Just as we have in years past, the MSDPO provided much needed support to students, teachers, and staff at MSD during the 2013-2014 school year. This support included:
- Purchase of shirts for the September and December Red Cross Blood Drives sponsored by the MSD National Honor Society and the Student Council. These drives topped their collection goals for the first time ever, and helped earn a scholarship for one graduating MSD Senior.
- Purchase of shirts for the Music in Motion team that performed at the St. Louis Rams game in November.
- Purchase of special commemorative shirts to honor the Boys Basketball team that repeated as champions of the 2014 Great Plains Schools for the Deaf Basketball Tournament.
- Purchase of supplies used by students to build a float they entered into the Fulton Jaycees Winter Holiday Parade.
- Purchased the second place trophies for the Great Plains Schools for the Deaf Basketball Tournament hosted by MSD in February.
- Sponsored the MSD football team preview in the annual Mid-Missouri Pigskin Preview.
- Donated the prizes for the MSD Student Talent Show in April.
- Made a donation to the Senior Class of 2014 to help fund a special event during their Senior trip.
- Awarded the “Eager Eagle Awards” to students at the year-end awards ceremonies.
- Donated the book Historic MSD by Richard Reed to all graduating seniors.
- Joined the Missouri School for the Deaf Alumni Association in awarding a $500.00 scholarship to the 2014 salutatorian.
- Joined the Missouri School for the Deaf Alumni Association in awarding a $500.00 scholarship to the 2014 valedictorian.
- Honored MSD staff during Staff Appreciation Week by purchasing two cakes.
We were able to provide this support, thanks to the continued generosity of everyone that purchased the MSD Cookbook and other items during our special sales promotions, and at our Fall and Winter Homecoming booths. All of you helped to make this one of our best years ever. Currently, we are planning our sales campaigns for next year. Once again, we will be updating everyone through our Facebook site on new items that will be available for purchase. If you are not already a friend of our site, be sure to join. You can find us under “Missouri School for the Deaf Parents’ Organization”. You may also preview and order merchandise online through our MSDPO web site at www.msdpo.org .
Our efforts were also helped by the continued growth of the Box Tops for Education program. In 2011-2012 (our first year in the program) we earned $215.00. In 2012-2013 we earned $263.30. In 2013-2014 we had our best year yet! We earned $478.20, almost surpassing our goal for the year of $500.00. We are looking for even greater support in 2014-2015 as we try to top our goal of $750.00 Please continue to collect those Box Tops. With your help, I know we can reach it!
Since our son graduated from MSD in May 2014, my wife and I will be looking for parents during the 2014-2015 school year that are willing to take over the leadership of the MSDPO, and continue the tradition of supporting MSD students, teachers, and staff in the years to come. If you are interesting in finding out more about the organization or want to join us, we will be holding an informational meeting on Saturday, August 23, 2014. We will post information about the meeting on our Facebook site (please friend us if you haven’t already). Contact us at msdparentorg@gmail.com if you have any questions about the meeting or the MSDPO.
We are excited about the upcoming year, and look forward to your participation.