24th Annual Salute to Education (2011)

Carolyn Blair

Latasha M. McClelland

Art J. McCoy, II

Natissia Small

Michelle L. McClure

Marsha Yvonne Merry

Darnell P. Young

Nikki Doughty

President’s Statement

Salute to Excellence In Education

Our community must place education at the peak of its priority list when it comes to supporting children and youth in our region.

If we are serious about education, we can change the course for many of our students at the beginning of their educational endeavors and intercept the path of others who may not have received the foundation of support that every child needs in order to be successful.

If we are serious about education, each of us will make a commitment today to identify a single child, school or program for which we will engage our personal intellect as a tutor, mentor, reading partner or homework helper.

The United Way of Greater St. Louis is joining the St. Louis Cares Mentoring Movement and the St. Louis American Foundation to build a partnership with local organizations that have a national presence to assist with the recruitment and training of individuals who heed the call to serve our youth as mentors, tutors, reading partners and homework helpers. This collaboration, called the Education Express, will help recruit mentors for organizations and several schools throughout the metropolitan community,

Donald M.Suggs President St.Louis American Foundation

in order to help strengthen the academic success of our students.

We can change the course for many of our students at the beginning of their educational endeavors and intercept the path of others who may not have received the foundation of support that every child needs in order to be successful, if each of us make a commitment today to identify a single child, school or program for which we will engage our personal intellect as a tutor, mentor, reading partner or homework helper.

It is estimated that there are nearly 100,000 youth in Eastern Missouri who could benefit by having a caring adult in

their life, who would focus on support that enhances academic success. When we note statistics that tell us that 98 percent of youth that are matched with mentors stay in school or that 97 percent of teens that are matched with a mentor avoid pregnancy or that 85 percent of the youth who have these caring adults in their lives do not do drugs…How can we not serve in this capacity?

We acknowledge that the path to solving attendance issues, improving student academic achievement and graduating students from high school is hard work and that we may encounter bumps along the way. We cannot afford to give up on our youth or expect that someone else will solve one of the most challenging issues facing our community. However, we must envision the ultimate destination. It is comprised of a child or young adult who values education and utilizes it to master all of the possibilities that yield success.

Serving as a mentor helps our youth and builds an entire community. We owe them. They need us. We hope you will get on board!

2011 Salute to Excellence in Education Chairs and Co-Chairs

Honorary General Chairman:

Dr. Henry Givens, Jr.

Honorary Chairpersons:

Richard Banks

James Buford

Steve Cousins

Hon. Charlie Dooley

Dr. Henry Givens

Hon. Darlene Green

Richard Mark

Hon. Michael McMillan

Michael Middleton

Kathy Osborn

David Steward

Dinner Co-Chairs:

Anisha Morrell-Charles Michael Kennedy, Jr.

Dinner Committee:

Malik Ahmed

Thomas R. Bailey

Anita Banks

Gerald Brooks

Alfreda Brown

Nina Caldwell

Sheila Forrest

Flint Fowler

June Fowler

Sherman George

Laurna Godwin

Becky James-Hatter

Gabe Gore

Dr. Charlene Jones

Darryl Jones

Mike Jones

Dr. William Jones

Roger Macon

Gwen Packnett

Cheryl Polk

Bessie Reid

Veto Reid

Harry Ratliff

Dr. Will Ross

Christine Winfield

Ida Woolfolk

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Carolyn Blair: The unnoticed advocate

Excellence in Education Awardee

By Andrew Fowler

For The St.Louis American

Salute to Excellence in Education

awardee Carolyn Blair, M.Ed., has been in the education field for 19 years and has spent the past 10 years working as the Counseling Service Director for Clayton High School in the Clayton School District.

Blair was born in Michigan and attended a magnet grade school. One of her biggest influences that led her into the education field was her high school band teacher, George Creer.

“He was one of the few educators of color,” Blair said. “He talked about education being the great equalizer, and it stuck with me.”

Creer always kept up with Blair and took an interest in how she was performing in all of her classes. Blair says when report cards came out, Creer wouldn’t let her or the other students into the band room without seeing each student’s report card.

Carolyn Blair has been in the education field for 19 years and has spent the past ten years working as the Counseling Service Director for Clayton High School in the Clayton school district.

Studies Program in Washington, D.C. and finishing her undergraduate studies at the University of Seville in Spain.

Throughout high school and college, Blair worked in the broadcast journalism field on both radio and television.

Blair made her way to St. Louis 15 years ago. She began working at the University of Missouri-St. Louis while she got her Master’s Degree. She worked at St. Louis University High School as a counselor before she began to work at Clayton High School.

As the Counseling Service Director, Carolyn works with students throughout the college admission process, from finding the college that is the best fit for the student, to testing and essay writing. She also visits many higher education institutions and works closely with colleges and universities to make sure that the students at Clayton High School have access to the best information while making that very important decision.

“It’s one of those things where if you do it right you go unnoticed,” Blair said. “I’m satisfied with knowing I helped someone, whether they know it or not”

Blair attended Spring Arbor University before entering the American

See BLAIR, page 6

Photo by Wiley Price

BLAIR

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Outside of Clayton High School, Blair works closely with the Cultural Leadership Program (CLP) helping with programming and fundraising. CLPis a program that links African-American and Jewish students together. They learn about each other’s cultures and extensively study civil rights in the United States.Each year the students go on a summer trip to around the country learning more about different cultures and their histories.

“Their job is to go back to school and advocate for change,” Blair said. “It’s great to see them get fired up and want to make changes.”

In her spare time Blair likes to enjoy the outdoors. She enjoys biking, and two years ago she participated in a triathlon. Blair is the mother of two sons, one in middle school and the other in elementary school, and spends a lot of time with them.

“The things that they like to do are what I do,” Blair said. “I do more adventurous type of things: white water rafting, parasailing and zip lining.”

