REIMANN HONORED AS STATE TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Clippard Elementary School teacher Carol Reimann was formally honored Thursday as Missouri Teacher of the Year for 1997-98 in Jefferson City by state education officials.

The State Board of Education and Commissioner of Education Robert E. Bartman hosted an awards banquet for Reimann and five state finalists at the Capitol Plaza Hotel.

Reimann, a veteran first-grade teacher in Cape Girardeau schools, has taught at Clippard for the past 15 years. She was selected for the honor in September and has automatically become a candidate for national Teacher of the Year honor.

Joining her at the banquet was Charles R. Depro, a Sikeston High School teacher who was honored as a state finalist in the program. Depro has taught American history, economics and sociology courses in Sikeston schools for 32 years.

This year for the first time additional corporate sponsors joined the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in providing special awards for all of the finalists. Besides receiving a $1,000 cash award, Reimann also received a $2,000 ambassador's award provided by Mid-West National Life Insurance. She was also presented with an IBM Thinkpad computer, a printer and other accessories for classroom use donated by IBM, GE Capita and Microsoft.

Finalists received $250 cash awards provided by NationsBank. IBM, GE Capita and Microsoft also awarded each finalist computer software appropriate for their subjects and grade levels.