(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) – Warrensburg residents Kelsey Kidd, an early childhood and elementary education major, and Tony Monetti, assistant dean of aviation, were honored by the University of Central Missouri’s board of governors March 28 for earning the Learning to a Greater Degree Award.
The awards were presented by President Charles Ambrose and board President Marvin “Bunky” Wright, of Columbia.
“Learning to a Greater Degree is the expression of the university’s strategic positioning and is summed up in the four reasons to believe: engaged learning, future-focused academics, worldly perspective and culture of service,” said Robin Krause, UCM director of marketing and promotion. “People in the UCM community strongly support the reasons to believe and give life to the strategic positioning platform. The university would like to recognize those individuals in the UCM community who are living examples of why we believe in Learning to a Greater Degree at UCM.”
Established in 2012, Learning to a Greater Degree Awards are presented during the fall and spring at UCM. One award per semester is presented to a student and the other honors a faculty or staff member.
Kidd is planning to participate in student teaching this fall. Her campus and local involvement includes leading several student organizations as well as being active in her church.  Krause said Kidd embodies UCM’s emphasis on a “worldly perspective” through her participation in the Jamaican Study Tour, a trip to Sweden with World Diversity, and her initiation into the International Honor Society, Phi Beta Delta.
Kidd has held leadership positions in organizations such as Leadership, Education, Advocacy, Development, and the Missouri State Teachers Association. She also has made scholarly presentations alongside UCM faculty at the Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (MACTE) conference in Columbia.
A retired Air Force pilot who has years of experience flying aircraft such as the B-2, Monetti joined the university in 2012. As assistant dean of aviation and executive director of Skyhaven Airport at UCM, Monetti oversees the only university-operated community airport and aviation education program in the state of Missouri.
Monetti has also initiated course development in the area of unmanned aerial vehicles, and developed aviation course opportunities at Whiteman Air Force Base. He has also worked to increase student internship opportunities with aviation-related companies, and strengthened university-corporate collaborations to benefit the aviation program and its students.
Working with his staff, an air show was developed in 2012, and has continued to grow in a short time. In 2013, more than 5,000 people attended the event, which gave the audience an opportunity to see vintage aircraft and displays, as well as progress being made at Max B. Swisher Skyhaven Airport.
For more information, visit ucmo.edu/greaterdegree.