Currently Blair and one of her sons are taking French lessons.

Blair is glad to be able to highlight

“It’s one of those things where if you do it right you go unnoticed.”

– Carolyn Blair

the importance of education.

“I feel so strongly and passionately about education, and I’m glad to do something that I feel so strongly and passionately about,” Blair said.

Blair has served on numerous boards and committees including: ACTexecutive council, Missouri Association of College Admission Counselors as Chair of the Human Relations committee, Assembly Delegate to the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, and the NACAC liaison to the Missouri School Counselors Association.

She also serves on Advisory Boards for Miami University, Indiana University, University of Michigan and Northwestern University and has recently been asked to join the Board of Directors for the Common Application. In the summer months she volunteers for College Summit, a college preparatory workshop for underrepresented students.

Academic rigorforelementary students

Excellence in Education Awardee

By Andrew Fowler

For The St.Louis American

Salute to Excellence in Education awardee Nikki Doughty, MA, is the director of Admissions, Alumni Relations and Placement at City Academy. City Academy is an independent school in North St. Louis that believes that a family’s income should not stop a child from receiving a quality education. City Academy has early childhood students beginning as young as three years old to students in the 6th grade.

“We provide children with the most academically rigorous program possible,” Doughty said. “The teachers here are constantly trying to better themselves for our children.”

Doughty is heavily involved in making sure these students find the best school that fits their needs when they graduate from City Academy.

“We don’t have access to enough innovative educational programming,” Doughty said. “We want to be able to be

a force and work to really provide the education we say we are providing to

Nikki Doughty is the Director of Admissions, Alumni Relations and Placement at City Academy.

al life giving back to the community.”

Doughty was born in Baltimore but spent the majority of her life in St. Louis. From an early age, she was committed to serving the greater community.

Doughty’s family had a big influence that led her to work in social justice.

“My grandfather was heavily involved in social justice when he was in Georgia back in the ‘40s,” Doughty said.

At 14, she began volunteering at the YMCA. By the next year she was working at the front desk and assisting with the United Way’s Partner with Youth Campaign to raise funds for the YMCA scholarship program.

She continued working at the YMCA while attending the University of Missouri – St. Louis. She also interned for the Missouri Democratic Party and the American Civil Liberties Union.

An important influence was Joyce Mushaben, professor of political science at UMSL. “She pushed me to ask tough questions and not be satisfied with the way things were,” Doughty said. “It wasn’t just okay to study it, you had a role to play.”

Upon graduation, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia and became the regional

students in the area. I think for me it’s why I spend my personal and profession-

See DOUGHTY, page 10

Photo by Wiley Price

DOUGHTY

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campaign director for the Democratic Party of Georgia. After the 2004 election, she realized the importance of education and nonprofit organizations and moved backed to St. Louis to attend graduate school at Webster University and study international development with an emphasis on educational development.

“It was after my stint at the Democratic party of Georgia I realized education was the solution to the problem,” Doughty said. “When rights were being threatened in marginalized communities, the common theme was lack of quality education.”

Her plans to relocate after graduation changed due to the rapidly declining health of her mother. She stayed in St. Louis and found work at City Academy, a unique non-profit independent school in North St. Louis. Serving as the director of Admissions, Placement and Alumni Relations, she has the unique fortune to counsel new families, assist those who are graduating and support alumni.

What was once supposed to be a short-term plan has become very permanent. After six years at City Academy, her commitment to educational and

social equity in the city of St. Louis has not faltered.

She volunteers for Changing Prisms of Boys and Girls Town of Eastern Missouri, and also serves as co-chair of the Development Committee and member of the Event Planning Committee for the ACLU, as well as a member of the Development Committee of St. Francis Cabrini Academy. She has also served on the Board of Trustees for these organizations.

The Changing Prisms program takes 40 teenage girls from the St. Louis metropolitanarea to the University of Missouri-Rolla campus and professional women participate with the teenagers in the self-actualization process. The girls invited to the program have been through traumatic experiences.

“I think Changing Prisms is one of the most moving programs I’ve been in with children,” Doughty said. “We help them not be crippled by their past so they can move forward with their future.”

Doughty believes the way to improve the future of the St. Louis community is to offer innovative programs that allow students to be competitive in the global market.

“There are schools in St. Louis that are successful and it’s important that we work together,” Doughty said. “The community is as strong as the education opportunities we provide.”

Latasha McClelland: Blending the old with the new

Excellence in Education Awardee

Chris King

Of The St.Louis American

Salute to Excellence in Education awardee Latasha M. McClelland, M.Ed, is currently completing her Masters of Educational Leadership, while simultaneously serving as lead teacher, third grade teacher and building administrator at Lexington Elementary School in the St. Louis Public School District.

She appreciates the opportunity to shape children from such an early age. “Third grade is the first grade where state testing begins,” she said. “I try to make it very fun for them. I try to teach life skills that they can take away, so they know how to do things like balance a checkbook.”

At Lexington, she appreciates the support of her principal, Barbara Anderson: “She allows me to take some old-school styles, if I can say that, and blend in some new styles.”

For example, McClelland employs the old-school strategy of having students write information on the board and commit it to rote memory. “But once we’ve

we learned our multiplications, now let’s put it in a rap,” she said. “That would be

Salute to Excellence in Education awardee Latasha M.McClelland is lead teacher,third grade teacher and building administrator at Lexington Elementary School in the St.Louis Public School District.

trator, McClelland assumes the top supervisory role in the absence of the principal. “In her absence, I also deal with all the parents and staff and make administrative decisions for the building,” she said.

She feels very much at home at the school. “Lexington is a great place to learn and work as a team,” she said. “We work together. I am proud and humble to be there at this time.”

Her family taught her the importance of an education. “My late grandmother, Edna M. Blackwell McClelland, instilled in me at a young age the importance of education,” she said. “She always told me it would take me far.”

