Eric Fjone for Festus R-6 School Board

Update: neither City Hall or Public Works has them.

While I am sure it was a friend with good intentions, I went out the day after the election to grab my signs and a lot of them are missing (approx. 10). Please let me know if you have them and I will be more than happy to stop by and grab them from you. Thanks in advance!

Over the last 90+ days I have been asking for your votes, or in other words, interviewing to be a member of your School Board. So, I thought I would provide you with some interviewee type of information.

- I have lead many teams in my professional career and my own business. I am a Servant Leader and know my position is to listen, understand, and help make important decisions. Decisions that I would never ask someone else to fulfill unless I would be willing to fulfill or do the work myself.

- Over the course of my career I have successfully managed multiple P&Ls, up to $12M

- I listen to understand, not to respond.

- I work best in a team environment where, whether we as a team agree or not, we work together to find the best solution.

- I love asking for help and advice from experts and then working together to create a plan/program from that advice.

- I value others’ perspectives and approach situations with an open mind.

I appreciate your vote!

I am greatly appreciative for all of the support shown to me. If elected to school board my highest priority will always be what’s best for our children, teachers, school, and our community, not a political party.

Such a great choir concert tonight by the High School!!!!!

🎼Look at this stuff, isn’t it neat
🎼Wouldn’t you say our PAC is complete

😉

Most of the candidates participated in the interviews for Festus School Board and it was great hearing them on KJFF this morning.

I recorded the interviews (mine and others) on my phone. The file of my interview is too large to share on here but I believe I can share it via Messenger.

If you didn’t get a chance to listen and would like to hear, please comment or reach out via Messenger, text, or email and I will send it to you.

[email protected]

A family member, who is a teacher, shared this. It is well worth 16 minutes of your time if you want to better understand what teachers go through and how much teaching has changed over the years. Teaching is so much more than curriculum.

This is very timely as Festus prepares to open its early childhood development center.

Early in Life & the Importance of Early Childhood Education | Steve Zwolak | TEDxDelmarLoopED Stephen Zwolak is the founder and CEO of LUME Institute and Executive Director of University City Children’s Center (UCCC), LUME’s lab school. Zwolak has mor...

Speaking with Mr. B last night he told me that there are still tickets left for the matinee performance of Annie today at 2pm.

The students get better every night and can’t wait to see their final performance. It’s going to be SPECTACULAR!!!

See you there!!

School supporting local business, local business supporting school….everyone wins….especially the students!!!!!!

Let Bread Co in Festus cook for you tonight between 4-8! 20% of your bill will go toward the team as we prepare for our national competition, The American Rocketry Challenge!

🚨🚨OPENING NIGHT🚨🚨. Tickets are still available or buy them at the door!!!

Tonight is opening night for Annie. There are plenty of seats remaining for all performances. Plenty of tickets will be available at the door or advanced tickets can be purchased here: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/63091
Our high school performers have been practicing for weeks.

So happy for these teachers. And thank you to everyone that purchased a brick!!!

Fjone family fun night in Festus.

Supper - Thai Rama
Dessert - Rich’s
Entertainment - Boxedin

We love supporting our community and had a blast as a family tonight.

Such exciting news!!!!!! Dr. Ruess adds so much value to our school district!!! 🙌👏🙌👏

Dr. Nicki Ruess will become just the sixth superintendent of the Festus R-VI School District effective July 1, 2022. She is succeeding Dr. Link Luttrell who announced last week that he will be retiring from Missouri education and the Festus R-VI School District and moving to Spring Hill, KS to become superintendent of the Spring Hill USD 230 School District.
Dr. Ruess is currently the Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, a position she has held for nearly ten years. She has spent 15 of 27 years in education in the Festus R-VI School District. Prior to returning to Festus in July of 2012, Dr. Ruess served as a teacher and principal in the Crystal City School District, as well as a teacher, sponsor, coach and principal in the Festus School District. “Festus R-VI has set the standard when it comes to implementation of Professional Learning Communities, academic achievement and strategic planning,” she said. “I am grateful to the Board of Education for placing their trust in me to lead the District into the future.”
Dr. Ruess led the discussion and development of the Festus R-VI Strategic Plan “R-VI in ‘26” and has been spearheading the development of the district’s Early Childhood Education Program.
“Dr. Ruess has been an integral part of the success of the Festus R-VI School District over the past ten years,” said Superintendent Dr. Link Luttrell “This is a position she has been working toward for some time now. I am confident she will continue to move the District forward as it faces new challenges.” Board of Education president Todd Oetting agrees, “It is an exciting time to be a Festus Tiger. The Board was unanimous in its decision to promote Dr. Ruess to Superintendent. Continuity and stability is an important factor in maintaining the forward momentum of the District and Dr. Ruess is the best choice to do just that.”
The District will immediately begin a search for a successor to Dr. Ruess as Assistant Superintendent.

I’M SO EXCITED!!!!

Tune in to Fox2Now beginning at 5am tomorrow morning. Tim Ezell FOX 2 will be live at the Festus Performing Arts Center all morning long. You'll see some of the talents of our students on display.

