Students from Kirkwood High School’s Innovation Center hosted a Diaper Drive for the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank in downtown St. Louis. During the month of November, the group of 40 juniors, led by eight students in the leadership council group, visited homeroom classrooms and collected spare change from students and staff along with donated diapers. The group collected $1,090.08 in cash and 1,700 diapers. On November 25, the group of students and several KHS staff members dropped off KHS contributions and donated over four hours of time working to pack the diapers, making care notes for recipients of the donations and help with other tasks to get to donations out to families. The group wrapped and packages over 23,400 diapers which will assist 468 families.
Dr. Leigh Mincks, art teacher at North Kirkwood Middle School and Mrs. Kim Powell, art teacher at Kirkwood high School, have been named the Missouri Art Education Association Art Educator of the Year. Mincks was awarded the Middle School Art Educator of the Year, and Powell was named the Secondary Art Educator of the Year.
During the November 18, 2019 Kirkwood School District Board of Education meeting, the board recognized eight seniors who were named National Merit Semifinalists and National Merit Commended Students. Pictured left to right bottom row: Gillis Lowry, Madeleine Bartin and Benjamin Wilton. Back row: Senior principal Jeff Townsend, Ethan Peter, Grace Williams, Evan Richmond, Raiden DeKoter, Nathan Demetri.
KSD schools honored veterans at various events on Monday, November 11. North Kirkwood Middle School conducted a tribute to veterans in the library. Kirkwood High School welcomed veterans into social studies classrooms where vets shared their military experiences with students. All elementary schools held events and welcomed veterans. Students paid tribute to veterans through singing songs, reading poems, and writing personalized cards.
The College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation partnered with the Southeastern Conference (SEC) to recognize teachers through the CFP Foundation's Extra Yard for Teachers platform this season. The SEC worked with its 14 institutions to identify student-athletes from eight different sports who have had a teacher that greatly impacted his or her life. Each of the educators were honored through a testimonial by the respective student-athlete aired on SEC Nation, the SEC Network's traveling pregame show. In addition, the elementary, middle and high schools being recognized as part of the program will receive a $10,000 grant from the CFP Foundation and the SEC to use towards the purchase of classroom supplies and materials through Donorschoose.org. Jordan Roundtree, KHS ’16, nominated Romona Miller, Kirkwood High School (KHS) Assistant Principal Pioneer Pathways. Jordan is now a junior at University of Missouri-Columbia (MU), and guard for the women’s basketball team. Last season, she appeared in all 35 games and averaged 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. In speaking about Miller, Jordan shared how Miller set her up for success at KHS. “She really took me under her wing when I was new at KHS,” said Jordan. “She made sure I had a place to eat, she made sure I had friends, and that I got accustomed to the new school. She was just always someone I go to whether in school or out of school to make sure I had an amazing time at Kirkwood High School.” Miller has served as a teacher and administrator for KHS for 27 years. She plans to use the $10,000 grant toward enhancing experiences in Pioneer Pathways, especially in the area of Science which was Miller’s content area prior to becoming an administrator.
The Kirkwood High School (KHS) 2019 graduates posted an average of 24.4 on the ACT college entrance exam, a bump from 24.0 the year before. Students made gains in English, Math and Reading.
The Kirkwood School District (KSD) celebrated the outstanding achievements of Kirkwood High School (KHS) graduates and KHS supporters October 18 and 19 during a full weekend of events to celebrate the Outstanding Hall Alumni Hall of Fame and Pioneer Award. On Friday, October 18, inductees were invited to KHS to connect with current students. The inductees shared their stories and professional journeys with students in classes from the field with which is appropriate to their field of study. Inductees that attended included Sterling Coleman, Dr. Reates Curry, Dr. Tricia Ashton Derges, Jane E. Drichta, Bill Freivogel, Margaret Freivogel, Jennifer Ouellette, Dr. Timothy Taft, Adam York, Rick Stream and Wallace Ward. On Saturday, the group convened in the Walker Commons for a pre-event reception before entering the Keating Theatre for the Outstanding Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
On Wednesday, October 16, hundreds of Kirkwood School District (KSD) students participated in the fourth annual Unified Night Lights unified flag football event. The inaugural event was held in September 2016. The event recreates the excitement of a traditional football game. Hundreds of students, with and without disabilities, came together. The philosophy behind the event is that sports help provide a path to friendships and understanding and help break down barriers. Students stormed the field, cheered from the track, and played instruments from the pep band section in the bleachers.
Congratulations to the 7 KHS students who had photography accepted into the Webster University High School Photo Contest! They are: Seniors: Will Fuss, Pietro Vanucci, and Meredith Millstone. Juniors: Xaria Jackson, Nathaniel Luther, and Zoe Zimmerman Freshman: Megan Bretwisch
Kirkwood High School vocal students auditioned for All-Suburban Honor Choir. Over 600 students from around the area tried out. Each singer had just 60 seconds to impress the judges. Auditions were blind, with judges facing away from singers. Singers were judged on musicality, tone, dynamic contrast, and interpretation. They also had to identify all major key signatures by sight and sight sing two examples of "medium" difficulty. KHS had 12 vocal students audition for All-Suburban and five were chosen to sing in the auditions: Lucy Schene, 10th grade, Alto, selected for Mixed Honor Choir* Casey Stark, 12 grade, Bass, selected for Mixed Honor Choir* Emmanuel Morgan, 12 grade, Bass, selected for Mixed Honor Choir* Collin Stecher, 12 grade, Tenor, selected for Mixed Honor Choir* Abby Maschmann, 11th grade, Soprano, selected for Women's Honor Choir
Katie Meyers, English teacher at Kirkwood High School, recently attended the C-SPAN's 2019 Summer Educators' Conference in Washington, D.C. Meyers applied to attend this conference, which was an all-expenses paid event designed to teach educators about the resources available through C-SPAN Classroom. She was one of 29 high school teachers selected from across the US
Kirkwood High School students in Literature Composition Language Arts Classes submitted poetry writings to the Beverly Hopkins Memorial Poetry Contest. The annual contest is organized by the St. Louis Poetry Center and encourages area high school students to submit up to three poems to the contest. The writings of two KHS students were recognized. Sophomore Megan McGhee won the poetry contest for her submitted poems “Rings” and “Oldest Moon.” For winning the contest, Megan will receive a $225 cash prize, her poem will be published in St. Louis Poetry Center’s annual chapbook, and she is invited to read her poem at The Focal Point, 2320 Sutton, at the 60th Annual Poetry Concert on May 19 at 1:30 p.m. Freshman Devon Eldarrat was recognized for her poem “Untitled”.
High school senior Claire Calhoun of Kirkwood High School (KHS) received "Honorable Mention" for the 2019 Missouri Scholars 100, a statewide program that honors 100 of Missouri's top academic students in the graduating class of 2019.
