For 27 years, Montgomery County R-II Superintendent Dr. Tracy Bottoms has been pretty active in the education field, serving as superintendent for three school districts, working as a high school principal and being a member of several organizations.

All of that impressed his colleagues from the Northeast District of the Missouri Association of School Administrators. Bottoms was among eight Missouri superintendents who were nominated for the Robert L. Pearce Award, which is given every year by MASA.

Bottoms was nominated for the honor by the Northeast MASA District. He earned his nomination plaque at the MASA Spring Conference on March 22 at the Lodge of Four Seasons at the Lake of the Ozarks.

“The nomination makes me hope that in 27 years of public education, I have made a difference for a few folks, a few kids and staff,” Bottoms said. “If that’s the case, then that’s very humbling.”

Bottoms was part of a nomination list that included Jamie Burkhart of Green Ridge, Dan Clemens of North Kansas City, Aaron Gerla of Ash Grove R-IV, Sharonica Hardin-Bartley of University City, Josh Hoener of New Haven, Ashley McMillian of Central R-III and John Rinehart of West Platte County R-II. Hardin-Bartley was named the recipient of the award.

“There were several people on that list I knew,” Bottoms said. “I felt honored to be included with those folks who I know are great people and probably did a great job for their districts.”

Bottoms said he has known Rinehart for 27 years. They coached against each other in junior high school basketball. Bottoms was in Paris, while Rinehart was in Centralia. Paris was where Bottoms started his education career in 1996.

Bottoms is now in his third year as R-II’s superintendent. He also served as superintendent of the Monroe City School District for four years and the Keytesville R-III School District for five.

“It’s a tough time to be a superintendent with the open enrollment, charter schools and voucher conversations and all of these conversational topics that are going on,” Bottoms said. “It’s a tough time to be in public education. But in my mind, the benefit has never been greater.”

The Pearce award was first given in 1987 by Richard and David Pearce, who were then the principals of a Missouri architectural firm called the Pearce Corporation. It honors superintendents in each of the eight regions in Missouri for excellence in education and community leadership.

David Luther, MASA’s communications director, said Bottoms has been well respected in not only the Northeast Missouri region, but throughout the state.

“I had an opportunity to speak to him both before and after the banquet,” Luther said. “He was very pleased. He was very humble. Going in, he said, ‘I don’t know if I am the guy for this, but I’m thrilled that my peers selected me from Northeast Missouri.’ He’s a good fellow.”

Bottoms said Luther is one of the best people he met during his long education career.

“David is a great guy,” Bottoms said. “He has done a great job for our superintendent association, spreading the word about public education.”