JAG-Missouri programs and students will benefit from Teresa Smith’s background in both education and business background. The combination will help JAG-Missouri build a strong workforce for Missouri.
Being raised in the family grocery store in Van Buren laid the foundation for her business experience. Employability skills became second nature and were later used while working for area businesses and owning her own clothing store. Cattle farming added a completely new dimension of business knowledge.
She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Business Education and a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education both from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, and continued with a Masters and Specialist in Education Administration at SBU.
Smith has more than 30 years of experience as an educator and administrator in Van Buren, Waynesville, Rolla and Clearwater school districts. In that time, she has taught elementary, middle school science and computer skills, and a variety of high school classes.
She spent the past five years of her career as a high school principal first at Clearwater R-1 in Piedmont and then at Van Buren. Her first year as a high school principal she earned recognition as New Principal of the Year for Southeast Missouri.
In addition to her work in K-12, Smith has served as an adjunct faculty member for Southwest Baptist University, Hannibal LaGrange, and Central Methodist University.
Smith retired from Van Buren’s administration June 30, 2020, and joined the JAG-Missouri team.