ANNUAL TEACHERS MEETING SET FOR SHOW ME CENTER FRIDAY

Two teachers from Nell Holcomb School will be honored at the 118th annual Southeast Missouri District Teachers meeting Friday.

Marion Vernon Weiss is being honored for meritorious service to education and Gerald W. Landewee is being honored as an Outstanding CTA Leader of the Year.

Teachers from across Southeast Missouri will meet at the Show Me Center Friday for the annual district meeting of the Missouri State Teachers Association. JoAnn Hahs, sixth-grade teacher at Oak Ridge and president of the Southeast district, will preside.

The annual teacher's meeting "is a chance for the teachers to come together and share mutual experiences with one another," said Gene Brunkhorst, secretary-treasurer of the district and assistant professor of education at Southeast Missouri State University.

Said Brunkhorst: "Teachers have a chance to examine themselves and what direction education is going and what part they can play. It's a time of celebrating education and for teachers to be renews and set their vision a little higher as far as education is concerned," he said.

In addition, teachers have an opportunity to examine the new books and materials at the book exhibit.

Keynote speaker is Mark Scharenbroich, who over the past 16 years has conducted programs in more than 2,000 schools throughout North America.

He is featured in the film, "The Greatest Days of Your Life ... (so far)." He is also the author of two award-winning courses entitled "One of a Kind," which deals with positive self image, and "Pathways to Performance," which is aimed at reaching top level performance. He was the director of the award-winning film "T is for Teacher."

Brunkhorst said, "For a small district like Nell Holcomb to have both an honoree and an Outstanding CTA Leader is quite an accomplishment."

He explained that the CTA leader award is presented to a local member with a demonstrated track record. The meritorious service award is based on a person's overall professional career.

"This is a person who is tried and true," Brunkhorst said, "not only an outstanding teacher in the district but also a contributor at district and maybe at the state level."

Weiss has been teaching at Nell Holcomb for 17 years as a combined art teacher and speech-language clinician for grades kindergarten through eight.

As a part of her art program at Nell Holcomb, Weiss has conducted art shows involving art work by all students. She has also involved her students in art displays at the Cape Girardeau Public Library, Southeast Missouri Hospital and West Park Mall.

In addition to teaching, Weiss has been active in the school's Community Teachers Association. She was a charter member in 1978.

She has been active during several school campaigns, including "Save Our School" and a committee against a proposed landfill in the district.

Weiss has also taught summer art classes for the SEMO Council on the Arts and helped coordinate the culminating art shows.

Other educators receiving the meritorious service award are Mary Ann S. Maevers, retired, from Sikeston schools, and Charles Virgil Smith, retired, from Doniphan schools.

In addition to Landewee, Carol Lynn Davis of Poplar Bluff and Regina Marie Pinson of Kingston are being honored as Outstanding CTA Leaders of the Year in Southeast Missouri.