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MASA Masters Golf Tournament, June 7

The MASA Masters Golf Tournament will be held June 7, 2021, at the Osage National Golf Course - Lake Ozark, Missouri. 

Four-Person Scramble
Entry Fee - $70/Person
Open to All Active and Emeritus MASA Members

Sponsored by Lawrence E. Smith/KidsGuard

MASA MEMBERS REGISTRATION FORM

SPONSORS REGISTRATION FORM & HOLE SPONSORSHIP

SPONSOR'S LETTER:  IMPORTANT! ONLY TOURNAMENT SPONSORS ARE ELIGIBLE TO PLAY IN THE TOURNAMENT OR TO SPONSOR A TEAM.  PLEASE READ THIS LETTER PRIOR TO REGISTERING.  THANK YOU.

The Robert L. Pearce Award, one of MASA's most prestigious recognitions,  was instituted in 1987 by David and Richard Pearce.  This award’s purpose is to honor their father, Robert L. Pearce, a founding partner of Bonsack & Pearce, Inc., an architectural firm specializing in educational work.  Robert L. Pearce appreciated the importance of education and the vital work of school superintendents. MASA is pleased that Pearce Consultants continue support of this award recognizing the contribution that superintendents make to the young people of the state of Missouri.

The selection of the Pearce Award recipient is made by the MASA Awards Committee from nominations submitted by each MASA District.  The Pearce Award not only includes a plaque and professional recognition, but also a monetary award to the honoree and a like scholarship amount to a student in the honoree’s school district.

Pearce Honoree

Kevin Carl

Hancock Place

Greater St. Louis

Kevin Carl has served as superintendent for the Hancock Place Schools for the past ten years. He previously served as assistant superintendent at Northwest R-I and a middle school principal at both Northwest R-I and City of St. Charles. Kevin has served on multiple committees for MASA and other education associations.

Pearce Nominees

Becky Albrecht

Maryville R-II

Northwest

Becky Albrecht has served as superintendent of the Maryville R-II School District for the past six years. Becky previously served as superintendent of the Trenton R-IX Schools, where she had previously served as an assistant principal at the high schools, principal of the middle school, then principal at the high school. Becky has served MASA on multiple committees and was the Northwest Region President in 2017-18.

Richard Asbill

Cassville R-IV

Southwest

Richard Asbill has served as superintendent of the Cassville R-IV School District for the past 11 years. Previously, Richard was an assistant superintendent in Cassville, the superintendent of Southwest R-V Schools, the middle school principal in Cassville and an assistant high school principal also in Cassville. Richard is the Southwest Region’s representative to the MASA Executive Committee, a role he has served since 2017.

Susan Crooks

Leeton R-X

West Central

Susan Crooks has served as the superintendent of the Leeton R-X School District for the past 12 years.  Previously, Susan was the elementary principal at Leeton. She has served on the MASA Executive Committee from 2017 to the present and is the current MASA President. Susan also served as the West Central Region’s President in 2013-14.

Chuck Garner

Gasconade Co. R-II     

South Central

Chuck Garner is the Gasconade R-II superintendent, a position he has held since 2013. Previously, Church served as assistant superintendent at Gasconade R-II, principal at Independence 30 School District, and assistant principal at Bolivar R-I.

John Link

Jackson R-II

Southeast

John Link has served as superintendent of the Jackson R-II Schools for the past six years. John also served as superintendent for the Fair Grove R-X District and the Hartville R-II District. He has previous building level leadership at Salem R-80 and Hartville R-II. John has served on the MASA Legislative Committee.

Kenny Rodrequez

Grandview C-4

Greater Kansas City

Kenny Rodrequez is the superintendent of the Grandview C-4 School District, a position he has held since 2016. Previously, Kenny served as an assistant superintendent at Grandview C-4, Director of Secondary Schools for the Kansas City Public Schools, and in building leadership roles in the Tulsa (OK) Public Schools. Kenny has served as the President of the MASA Greater Kansas City Region for 2020-2021.

Andy Turgeon

Knox Co R-I

Northeast

Andy Turgeon has served as superintendent of the Knox County R-1 Schools for the past 11 years. He previously served as high school principal at Knox County R-I and Canton R-V. Andy was the Northeast MASA Region’s President in 2014-15.

For the past several years, MASA has honored Outstanding Emeritus (retired) Educators identified by each MASA district for their past service.  In selecting the Emeritus honorees, special attention is given to the length of administrative service; participation in MASA while an active member; significant accomplishments as an active member; and continued interest in public education.

2021 Emeritus Recipients

Craig Barker                        

Northwest

Craig began his career in education as a teacher, coach and athletic director for the South Holt R-1 District. He served as an assistant principal/athletic director and principal for the Lawson Schools. Craig then served as superintendent for the Lawson School District for 11 years. Craig also served as an interim superintendent at Orrick and East Buchanan.

