“Mama” Marci Boland has been a member of the staff at Clayton High School for 29 years. “When I was at Clayton High, I would always go into her office and be able to talk to her for hours before school,” 2014 CHS graduate Katherine Ren said. “I felt comfortable talking to her about everything and she was always there to offer advice or give a pep talk when needed. She honestly treated all...

His love for sports has been a constant in the equation of his life. As a child, he commanded a presence on the turf in Little Rock, Arkansas. “Teachers and several coaches asked me to play on an organized team when I was 10 years old. Teachers would point me out to coaches on the playground and the coaches would approach me in elementary school,” CHS physical education teacher Barry Ford said. And...

Find good and focus on the good. These are the two mantras of the retiring English Language Learners teacher Karen Hales-Mecham. With these two special mottos always in the back of her mind, Hales-Mecham has touched hundreds of students from different cultures and backgrounds during her time at CHS. From a young age, Hales-Mecham was determined to become a teacher due to her grandparents’ positive...

District Science Coordinator Nathan Peck remembers that even before meeting Rex Rice, a seasoned veteran who has taught physics at CHS for 28 years, he had heard the name Rice throughout the teaching community. “‘Rex Rice, Rex Rice,’ I started hearing that name over and over for everything having to deal with physics,” Peck said. Rice’s presence and fame throughout the physics community...

“Teaching keeps me more optimistic. I have hope for the future. Too many people get tainted by media that says ‘teenagers are doing this and that’ but I actually know what teenagers are doing,” CHS math teacher Heidi Shepard said. “I work with [teenagers] on a daily basis. I get to see what potential [teenagers] have and where [their] hopes and dreams are. Where I think it’s easy to get...

When she is not working, she is going to alternative rock and country concerts. She is spending time with her kids. She is reading. She is writing. And she is making the most of her teaching experience. After teaching English for 33 years, Sheri Steininger has made her mark on Clayton High School and even more so on her students. Steininger has taught a variety of grades and courses, her favorite...

“There is this verb: to be Teson-ized. If you have been Teson-ized, it basically means that you have been made tough, you have been made intellectually strong, rigorous,” CHS English teacher Adam Hayward said. “It means that you can go to any university in the world and if someone asks you to write a paper, do research, and think critically, you will be successful.” In 2009, Hayward, a colleague...