Celebrate Success! 2001: Shawnee Mission Education Foundation honors distinguished students, educators and volunteers

The Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD) is consistently ranked in the top 1% of all public school districts in the United States and, for the year 2000, was ranked overall the #6 public school district in the country! The district's patrons and parents are an integral part of this success.

Our athletes are bestowed great honor and glory, but the children and teachers who made the SMSD one of the best in the nation have always been in the shadows. The ceremony "Celebrate Success! 2001" was introduced for the first time this year but is planned as an annual event for years to come. Organized by the Shawnee Mission Education Foundation (SMEF), the event took place at the Village Presbyterian Church at 6641 Mission Road. A total of 125 awards and 110 district honors were announced and presented during the ceremony; more than 800 people were present.

The SMEF exists for 11 years and its mission is to provide private funding for all SMSD schools. Just this past year it spent about $80,000-90,000 for 39 grants and projects. The SMEF's total annual budget is about $200,000. This is not a great deal of money for a district the size of Shawnee Mission, but everything makes a difference.

The event began with a reception and book signing at Fellowship Hall. Music was provided by four Shawnee Mission student groups. The celebration continued in the church's main sanctuary with a welcome by Roger Twibell.

The award recognition for educators and students was presented by Dr. Kaplan and Michael Werning. The student leadership awards were presented by Donna Bysfield and the patron award was announced by Dr. Kaplan and Jannet Mark. Author Sean Covey was the keynote speaker.

Our musicians and sportsmen are seen and honored during their performances and games. Our talented students' "performances and games" are in classrooms, labs, and libraries. Nobody sees them even during the Shawnee Mission Research & Development Forum or The Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair, except those who appear at the award ceremonies. Only their projects are present. Perhaps it is a good idea to place pictures of participants next to their project displays?

A few months ago, Dr. Kaplan held a reception for all district National Merit Semi-finalists and their parents. Scholar honor celebrations have become more frequent and prestigious events and this is magnificent! We hope that our local newspapers will pay more attention to those events.

Food, Music, Ceremony, Public and Awardees