She is a product of the Normandy School District, where she was shaped from an early age by educators. Her 4th grade teacher, Ms. Sylvia RightQuiggless at McKinley Elementary School, was an early motivating influence. “She brought learning to my life,” Doughty said. “To this day we still keep in contact with each other.”

After graduating from Normandy High School, she matriculated at HarrisStowe State College (now a university) where she attained a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, with a minor in Special Education. Continuing her pursuit for educational excellence, she

the old blended with the new.” As lead teacher and building adminis-

Photo by Wiley Price

McCLELLAND

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enrolled at the University of Missouri –St. Louis where she received her Masters of Educational Administration.

For over 13 years, she has been committed to educating young people in St. Louis County and city public schools. Her commitment to education has earned her numerous accolades. She is the recipient of the DeWitt–Wallace Reader’s Digest Scholarship; the 2008-2009 recipient of the Pettus Award of Excellence from St. Louis Public Schools. In 2009, she received national recognition from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for her student’s outstanding performance on the MAPtest.

Additionally, in fulfilling her civic obligations she is an active member of the alumni chapters of Harris-Stowe State University; University of Missouri – St. Louis; International Reading Association and Missouri National Education Association.

As a woman steeped in spiritual awareness, she attends First Baptist Church of Chesterfield (Dr. T.D. Stubblefield, pastor), where she is a member of the Inspirational Choir and active congregant who works to promote the church’s global outreach ministries.

“I stay in Jennings, but I traveled to First Baptist because I had a friend who stayed out there and invited me out there to the church,” she said. “I cried through service.”

“Working in education gives me the opportunity to give back to my community and help my students, my school and my community.”

– Latasha M.McClelland

In addition to serving her spiritual needs, her new home church has helped her as an educator. “The church has been instrumental in helping me around Thanksgiving time to give 100 baskets to 100 children at Lexington,” she said. She is the eldest daughter of Mr. Theodore Norman II and Mrs. Anna Ursery. Being the oldest of five siblings and the aunt to a niece (Lynn Ford, McKendree College), nephew (Ronnie Williams II) and great nephew (Jaylynn Ford-Griffin), she makes family a primary element in life.

She seeks to gain the most out of life, spending her leisure time between fine dining, bowling, culinary arts, traveling, performing arts and volunteering. McClelland considers herself a public servant who helps those that can use a helping hand. She prides herself in “successfully developing one child at a time as an educator.”

“Working in education gives me the opportunity to give back to my community and help my students, my school and my community,” she said. “No one is ever too old or too young to learn.”

Michelle McClure: ‘Retention is the name of the game’

Excellence in Education Awardee

By Chris King

Of The St.Louis American

Salute to Excellence in Education awardee Michelle L. McClure, PhD, currently serves as assistant vice president for Academic Affairs at Harris-Stowe State University. McClure provides leadership over Center for Retention and Student Success, University Library, student academic grievances, and university schedules and bulletins. McClure is a member of the campus expansion committee and supervised a university-wide renovation project to upgrade technology and classrooms to improve the delivery of instruction.

“The patterns we see at Harris-Stowe are pretty common,” she said, in terms of retaining students and helping them to succeed. “Often people make the mistake and think only certain schools have students who need development educationally or need additional assistance. But if you look at the statistics, many students throughout the nation graduate from high

school in need of developmental courses. Here at Harris-Stowe, it’s our mission to make sure we meet all their unmet higher educational needs.”

She provides oversight for a staff of about 10 people, including Anne Grice, director of the Center for Retention and Student Success. She said, “I supervise Ann and her staff. Retention is the name of the game. We make sure when students enter Harris-Stowe State University we provide the types services and welcoming environment so they not only come but stay and graduate.”

Prior to her arrival at Harris-Stowe, McClure was an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She taught teacher education candidates. In addition, to her teaching duties, she served as the chair for the Graduate Program in Educational Leadership with special emphasis in college student personnel.

McClure earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Master’s of Arts in Education from Truman State University.

She started her journey in higher edu-

See McCLURE, page 18

Salute to Excellence in Education awardee Michelle L.McClure serves as assistant vice president for Academic Affairs at Harris-Stowe State University, providing leadership over Center for Retention and Student Success, University Library and student academic grievances.

Photo by Wiley Price

McCLURE

continued from page 17

cation as a political science major at Truman State University with the intention to become a lawyer. But education made her want to be an educator.

“I received such great education and met such fantastic people along the way, particularly at college – people who cared so much about me and didn’t even know me,” she said.

One educator who inspired her at Truman – Dwyane Smith – is now her colleague as vice president of Academic Affairs at Harris-Stowe. “The way I saw Dwayne giving to students over and above the call of duty – for many students, he was the determining factor whether people would stay or leave,” she said. “Because of his work, people would stay and and continue their studies. I thought that was absolutely remarkable.”

The support deeply affected her personally. She said, “The fact that they cared so much about me and my success, I couldn’t believe you could get paid for something like that! So I decided to pursue a career in higher education.”

After completing her Master’s degree, she worked as an administrator in Academic and Student Affairs which

helped her develop a passion for creating and evaluating policies that would help enhance the educational experiences of students in the college setting. In August 2003, McClure earned her Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership Studies with an emphasis in Higher Education Administration from Indiana University – Bloomington.

Since earning her degree, McClure has remained committed to making higher education accessible to underserved populations. Her research agenda examines the impact particular policies have on the educational experiences of students, particularly students of color in the college setting.

McClure started out as a member of an “underserved population” herself, in terms of education. “I’m a first-generation college student,” she said.

“Regardless that they didn’t have an opportunity, my parents were determined to push us to college. Fortunately, I went to college and fell in love with education and made it a career.”

