News
Kirkwood School District Teacher of the Year Robert Becker is Named Missouri Teacher of the Year
September 01, 2010
Students at Kirkwood High School made a special video announcement to the school this morning: Robert Becker, Kirkwood High School chemistry teacher and Kirkwood School District Teacher of the Year for 2010-11, has been named Missouri Teacher of the Year by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
Local television stations KSDK Channel 5, and Fox 2 News 2 were at the school to film the big announcement.
Becker, who teaches traditional, honors and Advanced Placement (AP) chemistry, has taught in the Kirkwood district for 20 of his 26 years in education. He holds a master’s degree in education from Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Yale University.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education conducts the Missouri Teacher of the Year program with financial support provided by The Boeing Company, St Louis. More news about Becker and his selection is available on the DESE website.
Kirkwood School District Hosts First Alumni Hall of Fame on Sept. 25
August 04, 2010
The Kirkwood School District will host a reception and induction ceremony for its first Alumni Hall of Fame on Saturday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. in the Keating Theatre of Kirkwood High School, 801 W. Essex Ave. The district will induct 23 honorees into the Hall of Fame, which recognizes men and women who have achieved success and who serve as appropriate role models for Kirkwood School District students. The inductees include entrepreneurs, musicians, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, an opera singer, an Academy Award winner, a Golden Globe Award winner, educators, aeronautical engineers, magistrates, and civic leaders.
The honorees to be inducted into the KHS Alumni Hall of Fame include:
Theodore Almstedt, Class of 1953
Scott Bakula, Class of 1973
John F. Briggs, Class of 1939^
Marion Brooks, Class of 1932^
Robert E. (Bob) Frederick, Class of 1958
Michael R. Gibbons, Class of 1977
Herbert (Herb) S. Jones, Class of 1951
Maria Kanyova (Mary Jane Posegate), Class of 1984
Thomas Kenyon, Class of 1973
John Korty, Class of 1954
Doug Landis, Class of 1975
John McDaniel, Class of 1979
David Pratt, Class of 1962
Rodger O. Riney, Class of 1963
David Sanborn, Class of 1963
Gary Schmidt, Class of 1965
Courtney Shands, Class of 1923
Jim Talent, Class of 1973
Myrtle Agnew Walker, Class of 1938, and Earl Walker, Class of 1939
Harold Whitfield, Class of 1956
Jennifer Quinn Williams, Class of 1984
John F. Yardley, Class of 1943
Honorees who are being recognized posthumously.
^ Until the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court Brown vs. Board of Education decision, public schools throughout the country were segregated by race. In the Kirkwood School District, African American students attended the Booker T. Washington School (1869-1950) or the J. Milton Turner Elementary School (1929-1975). African American students were required to attend high school outside district boundaries until 1955, when Kirkwood High School opened its new campus on West Essex Ave.
Two Pioneer Awards will be presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to the Kirkwood School District. These honorees are:
H.L. Hall, a nationally recognized journalism teacher and publications adviser who taught in the Kirkwood School District for 34 years—26 years at Kirkwood High School and eight years at then North Kirkwood Junior High School—before his retirement in 1999.
Dory Poholsky, Class of 1951, who has devoted countless hours as a volunteer and is a champion for the children of the Kirkwood School District and the greater community.
For a complete biography on each inductee, please visit the Kirkwood High School Alumni website. For more information about the Alumni Hall of Fame, please call the district’s Community Relations and Development office at 314-213-6123 beginoftheskypehighlighting 314-213-6123 endoftheskypehighlighting.
KSD Honors Staff Members at Retirement Reception
May 07, 2010
Representing 407 years in education and 252 years in the Kirkwood School District, 14 Kirkwood School District staff members were recognized by the Kirkwood Board of Education at the annual retirement reception on May 5 in the Walker Commons of Kirkwood High School. Retirement honorees included B.R. Rhoads, principal, Tillman Elementary School; Diane Franklin, school nurse, Kirkwood Early Childhood Center; Michael Holdinghaus, district social studies facilitator and technology trainer; Hough Learning Center; Pat Gallagher, seventh-grade social studies and reading teacher, North Kirkwood Middle School; Dr. Jacalyn Wheelehan, principal Robinson Elementary School; Linda Fobian, second-grade teacher, Keysor Elementary School; Deborah K. Gilkey-Ray, third-grade teacher, North Glendale Elementary School; Linda Reed, reading teacher and English department chair, Kirkwood High School; Susan Fritsche, special education para-educator, Nipher Middle School; and David Spiguzza, art teacher and department chair, Kirkwood High School. Honorees who were unable to attend were Susanne Haring, third-grade teacher, Westchester Elementary School; Tony Koenig, director of building and grounds; Dr. John Kulla-Branz, kindergarten teacher, Westchester Elementary School; and John Kurtz, special education teacher.
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