Puxico R-8 School District

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!

🎉 Congratulations, Readers! 📚 We are so proud of our students for meeting their reading goals! Way to go, readers

The High School band held a concert for the student body on Friday. Thank you to Mr. Luecke and Mrs. Lambert for all your hard work with the band. It was a great performance!

Count your blessings, you can see so many of ours in the parking lot picture below! Oh, to spend the day at a ballpark OUTSIDE with a bunch of great kids and coaches! Thank you … the complex looks AMAZING! Thank you to each and every person that showed up and helped earlier this year and at today’s workday! Earlier this year, Dusty Stroud and his Ozark Border team along with Chad Payne, Steve Crisel, and Jim Clark installed poles for the incoming foul ball nets. Lots of progress today on the batting cages and nets. All of those hands made for a great day with so much progress. We have the grounds and facilities straightened up and we are ready for the official first pitch of the spring season!

🚍✨ Shoutout to the real MVPs of Puxico School—our incredible bus drivers and transportation department! ✨🚍 Before the sun even rises, they’re out warming up the buses, braving all kinds of weather, dodging deer, and somehow remembering every stop, every kid, and every backpack left behind. They’re the first friendly face our students see in the morning and the last wave goodbye in the afternoon. They navigate winding roads, gravel driveways, and the occasional rogue chicken, all while keeping our kids safe and making the ride fun! Whether it’s a kind word, a funny joke, or an extra minute of patience, our drivers go the extra mile (literally) every single day. So this week, if you see a Puxico bus driver, give them a big THANK YOU! They don’t just drive buses—they drive futures. 🚍💛 (Not pictured due to scheduling conflicts: Jim Clark & Shawn Haynes)

Post 2 of 2 - While we are big fans of our teams and our staff, some individuals have earned a few shout outs! I should also point out that these folks worked very hard to earn each honor, but without their team it would be near impossible. Fun teams to watch! Stay tuned…there may be more. Congratulations! Go Indians! Designs by Tiny Soul-Michele Owens Photography Images courtesy of the Puxico Paparazzi! 😆

Post 1 of 2 - While we are big fans of our teams and our staff, some individuals have earned a few shout outs! I should also point out that these folks worked very hard to earn each honor, but without their team it would be near impossible. Fun teams to watch! Stay tuned…there may be more. Congratulations! Go Indians! Designs by Tiny Soul-Michele Owens Photography Images courtesy of the Puxico Paparazzi! 😆

Puxico High School hosted our annual Highest Honors Banquet at Hickory Log in Dexter. It was a memorable night dedicated to recognizing the students who have put in the effort and made sacrifices to achieve the highest honors. We also want to extend our gratitude to Brandon Woolard for delivering an inspiring speech that will leave a lasting impact on our students as they move forward.

Congratulations to the following Puxico High School students who placed in the Creative Patriotic Art Contest - sponsored by Puxico VFW Auxiliary to Post 7822. Cash prizes were awarded. 1st place Hope Bolin 2nd place Carlee Smith 3rd place Jerrett Powell

Congratulations to these kids for meeting their goals! We are so proud of you!