Her home church is Friendship M.B. Church, where the pastor is Shadrach Robinson. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and actively involved in the Rosata-Kain Alumni Association, where she served as chair for the centennial celebration that kicked off September 1.

Superintendent promotes personalized learning

By Sandra Jordan

Of The St.Louis American

Awardee Art J. McCoy, II, Ph.D., is a few months into his new job as school superintendent at Ferguson-Florissant School District, the learning hub for approximately 12,000 students in the North St. Louis County.

As one of the youngest superintendents in the state, McCoy’s leadership and expertise is being used to tackle what beleaguers many schools across the country – greater student achievement, as evidenced by standardized test scores.

McCoy has a “Three Ps” approach in his district to maintaining full accreditation while improving learning and test scores – precise, personalization and professional.

More precision is required, according to McCoy, in learning the needs of students and providing specific help and support around those specific needs. Some of the programs that help with preciseness are Study Island, Education City and STAR Enterprise learning programs.

“STAR Enterprise is a program that does a pre-assessment, takes 15 minutes for math and comm. arts and then it gives you a level and a specific plan for

every kid,” McCoy said. “You can use that on a weekly basis to see where kids are every week to be very precise as to what they know and what they don’t know,” McCoy said.

McCoy is using PD 360 to help teachers grow and improve.

“It helps teachers get the precise professional development that they want and

Excellence in Education Awardee

need in order to improve in a specific area,” McCoy added. “It’s based off a database of about a thousand experts across the nation.”

Personalization of the learning, McCoy’s second P, allows students to see themselves for their own talents, who they are culturally and as African Americans to and see that portrayal in the curriculum.

The U.S. Dept. of Education describes this competency-based approach to learning as one that favors learning flexibility over structure to allow students mastery of subject matter based on their individ-

ual learning style, inside and outside of the classroom.

“Who did this as a black person? What is the personal plight of the past, the present and the future? Learning about how the new Jim Crow is incarceration, and how they can particularly have a role in being jail cell closers,” McCoy, said, explaining that every time a student performs well academically, they are closing a jail cell.

“So we realigned our history classes so that we are teaching current events and global events first, and then we are narrowing it down to U.S. history, American History and then specifically, to Civics and Government, so that our students can see themselves as a larger part of the world, and that the majority of the world are not Caucasian, but more so people of color,” McCoy said.

He said the personalized learning is about who the students are as a people and also what skills they need for jobs.

“We have about five career tracks that are solid and we aim to have about 10 in the next three years,” he said. “Right now the career tracks include a certification in food; early education classes;

See McCOY, page 22

2011 Salute to Excellence in Education awardee Art J.McCoy II is superintendent of the FergusonFlorissant School District.

Photo by Wiley Price

McCOY

continued from page 21

engineering; business and carpentry and we are adding more so that they can actually have the certifications upon graduation in those areas to go straight into the trades.”

McCoy’s third Pis about greater staff professionalism.

“As a staff we are really working on being a professional learning organization – not just a professional learning community,” McCoy said. “We have to learn from the needs of our constituents and then provide the services that surround us based upon those needs.

“So, if the airport is working with China to revitalize the airport to have more new jobs – we have to learn from that and position ourselves so that our community can be best served,” McCoy said, as an example.

Boeing and the Hazelwood plant were other examples.

Working above and beyond despite the odds are part of his success as a young educational leader.

“I’ve been blessed to be able to combine hard work with opportunity and a passion to not be afraid to take risks; to stand up for what’s right and what’s most affecting communities that are impover-

ished or underserved,” McCoy said. Several people have been influential in McCoy’s success, including is parents, ministers and others.

McCoy is the youngest of four siblings born to district elder A. John McCoy, pastor at Grace Apostolic Family Worship Center, and his mother, Norma Jean McCoy of Florissant. The superintendent once served as a minister of music at his church.

At age 19, McCoy became the youngest certified teacher in the state. By age 22, he became a vice principal at St. Charles Middle School. McCoy earned his bachelor’s degree at age 19 in math education at Harris-Stowe State College. His doctorate in education at age 25 and master’s in education administration at age 22 were earned at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Previously, McCoy served as executive director of the Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corporation (VICC) and Student Services in Rockwood School District; director of the gifted program in Pattonville Schools and a middle school administrator and principal in St. Charles School District .

McCoy is an adjunct university professor, author, and founder of the SAGES Organization, which focuses on eliminating educational achievement gaps. He and his wife, Belinda, have one daughter, Rachel.

Marsha Merry: Urban educatorby choice

Excellence in Education Awardee

By Andrew Fowler

For The St.Louis American

Salute to Excellence in Education

awardee Marsha Merry, M.Ed., has been in the education field for 33 years. She began as an English teacher, teaching high school English for 20 years. For the past 14 years Merry has been the Library Media Specialist at McKinley C.L.A. in the St. Louis Public Schools. She also works as the Library Specialist for Ashland Elementary School, having taught English on the secondary level for many years.

Merry is a product of the St. Louis Public Schools. She attended Cupples Elementary School where she developed a love for learning and particularly literature.

“It was my favorite subject in high school, and I just like the exposure to a variety of genres of literature,” Merry said. “And it parallels with so many other things. It helps connect a bridge to other subjects.”

While at Cupples, Merry’s third grade teacher, Marian Bosley-Evans, was a big influence in her love for literature and helped her understand the importance of education.

“She was always able to incorporate the children’s talent along with the academics. She really gave a well-rounded education,” Merry said.

“We always had some kind of program that would showcase the students’talents. I learned from her that this helps to develop the whole child and I have tried to be instrumental in this with my students.”

Merry also attended Beaumont Junior High and Beaumont High School.

“One reward is being able to interact with teachers I had as a little girl,” Merry said. “I’m on the same level as them now, so to speak.”

Merry has been able to see students that she once taught grow to be successful adults. She has also has had the chance to teach the children of people who were once her students.

