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VOL. VI, No. 34;  Tuesday, April 3, 2007   

Dear Arthur,


Today's newsletter includes (Note: You can now click on the blue hyperlinks below to go directly to the story!):

Upcoming Events for Balance of 2006-2007 School Year

Urban Go-Team Explores Skinker-DeBaliviere Area

Next High School Discussion Group on Saturday, April 14

Civitas Collaboration with Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting including workshop for Teachers

Civitas now takes donations and payment of fees with credit cards and PayPal.  If you want to make a tax-deductible donation or pay a fee, you may do so by clicking here.

 

 

Civitas Home Page
              


Upcoming Events

DATE

TIME

PLACE

ACTIVITIES

 

 

 

 

Sat.,

04/14/07

9:00 AM -

11:00 AM

Crossroads

   Discussion Group #10

 

 

 

 

Wed., 04/25/07

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

C.C.G.C.

Middle School Model U.N. Session #3

 

 

 

 

Thurs., 04/26/07

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

C.C.G.C.

Middle School Model U.N. Session #4

 

 

 

 

Fri.,
04/27/07

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

C.C.G.C.

Middle School Model U.N. Session #5

 

 

 

 

Sat.,

04/28/07

8:30 AM -
12:00 Noon







1:00 PM -
4:00 AM

KETC-TV (Channel 9)
3655 Olive
(63108)




Crossroads

   Optional (but inviting!) workshop for high school and middle school teachers on using resources of Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting




Urban Go-Team Activity #2 (We will go to the 'Hadley Township' area in Richmond Heights)

Wed., 05/02/07

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

C.C.G.C.

Middle School Model U.N. Session #6

 

 

 

 

Thurs., 05/03/07

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

C.C.G.C.

Middle School Model U.N. Session #7

 

 

 

 

Fri., 05/04/07

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

C.C.G.C.

Middle School Model U.N. Session #8

 

 

 

 

Thurs., 05/10/07

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

C.C.G.C.

Middle School Model U.N. Session #9

 

 

 

 

Sat.,

05/12/07

9:00 AM -

11:30 AM


12:00 PM -

3:00 PM

Crossroads

 


Junior High Park in Maplewood

Urban Go-Team Activity #3

 


Picnic & Softball

 

 

 

 

Mon., 05/21/07

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Chevy's in Crestwood

Middle School Teacher Meeting #4

 

Rev., April 3, 2007


"Urban Go-Team" hits the not-so-mean streets of '63112' last Saturday

We saw lots of window as we pounded the pavement in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood around Crossroads School [in zip code 63112] last Saturday (March 31), but the best window was the one of opportunity that came our way that morning between rain storms.  After having been snowed out two weeks before, we needed a little luck on the weather front and we got it!

Ten students (Allison Reed; Rosati-Kain, 2008; Earl Taylor; Tower Grove Christian, 2008; Erin Casey; Rosati-Kain, 2009; Eva Byrne, Rosati-Kain, 2010; Genevieve Buthod, Rosati-Kain, 2010;  Jeff Yeckel, Bishop DuBourg, 2008; Jenise Davie, Soldan International Studies, 2010; Jessica Davie, Soldan International Studies, 2007; Karlee Sellars, Bishop DuBourg, 2008; and Kyle Marks, Hazelwood Central, 2008) gathered at 9:00 AM and after a brief description of our tasks at hand, broke into three groups to study, photograph, and take observation notes of three areas around Crossroads.

Below is a listing of the three groups and links directly to the photos that students took from their area:

Area

Link to Photos
Pershing (DeBaliviere to Clara) Pershing Group
Delmar (Goodfellow to Clara) Delmar Group
DeBaliviere --> Waterman --> Laurel --> Westminster Place Kingsbury Group
 

To the left is a photo of Jeff Yeckel of the 'Delmar Group.'  He is in turn taking a photo looking into a building at the northeast corner of DeBaliviere and Delmar.  For at least the past twenty-seven years it had been the home of Stella Maris Day Care Center.  It was as recently as three weeks ago.  However, when we went to observe the area last Saturday, we saw that the building had been vacated and a major asset to the neighborhood was lost.  We later learned that Stella Maris had moved to a new location close by on Raymond Avenue where they could own their own building rather than rent.



Our next session Urban Go-Team session is on Saturday, April 28, from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM (this is a change of time from previously reported).  We will go to a nine square block area in Richmond Heights called Hadley Township.  It is a "hot" neighborhood now; not because it is "sexy," but because things are happening!  It's a buy-out area and most of it will be demolished within the next year.  A developer has big plans for the area and they will begin to take shape in the fall.  But what will happen to the over 150 families currently living in the area.  We are looking forward to the Civitas Urban Go-Team following this story for a number of years.  The first steps will be extensive mapping and photographing of the area as well as interviewing of the residents.  We will start that process on Saturday, April 28.

