 Six members of the Holden R-III School District school board attended the 2007 annual conference sponsored by the Missouri School Boards’ Association held last weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks.
The largest gathering of education leaders each year in the state of Missouri, the event the MSBA conference was held in cooperation with the Missouri Association of School Administrators.
According to Pat Zvacek, Holden school board treasurer, “This was a very good conference, I’m very pleased we were all able to attend. The focus was on student academic achievement and we talked about what schools and communities can do to keep the students’ academic achievement at a high level.”
Also attending from the Holden board were president Jeff Miller, Mike Watterson, Susan Feeback, Sonya Corrigan and Rodger McConville.
The overall theme of the 2007 conference was “Leading for the Future.” The event featured nationally recognized keynote speakers and numerous workshops and clinics designed to improve the leadership skills of school board members and superintendents. The conference focused on ways school board members and administrators can influence the improvement of student achievement in Missouri’s public schools.
The MSBA is a private, not-for-profit organization that exists to help school boards succeed.
Editor’s Note: The following is a letter from Holden R-III School District interim co-superintendent Robert Watkins addressing the rumors that have circulated throughout the area of MRSA cases in the Holden school district. According to district officials, there have been no identified cases of MRSA in district schools.
The Holden R-III School District considers the health and safety of our students as a top priority. There has been considerable attention in the national media recently about Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and this is understandably a concern for parents. We would like to take this opportunity to provide you with some information about staphylococcus aureus and MRSA.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, staphylococcus aureus, often referred to simply as “staph,” are bacteria commonly carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people. Sometimes, staph can cause an infection with skin infections being the most common. The skin infections may look like a pimple or a boil and can be red, swollen, painful, or have pus or other drainage. Most of these skin infections are minor and can be treated with antibiotics. Some staph bacteria are resistant to antibiotics. MRSA is a type of staph that is resistant to antibiotics. Approximately one percent of the population is colonized with MRSA.
The Holden R-III School District has had six confirmed cases of staph infection this school year. These cases are all contained at the high school. All six of these students have received treatment, with five of the students no longer symptomatic and one student still completing medication. These cases are not MRSA. The Johnson County Community Health Department has had no confirmed cases of MRSA in Johnson County, Missouri.
To ensure that our schools remain safe learning environments for our students, the Holden R-III School District takes preventative measures to limit the spread of staph and other infectious diseases. School facilities are cleaned with disinfectant in commonly used areas like door handles, drinking fountains, lunch tables and chairs. Disinfectant wipes are being used on the equipment in the weight room and shared athletic equipment like floor mats. Bus seats and hand rails are being cleaned with disinfectant.
These on-going procedures also include educating students of ways to prevent staph or any other infections from spreading. According to the Johnson County Community Health Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the following are preventative measures to limit any and all staph infections from spreading: keep your hands clean by washing thoroughly with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with a bandage until healed. Avoid contact with other people’s wounds or bandages. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels or razors.
In addition to these steps, parents can help by reminding their children to bring home clothing worn for physical education to be washed regularly.
According to district nurse Beth Shuler, “The best way to prevent staph or any type of infection is to use universal precautions, like good hand washing techniques and not sharing food and drinks with others. If there are any suspicions of staph, you should see your healthcare provider.”
Further information about MRSA can be found at http://www.ede.gov/ncidod/diseases/submenus/sub_mrsa.htm. Should you have additional questions or concerns, please contact the Johnson County Community Health Department at 660-747-6121.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert Watkins
Co-Superintendent
Put it in the record book! For the first time in Holden High School history, both boys’ and girls’ cross country teams earned the right to compete in the state meet to be held this Saturday in Jefferson City, MO.
The teams will go to the capitol city Friday by virtue of their second-place finishes in the district meet held last Saturday in Monett. The boys took second place outright behind state powerhouse East Newton, but the girls tied with Pembroke Hill and had to go to a tie-breaker to determine their spot at the Missouri Class 2 meet.
Team standings are figured from scores of each team’s top five finishers. In a tie-breaker, the judges compare the scores of the deadlocked squads’ sixth finisher. Sophomore Kerry Elbel, beat out the Lady Raiders’ sixth-place finisher to give the second-place mantel to the Eagles.
