Education
Matt Searson of New Covenant Academy accepted the position of full-time chief academic officer. He previously split time as high school principal and chief academic officer. Junior high Principal Don Tuck moved to high school principal, and Michael Auer took the junior high principal job. Auer will transition from his role as a school improvement consultant at the University of Missouri in July.
Nixa’s Inman Intermediate School won a national award for Film of the Year through the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support Program. Blake Richter, Inman music teacher and Nixa’s Teacher of the Year, created the video to motivate good behavior in all Inman students.
Two Springfield Public Schools teachers were named Educators of the Year by the southwest region’s Missouri State Teachers Association: Stephanie Summers at McBride Elementary School and Laurie Sullivan at Hillcrest High School. Both were honored at the Southwest Region Teacher Education and Professional Standard service on April 3.
Justin Herrell, SPS’ executive director of student services, received the Citizen Service Commendation award from the Springfield Police Department. He was recognized for performing CPR on a motorist who suffered life-threatening injuries in an accident.
Seven members of Missouri State University’s collegiate Distributive Education Clubs of America chapter competed at the DECA International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California. Four members won awards with three being international finalists.
Finance
Dean Arens, branch manager at StrongPath Financial, earned the retirement income certified professional designation from The American College of Financial Services. RICPs identify clients’ retirement income needs, evaluate current situations relative to goals and provides advice.
Health Care
Integrity Home Care Inc. promoted Lyndsey Normand to executive director of business development and strategy. With 15 years of process improvement and lean management experience, she has worked at Integrity since 2013 in the roles of regional manager of operations and business analyst.
Nine resident physicians joined the Cox Family Medicine Residency program beginning in June. Lauren Branham, Evan Branscum, James Brecheisen, Trevor Conner, Josh Gaede, Kyle Gillett, Brian Kennedy, Kelsey Layman and Kayla Matzek will serve patients at the Family Medical Care Center.
CoxHealth received the Saving Sight’s Excellence in Eye Donation award. In 2016, Cox South staff facilitated 154 eye donation cases, resulting in 194 individuals receiving restored sight through corneal transplants.
Andrew Boyce, a physical education teacher at Nixa’s Inman Intermediate School, teamed up with students to raise $3,200 for the American Heart Association. Participating students played in a dodgeball tournament.
Mercy was named among the top five health care systems nationwide for the second year in a row by Truven Health Analytics, an IBM Watson Health company. The health systems were recognized for performance in saving lives and fewer complications for patients, lower costs of care and readmission rates, and shorter wait times in emergency departments.
Tammy Mitchell, a school nurse at SPS’ Reed Academy, received an Honored Nurse Award at Springfield News-Leader’s Salute to Nurses luncheon. Mitchell has worked for the SPS system for nearly 20 years.
Manufacturing
Vital Farms selected Tricia Clark as vice president of operations. Based in Springfield, she leads the Texas-based company’s entire operations network at the new processing plant underway in Partnership Industrial Center West. Clark has over 20 years of experience at Kraft Heinz Co., most recently as operations plant manager in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Sales Greg and Lisa Tigges, owners of Document Solutions of Springfield Inc., were named among Xerox’s Best of the Best sales agencies nationally. This is the 13th year Document Solutions has ranked in the top 10 of midsize Xerox agencies.
Transportation
The Missouri Trucking Association recognized truck technicians Chris Mosher and David Prichett of Central Power Systems and Service Inc. and Mark Cooper of MHC Kenworth as winners in the 2017 SuperTech Competition. Over 35 heavy-duty truck technicians competed in hands-on challenges at skill stations.
