Ann Meese

“I am acutely aware of the responsibility that comes with that position, and I try to act, speak and make decisions that reflect that awareness,” Meese said. “With this in mind, I try to lead in ways that will teach positive lessons to the children that I serve and will provide results that are good for kids.”

Meese credits her beliefs and values for her success, and her parents for instilling that work ethic and the instinct to lead by example.

“They lead by example and taught me to do the same,” she said of her parents. “They provided me with a strong work ethic, taught me to be kind to everyone I met, to be humble and grateful for all that I have.

“I try to practice what I preach but never to preach too much.”

She knows she influences many people in her job – both the children being taught and the adults who are teaching them.

The key to her success as a leader, she said, is being clear with expectations, honest in her assessments, and helpful in finding ways to reach those goals.

She adds that the most important aspect of her job, however, is showing others the respect they deserve, getting their help and acknowledging their assistance.

“I believe that every person has worth, and I try to treat everyone with respect,” Meese said. “I try hard to reach consensus in decision making and try to give ownership to as many stakeholders as I can in decisions.”

She also has brought her education experience to other fields.

She is an active member of the education collaborative with the Community Partnership of the Ozarks and the advisory board for Ozarks Fighting Back, and she is a certified responder in crisis intervention from the National Organization for Victim’s Assistance.

But with all the accomplishments in her professional life, and all the children she’s served in three decades as an educator, Meese says her proudest accomplishments are four children in particular: her own.

“I take enormous pride in the fact that, along with my husband, I raised four children who now embrace the same values that my parents instilled in me and live those values as adults,” she said.

“Making children is easy. Making good adults out of children is the challenge.”

Personally speaking

Please tell us about your family.

I am the third daughter in a family of four girls. My husband, John, is a native of Herculaneum, Mo. We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary in July. We have four grown children, two sons and two daughters, one “perfect” granddaughter and another grandchild coming in March.

What book are you reading now?

I just finished reading “In the Fall,” a novel by Jeffrey Lent. This is a story that follows a family through three generations after the Civil War. The story weaves through the lives of a young interracial couple and their children.

Tell us something about you that most people probably don’t know.

I was an art major in college. I am an artist in “my other life.”

Besides your parents, who do you consider a mentor or role model?

One who is very dear to me is a former teacher and colleague who died a number of years ago. Mary Beth Soetaert, who was my fourth-grade teacher, was still on the teaching staff at St. Agnes grade school when I went back to that school 25 years later to be the principal. I was very nervous about being a new principal and about being Mrs. Soetaert’s “boss.” I was sure that she would remember me as I was in the fourth grade. No one could have been more gracious to me and more supportive of me in that first year. She made me call her Mary Beth (that was tough) and became a lifelong friend and role model.