Donald Smith:  

Life Born in Richland, Washington, 1949 (same year as Marvin the Martian), attended schools in Grand Junction, Colorado, Jeffrey City, Wyoming and Edgemont, South Dakota in my youth. Graduated from Grand Junction High School, class of 1967. (I would love to have contact with any of my classmates from Jeffrey City or Edgemont) Attended Mesa College, Grand Junction Colorado, 1967-69 AA degree; transferred to Southwest Missouri State Univ(now Missouri State University) Springfield, Missouri, 1969-71 BS in Ed, 1973-76 MS in Ed; Taught High School social sciences 1971-96 at Ozark High School, Ozark, Missouri Taught at Drury University, Springfield, Missouri, as an adjunct professor of Anthropology and Archaeology, 1983 to 2003. Returned to teach 2010. I worked summers for the Center For Archaeological Research at Missouri State University for a few years before teaching at the University level. Archaeological work and study in Israel (City of David Archaeological Project, 1979), Greece, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Belize, Missouri, Colorado; Natl Endowment Humanities scholar on the Bi-centennial of the US Constitution in 1986, Fulbright seminars abroad scholar(six weeks in southern Africa studying Social and Economic Change in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, research published 1991); Vice President, Frisco Railroad Museum 1996-97; Who's Who(Social Studies, American Education) Since 2000 I have been a professor (Supervisor, Educational Field Experiences)supervising Student Teachers for the College of Education at Missouri State University, Springfield, MO. I love the job, as it offers a chance to train young educators for the classroom and allows me a great deal of freedom and flexibility. I work with a great group of seasoned professional educators at the College and in the public schools of Southwest Missouri. Update 2013- I am planning to retire at the end of the year. Retired from Missouri State University in 2014. Have been a volunteer(Education Specialist) at the History Museum On The Square in Springfield, MO. Voted the #1 new attraction in the US by USA Today in 2019. Spent several years on the Artillery Demonstration Team at Wilson's Creek National Battlefield (Civil War), loading and firing cannons and demonstrating how a common soldier lived. Sally and I are Community Advocates for AARP in southwest Missouri. Married to Sally, my best friend for 40 years, recently retired from social work for the State of Missouri. She is now working part time in the activities department at a local nursing home. Sally loves to work in the yard, read mystery novels and watch home improvement shows on TV. We travel every chance we get (New Zealand, Canada, Alaska, New England, Australia, Fiji, Tahiti, Belize, Mexico and Honduras in recent years) and plan to travel more in the future. We have two wonderful daughters; Shannon, living and working in Kansas City and Stephanie (getting her elementary education degree), married in April of 2004, living in Alaska with husband Kevin. Kevin operates heavy equipment for the city of Anchorage. Stephanie and Kevin presented us with our first grand child, Olivia Morgan Sager, in November of 2009. She is absolutely beautiful and the joy of our lives. Update, second child Eleanor, born in 2013, now 7 years old. Served two years as president of the Shay Owners Club International, a car club for owners of Shay/Camelot replica 1929 Model A roadsters and 1955 Thunderbird autos, produced between 1973 and 1984. I have owned both a Shay Roadster and a Shay T-bird. I sold my roadster to a couple from Colorado Springs in December of 2006, and now re-doing the T-bird. I am the administ...Expand for more