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The 2024 Teachers of the Year—the highest honor for faculty members across the Poplar Bluff School District—were recognized during the annual banquet held Tuesday, April 30, at the Westwood Center.
Employee recognition programs are commonplace in the business sector, pointed out R-I Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Mike Owen, but what stands out about the TOY process, he explained, is that the recipients are peer-nominated, with equal representation from each building on the selection committee.
“Most of the time this is decided by the amount of profit an individual brings in, or by a supervisor that determines that person has gone above and beyond. They are almost always determined by something competitive in nature,” Owen said during the event. “In education, we are not trained to be competitive with each other. In fact, it’s the exact opposite.”
Mike Anderle has been named the District, Secondary Grade-Span and Poplar Bluff High School TOY. He will also go on to represent R-I regionally in the TOY competition through the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
On top of teaching history at PBHS for the past eight years, Anderle has coached Junior High soccer as well as assisted the varsity and junior varsity programs since 2017, not to mention that he drives a bus. A Wisconsin native, Anderle earned his bachelor’s degree in history and music with a minor in secondary education from Carthage College in 2015.
Principal Dr. Valerie Ivy quoted a teacher's testimonial from Anderle’s nomination packet, stating, “Every school would be a better place if they had a Mr. Anderle.” A parent noted: “He goes above and beyond no matter what hat he is wearing.” A student added: “I feel almost magnetized to listen to his jokes during lessons.” Meanwhile Owen, Ivy’s predecessor, described Anderle’s enthusiasm as "contagious."
Alex Bolt was named the Middle School Grade-Span and Middle School TOY. He has been employed as a physical education instructor and coached basketball for the past two years. Before that, he taught math and science at the Middle School since 2016. He began his career working with students as site leader and staff member for the Boys and Girls Club of the Heartland from 2010-18. Bolt earned his master’s in educational leadership from William Woods University in Fulton in 2022.
“He quickly rose to the top as the most popular among staff and students,” said Principal Dr. Josh Teeter, crediting Bolt for helping to start the intramural basketball program as a feeder system for student-athletes looking to continue playing the sport in Junior High. He added that when Bolt transitioned to becoming a gym teacher, his popularity only grew. “Coach Bolt is an absolute rockstar at the Middle School now.”
Traci Durham-Allen was named the Elementary Grade-Spain and Early Childhood TOY. She has been employed at the Early Childhood Center since 2015, first as a full-day preschool program educator, then in the integrated special education classroom. She has helped lead the intensive needs room for the past four years. Durham-Allen began with Poplar Bluff as a first grade teacher at Oak Grove in 2012, before which she served as a kindergarten teacher at schools throughout Missouri for several years, upon completing a year as curriculum director at a private day care. She earned her bachelor’s in early childhood education from Hannibal-LaGrange University in 2005.
Incoming Principal Amanda Summers variously described Durham-Allen as the “heart and soul” of Early Childhood, “truly a force of nature," a "beacon of hope," and an "inspiration to each and every one of us." Summers quoted a parent as stating that Durham-Allen gives “non-verbal students a voice” and quoted a colleague as adding: “She is the positive Pollyanna that we all need.”
Darla Nunn has been named the TOY at Mark Twain, where she has served as instructor over the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) program for the past four years. Beginning in 2015, she taught in multiple capacities at PBHS, including business education, agriculture, family and consumer sciences, and ICU. She was previously employed for five years ending in 2006 as an instructor of agricultural education. She worked as children's ministry director at a church in between positions. Nunn earned her master's in educational administration from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau in 2006.
“I knew very quickly this was an individual we cannot lose, not just for my sake, but our students,” said Aaron Burton, Mark Twain principal. “This is the last stop before me,” he added of Nunn’s role with students at the alternative school. Burton went on to describe Nunn as a “Swiss Army knife of an educator and person.”
Jody Cochran has been named the Technical Career Center TOY for the third time over the past decade since he began leading the building trades program. He earned his teaching certificate in Career and Technical Education from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg in 2016. In the field, he has operated his own construction company for nearly 20 years.
“He wears many hats, besides the construction hat,” said Dr. Leigh Ann Cornman, TCC director. Cochran is currently working with students to oversee the construction of his fifth house from the ground up. Cornman quoted a student who stated that Cochran: “cares about us as people, not just as students" and a staff member who said Cochran gives “proper instruction with a do-it-right-the-first-time attitude.”
