Students are not the only people feeling first-day jitters as school begins next Monday. Teachers, whether they are first-year teachers or veterans, are filled with nervous excitement as well. For first-year teachers Rachel Stewart and Olivia Riley, a summer of planning and preparation have kept them busy, and both are anxiously awaiting the first day on August 23rd.
     Rachel Stewart is a first-year teacher and new science teacher at Grain Valley High School. Stewart will be teaching freshman physical science and sophomore biology. A native of Jefferson City and graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, Stewart is new to the area and the district.
     “I am so excited to be in a district that really cares about its students, and I’m excited to build relationships with my students,” Stewart said.
     Stewart explains her path to the science classroom was pretty much a foregone conclusion.
     “I had phenomenal science teachers and each of my siblings went into science fields. My mom worked for DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) and my dad was a supervising operator at the nuclear power plant where I lived, so you put those two things together and you get a science teacher,” Stewart quipped.
     “I’ve always had a passion for science and I’m such a social person, teaching was just the right fit for me.”
     Olivia Riley lives in Grain Valley and grew up in Lee’s Summit. Riley graduated from UMKC’s Conservatory of Music and is starting her first year of teaching as a music teacher at Matthews Elementary.
     A lifelong love of music paved the way for Riley to pursue a career in teaching music.
     “I really want to be that teacher that plants the idea that music is for everyone,” Riley said.
     Riley said the expansiveness of the elementary music curriculum is what she loves most.
     “The inclusivity of it is wonderful. We get to experience a full tour of music.” 
     Meetings for first-year teachers began two weeks ago, and their schedules have included a flurry of professional development sessions, meetings, and classroom preparation.
     “It’s a lot of stress, but we have such a great team in this department. They’ve really taken care of me,” Stewart said.
     “I don’t have any family up here, so it’s been a challenge. Having this community that is so open and welcoming really makes a difference.”
     During an August 10th meeting for first-year teachers, the Grain Valley Education Foundation presented each teacher with a $100 check to help with supplies and classroom set-up. Stewart and Riley said the contributions are incredibly helpful as they prepare for their first year.
     “That $100 means the world to me. If you look around my classroom at the decorations and supplies, almost all of it has been purchased by me, given to me by my parents, or given to me as graduation gifts. It’s very expensive, and that $100 can help me when I’m teaching, and I realize that a poster or model might help me get more hands on with my students or better explain a difficult concept. That $100 can be stretched so far. I had chills when they presented them to us,” Stewart said.
     Riley agreed that the $100 gift helped relieve some of the stress of preparing a classroom as a first-year teacher.
     “I knew as a teacher that most of the supplies and decorations were going to have to be purchased by me. It wasn’t even a question. Instruments are so expensive, so I knew my classroom budget would go for most of those items. After we received the gift from the Foundation, my mind was immediately racing, thinking of all the things I could purchase that could be used immediately by students,” Riley said.
     Now that all of the prep work is coming to an end, Riley and Stewart are working through their first day of school jitters and focusing on the year ahead.
     “I’m most looking forward to getting to meet my students. All of this preparation we do before hand is stressful, but once all the prep work is done and the students are in the classroom, I won’t be thinking about that. I am so excited to have that first moment of actual music making. After more than a year of not having those experiences (due to pandemic related mitigation efforts), I’m really excited to safely get back to some of those small musical moments,” Riley said.
     “Our freshman will be having the same first-day jitters that I will be having. It’s the first day of high school for all of us. But it will be a great year,” Stewart said.
 
 