As stated previously, Civitas will once again have a program this summer in which students can intensely learn and act upon urban issues in our metropolitan area.  We'll do some studying, we'll have lots of field trips, we'll have interesting speakers, and we'll even try out some tasty restaurants.  This year, we call the program the Urban Go-Team: "Show Me the Money in St. Louis!"

If you are interested in being a member of the Urban Go-Team, it is not too late.  Just show up on April 28 or e-mail us at
[email protected].


Discussion Group on Saturday, April 14 at Crossroads

Our tenth (count 'em, 10) discussion group of the school year will be a week from this Saturday, April 14, at Crossroads School (map) from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM.  This has nothing to do with the Urban Go-Team; it is strictly discussion.  It should be a great time to talk as Congress will be back in session and things may well be coming to a head regarding continued funding of America's expedition into Iraq.  And just yesterday (Monday, April 2), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Bush Administration cannot prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing regulations to reduce the spewing of pullutants into the atmosphere.  On the local front, we have the continuing saga of the St. Louis public schools, the upcoming madness of more closings of Highway 40 (I-64), and then Arthur's favorite topic of the year, "the socially redeeming values of proms."  Well, at the very least, are they too expensive?  Hope to see you there!


 

 

Civitas Begins Exciting Collaboration with Pulitzer Center

We are all aware of the schlock (yes, it's in the dictionary, "something of cheap or inferior quality; junk") that often characterizes today's mainstream news.  Fortunately, there are still some real journalists out there and among them is Jon Sawyer, director of the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.  The Pulitzer Center was established several years ago with the expressed intent of covering under-reported international stories that are important in themselves and important to citizens of the United States.  Over the past two years the Center has covered over a dozen important stories from Africa, Asia, the Balkans, and elsewhere.

It is not only important to report the stories; it is important to have a broader audience.  As the Pulitzer Center contracts with a number of accomplished journalists and videographers, it is also working to expand its readership and viewership into a number of colleges, universities, high schools, and middle schools.  Fortunately, St. Louis is becoming the flagship for their high school and middle school outreach.

One of the projects that the Pulitzer Center is working on is the reclamation of the Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique in southeast Africa.  The park was trashed during the civil war from 1975-1992, but due to a strong commitment and lots of dollars from an American philanthropist, it is being restored.  The sunshine story is not without its problems, but this is all being reported by the Pulitzer Center.

Director Jon Sawyer will be coming to St. Louis along with his assistant Nathalie Applewhite and Gorongosa reporter Stephanie Hanes from April 25 - 28.  Thanks to some terrific work by Parkway District Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator Liz Morrison, they will be spending Thursday, April 26 in the Parkway district.  With tremendous support from KETC-TV Vice-President for Educational Services, Amy Shaw, Channel 9 will be creating a series of multi-purpose videos in part from the classes in the Parkway district that day.

On Friday, April 27, Jon, Nathalie, and Stephanie will be coming to St. Joseph's Academy (9:30 AM), Collinsville High School (12:00 Noon), and Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School (2:05 PM).  In all cases, they will be discussing the importance of the Gorongosa story and how it relates to students' lives.  Most importantly, they are open to taking any and all student questions.

Finally, on Saturday, April 28, all parties concerned will join together to sponsor a workshop for high school and middle school teachers who are interested in using the myriad of resources from the Pulitzer Center.  Invitations to teachers involved in Civitas programs will be sent from Channel 9 shortly.

Civitas has the pleasure of working with the Pulitzer Center and others on this project.  One of our projects is to work to prepare students and teachers and St. Joseph's, Collinsville, and Maplewood-Richmond Heights for the Pulitzer visits on Friday, April 27.  Yesterday (Monday, April 2), we had an opportunity to meet with a terrific A.P. class at Collinsville taught by Mark Schusky and Barbara Lindauer.  Wow, what a terrific group.  We truly appreciate their fine interest, questions, and most importantly, understanding of the need to focus on stories such as Gorongosa.  Photos (taken by Collinsville student Leslie Miller) are available by clicking here.

Also, a number of students from St. Louis high schools have been communicating on the Gorongosa blog with journalist Stephanie Hanes.  You can access their questions and comments as well as Stephanie's fine responses by clicking here.




Middle School Model U.N. Resumes on April 25

Middle School Model U.N. Resumes on April 25

 

Seven wonderful Middle School model U.N. sessions remain this Spring.  The next one is on Wednesday, April 25.  Teachers for this session and other upcoming ones who have not yet submitted resolutions for those sessions should e-mail them to Lisa at [email protected].   If you have any questions, call Lisa at (314) 865-4704.

All sessions are held at the Creve Coeur Government Center (
map;) and run from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (it's always advisable to arrive early!). 

See more photos here.

 



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