💙💛Thankful Thursday 💙💛
Yesterday our 8th graders had an incredible day in Jefferson City, and we have so many people to thank for making the experience unforgettable!
A huge shout-out to Senator Jamie Burger and his staff for welcoming our students and helping them experience government in action. Senator Burger even gave our group a special recognition on the Missouri State Senate floor — a moment our students will not forget! What an honor for our Falcons. See the comments for the video of Senator Burger introducing our students on the floor.
We were also grateful to connect with Representative Dolan and appreciate him taking a few minutes to visit with our group.
And of course, thank you to Senator Burger for treating our students to a stop at the local favorite Central Dairy for ice cream and helping wrap up the evening with dinner on the way home. It was the perfect ending to a great day!
Most of all, we are thankful for our staff and students. They represented our school so well — respectful, engaged, and simply fun to be around. We are proud of our Falcons every single day! 🦅💙💛
Kelso C-7 & New Hamburg Partner for After-School SPIN Classes Kelso C-7 is proud to partner with New Hamburg 4-H to offer short enrichment projects — now known as SPIN (Special Interest) classes — for our students and community. This collaboration has provided meaningful, hands-on learning opportunities while strengthening connections within our community. Over the past several weeks, Mrs. Gantz and Mrs. Merrell have hosted an after-school Cooking SPIN class. From sweet treats to homemade dog biscuits, students have been learning basic cooking skills, kitchen safety, and the joy of creating something from scratch. The excitement has been wonderful to see! Next month, volunteers Kimberly Kern and Kari Wilhelm will lead the after-school SPIN class to explore using hat looms. All hats created will be donated to the St. Francis Labor and Delivery (updated). We are grateful for community members who are willing to share their time and talents with our students. In addition to these classes, some of our local 4-H members braved the drizzle this past Saturday to deliver handmade Valentines to members of the New Hamburg community — a small act of kindness that made a big impact. We are excited that our Falcons are part of this growing partnership and look forward to seeing it continue to grow!
As our boys basketball 🏀 and cheerleading 📣 seasons come to a close, we want to send a huge THANK YOU to the volunteers who made it all possible.
Your time, energy, and heart poured into our students did not go unnoticed. You showed up after long days, encouraged our kids through wins and challenges, and helped build teamwork, confidence, and school pride along the way. 💙💛
👏 Boys Basketball Coaches:
• Coach Dustin Benson
• Coach Richard Reeves
• Coach Jason Glastetter
• Coach Daniel Jackson
📣 Cheerleading Coaches:
• Coach Lauren Heuring
• Coach Cara Dirnberger
• Coach Natalie Buell
We are so grateful for your commitment to our students and our school community. Thank you for making this season such a positive and memorable one!
As we wrap up January and Board of Education Appreciation Month, we want to pause and say thank you to the dedicated individuals who serve our school community so faithfully.
Our Board of Education members give their time, talents, and hearts to ensure the best possible future for our students, staff, and families. Their service often happens behind the scenes, but its impact is felt every single day in our classrooms and community.
Today’s Spotlight Board Member is: Major Burger
💬 The “why” behind Dr. Major Burger’s service as a Board member:
I grew up in this community and attended Kelso C-7 as a child. The educational foundation provided to me by the school district was instrumental in preparation for secondary education and beyond, providing me with the tools, discipline, attitude and knowledge necessary to succeed throughout my educational journey. My motivation to serve on the Board was to ensure the future viability of our school, the success of our students and retaining the revered educational faculty we are blessed with through financial security, opportunity and providing the resources required to achieve this. I have served as a Board Member for 3 years.
Our community, its people and its school district have provided me with so much in life. The community and its members' support of one another has instilled in me a deep sense of the greater good. It has provided me with my closest friends, educational foundation and opportunities, experience of competition through its athletics, all of which I am utmost appreciative for. It is important to me to maintain the viability of our community and district, its integrity and the opportunities it creates for all those involved. For these reasons, I felt it prudent to serve on the board.