​Grain Valley Schools Community,
 
     We are excited for the start of a new school year!
     Last year brought many challenges to our community, as it did to communities across the country, and many difficult decisions were required of us throughout the school year. I wish to thank our entire school community for your involvement, your patience, and your trust, as we have worked to overcome the challenges of the pandemic, including trying to keep students engaged with their teachers as much as possible, and to keep families informed on the latest updates.
     Our staff members have worked so hard and so creatively to support the learning and emotional needs of students. They truly rose to the challenge and I am so proud of their excellent work!
     This summer, our School Board looked to the future, approving a new five-year strategic plan for continuous improvement. We appreciate the involvement of more than 60 community stakeholders, including parents, guardians, students, and staff, who answered our call for volunteers to develop this new plan. We are eager to meet these ambitious expectations. You can check out our new plan on our website at GrainValleySchools.org.
     Grain Valley Schools continues to have one of the longest-running patterns of year-over-year growth in the state. Our community has consistently stepped up to support the addition of classrooms, schools, and other facility needs over the years. Work on the latest addition to our high school will be completed for the start of this school year and was made possible with the passage of a bond issue in June of 2020.
     The completion of this phase brings us just over halfway through our planned additions and renovations to the high school campus, which, when completed, will provide all students a modern high school facility.
     We have delayed major renovations or additions to our district office facility located on our Pink Hill Road campus for several years as we prioritized classroom and student activity space needs. Now we are looking into ways to address the needs of district-level operations as well. We will share updates with our school community as we work on possible solutions.
     It is a pleasure to serve this community and I look forward to working with you to ensure continued success for our students as we begin a new school year. Again, thank you for your support as we seek to do our very best for “every student, every day.”
 
Sincerely,
 
Dr. Marc A. Snow
Superintendent of Schools
(816) 847-5006
msnow@gvr5.net
 

     The Grain Valley volleyball program had one of its best seasons in school history in 2020.
     The Eagles made it to the Class 4 state quarterfinals before falling to Platte County in three sets.
     This season, the team hopes to meet or exceed the success that it had last season, even after losing six seniors to graduation. Head coach Tori Squiers is confident her team can do just that.
     “At camp a few weeks ago, we saw a completely different team come out on the floor,” Squiers said. “They had so much energy and most importantly, we were having fun. We have a chance to go far as long as we put in the work and keep each other positive.”
     Grain Valley will be led by its three seniors, outside hitter Olivia Williams, middle hitter Kellie Overturf and libero Addison Baumgartner. Junior outside hitter Addi Bybee and setter Dru Iles are returning starters who will contribute this season. Squires said that sophomore Allison Koepkey, a setter, should also get a good amount of playing time.
     “I think if our district is set up the same as last year, we can make it pretty far,” Baumgartner said. “We will try to push even farther. We have some younger girls who will fill in this year that have been working hard.”
     That’s a solid core returning for the Eagles this season. That will allow the team to play a fast-paced style led by the setting duo of Iles and Koepkey who will utilize quick sets to fit the Eagles’ style of play.
     “We worked on that and got better at that last season,” Squiers said. “This year we are even faster and we should be able to run some new plays that involve some quick hits.”
     Added Baumgartner: “I feel like this summer, at our Missouri Northwest camp, we did really well at speeding it up. We should be able to play faster than we did last year.”
     Squiers said her team is strong on offense and defense and she has some tall players up front to help out with blocking. Williams, who was an all-Suburban White Conference selection team member last season, will lead the offense.
     In 2020, she totaled 271 kills, 266 digs, 33 aces and 18 blocks.
     “She’s been a threat for us since her sophomore year,” Squiers said. “She played all the way around as an outside (hitter). Her athletic ability and her ability to just guide the ball helps us a lot and her work ethic is amazing, too.”
     Overturf and Baumgartner will be a big part of the defense for the Eagles, as the former is a strong blocker in the middle and latter is strong at getting digs in the back of the court.
     “She’s got a 22-inch vertical, so she can jump, too,” Squires said of Overturf. “She is not only a defensive threat but an offensive one, too. And that’s something that is hard to find in the middle. Her hands will touch every single ball on a block but she can also put the ball away on offense.
     “Addison has been an outside threat for us, but she is moving to libero. She’s awesome and her leadership ability is something that we need at the libero position.”
     Even after losing six seniors from last year’s squad, Grain Valley still appears to be a team that can make another deep playoff run in 2021. Last season, the Eagles shared the Suburban White Conference title with Truman, but hope for a little bit of a different result this time around.
     “I am hoping to not split it this year and have it all to ourselves,” Squiers said. “It’s just going to take constant communication and hard work from the girls.”
 

