Mid Rivers Newsmagazine Your online news source for St. Charles County, Missouri

Preparing for a new school year at any age can be equal parts exciting and exhausting. However, for first-time students entering preschool or kindergarten, the new experience can lend itself to creating more anxiety than anything else.

Local students Jimmy Johnson from Francis Howell High, Mason Aguilar from Francis Howell Central and Amanda Hasenbeck from Francis Howell North traveled to Louisville in June for the SkillsUSA’s 55th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference. More than 15,000 students, teachers, education leaders and representatives from 600 national corporations and labor unions participated in the event, which is also the world’s largest showcase of skilled trades and skill competitions.

Since relocating their office to operate out of their home in April 2018, Just Cruises & More has had a booming year. The entire staff of experienced and knowledgeable agents have adjusted to working from their homes as well. This change has allowed Just Cruises & More to offer the same personal touch that its customers have grown to expect for the past 28 years. The phone numbers and e-mail addresses remain the same. Since moving to their home, they have added a state-of-the-art phone system to connect customers quickly with the agent of their choice. If the agent is ...

To close the summer school camp schedule, middle school-aged students from the Francis Howell School District explored coding and app development at App Camp. The students completed a variety of tasks throughout the camp to learn how to code. By the end of the week, they had the opportunity to create their own app that could be published on the Google Play Store.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recognized Becky-David Elementary, Daniel Boone Elementary and Warren Elementary in the Francis Howell School District as 2019 Missouri Gold Star Schools.

Andrea Jandt, an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Bryan Middle in the Francis Howell School District, received a $300 grant from WGU Missouri.

Graduating seniors Jasmine Destiny of Ritenour High, Rachel Etwaroo of Pattonville High School and Mackenzie Janes of Fort Zumwalt North High have been named recipients of a St. Johns Bank Excellence Scholarship. Each winner received a check for $1,000 as part of the scholarship.

All three high schools in the Wentzville School District earned state and national journalism honors over the course of the year, including one yearbook entry from Timberland High that finished in the top three in the country in the Quill and Scroll competition.

Recent Timberland High graduate Jonathan Paneitz was selected as the 2019 recipient of the Ronald Reagan Leadership Medal. Bestowed by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, the award is given to students who exemplify the program’s pillars of drive, humility and service before self.

J. Todd Gentry and the MassMutual Foundation recently celebrated students in O’Fallon who participated in a digital financial education course at Fort Zumwalt Middle. The free FutureSmart SM digital curriculum was custom-made for middle schoolers and is available in both English and Spanish.