POLICE DISPATCHER RECOGNIZED FOR EXEMPLARY WORK: SMALL TOWNS AND LARGE

Southeast Missouri State University is a regional school that draws students primarily from the Bootheel to St. Louis and points to the west. Interestingly, its top undergraduates since 1991 have come from high schools scattered about the region. In other words, no single high school in the university's service region during that period seems to have consistently provided Southeast's top scholars.

An examination of the towns from which the top graduates came since May 1991 proves the point.

The last 10 classes of undergraduates contained 36 top scholars. Six were from Cape Girardeau, three from Bloomfield, three from Scott City, two from Piedmont, and two from Bell City. One top scholar came from each of the following towns: Granite City, Ill., Lowndes, Sedgewickville, Trenton, Oran, Fisk, Chaffee, Monett, Williamsville, Farmington, Potosi, Mount Vernon, Ill., Dexter, Jackson, Marble Hill, Ironton and Sikeston. One was from Sri Lanka and another from Calcutta, India.

The fact that no single school system within the region seems to be consistently producing the best college students speaks well for all schools in the region. It shows that good students who apply themselves can learn plenty in the region's schools, regardless of whether they're in big towns or small.