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Photo Stories


Genesis Coppenbarger, also known as Gen Stoner (187), attempts a star pass during the CoMo All Stars’ 229-121 victory over the Roughneck Tulsa Elite on April 11 at the Bob Lemone Building in Hallsville. Once serving as the coach, Mescher is a now a co-captain of the All Stars.
Kelsey Mescher looks through archived roller derby posters in her science classroom on April 18 at Battle High School in Columbia. “I’ve been very intentional with my posters,” Mescher said. “I want my students to realize that they belong here, but also that people that look like them can do science and can succeed in science.”
Kelsey Mescher skids to a stop during the CoMo All Stars bout against Roughneck Tulsa Elite on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at the Bob Lemone Building in Hallsville. Once serving as the coach of the team, Mescher is now a co-captain of the CoMo All Stars.
Kelsey Mescher points to a force graph during a physics lab on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at Battle High School in Columbia. Students were instructed to bump small cars together and measure equal force interactions using the force graph.
Kelsey Mescher calls out to Battle freshman Natalya Lakes (freshman) during her bout against Jefferson City junior Jaiden Allen at the CMAC wrestling tournament on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, at Hickman High School in Columbia. “As a female athlete that has had so few female coaches, it’s nice to know that someone will understand you a little bit in some capacity,” Mescher said.
The CoMo All Stars line up ahead of their bout against Roughneck Tulsa Elite on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at the Bob Lemone Building in Hallsville. CoMo Roller Derby is made up of two teams: the CoMo All Stars and the CoMo B Rolls. “I really reject this idea that it doesn’t matter what you show up in,” Mescher said, “It matters what you show up in. You should show up in your uniform. Hopefully your uniform is dope and you feel good in it, and then you play awesome.”
Kelsey Mescher, known as Mesch’er Up (17) on the track, leads the defense with Q. T. Kilr (left) (187) and L on Wheels (right) (1969) against Roughneck Tulsa Elite on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at the Bob Lemone Building in Hallsville. Mescher’s striped helmet designates her as a pivot, the team’s defensive anchor.
A 2018 CoMo Roller Derby poster hangs in Mescher’s science classroom on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at Battle High School in Columbia. In addition to roller derby, Mescher has also played soccer, taekwondo and basketball. “My confidence and my sports-mindedness and my long history of doing hard things in sport gave me the confidence to start stepping up a little bit more in derby,” Mescher said. “And then I did start taking on the coaching role and people were responsive.”
Kelsey Mescher explains a lab experiment to Battle freshmen Cameron Uhuru (left) and Jay’vionMinnis (right) on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at Battle High School in Columbia.  “I love when I am coaching derby and telling people the reason we do this is all about physics,” Mescher said.
Kelsey Mescher smiles in conversation with with her mother Kelly Mescher (right), Josh Gaskins (left) and his partner Kelly Gaskins (center left) after CoMo All Stars’ 229-121 win against Tulsa Elite on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at the Bob Lemone Building in Hallsville. Josh Gaskins is an assistant wrestling coach at Battle High School and Kelly Mescher is a Women’s Flat Track Derby Association official.



Sharelife Farms (2025)

Jim Thomas looks at his house while standing front of his hoop houses on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at Sharelife Farms in Marshall, Mo. Jim Thomas has been farming vegetables on Share Life Farms since 1999 to accommodate for his wife’s autoimmune disorder. Before then, Thomas farmed corn, beans and wheat.
Rosie Thomas watches as Jim Thomas waters vegetables in the greenhouse. “Well, Jimmy's had to change. Jimmy would love to farm big machinery and stuff,” Rosie Thomas said. “And he quit because of me. And that's hard. That's hard on anybody that you love that wants to do something and they can't do it because of you, but Jimmy's been really good at that.”
Jim Thomas holds the organic fertilizer used on their farm. “A lot of times people don't think organic farmers use fertilizer, but this is our nitrogen source. It's made out of blood meal and feather meal, and it's granulated.” Thomas said.
Red Russian kale grows in a hoop house on Share Life Farms on March 18. At the farmers market that weekend, Jim and Rosie Thomas sold kale, arugula, potatoes, and spinach. 
Rosie Thomas holds a tray of tomato seeds in the farm greenhouse. Rosie grows different types of tomatoes on her own to sell in the summer.
Rosie Thomas watches Little Star play in the farm greenhouse in Marshall, Missouri. “I feel better when I'm out with the plants, and I don't know if it’s because of the oxygen that the plants put off, you know?” Thomas said. “But I can really not feel real good at all and then go out and pick and stuff. I just, I feel better, you know. I love my plants.”
The family dog, Little Star, sits in the Club Car as Rosie Thomas pets her on the cheek. When the farm used to have chickens, Little Star would help herd them. 
Jim Thomas sprays growing vegetables with water in his farm’s greenhouse. Because of his wife’s condition, Thomas started farming organically. “Of course I tell people I'm a row crop farmer at heart,” Thomas said. “When I couldn't do that, the Lord was good to me. He allowed me to keep farming and grow things, and it's been rewarding.”