​     With less than two weeks remaining until school begins in Grain Valley, back-to-school activities have begun in earnest. Registration for high school students began this week, with Meet the Teacher nights at each of the district’s schools set for next week. While other area districts, such as Shawnee Mission School District, are starting the school year with numerous teaching openings left unfilled, Dr. Brad Welle, Deputy Superintendent, Student and Community Services, reports Grain Valley Schools has only one teaching opening, a special education position, unfilled now.
     “This is a recent opening. Filling certain roles had been getting more difficult in recent years, but this is the first year the work of filling our teaching positions got more challenging across the board. There are fewer applicants for all teaching positions overall,” Welle said.
     “Our greatest struggle is filling our non-certificated roles. We currently have openings in paraprofessionals, custodial, and Valley Kids. We will need more substitute teachers soon after the start of the school year.”
     Student numbers are looking up for 2021-22, after a net gain of just 18 students in the last school year. As of this week, the district has 4,665 students enrolled in preK-12th grades.
     “This number is typically artificially high in the days before school starts because it includes new students but those who have moved away but have not enrolled at their new schools are also still included in the count. Even so, we could end up with 150-175 more students than a year ago,” Welle said.
     “We use October enrollment for year-over-year comparisons. Our enrollment on the first attendance day in October 2020 was 4428 and was 4410 in 2019. Our numbers last year will likely be the outlier. We have averaged a net gain of 78 students each year since 2015, with most of our growth occurring at the middle school and high school levels. We saw the most year-over-year growth in recent years in 2017-2018 with a net gain of 153 students over the previous year.”
     Kindergarten numbers for the district are increasing this year after dropping off for the first time last year at this time. Welle reported kindergarten enrollment as of August 11th is 303, compared to 282 in October 2020 and 320 in October 2019.
 

     While students enjoy a few final weeks of summer fun, back to school reminders have begun.                 
     Jackson County Health Department has joined with countless other health entities to encourage COVID-19 vaccines for students 12 years of age and older prior to the start of school. In order to be fully vaccinated prior to the first day of school on August 23rd, the first dose should be completed by July 19th.
     For more information on COVID-19 as well as other vaccinations required for Missouri students, visit www.jacohd.org/events.
     Registration has opened for returning students at Grain Valley Schools, with August 3rd as the deadline for families to complete the online registration process. Parents of incoming kindergarten students do not need to complete the process unless their address has changed since enrollment. In-person assistance will be available at South Middle School on August 4th from 11:00am—7:00pm for families who need additional assistance.
     Back to school shoppers may want to mark August 6-8th on their calendars, as the state’s sales tax holiday begins on the first Friday in August and continues through the following Sunday. 
     Certain back-to-school purchases, such as clothing, school supplies, computers, and other items as defined by the statute, are exempt from sales tax for this time period only.
     In 2021, the Sales Tax Holiday begins at 12:01am on Friday, August 6, and runs through Sunday, August 8.
 

     Registration has opened for  returning students at Grain Valley Schools, with August 3rd as the deadline for families to complete the online registration process. Parents of incoming kindergarten students do not need to complete the process unless their address has changed since enrollment. In-person assistance will be available at South Middle School on August 4th from 11:00am—7:00pm for families who need additional assistance.
     While student meals are free for the 2021-22 school year due to current USDA pandemic provisions, families who may qualify for free or reduced price meals are encouraged to register for the program during student registration to avoid any lapse in benefits when pandemic provisions expire.
 

The University of Missouri has announced the spring 2021 Dean’s List.

Grain Valley:
Kendyll L Bailey, Senior
Drake Elliot Bray, Junior, Arts & Science
Warren Godfrey Haralson, Senior
Shaley Elizabeth Harper, Sophomore, Journalism
Austin Levi Hoagland, Sophomore, Journalism
Meagan Janeen Hodges, Senior, Journalism
John Daniel Hodson, Sophomore, Engineering
Jackson Adam Hoover, Sophomore, Agr-Food & Nat Resources
Alice Lin Sophomore, Business
Madyson Lynn Marrs, Junior, Agr-Food & Nat Resources
Keely Michelle McElligott,  Junior, Journalism
William H Perry, Freshman, Journalism
Julian Mikel Sanjur, Junior, Health Professions
Hannah Raleigh Sears, Junior, Arts & Science
Victoria Gabrielle Seever, Sophomore, Arts & Science
Alec Darian Shaffer, Sophomore, Arts & Science
Kendra Renea Sibert, Junior, Arts & Science
Allison Ann Smith, Senior, Arts & Science
Stephen Andrew Swingle, Junior, Engineering
Brett M Tieman, Senior, Education
Benjamin M Totta, Junior, Health Professions
Mackensie Danielle Wagner, Sophomore, Agr-Food & Nat Resources
Vanessa Carla Watkins, Junior, Arts & Science
Kaylee Michelle Williams, Senior, Health Professions
 
