Francis Howell
Journalist awarded
Alexis Christo, a 2013 Francis Howell North (FHN) alumna, was recently named the High School Print Winner in the 2013 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards Competition. Christo will be honored on Sept. 26 in Washington, D.C.
“When I received the phone call that I had been named a winner of the RFK award I was speechless,” said Christo. “There were no words to describe how excited I was.”
During the 33rd annual RFK Book and Journalism Award Ceremony, Mrs. Robert F. Kennedy will present the awards to all recipients. Journalists in nine other categories will be honored that night with honorees ranging from the New York Times to PBS.
Christo’s winning piece ran in the December 2013 issue of the North Star, FHN’s student newsmagazine. Christo’s piece was titled “Cheering Through it All,” and told the story of 2013 graduate Sami Ritter’s work volunteering with a special needs cheer squad.
Christo is the third student from FHN to win this honor. She follows Ryan Firle, who won the award in 2009, and DJ Shewmaker, who received the award in 2008.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Alexis,” director of student media at FHN Aaron Manfull said. “She did a great job telling a great story and the experience at the Newseum will be something she doesn’t forget.”
The RFK Journalism Awards recognize outstanding reporting on issues that reflect Robert Kennedy’s dedication to human rights and social justice, and his belief in the power of individual action. Winning entries provide insights into the causes, conditions, and remedies of human rights violations and injustice, and critical analyses of the movements that foster positive global change.
McLean joins Daniel Boone
The Francis Howell School District (FHSD) Board of Education recently announced Megan McLean as the new administrative intern at Daniel Boone Elementary. McLean replaces Connie Buckman, who will be the FHSD interim district administrative intern.
Throughout her time at the FHSD, McLean has served in various teaching and administrative roles. She began her teaching career in FHSD in 2005 as a fourth-grade teacher at Warren Elementary. During this time, McLean served on several committees including: the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Committee, a PTO teacher representative, Behavior Task Force and the FHSD Technology Committee. McLean was also named 2010-11 Warren Elementary Teacher of the Year.
McLean also served as a part of the FHSD Leadership in Educational Administration (LEAP) Program. As a LEAP intern, McLean gained practical field experience by filling in as building principal and assistant principal at the elementary and middle school level. She attended monthly seminars and gained invaluable knowledge from various district representatives on supervision, staffing, teacher evaluation, facilities management, special education, discipline, and effective communication. Additionally, McLean assisted with the development of a yearlong MAP implementation plan for Warren Elementary, as well as developed and monitored a building-wide tutoring program to improve students’ MAP scores.
This summer, McClean was the Summer Assistant Program principal at Harvest Ridge Elementary. In this role, she maintained building safety and safety drills, implemented and supervised arrival and dismissal procedures as well as implemented a Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports model to promote good character.
McLean holds a Master of Arts degree in educational administration from Missouri Baptist University, Master of Arts degree in education and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Truman State University. She has also has certifications in Elementary Education, Spanish, Language Arts, and she has received a Missouri Elementary Principal Certification.
Educators in spotlight
Francis Howell Central High School teacher, April Burton, and Gina Hartman, educational technology specialist, for the Francis Howell School District recently received the 2014 Midwest Spotlight Educator Award from the Midwest Education Technology Conference (METC).
Spotlight educators demonstrate motivation, engagement, transformation, and connection using technology to improve teaching and learning. Candidates also have to provide a minimum of two references, be a certified educator in Missouri or Illinois, and if accepted, must present at least two sessions at the METC conference.
Burton and Hartman will be recognized at METC 2014 on Feb. 10 through Feb. 12, where they will have the opportunity to interact with experts in their field and learn from neighboring school districts.
Fort Zumwalt
College courses
Mikayla Gunn was one of 412 specially selected students nationwide that participated in the Joseph Baldwin Academy for Eminent Young Scholars at Truman State University this summer. Gunn is a freshman at Fort Zumwalt South High School.
