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Â฀1฀ARROW฀•฀week฀of฀Nov.฀14฀-฀20,฀2012

READ ABOUT SOUTHEAST BASKETBALL AT SOUTHEASTARROW.COM/SPORTS +

Musician Logan Venderlic Artist returns to Cape Girardeau to perform. Read the story on page 5 +

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT PUBLICATION NOV. 14 - 20, 2012 Student run since 1911

Regents renew charter school sponsorship HANNAH PARENT STAFF WRITER

Southeast฀Missouri฀State฀University฀ sponsors฀Lift฀for฀Life฀Academy,฀a฀ charter฀school฀that฀was฀the฀first฀of฀its฀ kind฀to฀open฀in฀the฀St.฀Louis฀area. The฀school฀enrolls฀about฀575฀ students฀and฀has฀been฀sponsored฀by฀ Southeast฀since฀2000.฀It฀started฀off฀as฀a฀ middle฀school฀and฀expanded฀through฀ the฀12th฀grade฀in฀fall฀of฀2011. The฀Southeast฀Board฀of฀Regents฀ approved฀an฀extension฀on฀Oct.฀19฀for฀a฀ five-year฀contract฀with฀Lift฀for฀Life฀that฀ will฀continue฀Southeast’s฀sponsorship฀ of฀the฀organization. Vice฀president฀of฀the฀Board฀of฀ Regents฀Jim฀Limbaugh฀said฀the฀board฀ chose฀to฀sponsor฀the฀Lift฀For฀Life฀ Academy฀because฀it฀was฀going฀to฀be฀ governed฀by฀a฀volunteer฀board฀of฀ directors฀made฀up฀of฀community฀ leaders,฀rather฀than฀a฀private฀management฀company฀like฀other฀proposed฀ charter฀schools. “Southeast฀wanted฀to฀get฀involved฀ in฀creating฀an฀academic฀pathway฀for฀St.฀ Louis฀students,”฀Limbaugh฀said.฀“Forty฀ percent฀of฀our฀enrollment฀comes฀from฀ the฀metro฀St.฀Louis฀area,฀so฀it฀was฀ definitely฀a฀good฀investment฀for฀us฀to฀ get฀involved฀with฀Lift฀for฀Life.” Limbaugh฀said฀the฀most฀important฀ goal฀is฀to฀get฀students฀excited฀about฀ postsecondary฀education,฀but฀they฀are฀ not฀required฀to฀attend฀Southeast. “Public฀schools฀in฀St.฀Louis฀are฀ tough฀and฀the฀educational฀outcomes฀ are฀not฀always฀very฀good,”฀Limbaugh฀ said.฀“Charter฀schools฀are฀more฀ structured,฀so฀there฀is฀less฀distraction.฀ We฀chose฀to฀sponsor฀Lift฀for฀Life฀ Academy฀because฀they฀seemed฀to฀have฀ a฀vision฀for฀consistency฀and฀continuity฀ in฀learning.” Southeast฀freshman฀Dionne฀Wagner฀

