Nixa sweeps journalism awards, Herschend honored
Rural schools awarded Cooper grants
The Community Foundation of the Ozarks, in partnership with the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation and Commerce Trust, granted a total of $80,000 to 18 rural school districts.
The recipients of the Coover/Rural Schools Partnership Learning Enhancement Grants are Aurora High School/ YEP, Ava R-1 School District, Cabool RIV, Clinton School District, Crawford County R-1, Fair Play R-II, Gainesville R-V, Glenwood R-8, Howell Valley R-1, Kirbyville R-VI, Lutie R-VI, Marionville R-IX, Marshfield R-1, Mountain Grove RIII, Niangua School District/Niangua TLC, Pleasant Hope R-6, and Richards R-V.
The Coover Foundation, Commerce Trust and the CFO also partner on an annual regional grantmaking program. Recipients of the Coover Regional Vibrant Communities Grants will be announced April 30.
Nixa fifth grader wins art contest
Shah Fender is taking her artwork to the national level. The Nixa fifth grader’s art took first place at the state level and will now represent Missouri in the competition with winners from all 50 states.
The fifth-grade artist is a student at the John Thomas School of Discovery in Nixa, where her art teacher, Matthew Barker, encouraged his students to create posters for the 41st Annual National Missing Children’s Poster Contest.
The contest was open to all fifth graders in the United States.
Nixa sweeps journalism awards
Nixa High School’s journalism department won the top Journalism Sweepstakes award at Missouri Southern State University’s Media Showcase event April 10.
The awards are based on student work for the journalism department’s four publications: Wingspan magazine, EagleAir TV broadcast news, the Eagle Yearbook and NixaJournalism.net.
First place awards went to the yearbook staff for overall yearbook; Eagle Air staff for You Tube Star; editorial staff for a column entitled AI Requires Careful Use; Olivia McCully for news package for her docudrama Mock Crash; NixaJournalism.net Managing Editor Deliliah Neff for news writing for her article Surviving Without: Homelessness rises in the Ozarks; Maddie McCrea for sportswriting for her article Moving On Up; and Chloe Fischer for sports feature photography for her Season Kickoff photo.
Second place awards went to the staff for its online newspaper and Instagram Royalty; Glennis Woodley and Mira Weiss in news writing for Politics Gone Viral; Paige Oyler in sports writing for
Welcome to the Red Kingdom; Chloe Fischer in feature photography for her skateboarding photo; Laurel Latimer in feature writing for Sugarcoated (Toxic Positivity); and Olivia McCully in news package for Voting.
Third place winners include Maddie McCrea, Chloe Fischer and Glennis Woodley in news writing for AI: A Double-Edged Sword; and Chloe Fischer in feature photography for her Wizard of Oz photo.
WRVEC announces essay winners
White River Valley Electric Cooperative announced the winners of the 2024 Youth Tour essay competition in which three area students will represent WRVEC and travel to Washington, D.C.
The 2024 winners are Bridgette Fitzpatrick (School of the Ozarks), Aven Goodnight (Nixa High School), and Gretchen House (Chadwick High School). The winners were chosen from a group of eleven finalists during WRVEC’s annual Youth Tour banquet held on April 12 at the College of the Ozarks.
The other finalists were Katelyn Allen (Gainesville), Emily Burton (Forsyth), Alexis Combs (Bradleyville), Clara Dean (Branson), Alexander Merrell (Forsyth), Linnea Payne (Lutie), Harley Viall (Hollister), and Asa Wells (Ozark).
High school juniors from participating schools in White River Valley Electric Cooperative’s five-county service area submitted an essay or video that answered the question, “How will the Cooperative Power my Future?”
The three finalists will join more than 2,000 other winners from electric cooperatives across the United States at the Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. June 1420. In addition, they will receive a $1,500 scholarship from the Operation Round Up Trust Board.
For more information about the Youth Tour program, visit https:// www.whiteriver.org/community/ youth-programs/youth-tour/.
Books donation honors Herschend
On April 9, Silver Dollar City Foundation honored longtime board member Jack Herschend for his years of dedicated service and leadership on the foundation’s board of directors.
The foundation funded the purchase of 14 children and youth books in Herschend’s honor. The collection includes “The Chosen, Volume 1: Called by Name” by Dallas Jenkins; “Daniel and the Very Hungry Lion” by Tim Thornborough; “Dust, Volume 1” by Kara Swanson; “KJV Essential Teen Study Bible”; “Children’s Bible Stories for Bedtime”; and more. These books, each marked with a book plate recognizing Herschend’s tireless service to the community, are available to check out at Library Center of the Ozarks, in downtown Branson.
Silver Dollar City Foundation is a 501(c)3 private foundation and the non