April 25, 2008 09:59 am
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:)?:? are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ron Lankford, in 1986, walked through the gate Emerson spoke of and it led him to an opportunity that is still with us today.
During a breakout session at a national conference for educators, Lankford, then a principal in the Webb City R-7 School District, found himself in a crowded room where so many other principals had gathered, there weren’t enough handouts to go around.
An editor at the Detroit Free Press held up a special section the paper had printed. It was dedicated to recognizing top students.
Intrigued, Lankford gathered up materials and headed back home, where he handed the information over to Andy Ostmeyer, who was covering the Webb City community beat for The Joplin Globe at the time.
Months went by, and Lankford figured the paper wasn’t interested. About the time he had given up, a call came in from Tom Murray, the Globe’s managing editor during that time.
In the spring of 1987, the Globe printed its first special section naming an All-Area Academic Excellence Team. It was the first of its kind in the state and it would be more than five years later before any other Missouri paper selected a team like this one.
I talked last week with Lankford, now the superintendent for the R-7 School District, about the origins the Globe’s banquet.
While we can take some credit for recognizing a great idea and running with it, Lankford has been there since the beginning. Not far behind him is Janet K. Myers, communication arts teacher for Joplin High School. She has been on the committee for 20 years. Steve Jameson, the principal of Columbus Unified High School, Columbus, Kan., has served for the past six years.
I met the members of the 2008 Academic Team on Thursday night during a banquet honoring them, as well as the educators that members of the team chose to bring with them.
Today, you can meet these same super-bright kids. They are featured in the People section, along with some of their essays and short biographies outlining their future plans.
Margaret Ann Adams, a senior at McAuley Catholic High School, wants to earn a degree in biomedical engineering and then work in pharmaceutical research.
Michelle Kropf, a senior at Seneca High School, wants to “make a significant contribution to science that makes an impact on our world.”
And, Taylor G. Yust, a senior at Joplin High School, is looking toward a future in computers. The talented young man wants to design and produce creative, intellectual and entertaining games, challenge perceptions, and make others happy.
Wow. And these are just three looks into the future lives of our 20-member team.
So, how do we pick members of our team? Much like with an athletic all-area team, we ask for nominations from the school. Students are selected based on their ACT scores, grade-point average and their extra-curricular activities.
Those students are then pitted with students from schools throughout our Tri-State readership area. And, as Janet Meyers said Thursday at the banquet, “the bar keeps rising.”
This year’s average ACT score was 32.8. Lankford said in the mid-1990s, if a student had a 31 on the ACT and a 4.0 grade-point average, they were sure to make the team. Not so anymore, he said.
“Highly motivated kids are conscious of doing better and better on their ACT,” said Lankford. “In fact, they want to be better and better at everything. They set their sights higher and higher.”
I hope you will turn the pages of today’s newspaper and read about our All-Area Academic Excellence Team.
Whether you know them or not, these students will make you feel proud.
Carol Stark is editor of The Joplin Globe. Address correspondence to her, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, Mo. 64802 or e-mail cstark@joplinglobe.com.
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