26th Annual Salute to Education - September 2013

President’s Statement

Salute to Excellence In Education

Recently, The St. Louis American received first place for its Newspaper in Education (NIE) program among nondaily newspapers by the National Newspaper Association, which is the country’s largest newspaper association with 2,200 member newspapers. We took top honors in what was only our first year of presenting the program.

Every week in our NIE program last year, 5,200 students in the Normandy and St. Louis Public Schools received a free newspaper, making it the largest free, print NIE program in the entire state of Missouri. One page of our paper was completely dedicated to giving teachers a tool they can use in their classrooms, and it included exercises and articles on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) literacy. Fortunately, our program has been embraced by school administrators, teachers, students and parents.

Our NIE program is a small part of a national movement to creatively improve American students’performance in the STEM disciplines, in part to prepare them for a changing, technologicallydriven global economy. According to many studies, American students lag behind in STEM scores, especially considering the wealth of this nation and its amazing educational resources. And African-American students (who form the majority in most of the classrooms reached by our NIE program) lag further behind their white American peers.

In a Sept. 3 New York Times report on

Donald M.Suggs President St.Louis American Foundation

the status of STEM education in this country, mathematician and university President Freeman A. Hrabowski III (of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County) calls for “more partnerships involving school systems, the corporate sector and government” that introduce students to STEM disciplines in creative, real-life contexts. We believe the media needs to be added to this partnership nexus, and that is the spirit behind our NIE program, which relies on corporate support to teach STEM subjects to public school students using the practical medium of a community newspaper.

Agreeing with Hrabowski that we need “more partnerships” of this sort, we’ve expanded our NIE program to include the Ferguson-Florissant, Hazelwood and East St. Louis school districts. We also have added another section called “Healthy Kids” that includes a focus on achievers in the health-care field, along with practical

information promoting wellness and safety. We do not intend to stop our expansion there.

For us, national recognition for our NIE program is heartening because this program accords deeply with our core values of empowering public educators and reaching our children when they are young to encourage them to become lifelong learners. As many know, the St. Louis American Foundation has been awarding educators and providing college scholarships to students for 26 years, through the Salute to Excellence program, which has fostered more than $2.5 million in scholarships. And we are far from finished with this important work that helps enable the next generation of learners and leaders.

The American’s NIE award was part of the annual Newspaper And Education contest. In the judges’comments, they stated, “This newspaper set a very high standard and attained it, and used it as a baseline for not only keeping the program, but fully supporting it with a fulltime coordinator.”

We very much intend to be here in the future forging new creative partnerships, and furthering our many existing community partnerships, in the interest of better educating all of our children and youth, especially helping to realize more of the great potential of the AfricanAmerican youth whose contributions are so critical to the future of this region and the nation.

2013 Education Chairs and Co-Chairs

General Co-Chairs:

Margarita Flores

Vice President, Community Affairs

Anheuser-Busch

Michael McMillan

President & CEO

Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis

Honorary Chairpersons:

Maxine Clark

Hon. Charlie Dooley

Hon. Darlene Green

Hon. Tishaura O. Jones

Hon. Lewis E. Reed

Henry S. Webber

Dinner Committee:

Kelvin R. Adams, Ph.D

Melanie A. Adams

Malik Ahmed

Judy Armstrong

Anita Banks

Richard Banks

Adrian Bracy

Gerald S. Brooks

E.L. (Jack) Boatman

Nina Caldwell

Vanessa Foster-Cooksey

Steven Cousins

William Danforth

Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins

Dr. Myrtle E.B. Dorsey

Pamela Wall-Dover

Judge Jimmie Edwards

Flint Fowler

Minga & Johnny Furr Jr.

Sherman George

Thomas F. George

Dr. Henry Givens Jr.

Laurna C. Godwin

Gabe Gore

Becky James-Hatter

Eleanor Higgins

Michael Holmes

Jerry M. Hunter

Dr. Charlene L. Jones

Darryl Jones

Mike Jones

Dr. William Jones

Michael Kennedy, Jr.

Roger Macon

Richard Mark

Sal Martinez

Martin Mathews

Michael Middleton

Anisha Morrell

One of the largest weekly newspapers in Missouri

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Donald M. Suggs –Publisher & Executive Editor

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Editorial

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Production

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Kathleen T. Osborn

Deborah Patterson

Cheryl D. Polk

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Harry Ratliff

Bessie & Veto Reid

Will Ross, MD, MPH

Jerome J. Schlichter

David L. Steward

Beth Stroble

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An environment forlearning

Asculpture

park is Clara Collins Coleman’s classroom

By Andrew Fowler

For The St.Louis American

Clara Collins Coleman is an educator with an unconventional classroom. It includes not only indoor space, but also spans many open-air acres. Her students are diverse in age, and they don’t just learn from books, but from materials that are often larger than them.

Coleman is the Curator of Interpretation at Laumeier Sculpture Park and Museum. She facilitates the creation of educational programming, writes grants for the park and interacts with visitors on a daily basis by giving tours.

“For every exhibition, we try to do educational programs to help folks understand what the artist is trying to say,” Coleman said. “I produce information to help that dialogue.”

Coleman has been in the museum field for 35 years and has a unique

Excellence in Education Awardee

experience in providing art education for many in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

“The key to education is developing an environment that is conducive for learning,” Coleman said. “We have that kind of naturally. You don’t feel that same sense of intimidation. In an open air museum the art is very approachable. We have a lot of things you can touch.”

Coleman pushes her students of all ages to learn how to think critically about the art they are viewing by better understanding the artist and also drawing their own meaning from the work.

“You learn quickly that you can get 15 different responses from the same

work of art,” Coleman said. “When that happens we have to listen to other people’s perspectives, not just our own.”

Coleman was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi and raised in St. Louis. She graduated from University City High School in 1968 and attended Webster University as a double major in Art and English.

While taking post-graduate classes, she learned about a program that trained people for the museum field. This was her opportunity to put her love for art and history to work. Through the program she started working with St. Louis County, which was the first time she worked with Laumeier Sculpture Park and Museum.

“I originally started at the registrar identifying objects,” Coleman said. “I started working at Laumeier when nothing was out here.”

See COLLINSWN, page 6

Clara Collins Coleman,curator of Interpretation at Laumeier Sculpture Park

Photo by Wiley Price

2013 Salute to Education

COLLINS

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She would return to Laumeier years later, but only after a move to New Orleans. Her husband Kenneth L. Coleman, now deceased, encouraged her to make the move.

“I met my husband in college, and he was a mentor as well,” Coleman said. “He was always my ‘yes, you can’person.”

In New Orleans, she worked at the Louisiana State Museum and the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. “New Orleans is Mecca for art, history and culture,” Coleman said.

Coleman immersed herself in its culture and art. She worked with the New Orleans Jazz Heritage Foundation, doing community service and writing community grants. She also had the opportunity to travel to Mali in West Africa.

“When I was exposed to the art of Africa, I found a lot of power from a lot of objects have been disconnected from their meanings,” Coleman said. “It’s just something that I’ve always loved and tried to share in all aspects of life.”

After living in New Orleans for 17 years, Coleman returned to St. Louis.

“When I came back to St. Louis, I

“The key to education is developing an environment that is conducive for learning.”

– Clara Collins Coleman,curator of Interpretation at Laumeier Sculpture Park

found an opening at Laumeier, where I started,” Coleman said. “So I’ve come full circle.”

At the sculpture park, she uses all that she has absorbed of the arts in various media.

“Art and music, those are the two things that allow kids to understand the rest, so to speak,” Coleman said. “You have to have an opportunity for creativity and critical thinking, and that’s what art and music allow you to do.”

Coleman does think of herself as an educator, though not in the traditional way.

Her job as an educator in the museum world is all about the passing of knowledge.

“That sense of passing on is an integral part of my personality,” Coleman said. “When you’re working as a curator, it’s a nurturing role, and that is an important part of education.”

Tiffany Fane, M.A.,: effecting change in students

Teaching science – and life skills – at Hazelwood East Middle

By Andrew Fowler

For The St.Louis American

Tiffany Fane was born and raised in St. Louis and graduated from the Hazelwood School District. Now she has returned to that district as the seventhgrade science teacher at Hazelwood East Middle School. Her road to becoming an educator was filled with detours and difficulty, but she has proven her ability to thrive in the field.

In 1996, Fane graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a degree in biological sciences and with plans of becoming an optometrist.

“It unfolded how the Lord willed,” Fane said.

After she graduated, Fane’s own elementary school, Our Lady of the Angels, offered her a teaching position. She started teaching pre-kindergarten and eventually fifth grade. During her time at the school, her students had big impact on her life.

“Just their imagination and desire to learn and know, that was the actual eye-

Excellence in Education Awardee

opener,” Fane said. “We were just having so much fun finding out answers to life problems.”

It was difficult for Fane when the school closed only two years after she began teaching, but she decided to return to her pursuit of a career in optometry. She began taking classes at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, but when an opportunity to join a program to become a certified teacher arose, she realized her true passion.

“I missed being in the classroom,” Fane said. “I had that desire to go back into the classroom and effect change that way. With optometry, I liked what I did, but I didn’t love it.”

From this point, Fane never looked back. In 2001, she began her three years with the St. Louis Public Schools, which she described as foundational for her

career in education.

“At Blow Middle School, I had a young girl in a high-poverty area, and she didn’t know how to read,” Fane said. “She could come to school early, so I’d come early and I would spend some time with her. So I knew then that something got to my heart.”

After two years at Blow, Fane began teaching at Carnahan Middle School, and in 2004 she began teaching at Kirby Middle School in the Hazelwood District. The school’s name was changed to Hazelwood East Middle School in 2007.

No matter where she is teaching, Fane is always looking to touch the lives of students beyond the science classroom.

“At Hazelwood, I had a student who was into gangs and drugs and wanted to give up, but he couldn’t because he provided money to his home. He shared this with me,” Fane said.