💬 A few notables that Dr. Burger is proud of during his Board service:
When it comes to the students, I am proud of the safety measures we have been able to implement to protect our students and provide comfort to their parents knowing we are continually striving to ensure a safe and secure environment for their children. Additionally, I am proud of the beautiful facility, its upgrades and additions that accommodate our students comfortably providing a conducive learning environment. Finally, regarding our deserving faculty, I am proud that we have been able to raise and increase teacher's salaries every year over the last 3 years. It is their commitment, dedication and influence on our children, along with the effort and pride they continually display that is responsible for the success and reputation of our district and what it has to offer. Through salary increases, we are able to retain our prized faculty and provide the students with upper echelon educators.
💬 Dr. Burger has multigenerational connection with Kelso C-7:
I have a deep personal connection to our school district and community as mentioned above. I attended Kelso C-7 from Kindergarten through 8th grade, as did my wife, both of my siblings and parents, and now my children as well.
I think that the fact that some of the teachers that taught my parents and have also taught me, are now teaching my children is both fun and one of my favorite things about the district. The reason being, it demonstrates the impact the community and district can have on people, no matter from what viewpoint is taken.
We are grateful for their leadership, their willingness to serve, and their unwavering support of our students and schools. Please join us in celebrating and thanking our Board of Education for all they do! 💙🦅
We have 2-3 roads that are problematic, but have implemented snow routes to avoid these areas.
SNOW ROUTES
Mr. Randy’s Route will be traveling Highway 61 to the old PP/Overpass (stopping for families on the way) and going north on 61. The bus will continue north on 61 to turn around at the apartment complex in north Kelso on County Road 208. From there Mr. Randy will travel back south along highway 61 back to school. If your child lives along these roads, they will be picked up at their regular spot.
Mr. Ted’s Route will leave school, travel highway 61 to County Highway 204, back into Kelso via highway 61. Travel through Kelso and turn onto County Highway 212. He will pick up families at the end of Albert drive at 7:10 am. He will turn around on County Highway 212 and travel back to highway 61 to travel to school. Again if your family lives directly on this road, they will be picked up at their regular spot.
For families that are not directly on these routes, we are adding bus stops along the snow routes at the following locations:
*Intersection of PP and Messmer (Wait and enter bus on the Post Office Side for safety) 7:05 am estimated ETA/ 3:30 pm
*Kelso Kwik Stop 7:10 estimated ETA /3:35 pm
*End of Wisteria Lane (at Highway 61) 7:15 estimated ETA -he will pick up students on the way back through town so that the door opens on the Wisteria side of the road. /3:40 pm
The afternoon will run these snow routes as well unless otherwise stated. If no parent/guardian is at the stop, students will be brought back to school for a pick up there.
If in doubt of time, if you live in the town of Kelso please be ready between 7:00 - 7:15 am.
Extreme Cold Reminder:
With the extremely cold temperatures, we encourage families to ensure students are dressed appropriately for the weather while waiting at bus stops. Please consider having students wait in a car or indoors until the bus arrives when possible.
We are nearing the end of Board of Education Appreciation Month, we want to pause and say thank you to the dedicated individuals who serve our school community so faithfully.
Our Board of Education members give their time, talents, and hearts to ensure the best possible future for our students, staff, and families. Their service often happens behind the scenes, but its impact is felt every single day in our classrooms and community.
Today’s Spotlight Board Member is: Jim Eftink
💬 What drives Mr. Eftink to serve as a board member:
This is my first term on the school board. I chose to run to be more involved with the school and community. I wanted to be involved and help in the day-to-day decisions and advancement for the school.
Being involved in serving is important for the well-being of the school, kids and teachers and community. It's important and a huge role to be the voice of student students, teachers and community to see the growth and advancements to better the school.
💬 An accomplishment that Mr. Eftink is proud of as a Board member:
I was honored and enjoyed being on the prop kids campaign committee. All of the door-to-door campaigning paid off to give our kids more room for learning and growing.
