PARK HILLS – Matt Sopko, of Bonne Terre, has taken over the helm of EXCEL/Student Support Services upon the retirement of longtime director Elaine Belovich this summer. Sopko had been assistant director of EXCEL for the last 16 years. 

Sopko has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Southeast Missouri State University and a master’s degree in psychology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. He has also been an adjunct psychology instructor at both University of Missouri-St. Louis and MAC. 

He is a member of MoKanNe, an organization of educational opportunity programs in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska; Mid-America Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (MAEOPP); and Association for Pscyhological Science. 

Sopko is originally from Swartz Creek, Mich., and attended Doniphan High School in Missouri. He lives in Bonne Terre with his wife, Debbie, a special education teacher for North County R-1. The have two children — daughter Kristin, who is doing post doctorate work in neuropsychology at University of Michigan’s Department of Psychiatry; and son Erik, who is a recent Missouri Science Technology graduate majoring in biochemical engineering.