A Poplar Bluff High School student will be featured on a popular MTV doc film series, upon being selected to participate in a Native American panel discussion in Washington, D.C.

Accompanied by guidance counselor Tamara Day, Darian Sales-a senior-was one of 36 Native American teen correspondents invited to participate in the Tribal Nations Conference on Monday, Dec. 1, at the White House.

Sales has distinguished herself with her leadership as an ambassador for Graduate for Mas, an academic and college-readiness program sponsored by Get Schooled in partnership with the Taco Bell Foundation.

"My whole team knows that Poplar Bluff has been one of my absolute favorite schools to work with this fall, and it was no question that Darian would be a student we would select for this opportunity as soon as it was presented to us," Get Schooled manager Fiona Yung wrote to Day in an email.

Get Schooled, a national education nonprofit, was developed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Viacom. MTV, a division of Viacom, covered the conference for its "Rebel Music: Native America" series.

Sales, who discovered she was part Choctaw Indian four years ago, plans to attend Haskell Indian Nation University in Kansas upon graduating.

"She lit up the room with her smile and positive attitude," wrote Day on Facebook after her trip with Sales. "I think this small town girl really impressed MTV... She represented PB well!"

Above: Darian Sales interviews Bill Mendoza, executive director for the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska native Education, for the MTV series "Rebel Music: Native America."

Below: Pictured in front of the Washington Monument, Tamara Day and Darian Sales get in some sightseeing while visiting the U.S. Capitol for the first time.

A Leadership Academy has been reinstated at Poplar Bluff Schools, designed to foster leaders from within the R-I school system.

Structured and led by Dr. Amy Jackson [above], assistant superintendent of personnel, about 30 employees participated in the inaugural monthly meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 2, in the Administrative Building. The focus was characteristics of effective leadership.

The program was originally instituted by Superintendent Chris Hon back when he oversaw personnel, and it successfully helped produce multiple principals. Jackson expanded the academy to include all employees interested in leadership development, not exclusively faculty members working on their administrative degrees.

Below: Kindergarten physical education teacher Pat Clark shares her aspiration to one day take on more of a leadership role within the school system.

Butler County Emergency Management Director Jeff Shawan donated 65 weather radios to all the schools in the county, including at least one device for every facility within the Poplar Bluff R-I school system, on Monday, Dec. 8.

His generosity was made possible with a $1,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation, which was matched by the Butler County Commission. Jim Hager, lead field spotter of the Poplar Bluff Severe Weather Response Team, made the suggestion to Shawan, who wrote the grant proposal.

"They're as valuable as smoke detectors in terms of saving lives," Hager stated.

Above: [From left] Twin Rivers Superintendent Jeremy Siebert, Neelyville Superintendent Brad Hagood, Poplar Bluff Superintendent Chris Hon, Walmart Frontend Manager Allison Sifford, SWRT Director Craig Meador, SWRT Lead Field Spotter Jim Hager, Butler County Emergency Management Director Jeff Shawan, Butler County Commissioner of the Eastern District Butch Anderson, and Butler County Sheriff's Department Chief of Communications Frankie Casteel.

Poplar Bluff R-I administrators volunteered for a day to collect donations for the local Salvation Army unit on Monday, Dec. 8, at Walmart.

A tradition for almost a decade, according to organizer Becky Winters, the school district helps to raise approximately $40,000 each year for the Salvation Army during bell ringing season, which runs from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve.

Eight-five percent of the proceeds go toward emergency assistance in Butler County, while the remainder goes into the disaster relief fund in the Midland Division of St. Louis, which gets disbursed where needed throughout the state.

Above: [From left] Poplar Bluff High School Assistant Principal Chris Martinez and R-I Assistant Superintendent of Business Rod Priest greet customers at Walmart, later getting relieved by Chief Technology Officer Aaron Badgley [below].

The Poplar Bluff High School Future Business Leaders of America recently organized a can drive that generated almost 1,200 perishable food items for the United Gospel Rescue Mission.

Above: FBLA members [from left] Zachery Lawrence, parliamentarian; Ben Soeter, awards coordinator; Emma Cooper, vice president of membership; Ridge Hester, president; Natalie Dickerson, secretary; Stephanie Hobbs, VP of FBLA relations; and Lydia Keller, VP of communications.