2004 - PPP VIP Award Winners
March 05, 2008
Joan Brown – Joan Brown has put numerous hours into the development of Freer Elementary School PPP at Windsor C-1 District. She has been there since its beginning. Joan has become the “Official Photographer”, capturing treasured moments of students with their parents, friends, and teachers. Joan keeps a record of the spirit of cooperation at the school.
Mary Jo Herde, Ph.D. – Mary Jo is an original PPP Trainer and a member of the PPP Advisory Board. She provides insights, enthusiasm, and years of varied experiences working with families. She led the Educare early childhood efforts in Missouri and currently works with ESL adult students. Mary Jo has contributed to the new PPP Kindergarten Transition workshop materials; been a regional facilitator for fall workshops, and provided several on-site professional development workshops this year.
Marshall H. Lewis and Linda Lewis – Marshall Lewis, Superintendent, and Linda Lewis, early childhood, have led the South Iron County School District to excel in parent involvement for many years. Years ago, Mr. Lewis attended a meeting where he heard of the pilot program Parents As Teachers. He became so excited about it that he brought back the idea and saw that South Iron was one of the first locations to start the PAT program. That success led him to support parent involvement throughout students’ school years. Linda has been instrumental in implementing PPP in the district and now heads up the efforts that won the overall PPP Pearl Award this year. Congratulations to an outstanding husband-wife team!
Ellen Miller – Ellen, a counselor at Northeast Randolph County, has been a strong supporter of PPP for many years, facilitating parent involvement in her school and helping many students achieve through working cooperatively with their parents. More recently, Ellen has even been teaching at the college level. She serves on the PPP Advisory Board as a school representative and continues to provide helpful insight to issues. For years, Ellen has led regional sessions here at Family Festival. We appreciate her help and dedication!
Connie Morrill- Connie is the backbone of the Branson Kindergarten PPP program. She prepares an annual budget, manages the budget carefully, and itemizes all expenditures to help the program continue its success. Connie organizes all PPP events, recruits parent and teacher volunteers for different activities, and buys/checks supplies for all PPP events. She holds quarterly PPP Parent Advisory Meetings to explain PPP and to plan activities for the year. Parents, previously involved with PPP, are invited back to be guest speakers to share their PPP experiences. Connie spearheads the fall and spring PPP picnics in which the teachers serve hot dogs, chips, cookies, and ice cream to over 500 children, parents, and family members. She arranges for the Branson Fire Department to pull in their large Smoke House for all to tour. The DARE Officer had fingerprinting available for the children. A local DJ from the radio station was on site eating hot dogs and interviewing families. The two picnics do so much to facilitate the philosophy of parents and the school as a team. They are quite gala events!
Connie’s innovation led to a new program this school year called H.O.P.E. (Helping Our Parents Educate) in which she has two teachers teach parents about hot educational kindergarten topics. This year, H.O.P.E. has brought information to parents on making learning fun, math, brain-based learning, phonemics and sound spelling, homework, enrichment for kids, struggling learners, and summer learning loss. The parents who participate are very appreciative of the great ideas they have learned. Connie is a very humble person who works diligently for the best for students. Because Connie is always eager to recognize others, her principal says it is now her turn to be recognized as a Very Important Person!
Debbie Myers – Debbie Myers is also an original PPP Trainer with years of experience working with families. She has facilitated many workshops in her work in the prevention field, including working with law enforcement. She has helped people deal with a variety of personal challenges, providing a positive look to the future. Debbie now works with a foundation, helping other groups and individuals with their goals. A frequent presenter at Family Festival, you may have seen her this year in medieval costume!
Debra Nordyke – Debbie has been instrumental in keeping the PPP program alive at Butler Elementary School at Butler R-V District. She has been the director since its inception, and kept it going even after the third grant year with the help of funding from the PTSO. The Butler Elementary PPP is now in its fifth year. Debbie provides information to parents in a comfortable atmosphere and spends a huge amount of time organizing for each meeting. She continues to attend regional meetings and the Family Festivals; she has also participated in the Home Visit training. Debbie never does anything half way!
Beulah Ann McCreery – Beulah Ann McCreery has put numerous hours into the development of PPP at Freer Elementary at Windsor C-1. She has supported and encouraged all their endeavors. She is always enthusiastic when it comes to working with the students and parents – a real leader in cooperative relationships!
Candy Perris – According to teachers at both the elementary and high schools at Kingston K-14 School District, Candy Perris is one of the best things that has ever happened to their district! She has built a great program, with organizing the parents being the best. She has helped teachers by going out and actively soliciting donations for classroom activities. If anyone needs anything, she always finds a way to get it! Kingston staff are adamant in their praise of Candy Perris and have voiced their dismay at the possibility of losing her next year. Candy has been a consistent winner of the PPP VIP award for several years – a true example of home-school partnerships.
Rich Sandoval – A former school administrator and a true believer in the power of families to help their children to academic success, Rich is currently a PPP Trainer, an educational consultant, and a retiree enjoying his travels, fishing, and other hobbies. This year, Rich was instrumental in PPP’s resource materials for the No Child Left Behind Legislation. Rich, his daughter and son-in-law translated the booklets into Spanish and provided the voices for the audio portion of the CD sent to all Missouri school districts. As well as training, he has also led fall regional meetings, on-site professional development sessions, and Family Festival sessions.
Donna Thompson – Donna Thompson of Fredericktown R-I Elementary School believes the success of a child’s education is in the parents being totally involved with the school. She is a teacher assistant working with disabled children and is the PPP Co-Chairman. She has been a part of PPP for four years. She is more than an asset to their PPP; she is the driving force behind it. She has endless energy and is always three steps ahead of everyone. She is the person to get things donated for the family fun nights – she is not afraid to ask for donations or discounts. Without Donna, according to school staff, the PPP program would not be nearly as successful as it is. She is definitely a PPP VIP!
Marj Trumble – Marj Trumble at the Branson Kindergarten Center in Branson R-IV School District, has been involved with PPP for six years. She began her support of their program as a teacher and for the last three years has been the principal at the building. Marj has not only been the administrative force behind the PPP program but also has been involved in the implementation of all events. Marj attends every PPP event and takes an active role in that participation. For example, during the fall and spring PPP picnic you will find Maj helping set up for the event, cooking hot dogs, serving food, gathering trash and hauling items to and from school. During Santa Night, Marj reads the classic, “The Night Before Christmas”, every fifteen minutes to students sitting around the tree. Then after the program, she is busy cleaning and putting things away. During “Cookies and Milk”, you might find her pouring glasses of milk or helping someone with their craft project. Marj is an active member of the PPP Advisory Committee and offers lots of support and encouragement. She is truly the backbone of the PPP program at Branson Kindergarten Center!