“I showed him other routes. He came back and told me he was in college.

See FANE, page 11

Photo by Wiley Price

Tiffany Fane,seventh grade science teacher at Hazelwood East Middle School

2013 Salute to Education Page 11

FANE

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Those are the moments, when you actually can effect a change in students.”

Fane loves making a difference at Hazelwood East Middle School, but she had to fight to stay at the school during a restructuring period. In 2009 Hazelwood Middle School did not meet the standards set by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The school was designated a turnaround school, and 50 percent of the staff was reassigned to a different school in the district.

Fane had to interview to keep her job. After being rehired, she was designated as one of the team leaders to help in the transition. Though the transition has been difficult for faculty, staff and students, Fane has not changed how she goes about motivating her students to achieve.

“What I tell my students is, education is freedom,” Fane said. “I teach 99 percent African-American population, and I tie in why it’s freedom for us. Many of our people were self-educated, and they had that zeal to learn. I try to instill in them to be self-educated.”

Fane also reaches out to young women at her school through the afterschool program she chartered at

Hazelwood East Middle School. Fane’s godmother started the Young Ladies of Excellence in the Ferguson-Florissant School District. Fane’s mother started a chapter as a teacher at Berkeley Middle School. And now Fane has brought the program to the Hazelwood School District.

“The club is basically a support group for girls that teaches them etiquette, skills, leadership, and overall growth and awareness,” Fane said.

Looking to the future, Fane hopes to become a high-school administrator. In 2007 she received her master’s degree in educational administration from Lindenwood University.

“I tend to think of the classroom as my little world in a big world,” Fane said. “As an administrator you have lots of small worlds, so it’s not just the classroom but the school. It’s being able to effect change on a bigger spectrum.”

She is also considering getting her Ph.D. in education and possibly teaching on the collegiate level. “I like teaching, so my goal would be to teach teachers,” Fane said.

Fane’s main goal right now, though, is to help her students reach their future goals.

“I’m preparing them for high school and then college and then life,” Fane said. “I’m getting them to see what the overall goal is, why this is important.”

‘Making teachers betterto make students smarter’

Nathalie D. Means Henderson, Ed.S., principal of Jefferson Elementary School in SLPS

Excellence in Education Awardee

By Andrew Fowler

For The St.Louis American

Nathalie Means Henderson just started her fifth year as the principal of Jefferson Elementary School in the St. Louis Public School District. She was born and raised in Concord, North Carolina, but has been in St. Louis for the past 10 years and has learned to thrive in this community.

She remembers visiting St. Louis for a Lutheran convention as a teenager, not knowing that this would eventually be her home.

“As a 15 year old, I visited this community,” Henderson said. “God has really been looking out for me in St. Louis.”

Like her adaptation to St. Louis, working in the education field seems to be a natural fit as well. Henderson comes from a family of educators. Both her

grandmother and mother were teachers. Her husband, Terrell Henderson, who she married this past summer, is a fellow St. Louis Public School principal at Beaumont High School.

After graduating from Spelman College in 2003 with degrees in history and Spanish, Henderson joined Teach for America and was placed at Sumner High School, where she taught for two years.

During that time she was selected to participate in the St. Louis Public Schools’New Leaders Program. In 2005, she was a principal intern at Beaumont. The following year she became the assistant principal at Blow Middle School. In 2007, she worked as the assistant principal of McKinley Classical Leadership Academy, and in 2009, she assumed her current position as the principal of Jefferson Elementary School. She is also an adjunct professor at Lindenwood University teaching educational administration classes.

Through her time in St. Louis working in the education field, she has contin-

See HENDERSON, page 14

Photo by Wiley Price

Nathalie Means Henderson,principal of Jefferson Elementary School in the St.Louis Public School District

HENDERSON

continued from page 13

ued to grow as an educator and has committed her time and energy to improving the education provided to children in St. Louis city.

“When I was a principal intern, one of the administrators at Beaumont said working in schools is my ministry,” Henderson said. “Her saying that has really stuck in my mind. If what I do is making teachers better to make students smarter, then that’s what I need to do.”

As she transitioned to becoming an administrator, she earned her master’s in special education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) and her educational leadership degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has returned to UMSL, where she is pursuing her doctoral degree in educational administration.

While Henderson is focused on making sure children leave her school prepared to enter middle school, she also spends time preparing even younger students to enter elementary school. She serves on the board of the I. Jerome and Rosemary Early Childhood Center.

“Our goal is to really create a solid foundation, so when the students come to me in kindergarten, we’re not spending so much time on socialization and kids aren’t seeing letters for the first time,” Henderson said. “We really need kindergarteners to be so much more prepared.”

This year, St. Louis Public Schools recognized her with the 2013 Pettus Principal Award. Henderson received the award because of her dedication to her work at Jefferson Elementary last school year, including how she dealt with a situation involving a gun in the school.

“The first week of February I got a text from someone who got a text from a parent of a child who was shown a gun in school,” Henderson said.

The students had not told any teachers who brought the gun to school. Henderson and her faculty searched the sixth grade classroom and did not find the weapon. Then Henderson walked into the classroom, talked to the class and within five minutes the student who brought the gun to school came forward.

“We locked the school down,” Henderson said. “We brought in counselors the next day.”

As she looks to future, Henderson has several options she is considering.

“I sometimes think I want to go back to teach on a collegiate level,” she said. “I sometimes think I might want to work as a central office administrator.”

But Henderson feels, for the time being, there is plenty of work to do at Jefferson Elementary.

“I definitely feel a close tie to the work I do here,” Henderson said. “I do know that we’re not satisfied where we are. When you think about kids’lives and setting them up for success we can’t just be satisfied with any level of growth.”

By Andrew Fowler

Modeling effective instruction

Vanessa Howard, Ed.S., instructional coach at Johnson-Wabash Elementary

For The St.Louis American

Vanessa Howard is an instructional coach for teachers at Johnson-Wabash Elementary School in the FergusonFlorissant School District. She helps teachers with professional development so they can better serve the children at the school.

“I model effective instruction,” Howard said. “I observe and give feedback.”

RobinWitherspoon,principalof Johnson-Wabash hired Howard for the position, in part, because of her experience and reputation as a stellar teacher. Through October 2012, Howard was a third-grade teacher at the school. Howard and her team of third-grade teachers had the best Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test scores in the district for that grade level, and they outscored the state average for reading and math. She recently was recognized as the Ferguson-

Excellence in Education Awardee

Florissant Teacher of the Year.

Now she is taking on the new role of imparting her knowledge and experience to other teachers.

“The difference for me is my thinking process,” Howard said. “Now, dealing with teachers, I have to think about what I’m doing to explain it to help other people.”

Howard has been at Johnson-Wabash Elementary since 2004. Before being a third-grade teacher, she taught reading and then became a reading coach with the Reading First Program.

No matter what role she takes in the education field, she is dedicated to providing the best instruction. Last summer, she was chosen to lead the 21st Century Summer Learning Program at the school

and got consumed by her work.

“That was when we had the tornado,” Howard said. “I was in the building preparing for summer school, making sure students had what they needed. It wasn’t until the sirens went off that I noticed something wasn’t right. All of sudden it sounded like I heard a train.”

Howard actually she got her start in the education field relatively late, and her journey to becoming an educator was unexpected.

“My children were going to Lively Stone Daycare, and I would come in and volunteer in the classroom a lot,”

Howard said. “My child’s daycare director said, ‘You might as well go to school to be a teacher.’At first, I said, ‘No.’”

She needed another push to realize her passion.

“I started working as a school custodian. So I was in the library and kept reading books and different things,”

See HOWARD, page 18

Photo by Wiley Price

Vanessa Howard,instructional coach for teachers at JohnsonWabash Elementary School

HOWARD

continued from page 17

Howard said. “That librarian and my church encouraged me to go back to school to be a teacher.”

At age 26, Howard went to HarrisStowe State College (now Harris-Stowe State University) to study early childhood education.

“I think coming to it late, you have freshness and zeal about it,” Howard said. “You come in knowing what kids need.”

Howard attended Harris-Stowe alongside her mother, who was studying the same subject. They had plans to open an early childhood daycare center together.

“She would take morning classes and I would take them at night, and to save money we would share books,” Howard said. “She passed our senior year. I graduated in December and she was supposed to graduate in May, but she got sick. When my kids got older I wanted to do that, to be an example for my children.”

Howard began her teaching career in the St. Louis Public Schools at Mann Elementary School, teaching kindergarten. She continued teaching kindergarten in the Ferguson-Florissant School District at both Cool Valley and

“Coming to it late, you have freshness and zeal.You come in knowing what kids need.”

– Vanessa Howard

Bermuda elementary schools.

“I had a challenging kindergarten class,” Howard said. “They were very active and creative. They were smart, but no one had ever challenged them.”

Howard is now at the point of her career where she sees the benefits from those early learning experiences as a teacher.

“My first kindergarten class just graduated from college. They connect on Facebook, and we stay in touch,” Howard said.

“The bond you make with those kids, it’s lasting. They never forget, and they make an imprint on your life. The kids treat me like a rock star. When I get out of my car, they’re greeting me with such enthusiasm. Knowing that they’re depending on me, it gives me energy.”

Howard still has one goal that she would like to complete to honor the dream she and her mother shared.

“In honor of her, I would like to open that daycare,” Howard said. “Probably when grandkids come along.”

Building student characteras a team

Wanda Patrice LeFlore, Ed.D., principal at Kennard Academy

By Andrew Fowler

For The St.Louis American

Wanda LeFlore is the principal at Kennard Classical Junior Academy in the St. Louis Public School District, which has earned a reputation of educating high-achieving, gifted students.

The school is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon school for showing continued student growth. That growth is something that LeFlore works toward each school year. This autumn she began her fifth year as principal of Kennard.