Eric Churchwell                   

Northeast

Eric spent nearly all of his professional career in the Palmyra R-I School District.  While at Palmyra, Eric coached and taught at the middle and high school levels.  He went on to serve the district as an administer at the high school. Eric served as Superintendent of Schools for fourteen years.  Eric served on the MASA Executive Committee from 2009 thru 2013 and was MASA President in 2011-2012.  He also served on the MSHSAA Board of Directors from 2014-2017.  Eric retired in 2017 and currently works for CTS Group as an Educational Consultant. 

Donna Jahnke                     

Greater St. Louis

Donna began her career in education as a special education teacher with the Special School District of St. Louis County. Donna next took a classroom teaching position with the Ladue School District. At Ladue, Donna went on to serve as Director of Community Services, Principal, Assistant Superintendent and from 2013 – 2019, Superintendent of Schools. Donna is now an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at St. Louis University.

Bill Nicely                   

Greater Kansas City

Bill began his education career as a chemistry and physics teacher in Kansas. He took his first administrative position as an assistant principal in Sedalia. Bill’s first superintendent position was with the Leeton R-10 Schools where he served for five years. In 2009, Bill took the superintendent position at Kearney where he stayed until retiring in 2020. Bill continues to influence the lives of children through his work with the Kauffman Real World Learning Initiative and the Education Governance and Leadership Association.

Mary Beth Scherer             

West Central

Mary Beth served as Special Education Director for Concordia R-2; Special Education Director and Assistant Superintendent at Richmond R-16, then returned to Concordia R-2 and served as Superintendent for 17 years. Mary Beth served on the MASA Executive Committee and was President in 2012-13. During her year as president Mary Beth felt strongly that MASA members from each region should attend all the state board meetings to ensure MASA remained a visible presence as decisions impacting public schools in Missouri were made. Mary Beth now works as a special education improvement consultant.

Jim Welker                          

Southeast

Jim’s 42-year career in education began as an Agricultural Education Teacher at Delta R-5.  After nearly ten years at Delta, he became a District Supervisor of Agricultural Education with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for the next ten years. Following his time at DESE, he worked as an Adult Education Coordinator at Sikeston Public Schools for two years, and then became Assistant Superintendent at Jackson R-2 Schools for eight years. Following Jackson, he served as Superintendent at Cape Girardeau Public Schools for nine years. Jim served as the Southeast MASA President and was nominated for both the New Superintendent and the Pearce Awards. After retiring from the superintendency, Jim served as the Missouri Career Pathways Consultant at the Southeast RPDC for two years and currently serves as the Director of the Southeast RPDC located at Southeast Missouri State University.

Mike Wutke                        

Southwest

Mike began his career in education as a teacher and coach in Albany, then later at West Platte. He served as an assistant principal, principal, and assistant superintendent at Knob Noster. Mike served as superintendent for the Marshfield School District from 1998 to 2008.  Mike continues to serve public education as the South Central Area Supervisor for DESE. 

Aaron Zalis                          

South Central

Aaron served the Rolla Public Schools for 26 years, retiring as Superintendent in 2020. Aaron served as President of the M.A.S.A in 2017-18. He was elected a Trustee for the State Public School Retirement Systems of Missouri (PSRS/PEERS) and served as chairman from 2008 – 2020.  Aaron received the MASA Pearce Award for Distinguished Leadership in 2017.

2021 - 2022

Aspiring Superintendent Cohort

Quality leadership is essential for school districts to succeed.  One of MASA’s objectives is to seek out educational leaders who have the qualities needed to guide school districts to greater levels of success.

The Aspiring Superintendent cohort is designed to provide a wide variety of in-depth learning opportunities to help prepare leaders to become viable candidates for the superintendent role or other central office administrative positions.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Interactive learning experiences focused on the following topics:

• Attributes of a high-quality superintendent
• Building experiences into your current position that will improve your market value
• Preparing your family for the changes that will come
• Understanding what search firm consultants and school boards look for during the process
• Ethical decisions in a real world
• Fostering quality Board / Superintendent relations.
• Building leadership capacity in you and others
• The art of engaging others in mission, vision and goal setting for the school community
• Creating balance in all that you do
• Q & A with current superintendents from around the state
• Developing the skills for researching a district’s data that you are interested in pursuing
• Participation in and review of mock interviews with experienced professionals
• Peer review of current resume, letters of introduction and entry plans
• Addressing culture district-wide
• Evaluating members of a leadership team
• Impacting your team with professional development
• Understanding and prioritizing finances

MEETING DATES

The program includes four days of interactive workshops at the MCSA Educational Center in Jefferson City, Missouri.

