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Free Missouri Educator Certification testing starts in June in effort to fix shortages

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Free Missouri Educator Certification testing starts  in June in effort to fix shortages


SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Missouri is working to get more teachers into the classroom, and a critical test they must take to qualify to teach specific courses will be free.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) announced that it will use $500,000 in remaining funds from the second round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER II) dollars to pay the fee for educator certification tests in the coming months.

Individuals may register for any Missouri Content Assessment (MoCA), Missouri General Education Assessment (MoGEA), or the Paraprofessional exam at no cost until the state funds are spent until September 30.

“Teachers are the number one school-related factor in the quality of student learning,” said Dr. Paul Katnik, Assistant Commissioner in DESE’s Office of Educator Quality. “This is why the state must do all it can to make sure each Missouri student has a high-quality teacher. Using relief funds to assist with the cost of teacher candidates taking their exit assessment is a step towards expanding the supply of excellent teachers for our schools, which is a critical goal of DESE’s teacher recruitment and retention efforts.”

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“It definitely was a weight off my shoulders because I’ve been putting off this test for probably six months now,” said Molly Taff, Missouri Educator. ”By making it free, it really gives me that option where I could expand my knowledge on all the different areas of teaching, and I’m really excited about that.”

Molly Taff is a Missouri educator who wants to be certified in physical education. She says now she can because the financial burden is lifted.

”I think that they’re trying to address the issue of getting more people into education, and I think this will certainly help,” said Laura Mullins, President of the Missouri National Education Association.

Mullins says the teaching shortage hasn’t recovered from the pandemic, and she hopes this will help.

”I’ve seen a lot of other states lower their standards, and this is a better way of, of getting to qualified candidates,” said Mullins. “The test can be costly, and I really do think it’ll benefit those new educators that are graduating or have graduated the spring.”

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Teacher candidates will be limited to three concurrent free registrations per person. Individuals have up to one year from the date of registration to take the certification test.

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com



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Kansas man catches world record fish at lake in Missouri

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Kansas man catches world record fish at lake in Missouri


Photo courtesy Chad Williams via Missouri Department of Conservation

By Jill Pritchard, Missouri Department of Conservation

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. –  The 2024 paddlefish snagging season is off to a great start after an angler reeled in a world record fish at the Lake of the Ozarks.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) congratulated Chad Williams of Olathe, Kansas for snagging a 164-pound, 13-ounce paddlefish at the Lake of the Ozarks March 17.

The fish not only breaks the previous state record of 140 pounds, but also the previous world record of 164 pounds.

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“I was lucky enough to get invited to go out snagging with friends,” Williams said. “I’d never been snagging before. Never seen a paddlefish – didn’t even know what it was!”

Shortly into the snagging trip, Williams hooked into something massive.

“I was thinking I was extremely weak because it was taking so long to reel in. My body was aching,” he recalled.

After the fish made it onto the boat, the group immediately knew it was a record. They later met MDC Fisheries and Protection staff at Three Brothers Meat Company in Montreal to weigh the fish on a certified scale. This makes the second state record caught in 2024.

Williams said he and his wife kept some of the paddlefish meat and shared the rest with their fishing group. He plans to taxidermy the head.

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“I’m honestly still processing this whole thing,” he laughed. “Conservation Agent Tyler Brown was in disbelief it was my first time snagging. He said, ‘You don’t have to go out fishing ever again! Nothing can top this!’ and he’s probably right!”

Missouri state record fish are recognized in two categories: pole-and-line and alternative methods. Alternative methods include trotline, throwline, limb line, bank line, jug line, gig, bow, crossbow, underwater spearfishing, snagging, snaring, grabbing, or atlatl.

Click here for more information on state record fish.



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How Toriano Pride has made case to start in Missouri football’s secondary

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How Toriano Pride has made case to start in Missouri football’s secondary


Missouri football, as Tigers assistant Al Pogue put it, lost a lot of mileage at cornerback.

The Tigers are tasked with replacing two NFL-bound corners, Kris Abrams-Draine and Ennis Rakestraw Jr., from their 11-2, Cotton Bowl-winning 2023 team. That’s a combined eight seasons and 63 games of college ball leaving Columbia.

It’s not an easy ask for Mizzou to quickly replace that experience. But the 2024 squad appears, upon early indications, to be in good hands.

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Literally. 

During Missouri’s Black & Gold spring game Saturday on Faurot Field, St. Louis native and Clemson transfer Toriano Pride Jr., playing in front of MU fans for the first time, made a quick impression. 

In man coverage against eventual spring-game offensive MVP Joshua Manning, Pride went leaping for quarterback Brady Cook’s deep ball targeted at the receiver outside of the numbers on the left side of the field. The coverage was exemplary. Pride’s leaping frame completely blocked the view of Manning, who dragged the corner to the ground but did nothing to prevent what was done.

