Superintendent to serve as interim high school principal

A major reorganizational plan for leadership at the Purdy school district was approved at the school board’s Jan. 9 meeting.

The change followed the resignation of high school principal Brian Anton in November, effective at the end of the school year in June. Superintendent Travis Graham said advertising the position brought in only two applicants, one from inside the district and one from the outside.

“I looked at the structure of our administrative team and our goals regarding continued academic growth,” Graham said.

Wanting to develop an administrator who was ready from within the district, Graham proposed a different approach.

Misty Hall, who has taught social studies at Purdy for 20 years, is now administration- certified.

“In evaluating that, we wanted to get her in the seat and provide an opportunity for mentorship and growth before throwing her in the ocean,” Graham said.

To make that possible, Graham developed a strategy that included several duty shifts that addresses several issues at the same time.

For the coming year, a school board approved naming Hall and Jennifer Cornelius as assistant principals for the high school. Hall will provide instructional focus for grades 9-12, as well as behavior support for all grades.

“She is a strong instructor to Joplin to sell them,” Wass said.

“I think we made a profit of $147 our first year,” Wass said.

The second year, the club received a grant for the recycling program’s first baler, an improvement which led to the need for a building to house the equipment in.

In 2008, the recycling program received a $26,000 grant from Region N Solid Waste Management for that purpose.

The club, under Wass’s direction and with permission from the powers that be, constructed a 2,500-square-foot metal building adjacent to the school’s ball field, a location that, after footings were poured, met with some objections.

“We had a few people worried by the possibility that a recycling center might result in a smelly eyesore next to the ball field,” Wass said.

The concerns proved to be unfounded.

The recycling building not only houses a tidy operation, but the 22 solar panels installed on its roof (courtesy of another grant) provide power for the structure’s lights and machinery, plus the school’s electronic billboard.

The interior of the building is heated by a furnace that runs on spent motor oil, harvested from crushed, discarded oil filters.

In the years since its inception, the revenue generated by the recycling program has increased, although fluctuations in cardboard prices do occur, Wass said.

“One year, when cardboard prices were $135 per ton, we sold 31,000 pounds for our largest yield ever,” Wass said.

The program marked its 10th anniversary in 2016, also the year it reached the milestone of salvaging 1 million pounds of recyclable material.

During the program’s first decade, proceeds went toward new playground equipment for the school and provided scholarships to graduating seniors. The program also formed the basis for a school class on recycling.

Over the years, Purdy’s recycling program has received numerous grants and awards, including a $20,000 grant from Community Foundation of The Ozarks, a $1,000 grant from the American Paper Institute and the $10,000 Sea World/ Busch Garden Environmental Excellence Award, which included an expense-paid trip to Orlando, Florida, for the students who traveled to collect the award.

Wass has since retired from the Purdy school district, as has Robert Vice, former high school principal. Both men, however, continue to volunteer at the recycling center.

“We’re having too much fun,” Wass said. “Why would we quit?”

Longtime Purdy resident Greg Bennett is another invaluable volunteer, who, according to Wass, just wandered in off the street sometime after the program’s inception and asked Wass if he needed a hand.

“He’s been helping with the program ever since,” Wass said.

Bennett, who worked in the grocery business for years, had background experience with recycling. He offers a solid tip on how to keep smells at bay in the building.

“Make sure the lids are off the plastic milk jugs before you bring them in for crushing,” Bennett said. “And rinsing them out is a plus, too.”

Bennett offers tours of the recycling center to interested parties, beginning with the computer on which records are kept. The mishmash compilation of components from discarded computers donated to the recycling center, then turned into one working instrument, is the result of a labor of love by a tech guru.

“We love digging through old computers,” Bennett said. “Bring them in.”

Outside, a trailer awaits the input of discarded glass bottles.

“We only take non-opaque glass,” Bennett said. “Ceramics and glass dishes are okay, but we don’t want them in bags or boxes.”

Paper, metal and plastic must meet certain requirements, too.

“We can’t use cardboard or containers with food residue on them,” Bennett said, displaying the greasy underside of a pizza box. “And rinse out cans before donating them.”

The labels on cans are not a problem, Bennett said.

The recycling center cannot use wrapping paper with foil embossing, but Christmas lights, Bennett said, are acceptable.

The recycling center now operates independently of the school system – and has for several years – but willing students still volunteer their time to the program.

Wass is looking at ways to reorganize the recycling program’s business model in order to turn volunteers into paid employees. Compensate them for their labor, in other words.

“It wouldn’t be much,” he said.

Wass said the program is in need of more volunteers, so offering a bit of financial incentive might be the answer, although he emphasizes that his idea is still a work in progress at this point.

In addition to students, he encourages community-minded adults to join the project, which sees an average of a dozen volunteers.

Greg Bennett said he enjoys working with the student volunteers.

“They take their jobs seriously,” he said. “Sometimes, I have to tell them to slow down and take a break.”

The recycling center, situated just south of the Purdy school district’s electronic billboard on State Highway C, now houses four balers, crushers, conveyors and sorting containers, and offers plenty of work for those volunteering.

Wass said the program receives regular cardboard donations from several Monett industries. Enough to make one or two 1,100-pound bales of cardboard every week, he said.

Plastics, such as milk jugs and water bottles, are also baled, he said.

“We’re looking at the possibility of accepting appliances in the near future,” Bennett said.

After sorting and crushing, the program’s recyclables are sold to Marck Industries in Cassville and to Triple P Recycling in Monett.

Natalie Moseley, Region N Planner for Southwest Missouri Solid Waste Management, said Purdy’s recycling program is unique among programs in the state.

With its initial student-run, school-based model, the Purdy Recycling Center was also unique in the nation.

The program’s expansion from school-based to community- based and supported speaks highly of its popularity.

Moseley doesn’t want the program’s attributes to go unsung.

“They’ve turned tons of waste into thousands of dollars and created a model for other [communities] and schools to use for their own recycling programs,” she said.

Wass is happy to share howto information with interested parties.

The Purdy Recycling Center is open for donations and operations every Tuesday, 3:305:30 p.m., as well as the third Saturday of every month, 8:3010:30 a.m.

For more information, people may visit the Purdy Recycling Project’s Facebook page.