• Thursday & Friday, June 17 & 18, 2021
• Thursday & Friday, October 14 & 15, 2021

REGISTRATION

Registration Fee: $600  

Fee includes:

• Hotel Accommodations for two nights
• Training materials for the four sessions
• Refreshments during the workshops 
• Six meals

REGISTER ONLINE 

DEADLINE TO REGISTER:  May 14, 2021

CANCELLATION POLICY: Cohort registration cancellations will only be accepted in writing, by fax or email (three business days) prior to the first day of the cohort.  All cancellations received less than 72 hours prior to the event will be subject to the full registration charge.  ALL cancellations will be subject to a $50.00 administrative charge. No shows will be charged the full amount.

Questions:

• Kelly Hinshaw, Director of Leader Development
• Email: khinshaw@mcsa.org 
• Office: 573.638.4825
• Cell: 573-647-0591

Download the Flyer:  Aspiring Superintendent Cohort Flyer 2021 - 2022

(Lake Ozark, Missouri, March 24, 2021)   The Missouri Association of School Administrators (MASA) has selected Dr. Kevin Carl, Superintendent of the Hancock Place Public Schools (South St. Louis County), as the recipient of the annual Robert L. Pearce Award for 2021.  A committee of his peers selected Dr. Carl.  Each of the eight MASA districts nominated a superintendent for the award.

Dr. Carl attained his undergraduate degree from Maryville University in 1993. In 1997 he attained his Masters Degree in Education from the University of Missouri, St. Louis. He completed his Specialist Degree in 2003 and his Doctorate in Education Leadership in 2006, both respectively from St. Louis University.

Dr. Carl began his career in education administration as an assistant principal at the City of St. Charles Schools and he continued as a middle school principal for that district. Dr. Carl went on to serve as a principal at Northwest R-I School District and later he became an assistant superintendent for Northwest R-I. In 2011, Dr. Carl was named the superintendent of Hancock Place School District and he continues to serve in that role.

Dr. Carl shared his philosophy of education is centered on preparing students for what lies ahead 15-20 years in the future. He urges his leadership team and staff to always consider the “why” of their work and how it will positively impact students. Dr. Carl has overseen district-wide implementation of technology with a focus on students ability to navigate the new technology, but equally important, to think critically and analytically to develop solutions to issues not yet even considered. 

In his application for the Pearce Award, Dr. Carl shared that the greatest challenge of his district is generational poverty and the negative impacts such poverty has on student well-being, physically, socially and intellectually. While the school district cannot eliminate poverty, they have set into motion such programs as the Hancock Place (on-site) Medical Clinic, allowing young people to get much of the basic medical assistance they need. Addressing student health can directly lead to improved academic achievement. It is worth noting that Hancock Place has seen improvement in the Annual Performance Report and MAP scores over the course of 2014-2019.

During his time with Hancock Place, Dr. Carl has placed significant emphasis on staff professional development, especially in the field of technology. Dr. Carl has also worked to improve communications with staff, parents and the community. The district worked closely with the Lemay Chamber of Commerce to create the community publication, The Lemay Community Link. The publication delivers important information about the schools and community quarterly to every mailbox within the district. The district also uses Canvas, a learning management system that has been vitally important during the pandemic.

Dr. Carl specifically noted the importance of elevating the teaching profession. Dr. Carl shared, “Public education and educators have always been in the spotlight. Unfortunately, the respect, appreciation and admiration teachers most deserve has been overshadowed by a wave of criticism brought forth by those with anti-public schools agendas.” Hancock Place emphasizes a positive work environment that embraces a family atmosphere, competitive compensation and benefits, and means to help employees maintain a life-work balance.

Dr. Carl is an active member of the Missouri Association of School Administrators (MASA) and served as the Spring Conference Committee Chair from 2013-2016. Dr. Carl currently sits on the Education Plus Board of Directors. Dr. Carl is a member of several education associations and is active in state-level professional development activities.

Dr. Carl is active in the Lemay Chamber of Commerce, the “Aging Ahead” Board of Directors, and the “Feed My People” Foundation Board.

The Pearce Award includes a monetary award to the recipient and a scholarship for a student in the district of the award winner.

Dr. Carl is the 35rd recipient of the prestigious Robert L. Pearce Award.

Other 2021 Pearce Award Nominees, including their school districts and MASA District:

Becky Albrecht, Maryville R-II (Northwest)

Richard Asbill , Cassville (Southwest)

Susan Crooks, Leeton R-X (West Central)

Chuck Garner , Gasconade County R-II (South Central)

John Link , Jackson R-II (Southeast)

Kenny Rodrequez, Grandview C-4 (Greater Kansas City)

Andy Turgeon , Knox Co R-I (Northeast)

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