Allen “Trey” Moss was named the TOY of Junior High, where he has split his time between his duties at the High School for the past five years, serving as assistant band director. He previously was employed for one year as head music director at a parochial school in Columbia. He earned his bachelor’s in music education from Southeast Missouri State University in 2017.
When Moss interviewed for the job several years ago, Junior High Principal Candace Warren recalled commenting to the interview team afterward that “we need that guy.” She reflected: “I’d like to think I was right.” Warren pointed out that because of Moss’ efforts recruiting students for band following a post-pandemic lull, school officials are expanding the band room this summer to incorporate the lower gym. She quoted a colleague who stated that Moss helps students to “develop not only their music abilities, but character as well.”
Antwonette Pettigrew was named the TOY at O’Neal Elementary, where she has taught first grade since 2019, before which she co-taught at the Early Childhood Center for another year. She began her tenure in public education five years prior, assisting at elementary schools in Jackson and Cape Girardeau, serving as a paraprofessional in special education for the majority of the time. She earned her bachelor’s in elementary education with a science concentration from Southeast Missouri State University in 2015.
“She can teach a master class in classroom management,” stated O’Neal Principal Dr. Amy Dill, adding that Pettigrew is “a true instructional leader within the building, always advocating for under-resourced students.” A colleague commented about the environment Pettigrew has established over the grade level: “She describes her classroom as a second home to students, and she leads it like a family.”
Kaisha Pigg has been named TOY at Oak Grove, where she has served as an elementary teacher for the past three years. She began her tenure as a teaching assistant at Early Childhood in 2018. She earned her bachelor’s in elementary education from Hannibal-LaGrange University in 2020.
Oak Grove Elementary Principal Kristie Robinson noted that she first met Pigg as an engaged mother of one of Robinson’s former students back when the principal was a faculty member. Then Robinson came to know Pigg as a colleague and now as a building leader serving on multiple committees. She said Pigg has one of the most important attributes a teacher can have: “A heart for your students." Robinson succinctly concluded: "Regardless of experience, some teachers just have it. Kaisha Pigg just has it.”
Second grade teacher Katelyn Hall has been named the TOY at Lake Road, where she has been teaching since 2015, before which she worked as a classroom assistant at an elementary school in another part of the state. She earned her bachelor’s in education from Lindenwood University in Saint Charles in 2014.
“She wears all the hats,” said Rondi Vaughn, Lake Road principal. She quoted a colleague, stating that Hall "gives 110 percent to students, parents and colleagues every day," and the principal quoted a student who noted: “She comes to my soccer games.” Vaughn added that Hall has a
"willingness to share her expertise with others” and “gives and doesn’t expect anything in return.” Vaughn concluded that Hall has left a “lasting imprint” on her students, far beyond that which can be taught out of a textbook.
Kristen Spain was named Eugene Field TOY, an honor she has received prior. She started her tenure in Poplar Bluff in 2008, beginning at Oak Grove. She transferred four years later to Eugene Field, where she has taught all the current lower elementary grade levels, first grade virtual and, most recently, as interventionist. She earned her master’s in administration from William Woods in 2012, and is working toward another degree in reading literacy from Missouri State University in Springfield.
“My job would be very difficult to do without her,” said Eugene Field Principal Jennifer Taylor, who will be succeeded by Spain. Having been promoted to R-I assistant superintendent of personnel, Taylor noted that Spain took the unexpected call for leadership a few months ago in order to: “ensure our school’s greatness continues.” Taylor credited Spain for being “one of the guiding reasons we have been able to maintain Lighthouse status all these years,” a prestigious designation under the elementary school’s Leader in Me initiative.
Olivia Love has been named TOY of the Kindergarten Center, where she has served for the past five years, most recently in the capacity of reading interventionist. Her tenure at R-I began in 2008 as a first grade teacher at Lake Road and then O’Neal, before serving as preschool teacher in the parochial sector for two years. She earned her master’s in education with an emphasis on reading from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro last year.
Love has been an “inspiration and dedication to many in the field of Early Childhood education,” “touching the hearts and minds of young students,” with “boundless love for kids,” according to Kindergarten Principal Jessica Thurston, Thurston went on to say: “She transformed the educational landscape at the Kindergarten Center.”
Above: (Back row, from left) Kaisha Pigg, Katelyn Hall, Antwonette Pettigrew, Trey Moss, Darla Nunn, Olivia Love, Kristen Spain and Jody Cochran; and (seated, left to right) Traci Durham-Allen, Michael Anderle and Alex Bolt.
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