She always knew, even from a young age, that she wanted to be in the education field.

“When I was very young, I used to play school at the end of the school year,” LeFlore said.

“The teachers would give all the students the leftover papers and I would take the papers home and play school with my younger siblings. I decided who would attend, when school would start and what would be taught. My

friends called it ‘bossy,’but I call it ‘learning to teach.’”

LeFlore graduated from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville for her undergraduate education, then attended Saint Louis University to get her master’s degree and Maryville University for her doctoral degree in educational leadership.

Excellence in Education Awardee

Her research for her thesis focused on the effects of implementing a school-wide character education program and how it would affect student achievement and behavior. That character education program is now one of the hallmark methods used at Kennard. She says the program “defines who we are and how we want to help develop and support our children.”

Each year, a survey is sent out to

parents asking them what are the most important core values. Ateam of administrators and teachers figures out the top three core values from the survey, which the school focuses on developing throughout the school year.

“As a team, we make sure we invite our parents and students into decisions that we make about character education here at Kennard,” LeFLore said.

While she always knew that she wanted to be an educator, she did not know that she would become a principal.

“When I was instructional coordinator at Mallinckrodt, I was actually on lunch duty and a kindergarten student came to me and hugged me. “She looked at me and said, ‘Thank you for being my principal,’” LeFlore said

“And I wasn’t even a principal at the time. But she was so sincere and the message was so clear. I often oftentimes think, ‘Did she know something that I didn’t know?’”

See LeFLORE, page 22

Wanda LeFlore,principal at Kennard Classical Junior Academy in the St.Louis Public School District

Photo by Wiley Price

LeFLORE

continued from page 21

In 2011, LeFlore was honored by the St. Louis Public Schools with the Pettus Principal Award for her impact on the lives of students in that role.

Before working as a principal, LeFlore served the St. Louis Public Schools in several capacities. LeFlore educated gifted children at Yeatman Middle School, worked as a gifted language arts teacher at McKinley Middle School and was the literacy facilitator at Mallinckrodt Academy of Gifted Instruction.

She first came to Kennard as the assistant principal, then was the principal of Oak Hill Elementary School before returning to Kennard five years ago as principal.

Having worked in various gifted education programs, LeFlore is on the Advisory Panel for the National Association for Gifted Children, which helps educators and the community better understand the needs of gifted children.

“There are differences, and you want to make sure you provide opportunities,” LeFlore said. “Some students come with special social needs as well

as special learning abilities, and we have to help those students reach their potential.”

As a principal, LeFlore focuses on ensuring that the faculty members she leads have everything they need to successfully provide a quality education for the students of Kennard.

“One of things that I do to inspire the teachers is to let them know we are providing opportunities for all students,” LeFLore said. “I do that by leading. I lead by modeling and setting an example.”

In addition to leading by example, LeFlore is sure to create an environment where the faculty is able to work together as a team.

“We meet in teams, we analyze data as a team, plan as a team,” LeFlore said. “It’s working together as a team to make sure our students are learning. Our focus is results.”

Back when she was a child playing school in the summer months, LeFlore was confident that education was the career field for her. Her confidence has not waivered after 30 years in the education field.

“I may get a hug or a high five,” LeFlore said. “And for me, it’s a reaffirmation that this is what I’m supposed to be doing.

Accelerating students in math

Wilma L. Slaughter, M.S., sets a fast pace for her seventh grade students

By Andrew Fowler For The St.Louis American

Wilma Slaughter has been a seventh grade math teacher at Hixson Middle School in the Webster Groves School District for the past 26 years. She has a master’s degree in math education and has been in the education field for 30 years.

“I still love it because every year is fresh. Every year is new,” Slaughter said.

In the future, Slaughter wants to write a book about her experiences teaching children to embrace learning and the importance of math education.

“I want to write a book about pretty much what we’re doing wrong in America when it comes to math education,” Slaughter said.

According to an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development study, the United States ranked 25th out of 34 countries in math in 2009. A2012 report by Harvard analysts shows the

U.S. only making marginal improvements in education compared to some other countries.

“We need to start with basic concepts and then build on them,” Slaughter said.

Slaughter attended Southeast Missouri State University after graduating from Soldan High School. She studied both business and psychology, with plans to

Excellence in Education Awardee

make a career in business, but ended up deciding to go in a different direction.

“I just always loved doing things with children,” Slaughter said. “There was a long-term substitute position that became open, and then I just fell in love.”

Slaughter started her career in education as a substitute teacher in the St. Louis Public School District at Blow

Middle School, hoping to make sure that teaching was what she wanted to pursue as a career. She was able to connect with the students at the school by sharing her life experiences.

After her time at Blow Middle School, she began teaching at Hixson Middle School where she met her biggest educational influence, Issa Lutiffiyya, who was assigned as her mentor.

“From him, I learned how to accelerate students in math,” Slaughter said. “I could not believe the way he took seventh and eighth graders and he would teach them Algebra 1 at the high school level. Then when they came back from Christmas break, he would teach high school geometry. He was an inspiration for me.”

Her mentor helped lay the foundation for Slaughter’s approach to teaching middle school math: teaching up. A three-year fellowship program at

See SLAUGHTER, page 26

Wilma Slaughter,seventh grade math teacher at Hixson Middle School in the Webster Groves School District

Photo by Wiley Price

SLAUGHTER

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Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, which focused on accelerating students in math, solidified this approach.

“I worked with a colleague who studied in Japan and how they taught math,” Slaughter said. “You teach all children the same information, and then you take the kids as high as they can go. And you’d be surprised how many kids can really get it.”

Slaughter uses this approach each year in her classes and was able to push students even more in the afterschool math club she ran for two years.

now relates to their future.”

Asecond fellowship at University of California-Berkeley, which focused on the connection between math and astronomy, helped her make connections with students.

“It was the best experience of my life,” Slaughter said. “I got to show kids that there was another thing you could use math for.”

“You take the kids as high as they can go.And you’d be surprised how many kids can really get it.”

– Wilma Slaughter

“Any child that wants to learn, I can get them to move up in their thinking and ability,” Slaughter said. “When I do that, their confidence is up and they score well on tests.”

Slaughter also insists on making the material relatable to her students’lives.

“I believe that most children want to learn and succeed,” Slaughter said. “They want to know about their future, and I teach them how what we’re doing

Slaughter also likes to use her business background when teaching. She worked with the afterschool Stock Market Club, where her students would compete against other middle schools to create the best portfolio. She also has students work on real life projects.

“They had to buy three cars: a used car; then a family car; then, for when they get rich, any car they want,” Slaughter said. “They learned about insurance and personal property tax.”

The flow between learning and teaching is not just a one-way street, as she learned when a student priced a European sports car that was new to her.

“And that’s how I learned what a Bugatti is,” Slaughter said.

Education beyond the classroom

Jody J. Squires, Ph.D., directs youth development for UM Extension Program

By Andrew Fowler

For The St.Louis American

Jody Squires is committed to investing in the development of young students, but is not the traditional classroom teacher. Instead, her job focuses on student learning beyond the halls of a school building. For the past 18 years Squires has worked as an urban youth specialist and city program director with the University of Missouri Extension Program.

“I was always working in some capacity with young people. Even when I didn’t know this would be my career, I was always doing it,” Squires said. “I have always been concerned with young people’s success and their having opportunities to be successful.”

Squires directs the 4-H (Head, Heart, Health and Hands) Youth Development Program, which provides broad opportunities for youth to learn and participate in

life skills education, leadership development and community service. This provides the students she works with a holistic educational experience.

“It’s extremely important for them to be able to do things outside of their academic classroom, to be able to connect with the community and with other young people who are doing something positive,” Squires said.

Excellence in Education Awardee

Another important aspect of the program is college preparation.

“To be in a university program where you visit different campuses, it changes your mind about how you see yourself,” Squires said.

Jonathan Julion has been in the program since he was in eighth grade. He

was invited by a friend to check out the program.

“Ms. Jody and the people working here, they made me feel welcome and told me to come on back,” Julion said.

Julion is now 21 years old and in his junior year at Missouri Western State University. He is studying biological medicine with hopes of being a pulmonologist to work with children with asthma. He spends his summers as a youth leader and college advisor for the Extension Program – and continues to benefit from Squires’guidance.

“At first, I was getting good grades in school, and then I start going on the wrong track,” Julion said. “Ms. Jody, she just got on me. She stays on me hard, through college and everything.”

Squires is a St. Louis native. Both of her parents were educators for St. Louis Public Schools. She graduated from the

See SQUIRES, page 30

Jody Squires directs the 4-H (Head,Heart,Health and Hands) Youth Development Program at the University of Missouri Extension Program.

Photo by Wiley Price

Meeting students where they are

Deitre J. Terrell teaches reading ‘in the trenches’

By Andrew Fowler For The St.Louis American

In her brief time as an educator, the impact Deitre Terrell is having on her students is measurable.

“At the end the last year, 11 of my 12 students made a year and a half gain on their Northwest Evaluation Association [reading test],” Terrell said.

Terrell, who has just started her third year as a full-time teacher, is a reading interventionist instructor for the Ultimate Purpose Program (UPP) at Confluence Charter Schools.

The program focuses on students who have been targeted as at-risk for dropping out and have fallen behind their grade-level standards for reading and math.

“Some of the students who have been named the worst of the worst are improving,” she said. “It’s a concrete visualization that we are making a difference.”

UPPis separated from the regular Confluence curriculum, which allows

UPPinstructors to better serve students that require extra attention.

“I’m able to alter the lessons and curriculum to meet the students where they are,” Terrell said.

This school year, Terrell switched buildings. For the past two years she has been at Confluence Academy-Walnut Park, and now she is at Confluence

Excellence in Education Awardee

Preparatory Academy, where UPPwill be centralized for all Confluence schools.

