CGES SPOTLIGHT
Students at St. Louis’s Beginning Futures Learning Center are getting a strong foundation in STEAM learning, thanks to Central alumna Rochelle Bea, ‘14.
Central Has Strong Role In Beginning Futures By EMILY KESEL
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he story of Beginning Futures “North of Delmar has been left for shreds; Learning Center starts with two it’s horrible,” said Bea, explaining the photos. simple satellite photos. Director “Imagine trash, overgrown vegetation, broken Rochelle Bea, ’14, keeps them handy on her doors, everything.” phone for interviews about her center to She says that 70 percent of each block in illustrate just how important the community is derelict. It it is. is an impoverished area, and The first of the two while both neighborhoods overhead shots of St. Louis have schools, children who neighborhoods is the grow up north of Delmar community south of Delmar have historically had to Boulevard. It’s a typical play catch-up with their screenshot of a satellite education upon entering map, showing the tops of elementary school. buildings amidst streets and But Bea – along with her trees. At the top of the photo sister, Shirla Lomax, and the is a larger group of buildings teachers at Beginning Futures making up a school. The – is trying to change that. second photo, of an area And it might not have been north of Delmar, is similar, possible without Central Director Rochelle Bea, ’14 also showing a smattering Methodist University. of buildings laid out within the grid of streets Bea first recognized the need for an early and a school among them. childhood education center when her own But there is one very noticeable difference child was having trouble retaining what she between these two photos – in the second, was learning in first grade. She went “on a north of Delmar, more than half the buildings journey” to learn how to help educate her have been traced with pink lines on the map, child better and in doing so “fell in love with indicating that they have been condemned by education.” She noticed that her child wasn’t the city. In the first photo, there are no pink alone in her struggles and that there were lines at all. no quality educational programs for young
26 The Talon | Spring 2021
children in her part of town. When she began looking into opening a facility of her own, she realized an early childhood center could be the answer and started the process of applying for grants. Her proposal was eventually approved for a grant from the Missouri Department of Education, but there was a stipulation attached. Bea needed a certified early childhood education teacher. She had a degree at the time, but it was in psychology and not sufficient to fulfill the grant requirements. She knew she had to go back to school. That’s when she found CMU. Through the College of Graduate and Extended Studies (CGES), Bea was able to accelerate the process of obtaining a bachelor’s degree in child development. “That was a process that really saved our grant funding, because it was an expedited process. [Central] had a very good team that sat down and worked with me to knock out as much as I could,” she said. “CMU did whatever was needed to get me in the necessary classes so that we could secure the funding.” Bea took classes through CGES at St. Louis Community College and CMU’s Florissant campus, earned her new degree, and opened Beginning Futures, providing a strong early childhood program to her neighborhood
