Chester High School educators stop by Rotary Club

Chester High School Principal Missy Meyer and guidance counselor Adam Guebert gave an update of what's going on at the school to the Chester Rotary Club April 18.

The speakers, both in the first year as principal and counselor, said six new faculty members also joined the school this year. They stated that most teachers at CHS have "student centered" classrooms with Google interactive learning. They stressed that this trend in teaching does not lessen a teacher's responsibilities and workload, but in most cases, adds to it.

Other changes include the fact that students don't often carry books anymore or use school lockers.

"They do use backpacks, most often to carry electronics needed for their classwork," Meyer, a Chester native, said,

Students are allowed to have their cellphones in class, but the rule is that they are not to be used during class.

"It's a whole new world in education," Meyer said, "and teachers and administrators have to work hard to keep up with the changes."

Guebert, originally from Red Bud, believes in getting to know the students and their individual needs. At the beginning of the school year, he met personally with each of Chester High School's 340 students. He has also gone to Chester Grade School and met with eighth grade students who will be entering high school in the Fall.

Guebert encourages all parents and interested community members to check out the new school website,

chs.chester139.com, in order to learn about the various activities going on at the school. With this site, parents have the ability to follow their student's testing and grading and day-to-day curriculum progress.

Meyer stressed that Chester School District 139 is now a Title I District, with 40 percent of students qualifying for reduced lunches.

"This fact can have it's own set of challenges," she said, "but we meet each challenge on a daily basis and do the very best we can for every individual student."