Lee’s Summit educator named regional teacher of the year

Theater director advances in “Teacher of the Year” competition

Brad Rackers, theater director at Lee’s Summit West High School, was named one of six Missouri Regional Teachers of the Year for the Kansas City region. Earlier this year he was chosen as Lee’s Summit R-7 School District Teacher of the Year.

“The best learning happens when students don’t realize they’re learning,” Rackers said. “Teaching is all about going on an educational journey with students and letting them make mistakes, supporting them when they fail, reflecting on the successes and challenges throughout the process and celebrating the final product. All students have their own unique set of experiences they bring with them to the classroom each day.

“I negotiate those circumstances to help them succeed at the highest level.”

Rackers is eligible to compete for Missouri Teacher of the Year for 2017 and the selection committee will interview finalists this fall.

Government channel available on Google TV

Lee’s Summit’s Government Access Channel can reach more residents as it’s added to Google TV, channel 143.

“The addition of LSTV on Google TV further builds on our transparency in government and increases our ability to inform and educate a larger number of our residents about our services and programs,” Mayor Randy Rhoads said.

LSTV provides live and rebroadcast coverage of various public city meetings, including City Council, Planning Commission and other committees. Lee’s Summit R-7 School District Board meetings have been recently added to the LSTV rebroadcast lineup.

LSTV also broadcasts information promoting the city’s services and regulations, upcoming city events, public service announcements as well as emergency information, when needed.

LSTV is also available for viewing on Spectrum (2), AT&T U-Verse (99) and Comcast (7), as well as streaming video online at WatchLS.net.

City Council meetings have been recording and re-broadcasted since 2007.

Lee’s Summit water purity exceeds standards

Lee’s Summit Water Utilities announced that city water again has met and exceeded all federal quality standards as reported in the 2017 Annual Water Quality Report.

“This is just another excellent example of our employee’s dedication to our mission of providing this community with safe, reliable water services,” said Mark Schaufler, director of Water Utilities.

The report provides details of the most recent monitoring results for substances commonly found in drinking water as required by the Environmental Protection Agency through the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act.

The 2017 Water Quality Report also provides information on Lee’s Summit’s water sources, its system and planned infrastructure reinvestments and renewals.

It can be obtained from Lee’s Summit Water Utilities at City Hall, 220 S.E. Green St., or online at www.LSWater.net.

Lions install officers

The Lee’s Summit Lions Club recently installed new officers.

At its June 27 meeting, Past District Governor Lion Johnny Stabno shared how Lions International has focused on saving sight and helping people who have vision problems for people worldwide.

Stabno then installed the new officers for the fiscal year 2017-2018: Shane McCary, president; Rick Sheets, 1st vice president; Bill Hulse, 2nd vice president; Mike Delacour, secretary; Kirby Vanatta, treasurer; Membership Chairwoman Tabitha Creswell; Lion Tamer Gary Hoffman; Two-year Director Bob Hayter; One-year Director, Paul Watts. Visitors at that meeting were Conrad Jones, Dorothy Vanatta, Jo Neil Delacour, Janice Hayter and Anita Hernandez.

This story was originally published July 4, 2017 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Lee’s Summit educator named regional teacher of the year."