tsimmons@vernonpublishing.com
816-801-0809
Job Duties: Aleia serves as the newspaper’s editor and reporter.
Education: Aleia was raised in Elkton and graduated from Wheatland R-II in 2013. She attended Moberly Area Community College in Columbia where she pursued a degree in English. She began her career as the General Reporter for The Index in late July 2015, and took on the role as Editor in January 2022.
About: Aleia enjoys reading, writing, and quilting. She is an avid animal lover with 11 dogs and three cats. She has three older siblings and 12 nieces and nephews whom she loves dearly.
Her father has been a Star Wars fanatic since childhood and planned to name his daughter Leia after the princess. However, Aleia’s mother vetoed the idea feeling that Leia was too close to their older daughter’s name, Lisa. Not to be discouraged, he slapped an "A" at the beginning then changed the pronunciation so that it would be said like uh-lee-uh instead of uh-lay-ah. It proved an acceptable enough deviation for his wife. One can only imagine his disappointment and heartbreak when his baby girl grew up to become a staunch Star Trek fan and proudly proclaimed herself a Trekkie.