 

​     The Central Missouri Police Academy (CMPA) at the University of Central Missouri celebrated a milestone when it graduated its 161st cadet class on June 19th. All 25 members of the graduating class have found employment, making this the first time that 100 percent of the cadets were hired at the time of graduation. Additionally, all of the cadets passed their Missouri Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) test to become Class A Licensed Officers. 
     The pinning ceremony that took place at UCM involved representatives from more than 18 law enforcement agencies from across the state, with some agencies hiring multiple cadets. From this graduating class, the Warrensburg, Chillicothe, Independence, and Grain Valley police departments all hired multiple new officers for their cities and the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department Office hired two new deputies. Other communities or Sheriff’s Departments to hire graduates of the CMPA were Carroll County Sheriff, St, Clair County Sheriff, Henry County Sheriff, Johnson County Sheriff, Grandview Police Department, Warsaw Police Department, St. Joseph Police Department, Pettis County Sheriff, Whiteman Air Force Base Security Forces, Saline County Sheriff, Lee’s Summit Police Department and Clinton Police Department.

     Graduating cadets joining the Grain Valley Police Department:
     Krista James
     Dustin Lancaster
 

​     The Fort Osage Board of Education took action at their June 8, 2021, meeting to purchase the former Rockin B Mercantile and Coffee Shop located at 26911 E US Hwy 24, Buckner, MO. The property sits between the District’s main campus and Buckner, MO.   
     “This is a tremendous opportunity for students and our community. Operating a business requires a set of skills that will help students well into the future. Beyond this learning experience for students, our goal is to create a welcoming environment for community members of all ages to enjoy,” Dr. Jason Snodgrass, Superintendent of Schools said.
     The business will be the new home of the Entrepreneurial Studies program from the Career and Technology Center at Fort Osage. Students in this program are from Fort Osage, Blue Springs, Grain Valley and Oak Grove school districts.  
     Entrepreneurial Studies explores entrepreneurship through running a fully functional student run business. Students will learn about store operations, customer service, marketing and inventory management by operating the new business under the direction of their instructor and a food service manager.
     Other programs from the Career and Technology Center that will be involved the first year include the marketing and culinary arts programs. 
     The business will be renamed by a committee of staff, students, and community members this summer. The entrepreneur students will begin class at the new location when school begins in August. A tentative opening of the coffee shop is scheduled for October 2021. Once open, the business will serve coffee and a limited food menu. Future plans include an event/meeting space for Fort Osage staff and the community.
     The student-run business is part of the District’s strategic initiative of Real World Learning that increases the number of graduates who leave high school ready for post secondary learning, work and life.
     “We are excited to further our work of ensuring all students are successful beyond high school by preparing them to continue their education or enter the workforce. This is just one of many opportunities Fort Osage is engaged in to provide real world learning opportunities for our students,” Snodgrass said.
 

     Metropolitan Community College has released the Dean's List for the Spring 2021 semester. The 2,602 students who received Dean’s List recognition earned a GPA of at least 3.5 while being enrolled in six or more credit hours.
 
Grain Valley:
Hallee Kay Ballinger
Trevor A Bartlett
Bianca A Bautista
Rebecca Boom
Stephanie Sue Branson
Elizabeth Louise Favor
Sophia Freire
McKenzy Nicole Gauert
Kaiden Harris
Kylie Josephine Hawkins
Aaron E Headley
Jackie Nicole Jozefkowicz
Ethan Syver Kalthoff
Jordan Renae Lamb
Megan Marsh
Bailey Lorene McKay
Hayden Dallas Mitchell
Madison Montgomery
Kevin Morris
Haley Michelle Myers
Leah Shae Niemeyer
Alex Samuel Perez
Sam M Petralie
Mary B Phipps
Danielle Nicole Picard
Andy Andres Reyes
Dalton Andrew Richard
Diane Nicole Rodgers
Rebecca Rubak
Shannon Schlichting
Angela G Strandburg
Shuyler R Sullivan
Matthew Sutliffe
Travis Andrew Tovar
Chelbi Marie Walk
Gavin Lane Wolfe