“It’s teaching that second generation of former students that is really powerful to me.”

After Merry graduated from college she began working as a high school English teacher. She taught at Riverview Gardens Senior High School for two years before she began a career in the St. Louis Public Schools. She also taught at Roosevelt High School, Soldan High School, O’Fallon Technical High School, Nottingham and Sumner before teaching at McKinley C.L.A.

– Marsha Merry

“[Working in the St. Louis Public Schools] I felt I was giving back to my actual community, where a seed was planted in me,” Merry said.

Having a long career in the education field has given Merry the chance to work with some of the teachers who taught her as a child.

“It’s teaching that second generation of former students that is really powerful to me,” Merry said.

Merry is National Board Certified Teacher, one of the highest achievements for an educator. She is certified in Library Media. The process can take up to three years and includes a written exam, an overview of the teacher’s teaching practices, examples of student work and more.

“It allows you to step back and examine your practice,” Merry said.

With the National Board Certification, Merry is a recognized educator throughout the country. Merry is the only librarian who has a National

Photo by Wiley Price Marsha Merry has been in the education field for 33 years.

MERRY

continued from page 25

Board Certification in the St. Louis Public Schools.

Merry is also heavily involved with her church community at Mount Beulah Missionary Baptist Church. She is a part of the Dance Ministry, the Chairman of the Drama Ministry, Secretary of the Senior Usher Board and she works with the Youth Department. She was just installed as the Youth Director of the St. Louis Progressive District Association an organization of progressive Baptist churches. Merry also sings with the St. Louis Progressive Mass Choir, a group that has recorded two CDs locally and internationally.

With all of her responsibilities and achievements Merry believes a wellrounded education is important for students in the St. Louis Public Schools.

“I describe myself as an urban educator by choice partnering with the community to develop future leaders,” Merry said.

She has achieved many accomplishments. They include: Emerson Teacher of Excellence in 2005, Inclusion in Who’s Who in America Fall 2008 and 2009 editions, inclusion in the 2008/2009

Cambridge Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals “Honors Edition”, induction into the Phi Lambda Theta International Honor Society in 2007, St. Louis County’s Branch of the NAACP’s Excellence in Education Award on June 26, 2009, St. Louis Public School’s Pettus Award in May 2009 and inclusion in the 2011 edition of Marquis Who’s Who in America

Her professional ties include The Missouri Association of School Librarians, St. Louis Parent Association of Morehouse College, alumni member of the University of Missouri –St. Louis, former secretary for St. Louis Public School’s professional development committee. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at State Community College and Harris-Stowe State University. Her civic and religious affiliations include Youth Director for St. Louis Progressive M.B. District Association.

She is married to “master musician” Allan P. Merry and the mother of one son, Ja-Mes A. Watson (Toiya) and two daughters, Ja-Nene A. Watson, Ja-Renda A. Watson-Haythorne (Elbert) and the grandmother of four, Ja-Mes III , Shimon, Mihia and MaRod.

She has two sisters. Her parents, Robert and Marinda Wright, are deceased as well as her brother, Jerrold.

Natissia Small: Building a ‘Bridge’to college

Excellence in Education Awardee

By Sandra Jordan

Of The St.Louis American

Coming from an extended family of educators while growing up in Charleston, Missouri, and living in a household where Natissia Small’s parents made it clear that education and knowledge was the expectation, not the choice – you would think teaching would be the natural career path.

“There was always this emphasis that my parents had with myself and my siblings that in order to be able to achieve great things, you’ve got to have an education,” Small, M.Ed. said. “Along with that, always considering to give back to others that may not be in the same position as you – to help educate others.

She has the best of both worlds.

As it turns out, helping students get into and succeed in college turned out to be her life’s work.

“However, when I went off to college, I initially wanted to go into education,

Photo by Wiley Price

Natissia Small,M.Ed.

but when I started working as a tour guide in the office of admissions, I was instantly intrigued by working with

incoming freshmen and preparing them for college,” Small said. “That’s what kind of made a turn for me.”

At that time, she learned a bit more about how being involved in public relations and marketing could influence and impact groups and organizations in making a decision that could benefit them.

“So I went from being this person who was truly set on getting an educational degree to having an interest in public relations and media marketing,” she said.

Small obtained a bachelor’s degree from Southeast Missouri State University in mass communications with an emphasis in public relations.

She was hired at the UMSLas a financial aid advisor. Although she knew about financial aid processes and the role it had on preparing students and families for the financial responsibilities of college, Small had no financial aid background.

“Because I did so much at the undergraduate level in admissions, I was completely intrigued by learning another aspect of higher education. And thus, the decision to move to St. Louis and get experience in the financial aid world,” Small said. “Both those experiences – in

admissions and in financial aid, it just really assisted with what I’ve always wanted to do, which I found to be the true desire that I had was to again, always be able to prepare families and students for college and to influence them to seek higher education.”

Small earned two master’s degrees from the University of Missouri St. Louis: The first in Secondary School Education with an emphasis in Adult Education and the second earned 10 years later in Counseling

Acounselor’s position opened up in the Bridge Program at UMSLat the time when she was working on her second master’s degree. She applied and got the job, along with the responsibility for recruiting students, conducting workshops on college and career readiness, professional and leadership development for underrepresented youth in preparation for college.

Small knew her blessing was not in disguise.

“It is not often that you find a career that matches what your personal drive is, and for me, I knew that was just something that was purposeful and very ful-

Teaching science by any means necessary

Excellence in Education Awardee

By Sandra Jordan

Of The St.Louis American

Salute to Excellence in Education

awardee Darnell P. Young, B.S., M.A. is a 7th grade earth science teacher at Crestview Middle School in the Rockwood School District, where he has taught for 27 years. He said the honor from The St. Louis American Foundation validates him as a teacher “and to know that I’ve made a positive contribution to our society.”

