By Echo Menges
The Knox County R-1 School District Bus Cafe project has been awarded the 2021-22 Missouri Association of School Administrators-McKinstry Innovation Award for 2021-22.
Each year, two innovation awards are given – one to a mid-to-large school and one to a small school. The collaboration between MASA and McKinstry was designed to encourage high impact innovation in education considered to be motivational teaching tools for students and staff alike.
The innovation award recipients were announced during the MASA Spring Conference held on March 17, 2022. KCR-1 Superintendent Andy Turgeon accepted the small school award on behalf of the KCR-1 School Bus Cafe Project.
The mid-to-large school award was given to the School District of Washington for their entry of “Horizons Academy: Pathway to Employment”.
Districts were judged on project objectives, innovation with impact, creativity, the percentage of students and staff impacted by the project, the ability to reproduce the project in future years and in other districts, and how substantially the project improved the quality of teaching/ learning for students and staff.
Prize money is also given with the award to further support innovation in the winning districts. The $1,250 prize money portion of the award will be divided between business and industrial tech classes at the KCR-1 School District.
“I’m extremely proud. This is the fourth year that this award has been given out. Thanks to the support of the community and our staff, we are able to give our students amazing experiences. This is a great example of what the students can do when they are allowed to be creative,” said KCR-1 Superintendent Andy Turgeon