Turn on Channel 2 News this morning for a preview of our new Performing Arts Center and a sneak peak of some of our students performing!!!
👯‍♀️🎭🎶

Get your tickets for the High School production of Annie. March 24-26 @ 7pm and March 27 @ 2pm.

Pre-order here: https://www.festus.k12.mo.us/vnews/display.v/ART/6233733b206bf

It has been so much fun working with Mr. B and the students to help build the set!!!!!

Festus R-VI - Tickets for the Festus High School production of "Annie" are on sale now.  The theater department will present the musical in the new Festus Performing Arts Center at 7pm on Thursday, March 24 - Saturday, March 26 and at 2pm on Sunday, March 27.   You can purchase your advanced, general admission...

Had a great day helping to build some of the set for the High School production Annie!!!

The production is March 24-27. Get your tickets soon!!!

Side note- the new Performing Arts Center gives the directors so much more room to build large sets. So neat to watch it all come together.

What a game!!! These young men handled themselves with dignity and poise!!! Proud to be a Festus Tiger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Design by Jordan Dees (she’s amazing!!)
Signs by Katie Dorlac at Dorlac Sign Co. (the best!!!!)

I’ll be out and about on Saturday to start putting out this beautiful stack of signs. If you see us, stop by and say hi!!

What a great Open House for the new Performing Arts Center (P.A.C.)! I am so excited for the students, the teachers/staff, and the community that Festus now has this amazing venue!!!

Festus R-VI Community, my name is Eric Fjone, and I would like to introduce myself to you as a fellow district supporter who believes in the value of strong public schools for our children, our community, and our future. By joining the school board, it would allow me the opportunity to apply what I have learned over decades in leadership and business management to meet the needs of our students, teachers, and school community.

For some background information on my life, my wife and I have four amazing kids, two of whom are Festus graduates, 2013 and 2017, and two more who are currently in the 5th and 9th grades (18 years in the District). As a parent who is passionate about raising my kids to be WHO they want to be not WHAT they want to be, I make it a priority and also feel that it is a joy to be a part of the Festus School District by staying involved and assisting when needed. With a focus on leading by example, my involvement in their educational community will hopefully provide them with a model to follow for a strong work ethic, an open mind, and a passion for life-long learning. In regards to becoming informed about the needs of our district, I have participated in the Festus Planning Sessions led by the Missouri School Board Association and with the 'Vision for R-VI in 2026' comprehensive improvement plan.

My professional experience in both blue-collar and white-collar industries will be an asset to the school board as well. In my career, I have built processes and shaped national teams in a Fortune 300 company as well as our family owned-and-operated business (Dean Wilson Auction Services) through effective leadership, collaboration, and communication. My focus as a Servant Leader has influenced my belief in the benefits of listening for understanding and asking "why" and "what is the value" before making critical decisions. As part of the decision-making, problem-solving process, I appreciate creative thinkers while finding wisdom in the success of others by researching how challenges have been overcome in similar situations. On a fiscal note, I have skills and experience in managing multi-million dollar, corporate budgets. Specifically, I developed plans to add support staff to my team in a way that positively affected the budget in regards to the company's profits and losses. Additionally, I have experience in recruiting, interviewing, hiring, training, and mentoring team members which in many cases have developed into long-time relationships through honesty, communication, and empathy

My goal in running for the Festus R-VI School Board is to take my passion for our students' education, my experience in a variety of professional roles, and my genuine willingness to work together to meet the challenges our district may face to create a productive, successful future for our school community.

What a cool opportunity!!! These young men worked hard to achieve their goal!!

Committed to Educational Equity: Educational equity is the idea that students need the same opportunities, not the same treatment. School boards should use data to identify how students’ disadvantages can negatively affect their education and allocate resources to optimally mitigate this effect. Curriculum and teacher training plans should incorporate the differentiated instruction and culturally responsive education. A data-driven equity approach is key to implementing changes to improve student outcomes.

So true!!

For real though. 💯
📷 Jennifer Coogan

We have such an amazing Counselor team!!! They are always willing to help and answer any/all questions. SO KNOWLEDGEABLE!!!! Thank you all!!!!!

This week is National School Counselor's Week. A time to pause and say "THANK YOU" to all of the outstanding school counselors in the Festus R-VI School District who help our students succeed academically and personally. Elementary: Mrs. Nahlik, Mrs. Eisenbeis, Mrs. Johnson; Interemediate: Mrs. Helms, Mr. Williams; Middle: Mrs. Mickley, Mr. Fehlker; High: Mr Shemwell, Ms. Esparza, Mrs. Kline

I can only imagine what teachers go through on a daily basis…thank you all!!!!

Sounds like a perfect day to me!

I attended the Open-Session of the Board Meeting last week and one of the highlights was seeing how Festus ranked in test scores in 2021. Compared to 2019, the students scores barely decreased, and their scores were leaps and bounds better than comparable schools (sometimes doubling the second place school). WOW!!! Hats off to students, teachers, parents, and administrators. This was no small accomplishment with all of the challenges COVID presented. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.