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A 'BLUE RIBBON' DAY
AT CHS C-T article 09 14 04, Laura Schuler/C-T City Editor
C-T Photo/Laura Schuler The Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center exploded into applause Monday after the Chillicothe High School "This school has received recognition because this school has made progress," Dr. Mary Cohen, U.S. Department of Education, Region 7 representative, explained in presenting the honor during a school assembly. She added, "There is a huge focus here on teaching methods and you (the students) have a set of marvelous teachers who are dedicated and focused in making sure you do well -- and you have done well," she told the audience. The No Child Left Behind/Blue Ribbon Schools Award is a federal program that recognizes high performing schools and schools that have achieved dramatic academic improvement while serving a large proportion of disadvantaged children. Upon receiving the award, a jubilant Tony Perry, assistant high school principal, hoisted the plaque high above his head. "We did it!" he exclaimed, smiling. Now a Blue Ribbon School, CHS is among only a handful in Missouri and only just over 250 in the nation on the Blue Ribbon Award list. Specifically, Perry explained that Chillicothe was one of eight schools in Missouri nominated to receive the award and one of seven in the state to receive it. The high school was among three middle schools and high schools in Missouri earning the national recognition and is listed among 255 other Blue Ribbon schools across the country. Perry also added that only three of the 914 secondary schools in the state received Blue Ribbon awards. "So, less than one-third of 1 percent of all the secondary schools in Missouri got this award -- and we did!" Perry said. In presenting the award, Cohen gave the students a brief history lesson on federal government's growing involvement in education over the years, beginning with the Supreme Court's decision in 1954 which resulted in the integration of schools. She then talked about the launch of the first Russian satellite, Sputnik, and the effect it had on education in America. "The United States began to panic because our children were not doing as well in math and science as we thought they should," Cohen explained. Return
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CHS
Is Nominated for Blue Ribbon School Award Chillicothe Constitution Tribune, Laura Schuler/C-T City Editor Chillicothe High School has been designated as one of only eight schools in the state, and one of only three high schools in Missouri which have been nominated for the No Child Left Behind/Blue Ribbon Schools Award. High school Principal Bob Levy received a letter of notification from the United States Department of Education informing him of the nomination for the award last week and reported that he was skeptical about the nomination at first glance. "My first reaction was that this was going to be a task to fill out numerous forms and then receive a certificate in the mail from the government," Levy said. Much to his surprise he received the same notification from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education the next day, complete with information from Commissioner Dr. Kent King on how to proceed in the nomination process. The No Child Left Behind/Blue Ribbon Schools Award is a federal program that recognizes high performing schools and schools that have achieved dramatic academic improvement while serving a large proportion of disadvantaged children. Those schools nominated also made adequate yearly progress in 2003 and met other federal guidelines. Levy said that after doing some research last week, he found that the two other high schools nominated for the award were very small: Holt County R-2 has 103 students and St. Louis Metro South High School has only 200 children enrolled. "My freshmen class is bigger than (the student body) of each of those schools, so that really lit my fire," Levy said yesterday (Monday). Chillicothe High School currently has approximately 180 freshmen students and 676 children comprising the student body. The other schools nominated for the award from Missouri include: Brittany Hill Middle School from the Blue Springs R-6 school district; McKinley Classical Junior Academy in the St. Louis City School District; Ava Middle School from the Ava R-1 School District; South Shelby Middle School, of Shelby County R-4 School District; and Fordland Middle School, of the Fordland R-3 School District. Return
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Chillicothe High School Assistant Principal Tony Perry hoists the No Child Left Behind/Blue Ribbon Schools Award high after
accepting it from Dr. Mary Cohen (right), U.S. Department of Education, Region 7 representative, Monday afternoon. The award, presented during a school assembly, was one of only seven awarded in the state and one of only 256 presented to schools across the country in recognition of their respective improvements and achievements. Also pictured (from left) is R-2 Superintendent Dale Wallace, CHS principal Tom Anderson, Alan Franklin, assistant to Cohen.
student body, their teachers and administrators learned that the school had received The No Child Left Behind/Blue Ribbon Schools Award.