The Joseph Baldwin Academy is designed to enrich the learning process of young gifted and talented students by challenging them with a college curriculum. The Scholars are nominated by their school’s principal or counselor from among students who have completed the seventh, eighth or ninth grade by June.
The academy is split into two three-week sessions each summer. The scholars are offered one three-week class from a list of courses. Each course is taught by a member of Truman’s faculty.
This year’s 412 scholars were selected from 4,500 nominees on the basis of their formal application, school transcript, letter of recommendation and test scores in the top 3 percent of either the ACT, SAT or PSAT.
Student stars
Several Fort Zumwalt students are now graduates of the Students and Teachers as Research Scientists (STARS) program.
The six-week program offers high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to work in labs with top scientists from UMSL, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Saint Louis University and Washington University in St. Louis.
Fort Zumwalt seniors Sathwik Katragadda and Tarun Vittal from South High School, Vinny Sompalli from West High School and Zachary Walters from East High School graduated from the program this summer.
Katragadda worked with Dr. Sergey Korolev of Saint Louis University on a paper titled: “Regulation of RecA-dependent homologous recombination by recombination mediator proteins (RMP).” And Sompalli worked with Dr. Yoonsang Cho of Saint Louis University on a paper titled: “Migration of immune cells to Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF).”
Summer school
Two Fort Zumwalt West High School students tried college courses this summer at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Rajah Lemons and Alena Stepney, sophomores at Fort Zumwalt West, completed the UMSL Bridge Program over the summer, which provides math and science enrichment courses to high school students.
Wentzville
Third high school opens
The Wentzville School District officially opened the doors to Liberty High School students on Aug. 15.
Located at 2275 Sommers Road in Lake Saint Louis, the new 227,000-square-foot facility welcomed 283 freshmen on the first day of school in the WSD. With the opening of Liberty, the district is now able to align school assignments so that three elementary schools feed into one middle school which then feeds into one high school.
Crossroads, Discovery Ridge, and Prairie View Elementary will feed into Frontier Middle School, and Frontier students will then advance onto Liberty. There will be one class added each year until the school has all four grades for the 2016-17 school year.
Core standards
For the 2013-14 school year, the Wentzville School District will be implementing a revised English Language Arts curriculum aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The new curriculum will include increased rigor and more emphasis on non-fiction.
Wentzville teachers and administrators have spent the past year working to develop the curriculum. In addition, new classroom materials are being adopted and teachers in grades K-8 are using classroom libraries to engage students at their reading level. High school english language arts classes will also see more student choice in reading selections.
School officials said the goal is to have all students college- and career-ready by high school graduation.
SCC
Mental health programming
St. Charles Community College will host a series of events this fall to bring awareness to mental health. All events are free and open to the public and will be held in the auditorium of the Daniel J. Conoyer Social Sciences Building.
“Mental health is a contributing factor in a person’s wellness,” said Kelley
Pfeiffer, student activities manager. “We are hosting these events to educate our students and the community about ways to improve their overall heath and wellness.”
Before I Die, a Community Project will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 4 and Sept. 5. The community-oriented public art project invites people to reflect on their lives and share their personal aspirations in a public space by writing an item from their
personal or professional bucket list on chalkboards.
A bullying presentation will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Tues., Sept. 10. Learn how to address this behavior and about the programs SCC is implementing to help people on campus realize the impact of their words and actions.
“Call Me Crazy: A Five Film,” will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wed., Oct. 2. The film depicts mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disease, depression and
post-traumatic stress disorder in an attempt to bring dialogue about mental
illness out into the open.
A presentation on intimate partner violence and technology safety will be held at noon on Wed., Oct. 16. This presentation will cover the topic of intimate partner violence by discussing theories, myths, research and real-life application. Discussion will include how abusers stalk and further harass their victims using technology and how to be safe while using technology.
For more information, call 922-8544 or kpfeiffer@stchas.edu.