While Terrell has found success in the education field, teaching was not her original plan. After graduating from the University of Central Missouri in 2006 with a degree in broadcast and film, she got a job as an operations technician with a television station in Champagne, Illinois. During her time working in

broadcast media, she had the desire to make a change in the lives of young people.

“I had some friends who pulled me in, and I started substituting and I loved it,” Terrell said. “And I’ve been teaching ever since.”

After her time as a substitute with Confluence Charter Schools, she became a tutor and received her teaching certification from the American Board of Certifying Teacher Excellence. She is currently completing her graduate education to receive a master’s degree in education administration next year.

Terrell grew up in St. Louis city, where she witnessed her mother go back to school to get her bachelor’s degree to better provide for her family. Now Terrell is dedicated to providing that same example for the inner-city children she works with daily.

“This is the demographic in which I was raised originally,” Terrell said. “I’ve

See TERRELL, page 30

Photo by Wiley Price

Deitre Terrell,reading interventionist instructor for the Ultimate Purpose Program at Confluence Charter Schools

SQUIRES

continued from page 27

University of Missouri-Columbia with degrees in sociology, special education and black studies. She continued her own educational journey at the University of Missouri-St. Louis getting her master’s degree in education administration and her doctoral degree in educational leadership and policy studies.

Along with her work developing youth programs, she also founded and directs Urban Opportunities, a small non-profit organization.

Yahoseph Israel is a 16-year-old student who has been involved in the Extension Program for three years. Last month he participated in the Youth Futures Program, a college preparation opportunity where 70 students get a taste of living on a college campus. This year Israel participated as a youth leader for the program.

“It’s extremely important for them to be able to do things outside of their academic classroom.”

–

Jody Squires

“I had a good friend, James Hill, and as we talked we came up with this school supply drive that we have every year,” she said.

Urban Opportunities has grown and now meets many student needs other than school supplies. They provide prom dresses for students who have trouble affording one and help first-generation college students afford the books they need for classes.

“You see people who are gifted in many ways, but they’ve never had the opportunity to put those gifts to good use,” Squires said. “It’s horrible to see young people who don’t even know how gifted they are.”

TERRELL

continued from page 28

seen the need for excellent teachers, and a lot of teachers who have the skills choose not to go to that environment. But I feel, if I want to make a difference, I should be in the trenches.”

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly one in seven adults lack basic literacy skills. Other studies show links between illiteracy and crime and poverty.

“I think literacy is a huge issue, especially in the urban core,” Terrell said. “Alot of the students are being dropped between the cracks and pushed along because you have to meet a certain standard. I really enjoy the UPPprogram because we don’t have to be confined by the same restrictions.”

“Ms. Jody questioned me being a youth leader because of attitude issues I had,” Israel said. “She challenges you.”

“I do probably pick on him,” Squires admitted.

“Yahoseph is brilliant. He’s very intelligent, and he has so much capability.”

Looking ahead, Squires said she wants to expand the ways that she helps the next generation by getting involved in public policy.

“I’d like to work on some of those structural things that perpetuate the cycle and feed a lot of the negativity,” Squires said.

She said it’s not only policy that needs to change. Squires feels that so often the blame is placed on children for things that are beyond their control.

“Adults are not setting the best example for young people,” Squires said. “I don’t have any biological children, but I feel like it’s all of our responsibility to see after the upcoming generation.”

club, Satin Dolls Youth Empowerment Program, which teaches girls ages 10 to 14 to be “comprehensively successful adults.” The club is still held in Walnut Park, where she started the program.

“’Satin Dolls’is a song my grandmother used to sing from the ‘20s,” Terrell said. “It’s about a sophisticated, sassy lady that knows who she is, so I thought that fit with the girls that we’re working with.”

“Some of the students who have been named the worst of the worst are improving.”

–

Deitre Terrell

Terrell works to develop close relationships with students and their parents. These relationships aren’t limited to within the hours of the school day. Terrell is the founder of the afterschool

Terrell is looking to expand the program by making it a non-profit organization. And she has other big plans for the future.

“My ultimate goal is to have a boarding school in the inner city,” Terrell said. “Working up to that, I would love to be a principal and superintendent just to get the experience.”

No matter what she does and continues to do in the education field, Terrell said she just wants to influence the lives of children in a positive way.

“My goal is for them to realize that education is a key to being a success,” Terrell said. “If I can get them to come to that realization, I have done a lot.”

Helping babies want to learn

Deborah Thomas honored for early childhood education

Early Childhood Education Award

By Bridjes O’Neil

Of The St.Louis American

Deborah Thomas, lead infant teacher at the William L. Clay Sr. Early Childhood Center at Harris-Stowe State University, described her teaching style as caring and compassionate.

“Sometimes, they may not mind being here,” Thomas said of the infants, “but they may need you to hold them a little bit longer. They may need you to spend a little bit more time with them.”

“I really want our babies to form a desire for learning.”

She enjoys reading and singing to the infants, ranging in age from six weeks to one year. Upon request, she animatedly sang her own rendition of the nursery rhyme “I’m a Little Teapot.”

– Deborah Thomas,lead infant teacher at the William L.Clay Sr. Early Childhood Center

“They get so excited, and their little eyes get so big, because you have to kind of play the part,” Thomas said. “I really want our babies to form a desire for learning.”

Thomas is the recipient of the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2013 PNC Early Childhood Education Award.

Thomas’workday begins promptly at 6 a.m. She greets each infant every morning and encourages them to do the same with each other, in an effort to teach them good manners.

She wants to help the infants develop respect for people, particularly their parents, and to instill in them an appreciation for the people who support them. She knows the best way to accomplish her goal is to lead by example.

“With infants, they do what they see you do,” she said. “They learn by example.”

Patricia Johnson, director of the center, said Thomas never misses a day of work and has to be reminded to take a vacation.

Deborah Thomas,lead infant teacher at the William L.Clay Sr.Early Childhood Center at Harris-Stowe State University,is the recipient of the St.Louis American Foundation’s 2013 PNC Early Childhood Education Award.

Thomas is dedicated to her infants –the “Wonderful Watermelons,” as they are referred to at the center. In her classroom, she affectionately grasped 10month-old Caydence’s hands as she tried to walk in her hard-bottomed white shoes.

“They’re like your own,” she said. “We grow to really love them.”

However, she stressed that she isn’t trying to take the parents’place. “What we really try to do is assist the parents in the growth of their child,” she said.

Thomas insists on having an opendoor policy with the parents, who might be apprehensive about leaving their

young child in the care of strangers.

“We tell them, ‘Stop in anytime you like,’” she said. “We try to make them feel as comfortable as possible.”

Thomas began working for the center in April 2010 as an infant teacher assistant. Her son, Jonathan, suggested she apply for the position. At the time, her son was a business student at HarrisStowe State University and employed at the center.

After only one year, she was promoted to lead infant teacher. She said working at the center influenced her decision to pursue a career in early childhood education.

“I wanted to learn more about the children I came in contact with on a daily basis,” she said.

She is currently enrolled at HarrisStowe, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. She has an associate’s degree in human services from St. Louis Community College.

Although she has had a number of jobs over the course of her life, she has found her niche in early childhood education.

“The more I interacted with the children,” she said, “I found there was a great reward in training a child and seeing them grow.”

Photo by Wiley Price

‘College geek’is Counselorof the Year

Chat Leonard of Metro honored at 2013 Salute

Counselorof the Year

By Bridjes O’Neil

Of The St.Louis American

Chat Leonard, director of college counseling at Metro Academic & Classical High School in the St. Louis Public Schools, is a self-professed “college geek.”

On her office walls, she pays homage to some of the most renowned colleges and universities in the country. She has plastered her walls with pennants of schools she has visited, like Princeton, Harvard and New York universities. Her bookcase is lined with a collection of college mascots. On her desk sits a large Saint Louis University coffee mug.

“I have an obsession with visiting schools and bringing that information back to my students.”

– Chat Leonard, 2013 SEMO Counselor of the Year

“I have an obsession with visiting schools and bringing that information back to my students,” she said.

This self-professed “geek” and her “obsession” with universities, which she has put to work on behalf of students for more than 30 years of college counseling, has earned Leonard recognition as the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2013 SEMO Counselor of the Year.

This year marks Leonard’s fourth year as a college counselor at Metro. Metro is a magnet school in the St. Louis Public School District, which is under the leadership of Head Principal Wilfred D. Moore and Assistant Principal Wade Mayham. The school’s small size – last year’s total enrollment was 320 students

Chat Leonard,director of college counseling at Metro Academic & Classical High School,is the St.Louis American Foundation’s 2013 SEMO Counselor of the Year.

– fosters intimacy between students, faculty and staff.

Metro cultivates a diverse learning environment, with African Americans comprising 50 percent of the student population; Caucasians, Asians and Hispanics make up the other half.

Metro suits her, she said, because the students are serious about their education and embrace academic rigor.

“It’s cool to be smart at Metro,” she said.

Metro’s graduation rate has been near-

ly impeccable over the past three years. According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website, Metro had a graduation rate of 100 percent in 2012 and 100 percent in 2011. The school’s graduation rate in 2010 was 97.3 percent.

Since 2002, the school has been classified by the International Baccalaureate Organization as an International Baccalaureate Affiliate School that incorporates a pre-university curriculum. In 2012, Newsweek and U.S. News &

World Report both ranked Metro among the country’s best high schools.

Leonard strives to introduce these diverse, talented students to an array of schools. She estimates that nearly 50 percent of Metro students attend schools out of state, such as Yale, Columbia and Emory universities and the New Mexico Institute of Technology. She also has helped students matriculate at in-state colleges and universities, such as Washington University, St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Southeast Missouri State, which she said is one of her favorite schools.

