SMITHVILLE — The Smithville School Board approved roughly $8.6 million for construction of the Smithville Activity Center.

LIBERTY — Students currently in seventh or eighth grade in the Liberty School District or St. James Catholic School can apply to join the Liberty Junior Police Academy, taking place this summer.

KEARNEY — High school band students in Kearney earned medals in all 22 events they entered in this year’s State Solo Ensemble Festival. Those results included eight gold medals, eight silver and six bronze, according to a district release.

LIBERTY — The National Speech & Debate Association named Kim Lenger of Liberty North High School a winner of the Diamond Coach Award, recognizing a professional career that combines excellence and longevity in speech and debate education. This is her fourth Diamond Award, according to a …

LIBERTY — For the ninth straight year, Liberty Public Schools was honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education, according to a district release.

Liberty School District graduating seniors will again have the opportunity to be part of a senior vehicle parade.

On Monday, April 5, secondary students in Smithville and Liberty school districts returned to the classroom on a more full-time schedule.

SMITHVILLE — The Smithville School District will offer Warrior Preschool for a fee in the fall. According to the district, the goal of the program is to “provide students an opportunity to engage with peers and educators to get a head start on school readiness skills in a real school environment.”

LIBERTY — Recently, Liberty High School Counselor Brenda Wiederholt was announced as the 2021 Greater Kansas City Counselor Association High School Counselor of the Year. Wiederholt has been a mainstay in the LHS counseling department and currently serves as department chair.

WGU Missouri is offering K-12 teachers across Missouri, Illinois and Kansas a chance to nominate innovative classroom projects by April 18 for an opportunity to receive full or partial funding.

LIBERTY — The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced its 2021 Exemplary School Library Programs.

KEARNEY — On Monday, March 29, a noticeable change in Kearney Junior High and High schools was additional traffic as the day marked the return of full, in-person classes. Several high school students made note of the traffic, while others shared elbow bumps.

KEARNEY — Students in the Kearney School District have multiple options this year for summer classes.

Smithville Board of Education planned to take action on the plan Wednesday, March 10. As of press time Wednesday, details on that action had yet to be released. An update will be published in the online version of this story at mycouriertribune.com and in the Courier-Tribune NOW app.

SMITHVILLE — Children must be 5 years of age on or before July 31, 2021 to register for kindergarten in the Smithville School District.