MSTA Presents

The General Assembly is on spring break. Here's where things stand with eight weeks left in the session.

Open enrollment, DESE shares its budget priorities, action on the House and Senate floors and more

AI-generated Action summary: A-F grades for schools, school funding task force, literacy, and more.

An AI-generated recap of the latest news from Jefferson City, including oversight of MSHSAA, recess mandates, cursive in schools, and more. 

Updates from Gov. Kehoe's State of the State address, his proposed budget, State Board of Education meeting, and more. 

MSTA Presents speaks with Patty McGee, co-author of Not Your Granny's Grammar: An Innovative Approach to Meaningful and Engaging Grammar Instruction." To find out more about Patty and her work, visit Corwin. You can save 20% and get free shipping by ordering directly from Corwin. Use the code: save20.  You can also order the book from Amazon.  

Shannon Berghoff, a Behavior Specialist with the Cape Girardeau School District, and Heather Wiedmer, an Instructional Coach with St. Joseph Public Schools, join MSTA Presents to discuss MSTA's upcoming Virtual Coaching opportunities. Go here to get more information and sign up for the sessions.

MSTA Presents had the opportunity to speak with Casey's Community Engagement Manager, Angela Wood, about their Cash for Classrooms grants available to schools and educators throughout Missouri. Applications for the 2026 grants will open on October 13. You can find more information by visiting the Cash for Classroom Grants website.

MSTA Presents got the opportunity to speak with Lauren Dachelle, the Founder and CEO of Nimble, and Krista Pfeiffer, Nimble's Teacher Marketing Manager about Missouri's new job board for teachers.   You can find the job board here.  For more information about Nimble check out their Facebook Page and Instagram account.

GIVEAWAY: The first 10 teachers to email the Prosocial Lab at [email protected] will receive a free copy of Designing a Prosocial Classroom by Christi Bergin. Dr. Christi Bergin, Research Emerita and Director of the Prosocial Development & Education Research Lab joins MSTA Presents to discuss prosocial behavior, classroom strategies, and research conducted by the Prosocial Lab. Prosocial behavior is the opposite of antisocial behavior – It is behaving in ways intended to benefit others, like being kind, helpful, polite, respectful, and cooperative. The Prosocial Lab researches how adults help children become prosocial. Prosocial Education refers to educators intentionally helping students become kinder with each other and more engaged in learning at school. Teachers find that they enjoy teaching more as students become more prosocial. The lab partners with other researchers, teachers, and agencies to provide professional development to teachers. For more information:  Prosocial Development & Education Research Lab – College of Education & Human Development and PAL Classrooms 2.0 To sign up for the project starting August 2025:  PAL Classrooms 2.0 Recruitment Form Contacts:  [email protected] and [email protected]    

Erica Doennig, Transitional Kindergarten Lead Teacher in the Joplin School District, provides insight into her position as well as her exciting Virtual New Teacher Summit workshop titled, Sneaking Fine Motor Into Your Day.  Find out more about MSTA's Virtual New Teacher Summit here.

On this episode of MSTA Presents, Jason Dieckhoff, Agricultural Instructor and FFA Advisor for the Harrisonville/Cass R9 School District, talks about FFA Week (February 15-22) and Career and Technical Education Month. Learn more about FFA: National Organization State Organization Career and Technical Education Month

Open enrollment bills, cell phone bans and more in this AI-generated episode summarizing the MSTA Action newsletter.

Tara Link, New Teacher Support and Innovation Coach at Moberly School District, joins MSTA Presents. We discuss her workshop, Classroom Management: +1 Your Toolbox, which will be presented at MSTA's Virtual Teacher Summit on February 19.  You can sign up for the workshop here. In addition, Tara has co-authored a book with Beth Whitaker titled Teacher Induction That Works: A Lasting Impact from Day 1. You can learn more about the book and purchase it here.  

An AI-generated episode summarizing the Jan. 24, 2025 issue of MSTA Action. 

An AI-Generated summary of the Jan. 17, 2025 edition of MSTA Action

This AI-generated podcast recaps the lastest MSTA Action newsletter, keeping you up-to-date on public education news from Jefferson City.

MSTA Presents speaks with FIRST® in Missouri Executive Director Laura Roth. FIRST in Missouri provides robotic programs to Missouri students, Pre-K-12. You can learn more about FIRST in Missouri by visiting the links below: FIRST in Missouri website – local support and calendar of events FIRST - global headquarters website • You can find more information about the different divisions by choosing the "Programs" tab. • The Educators link can be found under the "Community" tab o Direct link to the educator's page   o Free education resources   Experiential Robotics Platform  • Low-cost entry into robotics (FIRST is part of the opensource team) • Discounted for educators and FIRST teams   Videos • Not a Robot • Join FIRST - Get Anywhere • Coaching and Mentoring with FIRST • Mark Rober Shares His Excitement for FIRST  

Today, MSTA Presents spoke with Sonya Gough, AIMS Facilitator and ELA Educator, and Jay Jarrett, Principal at the Hall McCarter Education Center in the Blue Springs School District. We spoke primarily about the Applied Innovation Middle School Program but also discussed many other programs offered at the Education Center.  You can learn more about Hall McCarter by emailing Jay Jarrett at [email protected].  To find out more about the AIMS program you can visit a similar program based in Iowa: Iowa Big.

Morgan Dennehy, District Manager for Junior Achievement in Central Missouri, joins MSTA Presents to discuss Junior Achievement and the organization's K-12 programs. You can contact Morgan here. Central Missouri Junior Achievement website: https://centralmissouri.ja.org/ Junior Achievement St. Louis website: https://greaterstlouis.ja.org/  

Today, we speak with Jenni Ryan, the Missouri Arts Council's arts education program specialist. Jenni outlines the A+ Schools Network and a new whole-school arts integration training program available for Missouri schools.  To find out more information, contact Jenni: Phone: 314.340.6857 Email: [email protected]   Here are some links for other established state programs: Oklahoma A+ Schools:  Louisiana A+ Schools:  North Carolina A+ Schools: