Shelton named Rookie of the Year for State Farm

Cape Girardeau native Brian Shelton has been named Missouri's Rookie of the Year for State Farm Insurance Cos. State Farm presents the award each year to its overall top producing new agent. The award is based on production in all lines of insurance and financial services, including auto, life, fire and health insurance.

Shelton was appointed an agent June 1, 2000, in St. Robert, Mo. He earned distinction by quickly becoming one of the company's top 100 new agents nationally. Shelton also led the region in 2001 in written life insurance applications out of nearly 500 Missouri agents.

Prior to becoming an agent, Shelton served as the company's legislative liaison for the Missouri region. Shelton graduated from Central High School in Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri State University. He lives in St. Robert with his wife, Penny, and son, Jacob.

Leet picked for National Advisory Panel for lenses

Dr. Greg Leet, a contact lens specialist, recently participated in a Professional Advisory Panel by Vistakon, a division of Johnson and Johnson and Vision Care Inc.

The panel served as consultants to Vistakon, the maker of bifocal contact lenses. Leet shared his techniques for successfully fitting a broad range of presbyopic patients with lenses from that company.

Leet has offices in Cape Girardeau and Jackson. He has been in practice 18 years.

Sharley appointed to advisory committee

Donna Sharley of Rhodes Travel Plaza has been appointed to the Allied Advisory Committee for National Association of Truck Stop Operators. The committee is a select group of nine truck-stop professional operators to represent the truck stop industry in the United States before Congress.

Sharley will be the spokesperson for independent operators. She will meet in May with Governmnent Affairs to lobby for the truck stop industry on Capitol Hill. Sharley is also on the education committee for NATSO. She serves as the only woman on the Allied Advisory Committee.

Payne named director of career center

The Cape Girardeau School Board has named Rich Payne as the director of the Career and Technology Center. Payne is the current assistant director and will take over for Harold Tilley at the end of the school year when he retires. Tilley has been the director since 1992.

After teaching and coaching at Southeast Missouri State University for seven years, Payne took a job teaching social studies and physical education at Central Junion High School in 1989. He taught for five years before becoming the school's assistant principal, a position he also kept for five years, before taking his current position in July.

-- From staff reports