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Tuesday, June 2, 2020
REPUBLICAN-TIMES TRENTON
Established Sept. 4, 1864 - 156th Year - No. 78
Trenton, MO 64683 CLASS OF 202O
Co-Valedictorians At Trenton High School
Seniors Ready For Next Chapter Of Unusual Year The members of the Trenton High School Class of 2020 will have stories to tell their kids and grandkids how their senior year was cut short and rites of passage such as prom and the graduation ceremony itself were postponed and altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two of those class members, Mackenzie McAtee and Oakley Madden, will also be able to share how their hard work and perseverance paid off by earning them the titles of co-valedictorians of the class. Both young women are self-motivated and set goals to put themselves at the top of the class. “This has always been a goal for me, all through school,” Mackenzie said. “I’ve been number one all through it.” Oakley, on the other hand, said her goal was to be salutatorian, knowing that she had been ranked number two during her sophomore and junior years. Finding out she was tied for valedictorian was a surprise. “I didn’t think I’d pass Mackenzie at all,” she said. “So I was really surprised when (principal) Mr. (Kasey) Bailey called my mom and said I’d caught up to her and we were tied.” Not returning to school after spring break posed a few challenges for the girls academically. Going totally online for classes - especially college classes being taken through North Central Missouri College - was somewhat difficult. Oakley said she doesn’t have very good Internet access at her rural home and when her NCMC statistics class went online, it was a change. “That was definitely my hardest class and we had to Zoom. Nothing had been online in that class before,
COVID-19
Mackenzie McAtee
Oakley Madden
so it was a learning curve for everyone.” Mackenzie was in much the same boat, saying it was a math class that gave her a challenge. “I watched a lot of YouTube videos. That helped me understand it better. I was able to learn it my way,” she said. Obviously, both Mackenzie, the daughter of Angie and Lyn McAtee, and Oakley, the daughter of Amy and Andy Madden, are not strangers to working hard and sticking with a concept until they understand it, so it was kind of a given that they would persevere through the rest of the school year. But that’s not to say that they didn’t feel a loss when classes were cancelled. “I think for me the biggest thing was FFA contests. I was really looking forward to that,” Mackenzie said,
noting that she wishes she could have spent her last few months of school with her FFA advisors Kabel Oaks and Brook Kreatz. “They’ve been like second parents to me during high school,” she commented. With no school or activities to keep her busy, Mackenzie said she spent time with her friends, often driving the back roads and talking. She said she thinks the downtime brought her friend group closer together because they really talked about things. “Before, if we went to the city, we just shopped. During all of this, we couldn’t really do anything, so we talked a lot. I feel like it definitely made us closer.” Oakley said she didn’t realize how much she missed everyone until she started to be able to go out again. There was one thing she really did
miss, however. “One thing was not being able to do that last walk through the school and getting to go to Rissler (Elementary School) for the walk-through. Just not having that last day,” she explained. “There’s supposed to be that time when you’re not really doing much and you know you’re a senior and you’re never going to have to do some things again. We missed out on that.” For Mackenzie, the memories she’ll have of her four years at THS aren’t the big, major events, but the little moments that happened. “I’m going to remember things like pep rallies, early-out days, things like that when I was just with my friends
identified from testing done in another state and reported back to the county over the weekend. Harrison County had a total of 12 positive cases as of Monday morning. Other area county case numbers (as of Monday morning) include Sullivan, 59; Linn, 9; Carroll, 8; Caldwell, 5; Daviess, 4; Livingston, 3; and Putnam, 0. Wright Memorial Hospital and Hedrick Medical Center continue COVID-19 testing efforts and as of Monday morning had tested 1,071 individuals. WMH tests totalled 295, including 209 from Grundy County, 48 from Mercer County and 38 from other counties. HMC has tested 776, including 455 from Livingston County, 115 from Grundy County, 22 from Mercer County and 184 from other counties. All Saint Luke’s Health System hospitals who are admitting patients, including WMH and HMC, are testing for COVID19. This includes patients admitted for observation as well as those fully admitted as inpatients. WMH and HMC patients scheduled for a surgery or procedure are being tested at the drive-through clinic in Chillicothe (1100 Washington St.) at least 48 to 72 hours prior to the procedure.
DON’T FORGET TO VOTE Polls Open Today (June 2) - 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. National Weather Service
It will be hot and steamy this week with a chance of afternoon showers on Wednesday and Thursday. Highs will be in the upper 80s and lows around 70. The high at Trenton on Thursday, May 28 was 69 with 1.05 inches of rain. Friday’s high was 77, Saturday’s high was 71 with .01 of an inch of rain. The high on Sunday was 78, with a low of 60. Sunday’s high at the Government Weather Station near Spickard was 75, the low was 63
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See Seniors, Page 10
Park Boa ard To o Meet The Trenton Park Board will hold its regular monthly meeting at 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3 at the Rock Barn. Items on the announced agenda include discussion about opening the Trenton Family Aquatic Center, discussion of opening playgrounds, the superintendent’s report and reports from the pool, grounds and facilities committees.
Grradua atio on Spe eciial Sectio on The Trenton Republican-Times has a limited number of graduation special sections for sale at a cost of 75 cents each. The special section includes photos of graduating seniors at Trenton High School, Grundy R-5 High School at Galt, Tri-County R-7 High School at Jamesport, NewtownHarris R-3 High School and Harrison County R-4 High School at Gilman City. Purchase of the special section can be made during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to noon on Friday.
