Jungmann named Monett superintendent

Another one of the people who worked so hard to make the short-lived Lamar Press newspaper, an artistic, if not financial success, back in 1996 and 1997, has gone on to do bigger and better things.
In the Dec. 5 Turner Report, I wrote about Lamar R-1 School Nurse Nancy Hughes, who has had great success with her first book, "Healing for the Heart."
From today's Monett Times comes the word that the Lamar Press Sports Editor John Jungmann, now Dr. John Jungmann, has been named the new superintendent for the Monett R-1 School District. He has been middle school principal at Monett for the past two years and has been with the system for the past five years. Prior to that, Jungmann taught at Lamar High School:

Board president Dr. Tony Rickard declared, "Dr. Jungmann competed head-to-head with some very qualified candidates, from Missouri and out-of-state. After a very exhaustive interview process, John was able to prove himself the strongest and best candidate for the position, even though he didn't have superintendent experience."

In searching for a successor to Dr. Charles Cudney, who is retiring in 2007 after 15 years on the job, the board narrowed its choice from 11 candidates down to four finalists. Interviews were conducted on Monday and Tuesday with the finalists.

Asked if making the final decision was difficult, Rickard commented, "The board weighed the pluses and minuses of each candidate. John easily exceeded the other candidates. If you go back and look at the criteria identified from the focus groups, John met and exceeded the requirements from the patrons, faculty, staff, and the school board."

In his current position, Jungmann had expanded his previous roles of A-Plus coordinator and managing discipline, faculty evaluation, and school transportation at the high school. At the middle school, he also took on roles of instructjavascript:void(0)ional leadership, budget oversight, program development and implementation, facility improvement oversight, instructional leadership, and playing a major role in the employee interview process.

Asked if he had set his sights on the Monett superintendent's job after finishing his doctoral degree, Jungmann commented, "I've known I wanted to be a superintendent since I went into administration. I've come to love the community. My family appreciates Monett and the excellence of the district. When Dr. Cudney announced his retirement, I knew this was the one I desired."

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