She has been on her present career track since she was the age of the youth she advises. In high school, Leonard thought it would be “pretty neat to be a counselor.” She volunteered in the counseling department at Richwoods High School in her hometown of Peoria, Ill. She was finishing up her bachelor’s degree in speech and theater, with a minor in education, at Fontbonne University when she decided to pursue a counseling career. She taught for a year at Kirkwood High School while she pursued a master’s degree in counseling education at the University of MissouriSt. Louis. She also pursued doctoral studies at Saint Louis University.

Her first stint as a college counselor was at Parkway South High School. She then moved on to Clayton High School, where she was a college counselor for 13 years.

Leonard was recently selected as one of eight educators nationally to serve on the advisory board for Questbridge. Questbridge is an outreach organization that connects talented, low-income students with educational opportunities at some of the nation’s top colleges and universities. She is also affiliated with the National Association for College Admission Counseling, Missouri Association for College Admission Counseling and the College Board.

Her greatest accomplishments aren’t rooted in academia, she said, but in her faith and family. She adores her husband, Jesse. Their son Jarod attends college in Florida. She is a member of St. Monica Catholic Church in Creve Coeur, where she served as vice president of the school board and secretary of the parish council. That said, her profession is also a passion.

“I’m very passionate about what I do,” she said. “I’m really very humbled and honored that the St. Louis American Foundation and Southeast Missouri State University decided to bestow this honor on me. It’s really cool.”

Photo by Wiley Price

Art McCoy Jr., Ph.D.:

2013 a prodigy among administrators

Stellar Performer

By Bridjes O’Neil

Of The St.Louis American

Ferguson-Florissant Superintendent Art McCoy Jr. greeted students during the Career Day assembly at JohnsonWabash Elementary School with a warm smile and a handshake or hug. McCoy refers to the district’s 13,000 students as “our babies.”

“We have a heart for children at Ferguson-Florissant,” McCoy said. “We make sure that we treat each child as our own.”

“We make sure that we treat each child as our own.”

– 2013 Stellar Performer Art McCoy Jr., FergusonFlorissant superintendent

McCoy is the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2013 Stellar Performer in Education. In July 2011, McCoy became the first AfricanAmerican superintendent of the FergusonFlorissant School District and the youngest superintendent in the state at age 33. Before that, McCoy served as an administrator in St. Charles, Pattonville, Rockwood and FergusonFlorissant.

McCoy takes seriously his role of ensuring that students have the knowledge and life skills they need to be successful.As the district’s leader, McCoy has raised more than $7 million in seven years from grants and donations. In February, Ferguson-Florissant received $289,800 from Harvard’s Pathways to Prosperity Innovative High Schools Initiative to offer students the opportunity to participate in an apprenticeship program and earn college credits.

“That’s important to me because that’s how I got my start,” he said.

After his early graduation from Lafayette High School in the Rockwood School District at 17, he entered HarrisStowe State University with about 60 college credit hours. He married, at the same early age, his high school sweetheart, Belinda, which he said was “the best decision he’s ever made in his life.”

by

Ferguson-Florissant School District Superintendent Art McCoy visits with students at Parker Road Elementary.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in secondary education and mathematics, he returned to his alma mater where he taught mathematics – becoming the youngest certified teacher in the state.

“I remember being a teacher at 19 and having five students in my class that were older than me,” he said.

He received his master’s and doctorate in education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Although his image can be seen along interstate billboards

promoting the value of an UMSLeducation, he prefers for the limelight to shine upon his students and their parents. He boasts of the district’s full accreditation status, its 90 percent graduation rate, and the district’s total of eight Bill and Melinda Gates Scholars, seven of which came from McCluer High School.

The district is also leading the region in its school-security systems. The mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut accen-

tuated the need for increased school security, he said.

“It reminds me of scenes that I saw after the bombing of the church in Birmingham when the little girls’faces were shown on nationwide television to say, ‘That we have turned a page and something must change.’”

The district invested in equipment that allows administrators to access surveil-

See McCOY, page 40

Photo

Wiley Price

McCOY

continued from page 39

lance footage from mobile devices. Surrounding police departments can also access that footage. McCoy surveyed his staff of 2,000 to determine who among them had prior police and military experience. He then began the process of

establishing Action Teams, or A-Teams inspired by the movie starring “Mr. T.”

“We have three to five people who are ready to take action,” he said, “who have experience in combat situations, licenses to carry arms and ready to respond during the first 10 minutes.”

He is a member of Grace Apostolic Family Worship Center in Florissant founded by his parents – Suffragan Bishop Art J. McCoy Sr. and co-pastor

McCoy. McCoy is active in various civic organizations includingtheUrban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri School Board Association, Missouri Association of School Administrators and the Urban Superintendents of America Association. He is president and founder of Serving the Achievement Gap in the Education of Students (SAGES). He serves as adjunct

professor and College of Education Leadership Council member at UMSL. Most recently, he was appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon to the Harris-Stowe State University Board of Regents. The sevenmember Board of Regents develops governance policy and provides oversight of the university administration and operation.

Norma

Art McCoy, first grade, age 6

Art and Belinda Cooper McCoy on their wedding day.

McCoy received his Ph.D. at age 25.

Age 13 in 1990

Art McCoy as an infant with his parents and siblings.

Lifelong learnerand teacher

Lynn Beckwith Jr., Ed.D., 2013 Lifetime Achiever in Education

Lifetime Achiever

By Bridjes O’Neil

Of The St.Louis American

Lynn Beckwith Jr., E. Desmond Lee

Endowed Professor of Urban Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) in conjunction with St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS), said learning is a lifelong process.

Teaching is a lifelong process for Beckwith as well, with 2013 marking his 52nd year in education. He is the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2013 Lifetime Achiever in Education.

He served for 31 years in SLPS as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, director of federal programs and executive director of state and federal programs. He subsequently served for eight years as superintendent of schools in the School District of University City.

“All children can learn at higher levels if properly taught and if they work hard.”

– Lynn Beckwith Jr., 2013 Lifetime Achiever in Education

Beckwith has spent the last 13 years at UMSL, where he said he has made his biggest impact in the field by preparing tomorrow’s leaders in education who “will go on to impact others.”

Among his main responsibilities at UMSL, he works with SLPS in the area of professional development, particularly with teachers who aspire to be principals.

“After working in the K-12 world for 39 years,” he said, “it’s just a pleasure to work with adults who are coming to the university because they want to learn.”

He also currently chairs the special administrative board that governs the Riverview Gardens School District. Although the district is one of two unaccredited school districts in St. Louis County (the other is Normandy), he maintains an optimistic outlook. There are plans in action to move the district toward full accreditation by implementing a new curriculum, additional learning strategies as well as a laser-like focus on teaching and learning.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” he said.

“It took SLPS five years and nine months to become provisionally accredited again.”

To gain (and maintain) full accredita-

tion status, he said, will take a total community effort throughout the region to uplift urban education and close the academic achievement gap between black youth and their counterparts.

The St.Louis American Foundation’s 2013 Lifetime Achiever in Education Lynn Beckwith Jr.

“All children can learn at high levels if properly taught and if they work hard academically,” he said.

See BECKWITH, page 46

Photo by Wiley Price

BECKWITH

continued from page 45

Astrong proponent of diversity, he teaches that there’s only one race, the human race. “Race based upon skin color was created in the 15th century by Europeans who wanted to separate people based on skin color,” he said.

He reflects on the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. judging people on “the content of their character and not the color of their skin.” His mother, the late Myrtis Beckwith, passed this value and the value of education onto him. His mother worked as the “cleaning woman” at the University City Library. Now, Beckwith serves as president of the St. Louis County Library Board of Trustees.

“Although she’s passed on to glory, I know she’s smiling down to know what I’ve been able to achieve because she and my father laid the foundation for it,” he said.

From his father, Lynn Beckwith Sr., he learned trustworthiness and responsibility. His father was a hard worker who maintained several jobs to ensure that his family had food on the table and a roof over their heads, he said. He taught his children through his words and deeds.

Beckwith is a product of the SLPS district, graduating from Sumner High School in 1957. He aspired to go away to college, but couldn’t afford it and enrolled in the newly integrated Harris Teachers College. During his time at Harris Teachers College he developed a love for teaching.

“If you went to Harris Teachers,” Beckwith said, “you became a teacher. So, teaching chose me rather than me choosing teaching.”

He loved learning, going on to earn master’s and doctorate degrees from Saint Louis University. He has been teaching, in some form, ever since.

Abroad smile spreads across his face when asked about his high school principal, George D. Brantley, someone who left a lasting impression on him.

“I always remember him in the auditorium sessions saying, ‘Young people, you can do anything you want to do, if you work hard and strive for excellence,’” he recalled. “And, he was right.”

Beckwith’s many other civic leadership roles, past and present, include serving as chair of the St. Louis Public Schools Foundation, an executive board member of the United Way of Greater St. Louis and president of the Harris-Stowe State University Alumni Association.

He is a life member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and a member of the West Side Missionary Baptist Church. He has one son, Christopher Beckwith.

The Beckwith family at his sister Peggy’s wedding reception.Bottom row:Sister Peggy with his mother and father Myrtis and Lynn Sr.Back row:Lynn Jr.with sisters Marsha,Dorothy and Eunice

Lynn Beckwith Jr.,second from left,with three of his Omega fraternity brothers at Harris Teachers College,now known as Harris-Stowe State University.

Lynn and Gwen Beckwith with their baby son,Christopher

Four generations of Beckwiths,left to right,son, Christopher; father,Lynn Sr.; grandson, Christopher Jr.; and Lynn

Lynn with his father and three sisters Eunice,Peggy and Dorothy

Lynn with his late wife, Patricia, at a black tie affair

Lynn with Leonor Shelton Buchanan at a St.Louis Rams football game

Data-driven instruction leads to improvement

Vogt Elementary is 2013 Monsanto School of Excellence

2013 School of Excellence

By Bridjes O’Neil

Of The St.Louis American

Teachers at Vogt Elementary School in the Ferguson-Florissant School District say they would choose to educate their own children at their school.

