Each month during the school year, the Pattonville Board of Education honors students, staff and volunteers who have gained recognition outside of the district. Students and staff from Pattonville High School were recognized in April.

Pattonville High School

Panelist at conference

Senior Zion Bradsher was selected to serve as a panelist at the annual St. Louis School Business-Partnership spring conference. The panel presentation focused on what youth are looking for from business. 

Zion Bradsher was a panelist for a business conference.

Co-Youth Poet Laureate

Senior Lauren Barton was named a Co-Youth Poet Laureate of St. Louis. She will recite her work at various events this year and has the opportunity to publish select works. In the fall, she and her co-laureate will lead the Youth Poetry Summit. The St. Louis Youth Poet Laureate program is a joint effort between Urban Word NYC and non-profit Urbstetiks. The program aims to identify young writers and leaders across St. Louis who are committed to civic and community engagement, poetry and performance, human relations, diversity and education. 

Full scholarship

Senior Chloe Kerwin was selected to receive the 2022 Dr. Donald M. Suggs Scholarship at Maryville University. This freshman competitive scholarship is awarded to incoming Black students from the St. Louis metropolitan area who have demonstrated the potential for academic achievement. It provides full tuition and room and board expenses and is valued at more than $140,000. 

UMSL Succeed Program

Senior Anthony King was accepted into the University of Missouri-St. Louis’ Succeed Program, a post-secondary program that helps students develop the skills necessary to become participants in their community through inclusion in university life. Program participants can earn a Chancellor’s Certificate by completing the two-year residential or commuter program. 

Anthony King was chosen for a post-secondary program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Youth Orchestra library intern

Junior Aaron Wolz, who is enrolled in the Early College Options program, is a violist in the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and works as the first Youth Orchestra library intern. In this role, Wolz prepares the sheet music for each of the musicians in the Youth Orchestra. His day typically begins by checking what his supervisor has ready for him to prepare, copy, bind and mark. 

Boys State

Pattonville juniors Christopher Braggs and Ryan Cutrell, who attends Pattonville’s Early College Program,  were accepted to Boys State. During the eight-day program, students across the state gather to create their own state using democratic systems and engage in political activities such as running for office and drafting and debating bills. 

Ryan Cutrell was one of two from Pattonville High School chosen for Missouri Boys State.

Perfect game

Freshman Donald Simpkins bowled a perfect game in February during high school league play at West County Lanes. He has thrown four 300 games over his career. Simpkins is coached by high school industrial technology teacher Darrell Langston and Chris Wheeler. 

Freshman Donald Simpkins, left, is shown with his coach, Chris Wheeler.

Mock Trial state qualifiers

The Pattonville Mock Trial team was one of 18 teams who qualified to compete in the state competition at the end of March. This year’s case involved an alleged breach of a Hollywood talent agent’s employment contract. Teams prepared to present as both the plaintiff and defense sides, and alternated sides each round of the competition. The team advanced to state after competing at regionals and districts. Members of the team include Katie Bass, El Roi Belete, Christopher Braggs, Christopher Dixon, Aiden Farkas, Addison Gutschenritter, Ben Holland, Maichi Nguyen and Hannadey Yezza. High school English teacher Jennifer Raymond coached the team.

Addison Gutschenritter was one of several students who qualified for state in Mock Trial.

Young Artists Exhibit

Pattonville students had artwork selected for the 2022 Young Artists and Their Teachers Exhibit at Lindenwood University. The artwork was on display through March at Lindenwood. Artwork from two students earned awards. Senior Analiese Smith received third place for her painting, and sophomore Lizzy Zacheis placed third for her ceramics piece. Other students whose artwork was selected for display were Riley Nesheim for 2D design; Leliyan Hughes and Valent Orta for ceramics; Charley Bennight, Sofia Boughton and Cordelia Matulewic for drawing; Anna Kasprzyk and Ace Mansdoerfer for mixed-media drawing; Anthony Cruz, Maggie Haselbauer, Leliyan Hughes and Lauren Keller for painting; and Tahjmia Jimerson for sculpture. They are taught by Danielle Adams, Scott Fader, Beth Kathriner and Marcia Mueller. 

From left, Anna Kasprzyk, Ace Mandoerfer and Anthony Cruz had artwork chosen for display at Lindenwood University.

Girls basketball conference honors

The girls basketball team was named conference champions. Two players were named all-district first team. They are Jasmine Gray, who was also named Conference Player of the Year, and Taylor Montgomery, who was also named all-conference second team. Zoe Newland was named all-conference first team. Brooke Boyce and Hannah Fenton were named all-conference honorable mention. J'nylah Curtis was selected to receive the Sportsmanship award. Other members of the championship team are Zoe Cox, Kodie Gordon, Charlie Heiligenstein and Cami Stacker. The team was coached by Donald Boyce, who was named Coach of the Year, with the assistance of Corey Lewis. 