“It was a good day Saturday - the weather was awesome,” exclaimed head HHS cross country coach Dale Wescott. “Our kids did a great job. We’ll leave Friday for Jeff City and practice at the meet site at the Oak Hills Golf Center that afternoon. The girls’ race will begin Saturday morning at 9:40 a.m. and the boys’ gun will sound at 10:55 a.m.”
Three boys and three girls also earned all-district honors for their efforts Saturday. On the boys’ side, Justin Houser, Brett Houser and Josh Greer were crowned all-district, while Deanna Quisenberry, Odessa Andree and Jordan Lavy were given the honor on the girls’ team.
Times and placings for the boys'’ district race include: J. Houser, third, 17:42; B. Houser, sixth, 17:54; Greer, 14th, 18:47; Tyler Bruns, 16th, 18:57; Alec Morrison, 18th, 19:14; George Farmer, 19th, 19:18; and Tad Plemons, 24th, 19:33. Also in the boys’ competition, an alternate race was held. Weston Farmer ran the course in 21:18 and Spencer Shearer had a time of 21:46.
Girls’ District Race
In the girls’ competition, Quisenberry led the way with a fifth place in a time of 21:58. She was followed by Andree, sixth, 22:02; and Lavy, 12th, 22:37. Coach Wescott praised Lavy saying she had come back from foot injuries this year and really had a gutsy performance.
Other girls’ times and placings included: Deena Stevens, 18th, 23:23; Syerra Burnor, 22nd, 23:41; Elbel, 24th, 24:10; and Katey Jennings, 32nd, 25:03.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
For the first time in six years, the Holden High School varsity volleyball team will not be continuing their season in the state playoffs, as they were defeated last Wednesday night in the championship game of the Class 3 District 12 playoffs at Harrisonville High School.
The Lady Eagles fell to Nevada, 24-26 and 18-25 in a match that head coach Julie Carver said the team lacked aggressiveness. “The girls played not to lose instead of playing to win. Nevada is a good team, that simply outplayed us tonight,” Coach Carver added.
With the Lady Eagles coming in with a record of 22-6-3 and Nevada sporting a 13-14-3 mark, neither team took a serious advantage until Holden jumped out to game point with a 24-20 margin. They lost the next point and Nevada took serve at 24-21. Unfortunately for Eagle fans, the Lady Tigers served five consecutive points and turned what looked like a defeat into a victory in game one.
The second set was again tight, but this time Nevada took the advantage late and never lost their cushion, cruising to a seven-point victory and the district championship. The Lady Tigers will hook up with Logan-Rogersville on Saturday in Marshfield.
Although the Lady Eagles didn’t win the district championship this year, the squad did get a lot of things accomplished. Holden accomplished another 20-win season (15th out of the last 19 years), won the championship of the Show-Me West Conference in their last year in the league. Next year, the Lady Eagles will toil in the Missouri River Valley Conference (MRVC). The Lady Eagles posted a record of 5-1 against MRVC schools who will be members of that conference next year.
“Overall we had a good season,” explained Coach Carver. “We had an undefeated conference championship and a 22-7 record. It just didn’t end the way we wanted it to.”
Holden volleyball will lose the services of seniors Kristen Mickey, Katie Holmes and Eleanor Brown to graduation next year, but Holden will have a lot of experienced underclassmen to take over.
In the district title contest, freshman Kelsey Carver joined junior Calla Burden atop the kills column with five apiece. Burden also was high in blocks with nine.
Other statistics in the game included: Mickey, 11 of 15 defense, three kills and 10 assists; Katie Holmes, 10 of 14 defense, 11 of 12 serve receive, two kills and one assist; Brown, two of three defense and one ace; Stacey Calhoun, six of eight defense and four assists; Lauren Geisler, three of three defense, two kills, two assists and two blocks; Burden, five kills and nine blocks; Valerie Lambert, eight of 16 defense, seven of seven serve receive, one kill and once ace; Jill Hutchings, 14 of 21 defense, 18 of 20 serve receive and one assist; Carver, four of five defense, three of three serve receive and five kills; and Kelsey Holmes, two of three defense and one kill.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
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Senior Ryan Spilman squirted over from four yards out to score the go-ahead touchdown with 1:37 left in the fourth quarter and defensive back Andrew Wakeman reeled in his second interception of the day a few moments later to secure a slim 28-27 Holden Eagle victory over the Sherwood Marksmen Friday night at Eagle Stadium.
