Deserving teacher gets state recognition

One very hardworking teacher is finally bringing the Bootheel the attention it deserves for its contribution to art in Missouri.

Linda Melkersman, who teaches at New Madrid County Central High School at New Madrid, Mo., will receive a 2002 Missouri Arts Award for her work in arts education in Southeast Missouri. She is the only high school art teacher among this year's five recipients.

Her peers nominated her because of the extra time she takes with her students, insisting on an art-related field trip yearly. She coordinated a free-standing mural done by junior high and high school students in New Madrid and Sikeston, Mo., and it depicts the region's agricultural history.

Art and kids go together, Melkersman says. "When they're being creative, they really come out of themselves."

To that end, she asked them to paint at this year's Cotton Festival so others could watch and come to their own appreciation.

Melkersman most certainly earned this award, and all can be proud to have such a teacher in our part of the state.