Ne ew Principal Att Grundy R-5 The Grundy R-5 School District has a new secondary principal, who will begin his duties in August. Matt Rayl comes to the R-5 District from South Shelby R-1 at Shelbina, where he was high school principal this past school year. He was a band instructor for 22 years in the California, MO, Putnam County and Knox County school districts. He and his wife, Tara, who is a teacher, are the parents of a son, who will be an eighth grader, and a daughter, who will be in preschool. R-5 Superintendent Phil Fox said Rayl is scheduled to begin his duties as principal for grades six through 12 on Aug. 11. Rayl was offered a contract for the positon by the R-5 Board of Education during a meeting earlier this month, with the signed contract just recently being returned.
Trenton native Andy Hill has a new gig as special teams assistant coach with the Kansas City Chiefs. Read about Hill’s new position in an article written by Kansas City Star reporter Vahe Gregorian and appearing on page 2 of today’s R-T.
Trenton Republican-Times
doing those things…the random things we talked about,” she said. Both of these young women have prepared speeches they’ll give to their classmates, with Mackenzie saying she practiced from the back of her Ranger – speaking to the cows. She also sent it to Mr. Oaks and Mrs. Kreatz, who made “a lot of comments on it” she said. Oakley said she struggled a little bit to get hers where she wants it, but it’s done and ready to go. Speaking of being ready to go, both Mackenzie and Oakley have big plans for what happens after Saturday’s commencement. Mackenzie will take one more semester of col-
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THS S Senior Cllass Remiinder
County Has Third Positive Case nursing homes or long-term care facilities; retail businesses limiting the number of shoppers based on square footage; and restaurant dining areas observing social distancing requirements. The full text of the governor’s renewed order can be found at www.showmestrong.mo.gov. The health department will not extend the county public health order and guidance for Grundy County. However, health department officials remind residents that social distancing, good handwashing practices and use of face coverings in public areas are still needed to slow the spread of COVID-19. Persons who are ill are asked to stay home, except to seek medical care. As of Monday morning, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reports 13,147 cases of COVID-19 in the state, with 771 deaths. Nationwide, the death rate is over 102,000. Mercer County reported its first COVID-19 positive test on Friday. According to the Mercer County Health Department, the case was identified by a test conducted by a private laboratory out of the county. Health department officials are working to determine and identify close contacts of the individual so that they may be contacted for further instruction. Harrison County had three more positive cases reported, with two of the cases
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Editor’s Note: The following information was sent to members of the Trenton High School Class of 2020 by Principal Kasey Bailey as they prepare for graduation, which is scheduled for Saturday, June 6 at C.F. Russell Stadium. • Graduation practice will be at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 4 at C.F. Russell Stadium. There will be a run-through of all details connected with the ceremony and students will also have the opportunity to get their picture taken. Students are to bring their cap, gown and cords to graduation practice for the pictures. • Students who want to order photos are to complete a form attached to the email sent to students (the form can also be picked up at the high school office by calling 359-2291). • C.F. Russell Stadium will open at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 6 for guest seating. In the event of inclement weather, the graduation ceremony will be delayed until later that day or rescheduled for Sunday, June 7. • Guests will be seated on the field in designated areas and are asked to bring their own seating. Guests will enter and exit through the southeast main gate by the stadium. Guests are strongly encouraged to follow the most up-to-date public health guidance available at the time, including face masks and social distancing. • Graduates should arrive no later than 1:30 p.m. on graduation day, parking at the Rock Barn and livestock pavilion. The students will be organized in the area just north of the stadium. Bailey said that Trenton R-9 will not be hosting prom this year, however, a community group will be hosting a prom dance at the Spillman Center in Jamesport on Saturday, June 13. Grand March will be at 7 p.m. with the dance to follow from 8 to 10:30 p.m. Students participating in Grand March are asked to arrive at 6:30 p.m., with the event to open to spectators at that time as well. Students planning to attend are asked to sign up, using a form provided by the school district. Students are asked to check updated information on the Trenton Prom 2020 Facebook event page. Forms are also available for students wanting to have photos taken at the event.
May 30 Testing Draws 137
Grundy County has its third positive case of COVID-19. The case was reported over the weekend by the Grundy County Health Department, which said the individual is isolated in their home. Health department officials are in the process of identifying and communicating with persons who may have come into close contact with that individual. The case is not related to Saturday’s (May 30) drive-through testing event, which saw 137 individuals tested for COVID-19. Those tested will be notified of their status within the next few days. Assisting the health department with the testing event were Wright Memorial Hospital, Mosaic Life Care, the Mercer County Health Department, Grundy County Emergency Management, the Community Emergency Response Team, the Trenton Police Department, the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the Missouri National Guard and several local volunteers. Gov. Mike Parson has extended Phase I of the state public health order to Monday, June 15. Provisions of the order include requirements for individuals and businesses to maintain social distancing of six feet or greater; restricted visitation to
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Sports.............................page 2 Local News ....................page 3 Across Missouri ............page 4 Community ...................page 5 Calendars ......................page 5 Comics ...........................page 6 Crosswords....................page 7 Dear Annie ....................page 7 Classifieds ..............page 8 & 9