The Jefferson City Public Schools Foundation hosted its annual gala Tuesday night and inducted six new members into the foundation's Hall of Leaders, as well as accepted a new sponsor for the event.
Inductees into the Hall of Leaders embody service to the Jefferson City Public Schools district and the community - many as alumni or staff with JCPS, but also as volunteers.
Joyce Kaiser was posthumously recognized by the Foundation as this year's outstanding retired educator. A Jefferson City native - maiden name Suthoff - Kaiser worked for the school district for 34 years as a teacher at Moreau Heights Elementary School, principal at then-Southwest Elementary School and principal at Belair Elementary School, where she retired in 2004.
Brenda Hancock gave remarks about Kaiser, noting a walk through any of those school buildings is a reminder her essence lives on.
"He gave us a love of music that lasted the rest of our lives," Pam Henrickson said of another recognized outstanding retired educator, Jerry Hoover - who served as the band director for JCPS between 1969-77. His tenure included taking the Jay Band to perform and march in the 1976 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.
Current JCPS Director of Quality Improvement Brenda Hatfield was recognized as an outstanding volunteer of 2018 by her husband, Chuck, and daughter Georgia.
Brenda has served as a parent-teacher organization president, organized events at Southwest Early Childhood Center - where she co-founded the Cubby PTO - and has been a member of the district's City-Wide PTO for 12 years, serving as an officer for seven years. She also was a leader in the J+C bond and levy campaign to build voters' support for the district's two concurrent high school projects underway to renovate Jefferson City High School and build Capital City High School.
"My mother is a person of action," Georgia said, adding "room parties are no exception" to her quality control ambitions, recalling PTO days.
Uma Natarajan is also a mother and a 2018 Outstanding Volunteer. Uma and husband Sitaraman's son Rakesh graduated from JCHS in May, and his mom has been a library volunteer at Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Jefferson City High School for the past five years, according to the gala program.
JCHS librarian Joy Corwin remarked Uma "helped brighten the days and lighten the loads" of everyone she meets, serving as "a blessing to our libraries and district," often with treats, flowers or paid-for meals.
Stephanie Johnson - executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Jefferson City - was recognized at the gala as a 2018 Distinguished Alumni.
Johnson has served in her current role at the club since 2011, but she's also been extensively involved in nonprofit leadership in other local organizations such as United Way, the Samaritan Center and March of Dimes.
"In my opinion, there are not enough Stephanies in the world," JCPS Board of Education member Lori Massman remarked.
The John A. Morris family was recognized as the 2018 Legacy Donor to the Foundation - a new class of inductee to the Hall of Leaders.
Morris served two terms on the JCPS Board of Education and was twice elected president, among other numerous involvements and leadership roles with the community.
He died in February 2017, and his family decided to honor him with a $90,000-a-year grant to support a preschool classroom at Southwest Early Childhood Center; the classroom opened in August 2017.
One of his grandsons, John Wright, said his grandfather was part of a generation that served in their communities because they knew it to be the right thing to do - often anonymously, in his grandfather's case.
The Jefferson City Public Schools Foundation is in its 20th year serving as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity to provide supplemental funding for the school district - Nov. 10 is the actual anniversary date.
The Foundation is funded through private donations from Jay alumni, community members, service clubs, businesses and other entities - Arkansas-based Nabholz Construction was for the first time the gala's premier-plus sponsor, with ACI Boland as a premier sponsor.
Nabholz is the construction manager of the school district's two high school projects, and ACI Boland is one of the three architectural firms attached to the projects. The Architects Alliance was also an event sponsor, and the DLR Group was a table sponsor.
"For me personally, I really was happy to see us pick up the sponsorship," Nabholz Project Manager Mitchell Fuemmeler said.
Troy Wade - a community liaison and business development professional with Nabholz who was principally involved in making the JCPS Foundation sponsorship happen - said the company tries to be involved the communities it works in.
"I think we still have a strong connection to any of those communities (where Nabholz has worked in the past). Our interest wasn't to come and do work here and move on," Wade said, adding Nabholz would certainly consider continuing to be a sponsor in some capacity once the two high school projects are completed.