NELL HOLCOMB SCHOOL BOARD DRAWS ACTIVITY

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Nell-Holcomb R-4 Board of Education members Robert Rubel and Dwayne K. Kirchhoff have filed for re-election.

Rubel and Kirchhoff are up for re-election for three-year terms in the April 2 election. Candidates wishing to compete for the seats may do so by filing for the election at Nell Holcomb School by Jan. 29.

If re-elected Rubel would enter his fourth three-year term. Kirchhoff first joined the board after being elected in April 1988.

In an interview Saturday, Rubel, 39, of Route 1, Box 125H Cape, said he was running again for the school board because his children still attend Nell Holcomb and he wants to be involved with the elementary district.

As well, he said, the district is working towards departmentalizing it's sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

"That's something that we've been trying to do the last couple of years. I'd like to see that continue," he said.

Through departmentalization, Rubel said, the grades would take on a junior-high like setting, with different subjects being taught by different teachers. The setup is being pursued to better prepare the school's students for high school. Plus, Rubel said the setup would reduce class sizes by spreading out the same number of students over a few more class periods.

He's a good candidate for the school board because of his experience, he said.

"I know that's an easy one to say, but it's the truth. I feel that I've been able to express the concerns of the people in the district ... since I've been a board member."

Employed as a line technician for 18 years at Procter & Gamble, Rubel and his wife, Bonnie, have four children. They are 15, 13, 9 and 8 years of age.

Rubel has an associate of arts degree in data processing from Southeast Missouri State University and is a native of the Nell Holcomb district, having grown up in Egypt Mills.

Kirchhoff could not be contacted Saturday.