💬 One of Mr. Eftink’s favorite things about Kelso C-7:
My favorite part about this school and community is that it is more like a family. Everyone is close to it and never worries if my children are being taken care of.
We are grateful for their leadership, their willingness to serve, and their unwavering support of our students and schools. Please join us in celebrating and thanking our Board of Education for all they do! 💙🦅
We are on the home stretch of sharing the spotlight on each of our Board members and highlighting their voices, perspectives, and commitment to our district.
Our Board of Education members give their time, talents, and hearts to ensure the best possible future for our students, staff, and families. Their service often happens behind the scenes, but its impact is felt every single day in our classrooms and community.
Today’s Spotlight Board Member is: Elizabeth Glastetter, Board President
💬Our Board President’s why behind her service:
For 13 years, I have had the opportunity to serve our children, families, faculty and community members of the Kelso C-7 district is what motivates me to serve on the board. Being from this area and raising my family here of course is the reason serving on the board is important to me. I want to do what I can to ensure Kelso C-7 continues to be the amazing district that we are and continues to meet the needs of our community.
💬One thing that Mrs. Glastetter is proud of during her service:
Participating in the 3 successful bond issues that led to the new school, the new gym and the most recent addition/renovations has made me very proud. To see how our district has grown over the years and ultimately thrived has been an awesome experience.
💬One of Mrs. Glastetter’s favorite things about Kelso C-7:
My favorite thing about Kelso C-7 is the amazing sense of pride that we all have to be a Falcon. This is not only apparent in current students and families, but alumni and their families that may have graduated years ago. It is an honor to be a Falcon and I am so proud to serve this district on the board of education.
We are grateful for their leadership, their willingness to serve, and their unwavering support of our students and schools. Please join us in celebrating and thanking our Board of Education for all they do! 💙🦅
We are keeping the gratitude and love flowing for our Board of Education members in honor of Board of Education Appreciation Month.
Our Board of Education members give their time, talents, and hearts to ensure the best possible future for our students, staff, and families. Their service often happens behind the scenes, but its impact is felt every single day in our classrooms and community.
Today’s Spotlight Board Member is: Dustin Benson, Board Vice-President
💬One of Mr. Benson’s proud moments through service:
I’ve been a board member for 7 years and what motivated me to be a member was to help the district grow and to support our kids and faculty. The thing I’m most proud of is being able to help guide the district on expansion to our awesome school and the construction of our gym.
💬A little person connection to our Kelso C-7 Falcons:
My personal connection to the school spans several years. I attended K - 8th grade at Kelso C-7 and the friendships I made along the way still stays true to this day. Now I have 2 children going there and seeing them have the same thing brings a lot of joy.
I also have been privileged to coach basketball for almost 9 years and the players I’ve had some still reach out to me quite often.
💬One of Mr. Benson’s favorite things about Kelso C-7:
One of my favorite things about our school district is seeing the district and community get together for whatever the occasion is. From packing the gym at games to social get togethers to helping family members in need
We are grateful for their leadership, their willingness to serve, and their unwavering support of our students and schools. Please join us in celebrating and thanking our Board of Education for all they do! 💙🦅
Our Board of Education members give their time, talents, and hearts to ensure the best possible future for our students, staff, and families. Their service often happens behind the scenes, but its impact is felt every single day in our classrooms and community.
Today’s Spotlight Board Member is: Michael Glastetter
💬 Why Mr. Glastetter chose to serve on the Board:
Having 2 children in school, I felt like I could make a difference not only for them but other children in the district. It is important to help ensure that the current as well as future needs of children and community are met. I don’t feel like people understand the true impact a board member can make.
💬 A little personal connection to Kelso C-7’s Falcons:
I am an alumni and have been a community member for a vast majority of my life.
💬 Mr. Glastetter’s favorite thing about the Kelso C-7 School district?
My favorite thing is just how close the entire staff, children, parents, and community truly are.
We are grateful for their leadership, their willingness to serve, and their unwavering support of our students and schools. Please join us in celebrating and thanking our Board of Education for all they do! 💙🦅