In his first taste of live football in front of fans on Faurot, Pride intercepted the pass — the two-handed, no-juggling, no-doubter variety of pick.

“They tried to go big fade ball to the field,” linebackers coach D.J. Smith said after the spring game, “(but) Toriano Pride’s a gamer, man. … It’s good to have him here.”

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Pride is the former teammate of star wide receiver Luther Burden III at East St. Louis High. He was the second-ranked prospect out of Illinois in the Class of 2022 — second behind Burden.

The Clemson transfer played 26 games over two seasons for Dabo Swinney’s team, making three starts. He has 36 total tackles, a couple of which for loss, and an interception to go along with nine pass breakups.

In a unit left wanting for game experience on the big stage, that’ll play.

And it more than likely will play with Missouri’s most experienced returning corner.

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More: The ‘training wheels’ are off for Missouri football’s WRs, who want to be best in the country

Before spring camp started, MU head coach Eli Drinkwitz indicated that Missouri’s other starting cornerback was going to be tough to usurp.

Dreyden Norwood, a former Texas A&M transfer and now third-year Tiger, was the man to beat. He filled in for an oft-injured Rakestraw admirably, starting in the Tigers’ Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State and four times before then. He has now made 25 total appearances for MU.

“I think we would all be kidding ourselves,” Drinkwitz said, “if we didn’t believe that Dreyden Norwood was ahead of everybody else.”

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There aren’t many indications that anything changed on that front through the practices that shaped spring camp.

“I’ve been really pleased with Drey’s growth,” Pogue said. … “He’s just letting his natural ability come through and (making) plays, and I think the biggest thing for him is, you know, you can see the confidence. He has the confidence that he can compete in this league.”

Added new MU defensive coordinator Corey Batoon on March 9: “The Norwood kid’s had a really good camp. He’s made some plays on the ball, he’s been very consistent. I think that on the back end, he’s really stood out.”

The Tigers ran with Norwood and Pride, on different teams due to the nature of the Tigers’ pre-spring game intrasquad draft, on their respective lineups right out of the gate Saturday. Shamar McNeil, Marcus Clarke, Ja’Mariyon Wayne and Nicholas Deloach were among the corners to see the field.

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Those four, along with true freshman Cameron Keys and summer enrollee Jaren Sensabaugh, will likely shape up the fight for time behind Norwood and Pride.

More: Will Missouri football running backs go by committee? Coach compares transfers to former duo

Clarke has played 15 games over two seasons since transferring from Miami shortly before the 2022 campaign started. He had two interceptions in a reserve role last season, against Memphis and at Kentucky, but Pogue said he wants the room’s oldest corner to be more consistent.

Pogue mentioned that he recently met with McNeil, a redshirt freshman who drew compliments from both Rakestraw and Abrams-Draine in 2023 as a true freshman, and said he’s seen some day-to-day improvement, but that the underclassman is “not where I want him to be.”

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The cornerbacks coach indicated that wide receiver turned cornerback Ja’Mariyon Wayne also will have a role in the future.

“One day it’s gonna be his time, I’m gonna drop the leash on him,” Pogue said, “and say, ‘I told you guys.’”

For now, Norwood is the most likely lock for a starting role when MU opens its 2024 campaign Aug. 31 against Murray State.

Across from him, Pride, with a quick Faurot pick, has emerged as the frontrunner.

“It was really big to acquire a player like (Pride),” Pogue said. … “It’s evident we have to replace two really good players that we’ve currently lost, and for him to come in and have that experience, … it was really big for us to get him. I mean, he’s definitely a plus to our room.”

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Rowden drops out of Missouri Secretary of State race – Missourinet

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Rowden drops out of Missouri Secretary of State race – Missourinet


A major contender for Missouri Secretary of State has dropped out of the race.

Caleb Rowden announced in a social media post today that he won’t be seeking the Republican nomination, saying his decision not to run is the right one for him and his family. Rowden is in his final year in the Missouri Senate and holds that chamber’s highest post as President Pro-tem.

In a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, Rowden suggested a recent unwillingness to build consensus on issues among Republicans played a big role in his decision to withdraw from the Secretary of State’s race.

“Politics and public life look and feel a little different than they did even 12 years ago when I was first elected (to public office). While there have always been deep political and philosophical disagreements about how to get to a desired outcome, the desired outcome and the facts used to make decisions used to be shared values. More and more, the latter no longer seems to be the case,” Rowden said. “Consensus-building was once a trait that was admired and rewarded. That no longer seems to be the case.”

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That leaves six major party candidates running for Missouri Secretary of State: Republicans Denny Hoskins, Adam Schwadron, Shane Schoeller, and Valentina Gomez, and Democrats Monique Williams and Barbara Phifer.

Hoskins is a state senator from Warrensburg who’s a member of the far-right Missouri Freedom Caucus. The caucus has often criticized Rowden, accusing him of not being conservative enough.

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