Coach Donald Boyce, left, is shown with members of the Pattonville girls varsity basketball team. Shown are, from left, Brooke Boyce, Zoe Cox, Kodie Gordon, J'nylah Curtis and Hannah Fenton.

Boys basketball honors

On the boys basketball team, senior Kellen Thames was selected as a nominee for McDonald's All-American Games and was named all-state, all-metro second team and the district and conference Player of the Year. Senior Ronnell Johnson Jr. was selected all-district and all-conference second team. Players named all-conference honorable mention are Umar Barrie, who also received the Sportsmanship Award, Austin Prater and Zion Hampton. The team is coached by Kelly Thames with the assistance of Kent Booth, Antonio Bryant, Travis Harris and Dominic Varner. 

Coach Kelly Thames, right, is shown with members of the boys varsity basketball team. They include, from left, Kellen Thames, Ronnell Johnson, Jr., Zion Hampton, Umar Barrie, Austin Prater and Zion Bradsher.

Girls wrestling conference honors

The Pattonville girls wrestling team was named conference champions. Wrestlers named all-conference first team included Jasmine Gordon, Jordane Hale, Sam Heine, Natalie Henning, Winter Lusk, Gabrielle McCain and Kalie Vogel. Wrestlers named all-conference second team are Israela Agnram, Makayla Gordon and Kennedy Miller. Allison Basta received the Sportsmanship Award. Other members of the team included Makiah Ashby, Bridgette Burnett, Faith Claeys, Jasmine Harris, Dariya Hawkins, Jaida Holland, Leliyan Hughes, Keeley Jolliff, Analeah Robertson and Ciara Spearmon. The team was coached by Paige Mueller, who was named Coach of the Year, with the assistance of Danelle Emerick. 

Members of the varsity girls wrestling team include, from left, front row, Jasmine Gordon, Analeah Robertson, Jordane Hale and Makayla Gordon; and back row, Israela Agnram, Gabrielle McCain, Kennedy Miller, Natalie Henning and Kalie Vogel.

Boys wrestling honors

On the boys wrestling team, freshman David Dunn was named all-conference second team. Sophomore Paul Palermo received the Sportsmanship Award. The team is coached by Brent Mueller with the assistance of Jon Michael Brown and Jake Kim. 

Pattonville freshman David Dunn was named all-conference second team in boys wrestling.

Missouri Teacher Excellence Award

Pattonville High School driver education teacher Tom Iffrig was named the 2022 Missouri Teacher Excellence Award nominee by the Missouri Driver Safety Education Association (MODSEA) during its annual state conference. He will attend the national American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association (ASTSEA) conference in Vancouver, Washington, in July with a chance to be named a national Teacher Excellence Award winner. The award honors outstanding driver and traffic safety educators. 

Shown are some of this year's Teacher of the Year honorees in Pattonville. Photo below, Kyle Schaper, a PE teacher at Parkwood Elementary School, was named certified staff Rookie of the Year.

Teacher of the Year honorees, nominees

The following educators were named the Teacher of the Year for their school:

• Amy Bopp from early childhood,
• Leslie Jones from Bridgeway,
• Christine Behlmann from Drummond,
• Amanda Castile from Parkwood,
• Jamie Hundley from Rose Acres,
• Chris Cheatham from Willow Brook,
• Lindsey Cottingham from Remington,
• Maegan Bowersox from Holman,
• Mike Burgio from Heights, and
• Lara Corvera from the high school.

Kyle Schaper, a PE teacher at Parkwood Elementary School, was named the district’s certified staff Rookie of the Year. Also nominated for Teacher of the Year were:

• From early childhood: Kelsey Hibbits, Pamela Stubblefield and Sharon Wood;
• From Bridgeway Elementary School: Mollie Ahlers, Nora Bakula, Amanda Brodbeck, Alex Buerck, Hannah Cooper, Vanessa Curiel-Grey, Chris Curtis, Sylvie Delannay, Dan Derby, Jessica Esquivel, Jeanne Fernandez, Sarah Galbreath, Carole Garrett, Keri Gleason, Danielle Hamer, Megan Hayes, Tracy Hilgenbrink, Stacey Hill, Stephen Jones, Emily Lerman, Brittany Lunders, Stacey Maidlow, Natasha Malone, Vicki Martin, Allison Overy, Erica Parsell, Matthew Peacher, Tara Perks, Nisa Peters, Rebekah Schneider, Shannon Senzig, Nancy Stevens-Martin, Shondrella Turner, Kimberly Walsh, Wendy Wamhoff, Julie Watson, Miranda Wilkes and Lori Yudovich;
• From Drummond Elementary School: Bonnie Beer, Tammi Buckner, Ashley Burd, Courtney Cady, Amber Callahan, Josie Cammarata, Sarah Carter, Windy Cushman, Sierra Dertinger, Kathleen Dolan, Nicole Dye, Dempsey Fogarty, Brittany Garcia, Alexis Hasty, Kevin Hughes, Mindy Jackson, Jacob Johnson, Brenda Kelch, Heather Koepke, Damara Lashley, Michele Lewis, Shelley McManus, Jami Miller, Megan Neff, Helen Niklawski, Kori Phillips, Amy Powell, Sarah Remsen, Melissa Reynolds, Jessica Robbins, Ginger Roberts, Samatha Shyken, Jamie Sievers, Mary Sosman, Caleb Stroop, Christina Sutter, Amy Taylor, Michelle Thrower, Kristen Webber, Lindsay Williams, Amber Wilson and Laura Witte;
• From Parkwood Elementary School: Lauren Abel, Abigail Beckermann, Kristen Buescher, Kelley Chestnut, Catherine Eaton, Sarah Fee, Brittany Flachs, Jessica Gerst, Jennifer Gross, Mallory Hamilton, Chip Ianiri, Dawn Kasper-Bamberger, Tiffany Laughlin, Christina Livingston, Janel Maclean, Audrey Masek, Sarah Mather, Denise Overman, Kassie Rushing, Lindsey Schaefer, Cathy Selleck, Greg Stoltz, Carley Tankersley, Jen Ulmer, Heather Wilkerson, Kendra Worsham and Regina Wright;
• From Rose Acres Elementary School: Grace Burgos, Robin Chang, Amy Fitch, Amy Frost, Carrie Heine, Kirstie Hummert, Rhondalyn Logan, Michael McKeon, Nicole Mikel, Mary Spitzmiller, Katelyn Thompson and Nicole Youngquist;
• From Willow Brook Elementary School: Katharine Ackman, Elizabeth Alexander, Natalie Alvarez, Morgan Barnett, Jennifer Bober, Yue Buss, Melissa Capstick, Jamie Cargal, Kimberly Dickinson, Ashley Downs, Maria Farmer, Christina Finazzo-Purl, Kristen Gartland, Anise Glenn, Mary Goding, Holly Kopp, Erin Kostos, Alexis Lashley, Leslie Lockett, Dawn Lynn, Heather McCord, Nick Morgan, Jennifer Rogers, Penney Smith, Alexis Sprenger, Samantha Stuppy, Billy Thompson, Joanna Todd, Mary Vance, Marla Wasserman, Chelsey Wiersma and Christine Young;
• From Remington Traditional School: Emily Cook, Kelley Dent, Lindsay Diesing, Allison Grigone, Alisabeth Hilker, Danica Johnson, Lisa Kraemer, Julie Linck, Lauren Niewald, Karrie Peters, Andrew Smith and Lynda Sotolar;
• From Holman Middle School: Melissa Benefield, Jessica Brandenburg, Jennifer Calva, Brooke Cooper, Lillian Corzine, Alicia Dietz, Mia Divine, Christina Elkins, Julia Gibson, Irena Goren-Scheer, Jeff Grass, Adam Hall, Sara Hellberg, Melanie Judge, Alyson Kim, David Kim, David Klaus, Matthew Loyet, Rachel Luna, Jane McGuire, Jennifer Meyer, Marian Mitchell, Alisa Neal, Jennifer Paisley, Kelly Paluczak, Matthew Parker, Montie Richter, Noelle Robinson, Stefan Seals, Ryan Shea, Jessica Smith, Marcie Spawr, Edward Stevens, Jonathan Striebel, Whitney Strubhar, Denise Thomas, Crystal Tomlinson, Scott Wagner, Natalie Walker and Steve White; 
• From Pattonville Heights Middle School: Claudia Benbow, Danielle Beyer, Sammie Bezzole, Kerry Brown, Donna Burd, Krista Cross, Timothy Drew, Samantha Greaney, Abby Hall, Julie Harder, Laura Hartsock, Kurtis Heinrich, Tara Jones, Lauren Jordan, Lori Kappler, Wendy Mathis, Amy Meyers, Allison Quist, Jennifer Robin, Erika Sepansk, Sarah Slane, Tyler Smith, Elizabeth Stockmann, Madison Thorpe, Emily Weber, Michael Winship, Rachel Woodson and Kalesia Yates; 
• From Pattonville High School: Samuel Berendzen, Kent Booth, Christopher Broyles, Brooke Callan, Brandon Clark, Danelle Emerick, Jenell Franken, Katie Funderburk, Kathleen Gengler, Miranda Gossett, Jessica Hale, Patrick Handrahan, Scott Hauser, Jessica Hayes, Stephanie Heyman, Rebecca Hinnah, Sarah Hollstrom, Haley Hunter, Jamie Jobe, Beth Kathriner, Katherine Kessler, Katherine Korte, Alexa Kramer, Rebecca Krohn, Janet Kuhn, Darrell Langston, Holly Martinez, Emily McDaniel, Tracie Olson, Carolyn Overton, Lisa Pirrung, Jonathon Saettele, Jacqueline Saxton, Vicki Schaeffer, Benjamin Schamber, Jeremiah Simmons, Steve Smith, Anjie Stendeback, Antoinette Ulses, Anna White, Christy Wills and Robin Woodrome; and 
• From the Gifted program: Allison Bennett, Nancy Brennan, Elizabeth Brisch, Cheralyn Kirton and Katharine Lambdin. 

Shown are some of this year's Support Staff of the Year honorees in Pattonville. 

Support Staff of the Year

The following staff members were named the Support Staff Employee of the Year for their building:

• Erica Abowitz from early childhood,
• Loresa Shaw from Bridgeway,
• Jennifer Reidelberger from Drummond,
• Deborah Boshans from Parkwood,
• Amy Reese from Rose Acres,
• Erin Jepsen from Willow Brook,
• Shannon Hill from Holman,
• Laura Bruhy from Heights, 
• Michelle Miletic from the high school and
• Chester Samples from maintenance representing the district services group.

Tomi Benney, a secretary at Pattonville High School, was named the district’s support staff Rookie of the Year. Other employees who were nominated for Support Staff of the Year were: 

• From early childhood: Lori Connors, Bill Dinsmore, Krysteen Euson, Munazza Faruqi, Julie Hilker, Lora Monroe, Cheryl Norfolk, Brittany Stevens, Kathy Webber and Laura Wick;
• From Bridgeway Elementary School: Earnest Anderson, Daron Arnold, Linda Burcke, Josie Chapman, Gloria Contreras, Kara Crismon, Renee Davenport, Vanessa Divine, Mary Frazier-Meyers, James Gleason, Nick Grooms, Darius Hebron, Grace Lackner, Andrew Mahtani, Jennifer May, Susan Peroutka, Sharon Silverstein, Cheryl Sprengel, Jane Ung, Madison Utley, Melanie Wood and Sherry Wuest; 
• From Drummond Elementary School: Courtland Barnes, Lynn Becker, Allison Campbell, Harry Cima, Michael Cobb-Schultz, Tracy Cook, Leon Douglas, Adrienne Draper, Jillian Earls, Catina Gaddy, Stephanie Kellner, Carole Marsden, Angela Moll, Mike Siebe, Jocelyn Swan and Mike Williams; 
• From Parkwood Elementary School: Brandy Fowler, Jarrett Harrison, Bob Heitert, Kim James, Melissa Leedle, Sandy McIntyre, Nancy Steinmeyer and Veronica White;
• From Rose Acres Elementary School: Jennifer Hardin and Rungsee Suvansri;
• From Willow Brook Elementary School: Tom Betts, Rhonda Daniels, Callie Doffing, David Duncan, Cindy Fain, Jayne Green, Ruby Hinkle, Sarah Lopez, Tammy Mathes, Casey Mitchell, Lakiva Murphy, Lauren Stoelting and Cierra Wesley; 
• From Remington Traditional School: Jeanne Jones and Abby Reckamp;
• From Holman Middle School: Richard Cochren, Tracy Kuehn, Brenda Labbe, Thuy Nguyen, Jennifer Odom and Bertha Sneed; 
• From Pattonville Heights Middle School: Steven Aversa, Mallorey Burns, Alex Caldwell, Carla Gardner, Jacqueline McClain, Precious Robertson, Rodney Spann, Nicole Stricklin and Randy Thurman; 
• From Pattonville High School: Ray Braun, Travis Harder, Debbie Jansen, Ken Lerdahl, Brandon Lynn, Racquel Manuel, Scott Robinson, Lydia Smotherman-Mills, Michelle Stewart, Reem Tahsin and Richard Wright; and 
• From the district services group: Jennifer Barnes, Virginia Bush-Billingsley, Ameerah Collins, Katherine Demas, Amanda Fields, Joan Hasamear, Brian Heyman, Becky Klenke, Kathleen Phillips, Julie Purviance, Catherlean Rusan and Ryan Sullivan.