Young has been nominated twice for Teacher of the Year at his school and as a student at Harris-Stowe – he earned the Carnation Award for most outstanding student teacher.

His philosophy on learning is simple – “Education is a continuous process.” Added to that mantra is a Malcolm X quote,“By any means necessary.”

“That means, I will take a kid – wher-

ever he’s at – and by any means necessary, I will get that kid to succeed,” Young said.

That includes game playing– chess to be exact, to teach science and life skills.

“Chess teaches our kids to think critically and apply science process skills, such as making observations; forming a hypothesis; drawing conclusions; analyzing situations; and being responsible for your own decisions,” Young explained.

Young led chess clubs for students in two separate districts – in Rockwood at Crestview and in Jennings at Hanrahan Elementary, where his sister teaches.

“Once I released chess club from Crestview from 2:30 to 3:30, I would drive over to Jennings. They had a program called Stars and Heroes, and I would do that from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., five days a week,” Young said. “And those kids, they really did appreciate it, and their scores went up too.”

Young, like most educators, agree that students learn better when they are engaged. The focus and problem-solving skills learned through chess transfer to

See YOUNG, page 30

Photo by Wiley Price

Salute to Excellence in Education awardee Darnell P. Young is a 7th grade earth science teacher at Crestview Middle School in the Rockwood School District.

SMALL

continued from page 27

filling for me,” Small said.

After Small became the director of Bridge in 2003, the program experienced tremendous growth, with greater community impact and expanded outreach, which earned recognition by the Missouri Senate in 2008.

“I allowed my entire focus to be on promoting, developing and implementing college access initiatives that would completely address the growing educational needs for the student groups that were being served in St. Louis,” she said. “That’s probably one of the things that has inspired me the most – to see a program go from 120 students to now serving more than 3,000 students yearly. It’s just a fantastic feeling.”

The University’s longstanding commitment to the program has allowed Bridge to serve more students.

“I am humbled to be able to sit in this seat, because it definitely does not feel like work,” she said. “ I know its work, and it’s a lot – but I am fortunate to watch a student walk across a stage and obtain a high school degree and they matriculate on to college. Since 2003, with being with the

YOUNG

continued from page 29

other subjects.

“When they play chess, it makes them better critical thinkers and their logic increases, their memory skill increases, their awareness and analysis increases and their pattern recognition increases,” Young said. “I’ve seen significant increase in their test scores in science and in math.”

Young is well aware that students in both districts were learning from him – and not just by studying moves on chess board.

“You are always a role model for kids, so you always try to tell them the right thing to do – that they can succeed,” Young said.

“By me being a science teacher, some of the same labs that I do in middle school, I would do at the elementary school because some of those kids were not exposed to labs yet,” Young said.

“So they would get a kick out of it when we would dissect frogs in the middle school, with the few extra frogs I had, we would dissect them over there too at the elementary school.”

Young is a Northwest High School graduate who attended Harris-Stowe State College on a Board of Regents scholarship and earned a bachelor of science in education and later, a master of art in teaching at Webster University.

Young’s daughter is Danielle Young, and his mother is Delores Carpenter.

“She sacrificed a lot to send her kids to

Bridge Program, we have had 100 percent of our students matriculate successfully to college.”

Now as new the assistant dean for students at the University of Missouri St. Louis, Small has big plans for two departments she oversees – the Office of Precollegiate Programs - Bridge Program and the Office of Multicultural Relations.

The Office of Multicultural Relations has a major focus of serving underrepresented students with academic support, social, cultural and personal experiences, Small said, adding that it is heading toward building stronger partnerships with faculty and staff to foster undergraduate and graduate student success.

“I can say the faculty has been very receptive to knowing that there are going to be workshops and programming that are going to offered and provided for them to get involved,” Small said.

In addition to a 2011 Salute to Excellence in Education Awardee, Small received a 2010 “30 Leaders in their 30s Award” and recognition as the 2011 University of Missouri – St. Louis Women’s Trailblazer.

She and her husband, Terence Small, are both educators. They have five children, Ciarra, Ty, Jalen, Christopher and Justin, who they also instill the importance of education.

college,” Young said.

The siblings include Felicia Carpenter (N.Y.), Johnnie Davis, Jermil Carpenter and several in the family who are educators.

Young’s “significant other” – Belva Perkins, is a retired special education teacher. His brother, Charles Carpenter, is a teaching assistant.

Two other sisters, Evelyn Clark and Mia Carpenter (N.C.), are both teachers and his aunt, a school administrator, is the person who inspired him to be a teacher.

“Her name is Evelyn Hinton Cook - she was a principal at Pershing Elementary School in University City, Mo.,” Young said. “When she left there, she became a professor at FAM-U – Florida A& M in Tallahassee, Fla.”

Young also stands out as a successful freshman boy’s basketball coach. It was his high school basketball coach who served as his mentor and inspiration.

“My mentor was Jody Bailey. He was a basketball coach, but he taught us more than just about basketball,” Young said. “He was one of those people who made me want to give back in teaching –because he took so much time with us.”

After he retires from Rockwood schools, Young wants to give back by teaching in the city of St. Louis.

Young said, “I think I would be a valuable asset by me being an AfricanAmerican male, I would have a greater influence, especially on our males, because a lot of them come from singleparent homes, and I think I can make a big difference.

‘I was important in the life of a child’

PNC Early Childhood Education awardee

Valerie Newton-Pennington

Early Childhood Educator

By Rebecca S.Rivas

Of The St.Louis American

Valerie Newton Pennington, a preschool teacher at the YWCAPagedale Head Start Center, lives in a modest brick home in South St. Louis. Her tables are decorated with pictures of her family and flowers – but nothing too fancy.

Sitting at her dining room table, she picked up a book and read a passage that has inspired her life’s work.