The win gave the Eagles a perfect 3-0 record in the Show-Me West Conference with only St. Mary’s standing in the way of Holden capturing their second consecutive conference championship. They also have been co-champions twice in the last four years as well. Holden will play the Trojans in the final game of the season Friday night in Sugar Creek.
Holden dominated the game against the Marksmen, garnering 455 total yards to Sherwood’s 251, but once again big plays were the bane of the Eagles’ existence. Sherwood scored on pass plays of 70 and 66 yards in the first quarter to take a 13-6 lead into the second stanza.
“Our kids were in position, they just didn’t make the play and they scored two quick touchdowns on us in the first quarter,” explained head coach Rich Johnson. “On the ground, we held them to 20 yards on 24 attempts. That’s pretty good.”
The Eagles who seemed to be sluggish after their crushing district loss to Hogan Prep last week played without much enthusiasm early, but according to the coach still dominated the game everywhere except on the scoreboard. Holden was also called for several penalties in situations which stopped or impeded offensive drives.
Holden’s only score in the first quarter was a 15-yard run by junior running back Dennis Hutchings who totaled 173 yards on the night. His efforts pushed him over the 1,000 mark for the second year in a row. He now has 1,124 for the 2007 campaign. Spilman also had a great night carrying the ball with 139 yards. He now is 165 yards shy of the 1,000 benchmark with one remaining game.
In the second quarter, senior quarterback Aaron Johnson tied the score at 13-13 with an 18 yard scamper in to the end zone with 11:37 left in the quarter. Approximately seven minutes later, Holden took its first lead when Spilman threw a halfback pass to Deron Binkley for a 44-yard TD. The boys in blue led 20-13 at that point.
It didn’t last long, as on the ensuing kickoff, Sherwood took the offering back 88 yards for another TD putting the game in a 20-20 deadlock. That’s the way the half ended.
Neither team could reach the end zone in the third quarter, but with 6:35 left in the final period, Sherwood struck again, blocking an Eagle punt for a touchdown, giving them a 27-20 lead.
The game stayed that way until Spilman scored the TD and Hutchings ran in the two-point extra point to give the Eagles the narrow victory.
Coach Johnson had high praise for his offensive line who he said pushed the Marksmen front back consistently. “We had 328 yards of rushing and averaged more than 5 yards per carry. We dominated the line of scrimmage. Dennis and Ryan came up big as well, rushing for 312 of those yards by themselves.”
In the passing game, Johnson was six for 12 for 83 yards and one interception, while Spilman was one for one for 44 yards and one TD.
On the defensive side, the coach had good words for his rush defense who constantly shut down the Marksmen attack. On pass defense, kudos were passed out to Wakeman who the coach said did a great job breaking to the ball, being in position and making the plays. He had two interceptions, one on Sherwood’s first drive and one on their last.
Jesse Baker was once again “the man” leading the team in tackles with 12 to go along with his two sacks. The senior has a total of 102 tackles on the year, giving him an 11.3 average per game.
With five tackles apiece were Spilman, Hutchings and David Lerda, while Jeff Johnson and Zak Anstine totaled four each. Wakeman, Binkley, Aaron Ferguson, Crosby Coleman and Jon Thompson each had two and A. Johnson, Max Lloyd and Denny Holsey tallied one apiece.
The Eagles will travel to Sugar Creek next week hoping to close out the season 8-2 for the second year in a row. If Holden wins next week, the senior class will go out the most productive in Holden High School history with 29 wins over their four years.
“Next week, we need to block, tackle and make plays and our kids will do alright,” the coach added. “We need to send this senior class out with a win and cause the underclassmen to feel good about the season and what they’ve done.”
By Steve Sullins
Editor
OBITUARIES
MICHAEL E. DUNLAP
Michael E. Dunlap, age 28, Warrensburg, Missouri, passed away Monday, October 22, 2007 in Bowling Green, Missouri.
He was born March 3, 1979 in Warrensburg, Missouri, the son of Mary Martin and Terry Dunlap. He had lived in the Warrensburg area most of his life and had attended school in Holden, Blairstown and Warrensburg, Missouri. He was a member of the Northern Hills Baptist Church, Warrensburg.
