About+Mrs.+Lowery

//The greatest joys in my life are my family: my husband, my daughter, my step-son, and my parents, as well as my "extended" school family. I feel tremendously blessed to be a part of their lives.//

ALL ABOUT ME Twenty years ago, I started my journey as a teacher. Upon graduating from Southwest Missouri State University (now known as MSU) in December of 1993, I began my quest to become a great teacher. I accepted my first teaching job in Camdenton, Missouri as a fourth grade Special Education teacher. After three short years, I decided to move back to Springfield where my parents were living and where I had grown up. I taught K-5 Special Education at Fairbanks, Westport, and Portland Elementary schools in Springfield for several years, and acquired my master’s degree in Elementary Education (1999), before transferring to a regular third grade class in the fall of 2001. I taught third grade at Portland for four years before life stepped in and changed my plans. In 2005, my daughter started kindergarten and I started a new job teaching third grade in Bolivar. Although I did not like leaving my students and friends in Springfield, being in the same district as my daughter and husband was vitally important to me. After two years as a third grade teacher, I became Bolivar Intermediate School's first ever literacy coach--a job I absolutely loved! Not only did I get to work with all 500+ students in our school, but I got to work with all the teachers as well. Modeling lessons, coaching teachers, and interacting with a multitude of students was a great joy for me. But once again, fate stepped in and my career was changed. My husband, Kevin, became the principal at Lebanon High School in 2008 and I became a fourth grade teacher at Boswell Elementary. This will be my fourth year as a third grade teacher at Maplecrest Elementary. While change is definitely hard, my family and I love working and going to school in Lebanon.
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 * Mrs. Lowery ||

MY HUSBAND, KEVIN On July 25, 1998, I married Kevin Lowery. Kevin and I met while I was finishing my third year as a Special Education teacher in Camdenton, Missouri. At that time he was an assistant middle school principal in St. Louis. A year and a half after meeting we were married, had bought a home in Springfield, and began new careers...Kevin in Bolivar as their middle school principal and myself as a teacher in Springfield. In the fall of 2006, Kevin left BMS to become the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Bolivar Schools. While working in this position, Kevin developed lasting relationships with students, teachers, and administrators throughout the district. This summer Kevin and I celebrated our fifteenth anniversary! After all our years together, he is still my best friend and a man I am deeply proud of. Kevin is currently in his sixth year as the principal at Lebanon High School.
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 * Kevin and I ||

MY STEP-SON, KEV Upon marrying Kevin, I also became an instant mom...a step-mom to be exact. Kevin's son from a previous marriage was just three years old when I first met him. He was five and getting ready to begin kindergarten when Kevin and I married. Kev (named after his dad, of course!) graduated from Willard High School in 2010. He turned 21 this past June. Kev loves music and is a talented musician. He played the saxophone in the high school marching band, guitar in the jazz band, and even plays with his own "rock and roll" band. He is currently a student at MSU in Springfield.
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 * Kev and Hannah ||


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 * Hannah Grace ||

MY DAUGHTER, HANNAH Thirteen years ago, Kevin and I were blessed with a daughter of our own, Hannah Grace. She is the greatest joy in my life! Being around her makes me a better person. Hannah is now an eighth grader at Lebanon Jr. High. She loves school and all of her teachers. She proves how important school is to her by her attendance record--PERFECT ATTENDANCE since she started Kindergarten! Along with school, Hannah also has an active social calendar. She played on the 7th grade basketball team, was in the fall musical, and ran track at LJHS. This year she plans to run cross-country, hopefully make the 8th grade basketball team, and run track in the spring. She also plays the trumpet in the band, and is involved in writing the LJHS newspaper and yearbook. Hannah is a wonderful, inquisitive young lady, and a daughter that makes her parents very proud! Kevin and I are always telling her that she is the BEST DAUGHTER IN THE WORLD!


 * __MY MOM AND DAD__**
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 * Hannah and Her Papa ||

Being an only child made my relationships with my parents especially strong. My mom died of ovarian cancer in March of 2004, exactly three weeks after Hannah's fourth birthday. She remains my greatest source of strength. When things get tough in my life, I only have to remember how rough her last few years were as she battled the disease that would eventually take her from our family. She was so strong; she never lost her will to fight. If I can be half as brave and strong as she was, I will be able to accomplish great things with whatever life throws my way. My dad, too, is an inspiration to me. At eighty-five years of age, he plays golf when the weather is nice and makes time to attend all of Hannah's school and sporting events. He even taught Hannah how to ride her bike without training wheels, running alongside her just like he did for me so many years ago.

**__MY STUDENTS AND COLLEAGUES__** As you can see, my family means the world to me, but so do my students. It's my students who have shaped me into the teacher I am today. Each year that I teach brings a new batch of students into my life...a new group of students who will learn and grow together with me. I have loved every class I've ever taught. Along with my students, I have been blessed to work alongside some of the best teachers in the world! Each district I work in brings new friendships into my life. It’s through these friendships and trusting relationships that great collaborations and learning occurs. I know my students have benefited from the shared ideas and brainstorming of myself and my colleagues. Thank you to all my former students and colleagues from Camdenton, Springfield, and Bolivar, and to my current students and colleagues in Lebanon. You have taught me so much and I am a better teacher because of you!


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 * BIS 3rd Grade Team ||

//I hope you now have a better idea of who I am, as well as the people who have helped to shape me into the person I am. I love being a wife, a mommy, a daughter, and especially a TEACHER!//

//A great family, great friends, and great students...what more could I ask for!//