ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Experiential learning, innovation, and service come together when C-SC’s future educators provide Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) Days on campus to area youth.

On a few occasions when Canton R-V schools were not in session, two things occurred at Culver-Stockton College: elementary school kids filled the third floor of Henderson Hall, and STEAM was everywhere! Our forward-thinking Education Department hosted cost-free “STEAM Education Days” for Canton students, providing hands-on experiences combining science, technology, engineering, art, and math for kindergarten through sixth-grade kids.

Associate Professor of Education, and Chair of the Education Department, Dr. Cindy Whiston, said there were many reasons to launch the program this year. Still, the main factors were to benefit the community and the C-SC students equally. Whiston said,

“We are always looking for more opportunities to utilize new skill sets, especially regarding STEAM education. Planning these dates when Canton had teacher work days was a great way to help local parents and provide our C-SC students with hands-on training.”

-DR. CINDY WHISTON ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION

Each STEAM Day incorporates a theme like weather or transportation. Building off the theme, C-SC Education majors plan lessons to engage the students in various problemsolving techniques across campus. Participants utilized a parachute in the Mabee Center, visited the campus TV station, flew a plane across the quad, constructed a boat that floated on the water while withstanding the weight of copper, and made new connections while working in teams!

The events began in the fall, and each event has drawn slightly more students than previous ones. Students show up expecting a fun day of games, building, and adventures.

“It was rewarding to watch our students interact with the K-6 students during STEAM Days because they think they are here just to have a fun time at the College, we know that every activity they are doing has a learning objective built into it.”

-DR. LINDSAY UHLMEYER ‘04 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION

This is the first year the Education Department has hosted STEAM events, but they said they plan to grow the program in the coming years, continuing to serve the Canton community when the school district has teacher in-service days. For more information regarding upcoming STEAM Days, contact Cindy Whiston at cwhiston@culver.edu.

“It means everything to be back on “the Hill!” Robin Taylor ’78 said with a smile as she walked through the Mabee Center doors. After three years of altered reunions, Wildcats were eager to gather for an entire weekend of Homecoming activities. Setting the theme for homecoming 2022 was established by vote. Current students, alumni, and employees were invited to participate through online voting. After the ballots were counted, Wildcats decided to “Bring on the Blue” during October 22-24, 2022, for the 98th celebration of homecoming in Canton.

Shades of blue, including “Wildcat Royal” were on display as we celebrated fifty years of women in sports during halftime of the football game; “Heritage Navy” was prominent as we inducted members into the Top of the Hill Society and honored distinguished alumni at the Alumni Honors Banquet. Throughout the weekend the hillside was sprinkled with blue and white as Wildcats from all generations met with one common goal: celebrating love for Culver-Stockton College.

Whether it was the parade, a reunion, or meaningful conversations on the quad, the events drew large packs of Wildcats to “the Hill” for Homecoming. “It’s so good to be back on campus for a full Homecoming and to hug friends you haven’t seen in years,” Jason Richmond ’03 said. Homecoming 2021 was limited to outdoor activities, but this year everyone fully reconnected, celebrated relationships, honored traditions and showcased their Wildcat spirit. For the first time in quite a while, our breathtaking campus displayed exuberant amounts of pride for the white and blue.

This Wildcat family is no stranger to hardships, yet they say mindset is a choice, and theirs will remain positive. After all, they are on a mission to honor their late son Gage and live a great story.

Incredibly joyful lives tell the most remarkable stories. Greg and Jennifer (Brown) Leftwich’s ’90 story began in the sixth grade.

Before the two even reached their teenage years, life was already shaping a joint mission they could not predict. Now, as the Palmyra, Missouri couple prepares for retirement, the Culver-Stockton College alumni have a clear view of their purpose.

The couple, who endured some of life’s largest challenges, chose to focus their energy on inspiring others to “live a great story.”

MOVING FORWARD, GIVING BACK

Their childhood meeting officially took place in a science class, where the two sat next to each other. Greg, a native of Canton, was joined by Jen, who transitioned to the school when her family moved to the area from Michigan. Her father, Dr. Robert W. Brown, had assumed the role of President at Culver-Stockton at the time. By high school, the two would find themselves involved in the same activities, and their friendship blossomed into a dating relationship.

Their senior year at Canton High School presented the couple with their first set of crossroads, both individually and as a pair. Having been raised in Canton, Greg said, “I wanted to get out and see the world.” He had an interest in agricultural engineering and chose the University of Missouri for the academic program.

Jen would go on to Culver-Stockton to study education. While she said she never considered any other college, she did worry about what being the “president’s kid” would mean for her. Would the teachers expect more from her? Would other students resent her for it? Luckily after choosing C-SC, she said, she was treated as any other student and was able to immerse herself in the community-oriented, supportive culture for which the college is known.

She moved into Johnson Residence Hall, majored in education, and joked that she made a point to “go home” for holiday dinners and occasional laundry.

After a few years at Mizzou, Greg said he found himself feeling lost. He said, “I have always wanted to be a trooper but thought I needed something to fall back on in case I got hurt.”

Moving home to Canton and enrolling at C-SC gave him a new focus.

In 1990, during his last semester of college, Greg received a call from the Missouri State Highway Patrol. He was one of 50 recruits selected to become an MSHP trooper, for which 5,000 men and women applied, an opportunity that was too good to pass up. Months before graduation, Greg left school and started his career. Jen graduated and became a special education teacher.

“We both found careers with a passion for giving back to the community,”

Jen said. “Although our careers will probably not pay us with lucrative financial rewards, we knew the rewards we would get far outweighed the paycheck.”

Bundles Of Joy

As the couple strengthened their commitment to the community through their first year of teaching and public service, they also vowed commitment to each other, marrying in November. They were blessed with their first child, a daughter they named Bailey, followed by a son, Taylor.

The Leftwich family grew, and they juggled careers and relationships before they were blessed with a third pregnancy, this time – twins. Unfortunately, one of the babies did not make it to earth. The other, a son, Gage, was born on Sept. 24, 1999.

“We knew something was wrong right away,” Greg said.

The couple said Gage’s sleep habits were not normal, and they had to wake him up to eat most of the time. For the first two years, as Gage’s developmental delays became more prevalent, the family endured countless doctor’s appointments, testing, and worry, desperate for a diagnosis that could lead them to help their son.

“We really didn’t fit in anywhere,” Jen said. “You can’t fix what you can’t diagnose.”

Then, devastating news about the toddler’s condition came as a blow to the couple – Gage’s liver was in trouble, and he wouldn’t make it past two years old.

The couple said their mindset, through life’s hardships, has created the most significant outcomes.

“When the doctor said our son wouldn’t make it past two, we went home and really cried, Jen said. “We’ll be sad later,” Greg responded, “that became our pact. We knew at that moment that someday we would lose Gage, and we would be sad then, but we were choosing to be happy every day he was here.”

The couple said choosing to live intentionally joyful lives became their mission because Gage was happy.

But Gage defied the odds, growing into a teenager, nonverbal and unable to communicate, with worsening motor skills and a long, tiring history of surgeries and testing that would yield no answers. The family decided that it was time to stop searching and focus on living. It was at this time the suggestion was made to do one more test – a genomics test to study Gage’s genes.

“We considered the quality of Gage’s life. He spent half of his life in a hospital,” Jen said. “This would be our last test. Gage deserved a life outside of a hospital.”