“One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank, nor what my clothes looked like,” she said, quoting from Christa McAuliffe, a teacher who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. She would have been the first teacher in space.

“But the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child.”

The passage is most famously known for its title, “I touch the future, I teach.” Being a teacher at the center for 19 years, Pennington said helping families grow is more important to her than materialistic possessions.

Pennington will receive the 2011 PNC Early Childhood Education Award at the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2011 Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship & Awards Gala.

“She’s nurturing with the children,” said Annie Cooper, the center’s manager. “She’s patient. She loves what she does. She always has fun, exciting activities to engage in.”

Pennington never planned to become a teacher. In college, she was on her way to becoming a nurse.

“I was going through my nursing internship, and I kept wondering if I was cut out for this job,” she said. “I always wanted to help people, so I prayed and

asked the Lord if there is any other way I can help somebody.”

She reassessed her college credits and realized that through her social work minor, she was taking a number of education courses. She soon found her passion for early childhood education

through a college internship.

“When I give them that hug or smile in the morning, I feel that I have touched their lives in someway,” she said. “I have students come back and I feel that is my reward. They have remembered something I said to them to try to encourage

“I prayed and asked the Lord if there is any other way that I could help somebody.”

– Valerie Newton-Pennington

them to go further in their education.” Her mentors are Patricia Johnson at Harris-Stowe State University and Gwen Pennington at Forest Park Community. Both have dynamic personalities and perseverance, she said.

“Even when you felt like giving up, they would give you that nudge to help you go that extra mile,” she said.

Her personal hero is her father, who passed away. He was a hard-working man, worked for General Motors over 30 years to support his 11 children.

“Whenever you needed him, he was always there,” she said. “He would call and check on me and make jokes. I miss those days. Just hearing his voice would push me on when I was having a bad day.”

She said her parents, along with Jesus Christ, were the driving force for her career. Now, she has a loving family, her husband and son, who support her 100 percent in everything she does, she said. Her son is going to be a junior in college in mechanical engineering and has made her proud.

Pennington read another quote that she lives by titled, “What I leave behind.”

“I hope my achievements in life shall be these,” she read. “That I would have fought for what was right and fair. That I will have risked for that which has mattered. That I will have given help to those in who are in need. That I left the Earth a better place for what I’ve done and who I’ve been.”

Pennington believes she makes her biggest impact on this Earth when she listens to people without giving an opinion.

“I try to listen to our students and our parents,” she said. “Because in life’s journeys, sometimes you just need someone to listen.”

Photo by Wiley Price

Valerie Newton-Pennington,a preschool teacher at the YWCA Pagedale Head Start Center,is the 2011 PNC Early Childhood Education awardee.

Making future leaders

Rayna Blackshear, 2011 SEMO Counselor of the Year

Counselorof the Year

By Rebecca S.Rivas

Of The St.Louis American

“I wanted to help students to achieve their future goals and aspirations.”

Rayna Blackshear earned a B.A. in criminal justice with the dream of becoming an FBI agent. When her detective aspirations did not materialize after she graduated, she turned to what’s been the backbone of her parents’lives - education. Receiving her masters in school counseling at Lindenwood University, she became a school counselor at Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School, where she had graduated.

– Rayna Blackshear

“I wanted to help students to achieve their future goals and aspirations,” she said. “Everyone in my family believes that education is important.”

At Cardinal Ritter, she is proud that the school’s college acceptance rate is 100 percent. Last year, members of the graduating class received $2.5 million in scholarships, and she said she was glad to be a part of that.

Blackshear will receive the SEMO Counselor of the Year award at the St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education banquet and gala.

“My biggest achievement has been receiving this award from the St. Louis American Foundation,” she said. “I have only been in this profession for two years, and I am most thankful for the nomination and the selection.”

God is the number one influence in

her life, she said, next to her parents, who have been educators for 30 years.

“We can’t go anywhere without a student coming up to us,” she said. “It makes you feel good that you impacted a student so much that when they see you, they want to come up and talk with you.”

As a school counselor, Blackshear makes a point to find out what goals her students have in life. In her experience,

the best way to deal with students is to be up front.

“Honesty is the best policy with kids,” she said. “I don’t really beat around the bush. I try to give them the best advice possible so they can achieve any and every goal that they have.”

As a student at Cardinal Ritter, she said the staff always supported students’ ideas and helped them to be good stew-

Rayna Blackshear,2011 SEMO Counselor of the Year,is school counselor at Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School.

ards of society.

Now Blackshear sponsors the National Honor Society, which organizes blood drives and other community service activities. Through her community service efforts, she is building young leaders.

“The fact that I have been a part of modeling community service, I know that there will be future leaders out here and they will give back to their communities,” she said.

The biggest lesson Blackshear learned in her life came from something her father and uncle told her when she was struggling in her 11th-grade history class.

“They told me, ‘You know Rayna, there’s no success without a struggle,’” she said.

Being a guidance counselor isn’t always easy, she said. She can’t always make every student or parent happy.

“Parents can say things that are very hurtful because they are trying to figure out what is best for their child,” she said.

Learning to keep negative comments from impacting her work – that has been the most difficult struggle in her career. Yet she said she has learned from this struggle, and it has brought her great success.

“I don’t feed into it,” she said. “At the end of the day, it’s not about me it’s about the students. I have overcome it because I am receiving this award.”

Photo by Wiley Price

Tony Thompson:

giving back through education

Stellar Performer

By Rebecca S.Rivas

Of The St.Louis American

When Willie Love, a recent graduate from Carnahan High School of the Future, lost his father last year, he said Tony Thompson helped him keep his life on track.

“He always been there for me,” Love said of Thompson, president/CEO of the Kwame Building Group. “He always tells me to follow my dreams and don’t give up on what I’ve been fighting for.”

“There’s

nothing more important in our society right now than getting our public education system back on track.”