“That’s the ultimate testimony that I can give,” said Doug Ahlers, a fifthgrade teacher at school, “if I’m sending my own children here.” Ahlers’two children are Vogt alumni.

Vogt Elementary is the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2013 Monsanto School of Excellence.

Ferguson-Florissant superintendent Art McCoy Jr., Ph.D., highly recommended the school for the award.

“Under the leadership of Principal Leslie Thomas-Washington, Vogt students, staff and stakeholders exhibit excellence and equity in education every day,” said McCoy, who will receive the 2013 Stellar Performer in Education award at the Salute to Excellence in Education gala.

Thomas-Washington oversees roughly 40 teachers and staff members who she considers to be like extended family.

Vogt is a K-6 elementary school with a large, diverse student population. Last year, Vogt educated 280 students, of whom 75 percent received free or reduced lunches, 56 percent were African American and 80 percent were children of color.

Thomas-Washington has the served the district for almost eight years, starting as a reading coordinator at Walnut Grove Elementary School. Since she began her teaching career in the Webster Groves School District, she has always admired the FergusonFlorissant School District, but even more so after serving as a leader in the district.

“There are no hidden agendas,” Thomas-Washington said of FergusonFlorissant. “They are truly about helping students become life-long learners.”

Thomas-Washington goes out of her way to keep parents and teachers informed and engaged, stating that par-

by

ents and teachers are allies working toward a common goal: student success. She meets with all teachers regularly for data team meetings, called “Vogt’s Pathway to Proficiency.”

“Data drives our instruction,” ThomasWashington said. “We discuss where students are and where they need to be. We look at our behaviors as educators.”

2009, she said the school’s MAPscores in math, communication arts, and science were below state standards. Gradually, Vogt has achieved tremendous gains on the state assessment and achieved significant levels of proficiency in 2012.

“Data drives our instruction.We discuss where students are and where they need to be. We look at our behaviors as educators.”

She uses the progress monitoring component of the Star Benchmark Assessment to compile data. The Star Benchmark Assessment is also a useful indicator on how well students will perform on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test, she said.

– Principal Leslie Thomas-Washington

Gains in student performance in MAP scores include: 45.9 percent increase for fifth-grade mathematics, 35.9 percent for fifth-grade communication arts and 30.7 percent for fifth-grade science. Last year, Carla Baranowski’s fifthgrade class was ranked first in the district for communication arts, math and science.

students have a strong foundation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). She said STEM education helps students evolve into critical thinkers and future competitors in the global workforce.

Last summer, teacher representatives in grades three to six enrolled in a twoweek intensive STEM Teacher Quality pilot program at Washington University. Baranowski and Chris Gardner, then fifth- and sixth-grade teachers at Vogt, were two of teachers who participated.

Gardner’s passion for science education was evident as he described a past school project. His students used solar energy, a 5-gallon bucket and an accordion sun screen to cook chicken outside.

When Thomas-Washington became head principal at Vogt Elementary in

“In addition to good teaching,” Thomas-Washington said, “I attribute that to STEM.”

Thomas-Washington insists that Vogt

“One of the main things the sessions focused on,” Gardner said of his STEM training, “was working cooperatively and collaboratively with other educators in order to enhance what you’re doing in the classroom.”

Photo

Wiley Price

Leslie Thomas-Washington,principal of Vogt Elementary School in the Ferguson-Florissant School District,the St.Louis American Foundation’s 2013 Monsanto School of Excellence.

2013 Donald M. Suggs Scholars

Four others named as St. Louis American Foundation Scholars

Briana Wilson: Donald M. Suggs Scholarship, University of MissouriColumbia

My experience at Mizzou so far has been amazing. The campus is gorgeous, my classes are extremely engaging, and I have made some great new friends. It is so easy to get involved here and meet new people, and I am enjoying the opportunity to experience things I’m not accustomed to. I recently decided to major in psychology with a pre-med track, and I am currently taking mostly general education courses required for my major. This includes Psychology 1000, Sociology 1000, Mythology 1060, French 1100, and another course required by Mizzou. There are so many things that I could become involved with here on campus. I know that I want to be an active member to the Academic Retention Service (ARS), and I am also looking into volunteer work on and off campus.

Justin Robinson: Donald M. Suggs Scholarship, Southeast Missouri State University

Justin Robinson, a first generation college student, just began his first year at Southeast Missouri State University. Justin is a graduate of Pattonville High School, where he was in the top 15 percent of his graduating class. In high school, he was active with the wrestling, football and tennis teams, debate team, PALS and DECA. He was elected vice president of DECAand received the Chevron Award, an academic letter, Citizenship Award and Student Leader Award. He is pursuing a major in Sports Management at Southeast. After completing his bachelor’s degree, Justin plans to attend law school and become a sports agent.

Timothy Moore: Donald M. Suggs Scholarship, Harris-Stowe State University

Timothy J. Moore is a junior at Harris-Stowe State University, where he majors in Marketing. Moore serves as the president of the Collegiate 100, an organization of the100 Black Men of

Metropolitan St. Louis Incorporated. He is also a successful entrepreneur that specializes in brand development with a concentration in photography, video and design.

Upon graduating with his bachelor’s degree in Marketing, he plans to exert more time and energy into growing his business clientele and expanding his business on a national level. His ultimate goal is to be in a position in which he can give back to his community and those who have inspired him to follow his dreams in art and business.

Lynell Johnson: Donald M. Suggs Scholarship, St. Louis Community College

Lynell Johnson graduated from Hazelwood East High School in 2012.He is currently a Freshman at St. Louis Community College pursuing an AAin General Transfer Studies, while maintaining a 3.8 GPA.His courses of study for fall 2013 include College Composition I, American History I and Elementary Algebra.Lynell has volunteered over 1000 hours assisting with preparing food and feeding homeless individuals and has been a guest speaker to students attending William J. Harrison Education Center’s St. Louis Internship program.

Olivia Perez: Donald M. Suggs Scholarship, Webster University

Olivia Perez is a freshman media literacy major at Webster University and recipient of the first ever Webster University Dr. Donald M. Suggs Scholarship. At Eureka High School she was a member of the Missouri Academic All State Dance Team, a member of her high school’s JV Poms team, a freshman orientation leader, an APScholar and a Renaissance Member. In her free time, she enjoys ballet and hip hop dance lessons. Perez’s admissions essay focused on her concerns about the rising violence in black neighborhoods in Chicago during

the past year, the large number of children living in single-parent homes in many of those neighborhoods, and her belief that better access to education in those communities can eventually reverse those trends.

Kendrick D. Hooks: Donald M. Suggs Multicultural Leadership Scholarship, Missouri State University

Kendrick attended Hazelwood East High School where he was President of Student Council and was involved with National Honor Society. He was also actively involved in the Marching, Symphonic and Jazz bands, and served as a Peer Mentor. Kendrick was inducted into the Thespian Troupe and even had perfect attendance for his last three years of high school.

Kendra Rowey: St. Louis American Foundation Scholar

I chose to attend the University of Pittsburgh to pursue my dream of becoming a dentist. Attending the University of Pittsburgh is proving to be a decision that I will not regret. Orientation week provided many opportunities to meet other students and make new friends.I kayaked on the Allegheny River, volunteered at a local food bank, and even attempted to break a world record with the Pitt Class of 2017.

I am a member of the honors college and am taking classes that will prepare me for dental school.I was a concerned with the transition to college, especially one so far from home; however, I have quickly learned that the University of Pittsburgh has numerous resources available and caring individuals that will help make my college experience a success.

Brynn Burns: St. Louis American Foundation Scholar

My name is Brynn Burns, and I am currently a freshman at the University of Missouri in Columbia. I am majoring in business at the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business with a focus on

accounting. Currently, I am involved in the University of Missouri Investment Group and the business fraternity Phi Beta Lambda. I am looking forward to participating in other organizations such as a capella singing and mock trial while diligently working on my schoolwork.

I am attending Washington University in St. Louisand currently taking 16 credit hours.I will major in psychology on the premed track.My professional goal is to become a psychiatrist and serve my community byworking to help people deal with stresses and mental health issues in a positive way.One of my more exciting classes is specifically designed for firstyear students interested in clinical medicine.The course is entitled “Freshman Seminar: The Homer G. Phillips Hospital Story: The Physician, the Patient and the Community”.The course examines the physician’s contribution to the community through health care.This summer, I attended Washington University and earned 6 credit hours towards graduation.

Jordan Johnson: St. Louis American Foundation Scholar

This semester I am attending the University of Missouri in Columbia, better known as Mizzou. I plan to study international business with an emphasis in marketing, as well as minor in art. I hope to one day travel the world, and work with many different countries and cultures. I would also like to one day own my own business. So far at Mizzou, I’ve taken two business classes, including business management, participated in job fairs, and I attend a regular Zumba class. Over the summer I worked at Meramec Valley Bank as a teller, and plan to continue this for the next few years.

Christina Wesley: St. Louis American Foundation Scholar

funds the scholarships that are administered through The Scholarship Foundation of St.Louis and The St.Louis American Foundation.

Building a nurse work force

By Sandra Jordan

Of The St.Louis American

$1/2 million committed over five-year period

Nurses in-training found out about some of their rich history in the St. Louis area and received scholarship awards toward their education recently at The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis. The goal is to build more members of the nursing profession who will hopefully, return to the St. Louis area to serve in this medical community.

The three partners, Deaconess, Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis and the St. Louis American Foundation collectively have committed more than $100,000 annually in resources and support to nursing scholarship recipients over the next five years to assist in their education and training.

“The way we kind of keep this tie is through partnerships like this; to continue to support people who commit their lives to nursing, healing, teaching and caring for others in hospital environments, nursing homes and in people’s homes,” said Starsky Wilson, CEO of Deaconess Foundation. “You for us rep-

resent this great connection to all of our heritage … the opportunity to resolve a crisis of care, much like the one that we had in 1889.”

