The Raymore-Peculiar Public School Foundation announces two recipients of the 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award: Shauna Stephenson and Stephen Rew. The award recipients have excelled in their careers and have given back to their communities. They will be honored on Sept. 24 at a special luncheon, at a tailgate party sponsored by the Foundation, and at the Homecoming Football Game.
Distinguished Alumni 2021
School Board honors 2021 Distinguished Alumni
The School Board on Nov. 18 recognized two individuals who were honored by the Ray-Pec Public School Foundation as the Distinguished Alumni award recipients for 2021. Shauna Stephenson is a 1998 Ray-Pec High School graduate, and Stephen Rew is a 1999 Ray-Pec graduate. They are each pictured with Board Member Aaron Howlett.
Shauna Stephenson, Class of 1998, left, and Stephen Rew, Class of 1999, right, pose with Jodie Huston, Executive Director of the Ray-Pec Public School Foundation, at the Homecoming football game on Sept. 24, 2021.
Shauna Stephenson
Shauna Stephenson graduated from Ray-Pec High School in 1998. During high school, Shauna was involved in National Honor Society, Peer Mediation, and Red Cross.
Through a business class she was taking, she helped start the “First Bank of Ray-Pec.” This was a student-run bank that worked in conjunction with a local financial institution that resulted in the real-world learning opportunities, such as understanding banking processes, saving money, and conducting transactions.
After high school, she graduated from Avila University with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. Shauna has been in banking for 24 years and has worked at Community Bank of Raymore since 2007. She is currently Senior Vice President and Retail Banking Manager at Community Bank of Raymore.
Shauna currently serves as Vice President of the Raymore-Peculiar Public School Foundation, President of the Raymore-Peculiar South Middle School PTA, Board Member of the Cass Community Health Foundation, and a member of the Raymore Chamber of Commerce. She is also Chair for the Community Bank of Raymore’s annual “Stuff the Bus” program, which helps local students and families obtain brand new school supplies, an event that has been going strong since 2009. Additionally, she is the Co-Chair for the Community Bank of Raymore’s annual Operation: Gratitude, which pulls the community together to express appreciation to members of the military serving abroad.
Previously, Shauna also served as president of the Raymore Chamber of Commerce (2009), Raymore Festival volunteer, co-chair of the Raymore Parade (10 years), board member of the Raymore Park Foundation, and member of Ray-Pec School District Citizens Advisory Council.
Shauna and her husband of 18 years, Tim Stephenson, who is also a 1998 Ray-Pec graduate, have two children, Alex and Brooke, who both attend Ray-Pec schools.
Stephen Rew
Stephen Rew is a 1999 graduate of Ray-Pec High School. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music Education from the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
In his career as an educator he has received his district’s Teacher of the Year Award two times (Drexel, 2005, and Ray-Pec, 2013).
Stephen is in his fifth year as the vocal music teacher at Ray-Pec High School. Previously, he taught music for eight years at Eagle Glen Intermediate School, and three years at Ray-Pec Middle School.
He is currently serving in the role as Past-President for the Missouri Choral Directors Association.
Stephen is entering his 22nd year as a professional church musician as the music director at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. He is also a motivational speaker, published composer and lyricist, and penned the music and lyrics to the Raymore-Peculiar Alma Mater.
Stephen also has a low-carb Youtube cooking channel, The Chew with Rew. Check it out here. He also has a website.
Stephen and his wife, Cindy (Ray-Pec High School graduate from the Class of 2000), and their children, Mason and Chloe, live in Raymore near Hawkridge Park.