Missouri Teachers of the Year want K-12 community to get vaccinated immediately
“Our state’s teachers and support staff have faithfully risked their lives this year,” a letter says from Missouri’s 2017-2021 Teachers of the Year. It is addressed to Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams and it presses him to let teachers and support staff get their coronavirus vaccinations immediately.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson visits a St. Louis school on July 29, 2020 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)
The letter is signed by Darrion Cockrell of Lindbergh Schools, Melissa Grandel of the Fordland School District, Shelly Parks of Francis Howell in St. Charles, Beth Davey of Ritenour Schools, and Darbie Valenti Huff of the St. Joseph School District. Three of them say they have been infected with the virus and say all cases are from likely exposures at school.
It’s never been more obvious what the top story of a year was, as 2020 will always be remembered as the year a global pandemic stopped life as we know it everywhere. But South County also made national news with a very inspiring teacher.
1. Coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic was 10 separate stories in and of itself, as every event that would take place in a normal year was canceled or substantially changed. Life was not the same in 2020 as it was in 2019 and hopefully will be by this time next year. Masks became a political issue, public health took center stage, we worked from home, most schools and nearly all government meetings went virtual, small businesses struggled and many residents battled health problems.
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‘Mr. D.C.’ could become Missouri’s third National Teacher of the Year
In 1952, the first National Teacher of the Year award was presented by President Harry Truman of Missouri to bring recognition to the importance of teachers as nurturers of the American Dream. The program is put on each year by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), a nonpartisan nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education.
Photos courtesy of Darrion Cockrell
Since the national program’s inception, Missouri has had two teachers capture the honor. The last time the state had a National Teacher of the Year was nearly 41 years ago – in 1980 when Beverly Bimes of Hazelwood High School East, St. Louis was given the title. The first Missouri teacher to capture the award was Mary Schwarz of Bristol Elementary in Kansas City in 1957. She shared the honor with Eugene Bizzell, a high school English teacher fro
Educators Saved Him During a Tough Childhood. Now, He s Missouri s Teacher of the Year. We’re all working together for something bigger than all of us, and that’s the success of these kids. It’s the success of this community
Published December 21, 2020 •
Updated on December 21, 2020 at 10:21 pm
Courtesy Darrion Cockrell
To be named Teacher of the Year is an honor itself. For Darrion Cockrell, it’s a remarkable accomplishment, considering his turbulent early life, NBC News reports.
Cockrell said his mother was in and out of his life because of drug addiction, and his father was killed selling drugs when Cockrell was 4. A St. Louis native, Cockrell was placed in foster care by the state at 6, and he bounced around to different homes for about a year. His grandmother eventually gained custody of him and his six other siblings.