New and renewing Deaconess Foundation Nursing Scholarship recipients received the first of two awards for the upcoming school year in July. The awards ranged from $1,500 to $5,000.

The 2013 recipients include Victoria Crigler, University of Central Missouri; Savannah Edwards, University of Missouri; Brittany Ferrell, a junior at the University of Missouri St. Louis; Rachel Sites, Northwest Arkansas Community College; Kayla Stallworth, University of Missouri St. Louis; Aleyna Tostado, Maryville University; Riley Wood, Missouri State University; and Jillian Greene, Southeast Missouri State University.

“We’ve already determined, based on all the good work you’ve done to this point, that you’ve earned your spot,” Faith Sandler, executive director of The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis (SFSTL) assured the students. “We’re honored to be your partner on the next

phase of journey.”

Sandler said this year, the organization will make $3.2 million in interestfree loans to 600 area students and about $450,000 in grants and scholarships to students who meet additional qualifications, such as the Deaconess nursing scholars.

“I have nothing but the greatest respect for nursing and you all have chosen a wonderful profession that has changed mightily over the last 50 years,” said Donald M. Suggs, president of the St. Louis American Foundation and publisher/ executive editor of The St. Louis American. “I think you’re going to see in your careers … a broadened scope of performance. Nursing will be even more broad because the health care system mightily needs people who are welltrained and can administer particularly primary care.”

Apply for a Deaconess Foundation Nursing Scholarship

To apply for a Deaconess Foundation

Nursing Scholarship, students must be permanent residents of the St. Louis metropolitan area and pursuing nursing (RN, BSN) at an accredited, nonprofit school. Academic potential, strength of character and financial need go into award determinations.

Avalid email address is required to start the application as all correspondence is via email.

Students must complete the two applications: The Deaconess Foundation Nursing Scholarship and The Scholarship Foundation Interest-Free Loan in Scholarship Central by November 15 at www.sfstl.org.

Students selected to receive the Deaconess scholarship may be eligible for an interest-free loan or other grants through SFSTL. For more information, call The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis at 314-725-7990 or via email at info@sfstl.org.

For applications, select the link “Deaconess Foundation Nursing Scholarship” at https://stlouisgraduates. academicworks.com/

Aleyna Tostado,Rachel Sites,Victoria Crigler,Savannah Edwards,Kayla Stallworth,Jillian Greene,Brittany Ferrell and Riley Wood are among this year’s Deaconess Foundation Nursing Scholarship recipients.The Deaconess Foundation

Photo by Wiley Price

Past Excellence in Education Awardees

Looking back at all the awardees from the past 25 years

Salute Class of 2012

Jason Brown

Earnestine Carr

LaChrisa Crenshaw

Duane M. Foster

Andrea N. Hayes

Jaqueline Storman Turnage

Doretta A. Walker

LaRhonda L. Wilson

Salute Class of 2011

Carolyn Blair

Nikki Doughty

Latasha M. McClelland

Michelle L. McClure

Art J. McCoy, II

Marsha Yvonne Merry

Natissia Small

Darnell P. Young

Salute Class of 2010

Dr. Celeste A. Adams

Michael Blackshear

Sheandra P. Brown

Florida M. Cowley

Bruce Green

Carole Johnson

Matthew McCallum

Sybil Selfe

Salute Class of 2009

Kelly Ballard

H. Eric Clark

Niyi Coker, Jr.

Natasha Mosley

Rona Roginson-Hill

Michelle A. Pendleton

Dr. Alice F. Roach

Margaret Williams

Salute Class of 2008

Julia Robinson Burke

Mama Lisa Gage

Terry J. Houston, Sr.

Eric D. Johnson, Sr.

RaShawn Johnson

Marilyn Mims

Darlene Morgan

Simone Williams

Salute Class of 2007

Luella Atkins

Haliday Douglas

Sonja P. Little

Romona Miller

Tyrone Jeffrey

Darlene Norfleet

Victor Poindexter

Brian Rogers

Salute Class of 2006

Jowanda Bozeman

Dr. Harvey Fields, Jr.

Kathryn Garrett

Clarice Hall

Crystal Herron

Howard Rambsy

Kathy Walker Steele

Zella Williams

Salute Class of 2005

Charles Ransom

Betty Robinson

Gwendolyn Shannon

Makeda Reid-Vales

Shirley Washington-Cobb

Chelsea Watson

Brian Weaver

Dr. Brenda Youngblood

Salute Class of 2004

Travis Brown, Sr.

Patrick Jackson

Pat Johnson

Vernon Mitchell

Terri Moore

Joan Barnes-Parham

Monette Gooch-Smith

Dr. Ann Chism-Williams

Salute Class of 2003

Vera Atkinson

Dr. Stephanie Carter

Rose Coleman

Dr. Vern Moore

Juanester Russell

Frank Smith

Dr. Linda Lou Smith

Dr. Gwen Turner

Salute Class of 2002

Cynthia Boone

Thomas Edwards

Terrance Freeman

Flossie Henderson

Billie Mayo

Edna Pipes

Salute Class of 2001

Dr. Edwin F. Bailey, Jr.

Terrence Curry

Juliette Hite

Dr. Larona Morris

Annie House Russell

Hattie K. Weaver

Salute Class of 2000

Prof. Bennie A. Adams

Ian P. Buchanan

Mabel Thomas Edmonds

Michael T. Railey, M.D.

Linda Riekes

Cynthia J. Sutton

Salute Class of 1999

Michael R. DeBaun, M.D.

Roland Nichols

Eugene B. Redmond

Althea Taylor

Kerry M. Woodberry, M.D.

Salute Class of 1998

Alexander Harris, O.D.

Louis M. Marion

Dr. Patricia Nichols

Dr. Savannah Miller-Young

Louis Zitzmann

Salute Class of 1997

Alice M. Aldridge

Marion Bosley-Evans

Cynthia L. Cosby

Ivory Johnson

Andrea Walker

Salute Class of 1996

Carol Barnes

Nino Fennoy

Dr. Charlene Jones

Bettye Reed

Chanuncey Trawick

Salute Class of 1995

Victoria Cothran

Dr. Charles Harris

Dr. Ernest Jones

Michelle Lowery

Viola Murphy

Salute Class of 1994

Dean James McCleod

Dr. Arvarh Stickland

Rudolph Wilson

Barbara Woods

Dr. Edith Mae Young.

Note: The specific category of “Excellence in Education” Awards commenced in 1994.

Past Merit Awardees:

Salute Class of 1993

Dr. Edna Allen

Dr. Frances J. Gooden

Elizabeth Hutcherson

Addie Bryan Jackson

Fontroy Todd

Salute Class of 1992

Dr. Harvest Collier

Dr. Lincoln I. Diuguid

Alicia Ivory-House

Sandra Murdock

Dr. Wilfred Sorrell

Salute Class of 1991

Dr. Nettie S. Armmer

Leon Burke, Jr.

Dr. Queen Fowler

Yvonne Howze

Louise Mitchell

Bessie L. Reid

Beatrice Strong

Betty Porter Walls

Louise T. Wilkerson

Salute Class of 1990

Lt. Col. Leroy Adkins

Stephen Banks

Marguerite Ross-Barnett

Lynn Beckwith, Jr.

Evail Boyd

Jerry L. Bryant

Lois Harris

Edward Hightower

Kermit Hill

Floyd Irons

Rev. Dr. Buck Jones

Jerome B. Jones

Betty Jean Kerr

Shirley LeFlore

Kathryn Nelson

Hershel J. Walker

Rochelle Walker

Wilma Wells

Edna J. Whitfield

Gaye S. Wilson

Dorrie K. Wise

Salute Class of 1989

Sarah Short-Austin

Ron Carter

Rose Davis

Mathew Foggy

Rev. C. Garnett Henning, Sr.

Hulas King

Andre Jackson

Oval Miller

Eugene Redmond

Ollie Steward

Eric Vickers

Salute Class of 1988

George Elliott

Jonathan Ford

Dr. George Hyram

Carolyn Kingcade

Richard Martin

Judge Theodore McMillan

Jamie Rivers

Irene F. Schell

Norman Seay

Willie Mae Ford-Smith

H. Phillip Venable, M.D.

Dannette Connor-Ward

Bill Wilkerson

School of Excellence Award Recipients:

ï 2012 Columbia Elementary, SLPS

ï 2011 Bermuda Elementary

ï 2010 Patrick Henry Elementary

ï 2009 Lexington Elementary

ï 2008 Froebel Elementary

ï 2007 Herzog Elementary

ï 2006Bel-Ridge Elementary

ï 2005 Peabody Elementary

ï 2004 Pierre Laclede Elementary

ï 2003Barbara C. Jordan

Elementary

2012

Previous Salute to Excellence majoraward recipients

Gerald Early (Lifetime Achiever)

Judge Jimmie Edwards (Stellar Performer)

2011

Joyce M. Roberts (Lifetime Achiever)

Anthony ‘Tony’Thompson (Stellar Performer)

2010

Dr. Zelema Harris (Lifetime Achiever)

Dr. Stanton Lawrence (Stellar Performer)

2009

Eugene B. Redmond (Lifetime Achiever)

Diane Miller (Stellar Performer)

2008

James E. McLeod, Ph.D. (Lifetime Achiever)

Donna Patton (Stellar Performer)

2007

Dr. Henry Shannon (Lifetime Achiever)

Don Danforth III (Stellar Performe

2006

Dr. John Wright (Lifetime Achiever)

Dr. Cheryle Dyle-Palmer (Stellar Performer)

2005

Dr. Queen Fowler (Lifetime Achiever)

Darlynn Bosley (Stellar Performer)

2004

Dr. Henry Givens (Lifetime Achiever)

