Month: November 2025

Praji Ghosh

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — After the St. Joseph School District Board of Education voted on Nov. 24 to move forward with Plan 4BR, the Benton and Central High School model, Superintendent Ashly McGinnis said it’s important than ever for families to understand why this plan was chosen. 

McGinnis said the main push for moving to a two–high school model comes down to academics and the ongoing national teacher shortage, which has made it difficult to fully staff all three high schools. 

“The original reason… were to right-size our district, meaning we have some extra space that we’re not using and we need to be more efficient as a school district,” McGinnis said.  

She added, the district’s financial situation also played a major role, highlighting how consolidation brings some needed relief. 

According to McGinnis, the changes will help the district operate more efficiently while offering equal academic and extracurricular opportunities to students — all while reducing costs.  

“By reducing three high schools to two high schools, we’ll be able to consolidate some of that staffing, which will result in financial savings,” McGinnis added.   

McGinnis acknowledged the uncertainty families have felt over the past few months. While she knows the decision may be disappointing for some, she believes having a clear direction brings a sense of relief for both students and staff.  

“We have to be thinking 15 years down the road, what do we want our district to look like? The thought of having a new high school in our community, I think, is…is on the horizon in the future.”  

She also stressed the importance of giving students access to modern facilities so they can stay competitive with neighboring districts and help attract more families to the community. 

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News-Press NOW

By: Darren Doyle

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — St. Joseph Griffons Ice Hockey is taking in its tradition of bringing familiar faces together for the Holidays.

The alumni games took place on Wednesday, Nov. 26, at Bode Ice Arena, where attendees were able to give back to the community.

Admission to all St. Joseph Youth Hockey Association games is usually free; however, each person in attendance brought one non-perishable item as their entry fee.

All the food collected at the end of the night was donated to Second Harvest Food Bank in St. Joseph. 

For second-year SJYHA President Adam Danner, seeing a large turnout of familiar faces supporting the community makes the event worthwhile.

“There’s a lot of people in our community that sponsor this program, so we appreciate them a lot,” Danner said. 

For the SJYHA, hockey isn’t only a sport; it’s a way to teach the younger generation about character. Wednesday saw returns of some players who had kids watching them retake the rink. 

Returners like Curran Stuck, who has only been away from the team a couple of years, credit the opportunities given during his days as a Griffon at Bode Ice Arena. 

“It taught me to be a leader and to help people, because doing the (Try Hockey for Free events) and helping many kids, like learn about hockey and like develop their skills and stuff, I think it taught me to be a great leader,” Stuck shared. 

The biannual “Try Hockey for Free” event will return to Bode Ice Arena on Dec. 6.

The event allows youth of most ages to try hockey drills free of charge and will take place from 3:15 to 3:45 p.m.

Interested individuals and families can visit the St. Joseph Youth Hockey Association’s Facebook page for more information about upcoming events and teams.

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Cameron Montemayor

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Located inside Wyatt Park Baptist Church on North Leonard Road lies a stained glass window towering more than 20 feet, a work of art, and one of the relics from their old church that stood for 83 years at 28th and Mitchell streets.

Vibrant stained glass found inside many churches, a renowned art form dating back to the 7th century, often depicts a story deeply connected with the church’s mission.

Until recently, the window inside Wyatt Park was also connected with the last era where the church wasn’t struggling with a mountain of debt; a deficit tied to costs for constructing their $13 million North Leonard Road church between 1995 to 2003 and worsened by the financial crisis of 2008.

“Their first mortgage payment was $48,000. For the past 10 or 15 years, the debt was so overwhelming, they were in survival mode,” Wyatt Park Baptist Pastor Jeff Burns said. “Instead of being able to focus on reaching the world with the gospel, they were focused on paying a debt and making sure that the lights were turned on.”

Faced with a staggering $2.5 million in debt, sky-high mortgage payments and years of declining attendance, Burns, an Indiana native studying in Kansas City in 2021, took the chance to lead the church facing an uphill climb.

Burns remembers around 80 people attending his first service, a sharp decline from the 400 to 500 it once averaged for years on Sunday.

“The church was so desperate to go back to its identity of reaching people,” he said. “Before they built this building, so much more money was spent towards missions, towards evangelism.”

The history of Wyatt Park Baptist Church dates back to 1889 when the church first opened at 28th and Seneca streets, later relocating to 28th and Mitchell streets from 1912 to 1995 before moving to North Leonard Road.

Fast forward to 2021, with a laundry list of deferred maintenance and any number of areas to address, Burns focused his efforts on building a strong staff and providing stability on Sundays, the foundation of any church.

Slowly but surely, membership flourished and enthusiasm grew.

“I felt like one of the most important things that we could do was culture change,” Burns said. “Discipleship ministries, small group ministries, all those things kind of just kind of trickled in.”

With post-COVID interest rates beginning to climb in 2023 — putting increased pressure on long-term mortgage payments — Burns formed a special subcommittee with other church members called “Unshackled,” to make an all-out push at reducing debt over the next five to six years.

With the help of a reenergized congregation, a capital campaign among church members and the community resulted in more than 100 families donating in support.

“Some people gave 20 bucks, or 20 bucks a month for two years. But then we also got huge gifts of $10,000, $50,000, $100,000,” he said. “So many people wanted to see us reduce this debt.”

In one year, Wyatt Park was able to knock off more than $1 million from the deficit after its foundation agreed to provide $500,000, nearly the last of its reserves, in matching funds to help reduce the deficit.

At the same time, the church was also able to readjust its mortgage loan, something they credit Nodaway Valley Bank with, helping cut their monthly payments from $18,000 to $10,000.

The church was riding a wave of momentum. Then, like something out of a Hollywood film, a check arrived unexpectedly in November 2024.

“We received a check for $470,000 from someone who passed away who used to go to our church. It was through their estate, part of a trust,” Burns said. “I remember calling one of the guys from the Unshackled Committee, I told him what happened and he goes, ‘Jeff, we might actually pay this off.”

On the first Sunday this November, just two years into their five-year effort, the last dollar was raised. The following Sunday, Burns and others made the announcement.

Burns described it as a special moment for everyone. 

“A group of people from our church that were committed to this process that have been here since the beginning, many of them have told me ‘I didn’t think I was going to live to see this,’” Burns said. “Other people have seen this debt their entire life.”

For the first time in 30 years, Wyatt Park is able to focus on improvements to the 80,000-square-foot building, including new speakers, HVAC, parking resurfacing and roof repairs. A new outlook on life.

Since arriving in 2021, the church has grown by 126 new members and regularly sees between 300 and 350 people at Sunday service, a huge jump from 80 when Burns first arrived. 

“It’s fun to be here on Sunday and Monday. It’s a place where we see God at work. And I think people want to be a part of that,” he said. 

The church recently carried out renovations to many of its nursery and Sunday school rooms and even added a coffee shop to accommodate growth in young adult members.

At this year’s Fall concert, nearly 800 people were in attendance. 

“I feel blessed to be here, blessed to be part of this chapter,” Burns said. “For the past 30 years, you know, this has been the chapter. Now this has given us an opportunity to really pray about what God wants the next chapter of Wyatt Park to be.”

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