started฀attending฀Lift฀for฀Life฀in฀the฀ sixth฀grade.฀She฀said฀that฀her฀experiences฀with฀public฀schools฀before฀that฀ were฀rocky฀because฀there฀was฀a฀ different฀principal฀every฀year฀at฀the฀ public฀school฀she฀attended. “I฀remember฀when฀my฀mom฀ enrolled฀me฀in฀Lift฀for฀Life,”฀Wagner฀ said.฀“My฀first฀year฀there฀they฀were฀ already฀giving฀us฀a฀tour฀of฀Southeast฀ University฀and฀encouraging฀us฀to฀think฀ about฀college.฀I฀don’t฀think฀I’d฀be฀at฀a฀ university฀without฀Lift฀for฀Life’s฀ encouragement.฀Public฀schools฀don’t฀ offer฀the฀same฀opportunities.” According฀to฀Dr.฀Bill฀Eddleman,฀vice฀ provost฀and฀dean฀of฀the฀School฀of฀ Graduate฀Studies,฀Lift฀for฀Life฀recieves฀ $60,000฀for฀administrative฀needs฀from฀ the฀state฀of฀Missouri฀thanks฀to฀ Southeast’s฀sponsorship. The฀founder฀of฀Lift฀for฀Life,฀Marshall฀ Cohen,฀said฀that฀students฀who฀attend฀ the฀academy฀come฀from฀St.฀Louis’฀ poorest฀neighborhoods. “Lift฀for฀Life฀Academy฀hopes฀to฀give฀ parents฀another฀choice,”฀Cohen฀said.฀ “We฀focus฀on฀getting฀St.฀Louis฀students฀ academically฀caught฀up.฀We฀are฀more฀ hands-on฀than฀public฀schools฀and฀ place฀emphasis฀on฀postsecondary฀ education.฀We฀offer฀another฀choice฀for฀ parents.” According฀to฀Lift฀for฀Life’s฀website,฀ 95฀percent฀of฀the฀students฀at฀the฀ academy฀are฀African-American฀and฀ over฀90฀percent฀of฀students฀live฀in฀ households฀with฀incomes฀below฀the฀ national฀poverty฀level. The฀academy’s฀website฀says฀that฀ most฀new฀students฀enroll฀with฀reading฀ and฀math฀skills฀1-3฀years฀below฀their฀ grade฀level.฀Lift฀for฀Life’s฀attendance฀ rate฀was฀95฀percent฀in฀fall฀2011,฀as฀ opposed฀to฀86฀percent฀in฀the฀St.฀Louis฀ Public฀Schools. Recent฀research฀has฀been฀done฀on฀ the฀effectiveness฀of฀charter฀school฀

education฀and฀how฀it฀compares฀to฀the฀ public฀school฀system฀in฀the฀St.฀Louis฀ area. A฀not-for-profit฀leadership฀ organization฀called฀Focus฀St.฀Louis฀did฀ a฀study฀on฀17฀charter฀schools฀in฀the฀St.฀ Louis฀area฀during฀the฀2010-2011฀school฀ year. Focus฀St.฀Louis฀concluded฀that฀ “charter฀schools฀can฀provide฀a฀powerful฀ model฀for฀improving฀educational฀ options฀in฀low-performing฀school฀ districts.฀However,฀according฀to฀the฀ latest฀data,฀while฀many฀charter฀schools฀ are฀performing฀better฀than฀the฀ traditional฀St.฀Louis฀public฀schools,฀ none฀of฀the฀17฀charter฀schools฀meet฀ statewide฀academic฀standards.” The฀report฀emphasized฀that฀test฀ scores฀are฀not฀the฀only฀way฀to฀judge฀ charter฀schools’฀performance.฀It฀said฀ one฀problem฀with฀MAP฀testing฀is฀that฀it฀ does฀not฀take฀into฀account฀where฀ students฀started.฀A฀student฀may฀have฀ improved฀immensely฀but฀still฀not฀meet฀ state฀standards.฀The฀report฀also฀stated฀ that฀charter฀schools฀are฀still฀the฀better฀ alternative฀to฀public฀schools,฀even฀ though฀they฀still฀need฀improvement฀in฀ some฀areas. Limbaugh฀is฀sure฀that฀since฀Lift฀for฀ Life฀now฀accommodates฀students฀until฀ they฀graduate,฀it฀will฀be฀able฀to฀keep฀its฀ students’฀education฀more฀consistent. “Expanding฀the฀curriculum฀through฀ high฀school฀is฀important฀because฀the฀ middle฀school฀students฀won’t฀have฀to฀ go฀back฀to฀[public]฀school฀in฀St.฀Louis฀ and฀possibly฀get฀lost฀in฀the฀shuffle,”฀ Limbaugh฀said.฀“Hopefully฀the฀ students’฀experiences฀at฀[Lift฀for฀Life฀ Academy]฀will฀give฀them฀the฀desire฀to฀ continue฀their฀education.฀This฀ expansion฀is฀a฀big฀challenge,฀and฀the฀ potential฀is฀significant.฀Growth฀for฀ growth’s฀sake฀is฀not฀always฀better.฀What฀ we฀are฀much฀more฀interested฀in฀is฀ outcome.”