Survivors include one son, Michael R. Dunlap, Branson, MO; a daughter, Mary J. Dunlap, Branson, MO; a stepdaughter, Kenna C. Hammond, Branson, MO; his father, Terry Dunlap and wife Tammy, Centerview, MO; his mother, Mary Martin and husband Paul, Marshfield, MO; grandmother, Ida Dunlap, Kingsville, MO; and grandmother, Gloria Barker, Warrensburg, MO; one brother, Gerald Dunlap, Centerview, MO; four sisters, Deborah Likens, Centerview, MO, Melissa Dunlap, and Jessica Dunlap, both from Centerview, MO; and a step-sister, Jacinda Edwards, Warrensburg, MO; and several aunts and uncles.
Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. Saturday, October 27, 2007 at Ben Cast & Son - Wood Funeral Home, Holden with the Reverend Albion Mends officiating. The family received friends from 7-8:30 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.
Pallbearers were Jack Dunlap, David Dunlap, Ricky Johnson, Steve Turk, Paul Martin and Chris Agcopra.
Burial was in Barker Cemetery, Odessa, MO.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the Michael E. Dunlap Memorial Fund.
JOHN FOSTER MCBRIDE
John Foster McBride, age 39, Warrensburg, MO, passed away Saturday, October 27, 2007, at home.
He was born December 11, 1967 in Kansas City, Kansas the son of Harold and Cheryl Lee (Ariola) McBride. He graduated from Holden High School and served in the Army National Guard. On March 5, 2003 he married the former Debora Kay Cox in Warrensburg.
John lived in Holden for several years and traveled often with the carnival where he was a ride operator. He had also worked as a carpenter. He had lived in Warrensburg the past six years.
He leaves his wife, Debbie McBride, of the home; two stepsons, Gary Cox and Douglas Sanders, of the home; his father, Harold McBride, Holden, MO; one brother, Robert Dean McBride, Holden, MO; and one sister, Ronda Gaelea, Warrensburg, MO.
Following cremation, a memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 1, 2007 at Ben Cast & Son - Wood Funeral Home, Holden, MO with the Reverend Bill Perkins officiating. Friends may call from 6-7 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the John McBride Memorial Fund in lieu of flowers.
LUTHER LAVERN SCOTT
Luther Lavern Scott, age 67, Blairstown, Missouri, passed away Tuesday, October 23, 2007, at home.
He was born December 23, 1939 in Clinton, Missouri the son of Luke and Mary (Copenhaver) Scott. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1957 until 1959. On September 12, 1963 he married Nancy Gail Raines in Texas. Luther moved frequently in Texas and in the Midwest but considered Blairstown home. He had been back home in Blairstown for the past 25 years.
Luther had worked as a shrimp fisherman, built two shrimp boats, and was a welder for the Boilermakers Union Local 83. He has recently worked with his son, Terry, at Scott’s Signs of All Kinds.
He leaves his wife, Nancy, of the home; five sons, Terry and wife Jody, Randy and wife Sheri, Jimmy and wife Alice, Mike and Derek Scott, all of Blairstown, MO; three daughters, Rhonda and husband Chad Foley, and Pamela and husband Gary Duncan, all of Holden, and Lisa and husband Ron Williams, Odessa, MO; one brother, Raymond Scott, St. Louis, MO; 17 grandchildren; and one great-grandson.
He was preceded in death by two brothers, Delmar Dumont Scott and Shelby K. Scott; and a sister, Leota Wilson.
Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Sunday, October 28, 2007 at Ben Cast & Son - Wood Funeral Home, Holden, MO, with the Reverend Bill Perkins officiating.
Pallbearers were Terry Scott, Randy Scott, Jimmy Scott, Mike Scott, Chad Foley, Ron Williams, Gregg Poe, Mark Moritz and Larry Cress.
Honorary pallbearers were Vernon Roberts, Jack Rudnay, David Thompson, Phillip Thompson, Jim Cates, Jimmy Cates, Roy Wilson, Jr., Shannon Scott, Johnny Leach, John Leach, James Cress and Josh Cates.
Entombment was in Scott Memorial Park, Blairstown, MO with full military honors by Holden VFW Post 5844 and American Legion Post 90.
The family received friends from 6-8 p.m. Saturday, at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions are suggested to Twin Lakes Hospice. |