OWENSVILLE — Gasconade County R-2 school board received feedback at their meeting on Oct. 19 suggesting areas for improvement in regard to the implementation of the A+ program. They also accepted thank you letters from local scholarship recipients and sent thanks of their own to the staff and students of the month.

The A+ program helps eligible students in Missouri, who meet certain standards, pay for community college or vocational/technical school. Career Advisor and A+ Coordinator Elizabeth Hinch said in her report that the A+ program should focus on ensuring that students understand and are prepared to meet the requirements as early in the process as possible. She said that some students can get too close to deadlines before they understand everything they were expected to accomplish, making it difficult to catch up.

Hinch suggests the program work to “provide early academic support, improve awareness and communication, monitor progress consistently, expand tutoring and mentoring opportunities and support postsecondary planning.” Her report suggests that beginning communication earlier, improving community partnerships and the continued analysis of the program could all lead to greater A+ completion rates.

The school board works with more than one secondary education program. They received thank-you letters at the last meeting from nine scholarship winners and the Director of Scholarships for the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, Beth Hersh. The scholarships were paid for through the Cantley English and Math Fund, which was created by the Gasconade County R-2 School District. The nine winners will be attending university at several different schools throughout the state.

The school board also took the time to recognize the students and staff of the month. The elementary school students of the month were Ollie Copeland in pre-K, Asher Hawkins in kindergarten, Brenner Myers in first grade, Amelia Iten in second grade, Ruby Nadler in third grade, Kaylynn Cain in fourth grade and Jackson Richards in fifth grade. The middle school students of the month were Colton Scego and Kenzie Tucker in sixth grade, Luke Fuqua and Lia Lewis in seventh grade and Chase Hiatt and Lillian Franchi in eighth grade. The high school students of the month were freshman, Ahnika Stone, sophomore, Hadlee Ketcherside, junior, Abby Quilacio and senior, Kerrigan Griffin. The high school staff member of the month was English teacher Melanie Behrens.