SOUTHEAST SOCCER RECAP PAGE 2 +

BRIEFS Contribute Southeast-ailiated men’s work is published in anthology A฀Southeast฀alumnus,฀professor฀and฀student฀were฀published฀in฀an฀anthology฀called฀“Proud฀to฀Be:฀Writing฀by฀ American฀Warriors”฀that฀was฀released฀on฀Veteran’s฀Day,฀ according฀to฀a฀press฀release.฀This฀is฀the฀first฀volume฀in฀a฀ planned฀series฀of฀anthologies. Three฀organizations฀worked฀together฀to฀publish฀the฀ anthology:฀the฀Southeast฀Missouri฀State฀University฀Press,฀ Missouri฀Humanities฀Council฀and฀Warrior฀Arts฀Alliance. Three฀members฀of฀the฀military,฀Southeast฀Missouri฀State฀ University฀master’s฀student฀Levi฀Bollinger,฀professor฀ emeritus฀of฀history฀Larry฀Breeze฀and฀alumnus฀Nicholas฀ Watts-Fernandez฀were฀published.

Grant Students will beneit from federal grant A฀federal฀grant฀worth฀$204,211฀awarded฀to฀the฀Masters฀of฀ Science฀in฀Nursing฀program฀at฀Southeast฀Missouri฀State฀ University฀in฀October฀will฀help฀pay฀tuition฀and฀fees฀for฀ students. “We’ll฀at฀least฀do฀16฀students,”฀said฀Dr.฀Elaine฀Jackson,฀ the฀director฀of฀graduate฀studies฀in฀the฀nursing฀department฀ at฀Southeast.฀“If฀we฀have฀extra฀money฀then฀we฀might฀ consider฀more.” The฀Advanced฀Education฀Nursing฀Traineeship฀federal฀ grant,฀presented฀by฀the฀U.S.฀Department฀of฀Health฀and฀ Services,฀is฀for฀students฀who฀are฀studying฀to฀become฀family฀ nurse฀practitioners,฀which฀covers฀families฀all฀the฀way฀from฀ birth฀through฀death.฀ “And฀it฀would฀include฀pregnant฀women฀–฀not฀delivery,฀ but฀kind฀of฀watching฀them฀through฀their฀pregnancy฀and฀ making฀sure฀that฀they’re฀staying฀healthy฀and฀treating฀them,”฀ Jackson฀said. Students฀eligible฀to฀receive฀benefits฀from฀the฀grant฀have฀ to฀be฀preparing฀to฀work฀in฀primary฀care฀in฀a฀health฀ professional฀shortage฀area฀like฀southeast฀Missouri. Read฀the฀full฀story฀at฀southeastArrow.com.

Survey Kent Library conducts online survey The฀strategic฀planning฀committee฀at฀Kent฀Library฀wants฀ user฀feedback.฀Faculty,฀staff,฀students฀and฀alumni฀are฀asked฀ to฀participate฀in฀a฀survey฀that฀will฀be฀open฀until฀Nov.฀21.฀ Anyone฀that฀takes฀the฀survey฀can฀be฀entered฀to฀win฀a฀Kindle฀ Fire฀or฀one฀of฀seven฀Walmart฀gift฀certificates.฀To฀take฀the฀ survey,฀visit฀surveymonkey.com/s/KentSurvey฀or฀click฀on฀ the฀link฀on฀the฀Southeast฀portal. Basketball฀photo฀by฀Ashleigh฀Lee฀of฀the฀University฀Daily฀ Kansan

A฀Partnership฀with฀Southeast฀Missouri฀State฀University฀and฀Rust฀Communications฀•฀To฀advertise,฀call฀573-388-2741


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