armstrong 3rd place - Gage Armstrong, Braxton Slaughter, Liam Holden, Cole Davis. All projects were so, so good and will displayed at the VFW Hall in Puxico. Congratulations to all the winners! There will be a pizza and soda lunch party in Mrs. O’Dell’s room this Thursday, April 17 during lunch.

Mr. Davis’ 7th science classes exploring motion.

**All games begin at 4:30** It is SENIOR NIGHT for our Indians at home! PHS will host the Delta Bobcats for baseball and softball contests at the Chris Sifford Memorial Complex. . Puxico Jr. High Softball will host the Poplar Bluff Mules at home, and Puxico Jr. High Baseball will travel to East Carter. In an effort to support our neighboring community struck by a devastating tornado on April 2, 2025, the Indians will host a 50/50 raffle and collect donations to send the Delta School District. Grab a lawn chair or a bleacher seat and plan to watch those Indians….play ball!

The Post selected 3 senior high school students for the Post 7822 scholarships. Congratulations to Ziyi Boyco, Laney Porter, and Logan Robison. And, thank you Rita!

Super proud of our very own, Mr. Jeff Davis! He was honored at this years FBLA convention for his service to Puxico Schools, Vocational Education, and his work with FBLA. Retirement is getting closer for you Mr. Davis and we appreciate your service to our school and our students! Thank you!

Mrs. Smothers Academic Lab finished reading Little House in the Big Woods, and today they made butter. Afterward, they enjoyed the fruits of their labor!