Joyce Roberts (Stellar Performer)

2003

Martin Mathews (Lifetime Achiever)

Audrey Ferguson (Stellar Performer)

2002

Dr. George H. Hyram (Lifetime Achiever)

Vickie & Howard Denson (Stellar Performers)

2001

John E. Jacob (Lifetime Achiever)

Victoria Nelson (Stellar Performer)

2000

Rev. William G. Gillespie (Lifetime Achiever)

Carolyn D. Seward (Stellar Performer)

1999

Dr. James M. Whittico (Lifetime Achiever)

Gloria L. Taylor (Stellar Performer)

1998

Gloria Waters -White (Lifetime Achiever)

Steven N. Cousins (Stellar Performer)

1997

Judge Theodore McMillan (Lifetime Achiever)

Gwendolyn Packnett (Stellar Performer)

1996

Dr. Helen Nash (Lifetime Achiever)

Fr. Maurice Nutt (Stellar Performer)

1995

Kathryn E. Nelson (Lifetime Achiever)

James E.McLeod,Ph.D. (2008 Lifetime Achiever)

Dr.Henry Givens Jr. (2004 Lifetime Achiever)

Judge Theodore McMillan (1997 Lifetime Achiever)

Khatib Waheed (Stellar Performer)

1994

Bob Shannon (Lifetime Achiever)

Dr. Doris Wilson (Stellar Performer)

1993

Al Johnson (Lifetime Achiever)

Carol E. Jackson (Stellar Performer)

1992

Frankie M. Freeman (Lifetime Achiever)

Drs. Victor & Vincent Rodgers (Stellar Performers)

Gloria Waters-White (1998 Lifetime Achiever)

Kathryn E.Nelson (1995 Lifetime Achiever)

1991

Jesse Hill (Lifetime Achiever)

Dr. John H. Gladney (Stellar Performer)

1990

Fred H. Black (Gold Medallion Awardee)

1989

Bertha Gilkey (Gold Medallion Awardee)

1988

Vincent E. Reed (Gold Medallion Awardee)

American’s NewspaperIn Education program named best in nation

Expands program to include

‘Healthy Kids,’ new districts,

more schools

By American Staff

The National Newspaper Association recently announced that The St. Louis American has won its coveted 2013 first place award, among all non-daily newspapers in the United States, for its Newspaper In Education (NIE) program.

The award coincides with the recent launch of the second academic year of TheAmerican’s NIE program, which has been expanded dramatically to include a new page, more schools, more classrooms and additional districts.

The American’s award was part of the National Newspaper Association’s (NNA’s) annual Newspaper And Education contest, which highlights newspaper/school partnerships that focus on developing fully informed citizens, and the category was centered around “traditional newspaper in education stories and curriculum.”

NNAis the largest newspaper association in the country, with more than 2,200 member newspapers nationwide.

The American’s NIE program began last year, providing newspapers free to more than 5,000 elementary school students in the Normandy and Saint Louis Public Schools districts. Akey component of the program in its first year was the kids page specifically focused on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) literacy. The STEM page was designed as a classroom tool for students and teachers. Children were encouraged to take the paper home to share with their parents, along with the entire newspaper.

According to the judges, The American’s NIE program is “a wellthough-out, well-articulated program that reaped big benefits … for the community it serves. It embodies a ‘go big or go home’(approach) that can be unusual for any new endeavor.”

Judges also stated, “This newspaper set a very high standard and attained it, and used it as a baseline for not only keeping the program, but fully supporting it with a full-time coordinator. Well done.”

The judges were seconded by one of the first executive administrators to embrace the program.

“Providing students with a 21st Century education requires a focus on the STEM subject areas,” said Dr. Kelvin Adams, superintendent of Saint Louis Public Schools.

“The commitment of The St. Louis American to create the STEM pages for the young people of St. Louis is to be commended. The St. Louis American STEM pages gave students in Saint Louis Public Schools a real hands-on approach to studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Seeing their faces light up when The St. Louis American newspapers were delivered to their classrooms was priceless.”

The program is funded, in-part, through corporate sponsors: Ameren, Centene, Emerson, Monsanto and World Wide Technology, as well as the St. Louis American Foundation.

According to David Steward, chairman of participating sponsor World Wide Technology, “It is imperative for kids to learn STEM education at a young age, for St. Louis, for the economy and quite

As part of The St.Louis American’s Newspaper In Education Program,each week there is a full page focused on STEM (science,technology, engineering and math) education and literacy,as well as a ‘Healthy Kids’half page section.

districts, including Ferguson-Florissant and Hazelwood

Increasing the number of students and classrooms. During the 2013-2014 academic year, more than 6,000students in more than 250 classrooms will receive a free newspaper each week, making The St. LouisAmerican’s program the largest free, print NIE program in the entire state of Missouri.

Adding a “Healthy Kids” page, which will focus on wellness, nutrition, exercise and safety for elementary school children. The page will also feature a profile of a local African-American health care provider (in various functions) each and every week. (BJC Health Care and Ascension Health Care are partnering on this page).

Solidified community partnerships with the Saint Louis Science Center, Saint Louis Zoo and Missouri Botanical Garden (including their providing NIE content, field trips, as well as professional development for select participating teachers).

frankly for our business.” Steward added, “This program has been a great return on our investment.”

St. Louis American publisher Donald M. Suggs stated the staff was thrilled with the award and that the entire team was excited about not only a successful first year, but about the future of its unique, targeted NIE program.

“This national recognition is a testament to the hard work and true dedication to educating our youth of everyone involved in our NIE program,” Suggs stated.

Suggs cited the American’s NIE team members: Dawn Kitchell, Beth Sharpe, Jennifer Wirthwein, Kevin Jones, Cathy Sewell and photographer Wiley Price, as well as the strong support from participating teachers and principals.

“We want to help open the minds of these young people to their great potential,” Suggs said. “We are excited about growing the program, and want to touch and positively affect as many young lives as well as assist as many area teachers and parents as we can.”

Expansion of the program

Because of the widespread acceptance and extremely positive response to the first year of the program, The St. Louis American has expanded its NIE program in several ways:

Immediately including other school

“For true enlightenment, transformative empowerment and total engagement of students, there is no better Newspaper in Education program around,” stated Dr. Art McCoy, Superintendent of FergusonFlorissant School District, which joined the program this semester.

“Ferguson-Florissant School District is proud to partner with the St. Louis American’s NIE program. We salute you for this award and excellent educational program.”

To coordinate the expansion as well as manage the entire Newspaper In Education program, in June The St. Louis American hired Cathy Sewell as its fulltime NIE Manager. Sewell has more than 20 years in NIE programming, including most recently at the Post-Dispatch for eight years, and at the Belleville NewsDemocrat for more than 12 years.

She has previously been honored for excellence by the NNAas well as the World Association of Newspapers. Her many speaking engagements include a conference in Prague, Czech Republic, where she spoke to other industry experts about the importance of using the newspaper in the classroom to increase literacy skills.

For more information about The St. Louis American’s Newspaper In Education program, visit stlamerican.com and click on ‘Newspaper In Education’or email nie@stlamerican.com. All kids’pages as well as an E-Edition of the entire newspaper are also completely complimentary online at stlamerican.com.

The St. Louis American Foundation Statement of Mission and Purpose

The St. Louis American Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization founded in 1994, is dedicated to enabling the African-American community to increase its access to careers in Journalism, the Sciences, and the Humanities. The Foundation has defined a unique mission. This mission combines a primary interest in promoting educational opportunity with critical support for activities that move individuals towards being self-directed and assuming personal responsibility for pursuing constructive futures. Including the scholarships below, the St. Louis American Foundation has fostered nearly $3 million in scholarships and community grants.

2013 Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarships and Community Grants 2013 Salute to Excellence in Education Community Grants:

O. Frye Memorial Scholarship

State University Donald M. Suggs Scholarship Funds Awarded by Harris-Stowe State University.........................................................................

Missouri State University Donald M. Suggs Multicultural Leadership Scholarship Funds Awarded by Missouri State University................................................................................$30,000 Southeast Missouri State University Donald M. Suggs Scholarship Funds Awarded by Southeast Missouri State University...............................................................$30,000

St. Louis Community College Donald M. Suggs Scholarship Funds Awarded by St. Louis Community College........................................................................$15,000

University of Missouri-Columbia Donald M. Suggs Scholarship...............................................................

Funds Awarded by the University of Missouri–Columbia............................................................$47,000 Funds Awarded by the St. Louis American Foundation...............................................................$10,000

Webster University Donald M. Suggs Scholarship Funds Awarded by Webster University..........................................................................................$100,000

Total 2013 Donald M. Suggs Scholarships................................................................................................$252,000 Computers for students and Monsanto School of Excellence......................................................................$15,000 Grand Total 2013 Scholarships and Community Grants ......................................................................$314,000

The St. Louis American Foundation is pleased to have the opportunity to support individuals and organizations who share our view that education is a critical need if African Americans are to be able to help themselves and to contribute to community progress.

2013 Salute to Excellence in Education – Sponsors

LEAD Sponsor

PLATINUM Sponsors

SILVER Sponsor

CORPORATE Sponsors

• Edward Jones

• Harris-Stowe State University

• McCormack Baron

• St.Louis Community College

• TIAA-Cref

Attendance Prize

• Bubbling Brown Sugar Productions

Anheuser-Busch

GOLD Sponsors

BRONZE Sponsors

PATRON Sponsors

• Better Family Life

• Centene Corporation

• St.Louis Children’s Hospital

• St.Louis College of Pharmacy

MEDIA Sponsor

• University of Missouri-St.Louis

• Washington University

• Webster University

Official Jeweler

The St. Louis American Foundation is especially grateful to our sponsors listed above. Their generous support was indispensable in making possible the highly successful 2013 Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala and the 2013 Salute Scholarships.