Wentzville School District Lead Art Teacher Hester Menier has been named President of the Missouri Art Education Association (MAEA), an organization dedicated to keeping quality visual arts education in Missouri schools.

Menier has taught art in the WSD for 20 years and currently teaches at Stone Creek Elementary. She has worked previously at Duello Elementary and West Elementary (now Heritage Primary) and was selected building Teacher of the Year in 2002 and 2009. In 2014, she was named MAEA Elementary Art Educator of the Year and she was the first teacher in the District to achieve National Board Certification in 2010.

As president, Menier will be responsible for overseeing the planning of conferences and presiding over conference general sessions and MAEA meetings. She will also serve as the Missouri delegate to the National Art Education Association States Assembly and represent MAEA at all NAEA and Western Region conventions, conferences and meetings for four consecutive years.

“I am so proud to lead and represent the MAEA,” said Menier. “They have been my source of inspiration and support for decades. The members are my tribe. In them, I find great teachers and leaders who I look up to and strive to meet the bar they set so high. I find my friends, the people who laugh and cry with me - even from across the state. And I find endless resources; I can always find an expert willing to share their time and talents to help me learn a new skill. I hope that I will serve them all well in the years to come.”

Menier was honored at the MAEA Spring Conference held April 11-13 at the Intercontinental on the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri.