Governor Mike Parson visits KHS Sept. 29

Mason Heller, features writer| September 29, 2022

On Thursday, Sept. 29, Missouri Governor, Mike Parson visited KHS to commemorate the Kirkwood school and community following the announcement of KHS as a Blue Ribbon School.

The Blue Ribbon is awarded by the Department of Education. It’s granted to each school “based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.”

After being introduced to the students and staff, Governor Parson said he was excited to be at KHS.

“It’s great to be here today,” Parson said. “There are only eight schools in the state of Missouri that get a Blue Ribbon. The thing you take away from [this experience] is that it takes a community effort.”

KHS consistently maintains strong academic scores, which has led the Education Department to consider and ultimately award the Blue Ribbon to KHS.

“You can see the reason why [KHS is] a Blue Ribbon school,” Parson said. “You look at administration, how it’s structured. You look at the kids, how they conduct themselves.”

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You look at administration, how it’s structured. You look at the kids, how they conduct themselves.

— Mike Parson

Head Principal of Kirkwood High School, Dr. Michael Havener commented on Parson’s enthusiasm throughout the presentation.

“The governor was really enjoying interacting with students,” Havener said. “One of the things that surprised me was after we were done with the pictures, he turned around and went into the student section.”

The 2020-2021 school year had 93 school shootings according to CNN. Parson said that they’re trying to get help to schools over these security concerns.

“We’ve got several committees we put together, commissions to be able to say what’s the best thing for the schools,” Parson said. “We’ve asked for school administrators for their input, to see how we can help.”

Parson finished his remarks by praising KHS.

“It’s impressive when you come here, you see the administration, you see what the school’s all about,” Parson said “You want schools to be models for other schools. I hope there’s a school down the road that says hey I want to be Kirkwood.”