– Tony Thompson

Love is a part of the Gentlemen’s Club, a mentoring group sponsored by the Kwame Foundation. In the fall, this high-achieving student and athlete will attend Missouri Western State University to study pre-law. For the past four years, every senior in the club has graduated from high school, and 98 percent of them have gone on to college.

“Our concept is working,” Thompson said. “There’s something about this group of men that enjoy being mentored by another group of men. If we can replicate that in the general public, then we’d be on to something.”

From the looks of it, Thompson won’t stop until he finds a way to do it. This year through the Kwame Foundation, Thompson established the Tyrone Thompson Institute for Nonviolence to help students with behavioral problems stay on track in school. For years, the foundation has also endowed scholarships for minority youth at several area colleges and universities.

Aside from the foundation, Thompson sits on several boards, including those for Teach for America, KIPPInspire Academy, the St. Louis Public Schools’ Herzog Elementary School, Webster University’s Board of Trustees and the Regional Business Council’s K-12 board.

“There’s nothing more important in our society right now than getting our public education system back on track,” Thompson said.

‘You will finish school’

When Thompson was in junior high, he remembers skipping school one day.

“My father gave me a nice beat

down,” he said. “I didn’t know why he was so mad about it. He told me, ‘You will finish school.’I had never thought about not finishing.”

Thompson went on to earn four degrees, including a B.A. in environmental design and a B.S. in architectural engineering both from the University of Kansas, an M.S. in civil engineering from Washington University, and an MBAin finance from Webster

University.

It wasn’t until he graduated with his masters from Wash. U. that he would find out his father never went to college as a young man, but had been taking courses and earned his degree at the same time Thompson earned his masters.

“I didn’t know my entire life that he didn’t have a degree,” Thompson said. “I know now as a parent why he was so angry. He wanted something better for us.”

His mother Betty Thompson, the legendary former state representative, consistently involved him in volunteering as a kid.

“My father stressed the importance of education, my mother was stressing importance of giving back,” he said. “That was the balance that the two of them brought to my life. Through education I combine the two.”

Supporting minority students

Benjamin Akande, dean of the school of business and technology at Webster University, said he has always looked at Thompson as a force of nature.

“He is a person that is clearly anchored in his beliefs and what he stands for,” Akande said. “Whether you are talking to Tony about family, or his passion for education and lifting up others, or whether you’re talking to Tony about business, what radiates is that passion. It represents the best of what is St. Louis.”

Webster is just one college of many that receive support from the Kwame Foundation for minority student scholarships.

“By having a variety of institutions that I fund, I want to make sure that wherever a youth wants to go to college, they can go,” he said.

If students have perfect SATscores, he wants to make sure there are scholarships to Washington University. If they want to start at a community college, Kwame has scholarships at several. The foundation funds $60,000 to $70,000 in scholarships every year.

‘Creative yet achievable’

As an alum, Thompson helped Wash. U. to improve its student diversity, said Ralph Quatrano, dean of the school of

See THOMPSON, page 40

Photo by Wiley Price

Tony Thompson is the St.Louis American Foundation’s 2011 Stellar Performer in Education.

THOMPSON

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engineering and applied sciences.

“He comes across with ideas that are creative but are yet achievable, and those are the greatest ideas to come up with,” Quatrano said of Thompson.

Thompson’s idea was to encourage underrepresented minorities at small liberal arts colleges to attend Wash. U. after they had three years of college under their belt. Then in two additional years, they would get an engineering degree at the higher institution, he said.

“Within a matter of minutes, Tony came up with a solution. He said he would help do it and would contribute scholarship support for this opportunity,” Quatrano said.

Thompson has also been on the regional St. Louis Teach for America board for more than six years.

“He believes in the genius of all of our students, regardless of where they come from, and he aligns his work, his time and his generosity towards those ends, to ensuring that they have an excellent education,” said Scott Baier, executive director of Teach for America St. Louis.

“You will never find the guy to say no when children are involved.”

One of Thompson’s efforts that most impresses Baier is the Gentlemen’s Club.

Love said that ever since he got into the Gentlemen’s Club, Thompson has helped him see “a whole new aspect of life.”

The other members agreed.

“Not only does he tell us to do the right things, he makes us believe that we can succeed in life also,” said Wendell Dorsey, a member of the Gentlemen’s Club and graduated senior at Carnahan.

Remembering Tyrone

With the Institute of Nonviolence, Thompson intends to teach young men skills to avoid violence. Instead of suspended students staying at home for days, the institute will work with the St. Louis Public Schools to place these students in a suspension room at the school, where an AfricanAmerican male tutor would tell them about the importance of education and tutor them on the work they are missing by being out of regular class.

Students will also learn about history of African Americans who were not able to get education in this country and nonviolent communication.

The institute honors Tyrone Thompson, Tony’s brother, a nonviolent advocate and youth mentor, who was shot and killed by a teenager last year.

“When you hear Tony talk about Tyrone, he doesn’t talk about him in the past tense, he talks about him in the present tense and the fact that Tyrone will be with him for the rest of his life,” Akande said.

The love he has for his family and for his community represents the totality of Tony Thompson, Akande said.

Akande said, “It’s a capture of a remarkable man, who is grounded and who understands that he has an obligation to leave this place better than he found it and who is working passionately every since day to ensure that happens.”

Tony Thompson addresses students as “Teacher For A Day”during Teach For America Week.

Tony and his mother,former Mo.State Rep.Betty L.Thompson,at the Kwame Golf Tournament

Tony with daughter Kristin,son Michael and wife Kim.

Tony and his wife, Kim,with President Barack Obama

Kwame Building Group volunteering with Habitat For Humanity

Tony mentors high school students in conjunction with Webster University.

Tony serves as “Teacher For A Day”in conjunction with Teach For America Week.

Tony with students at Gateway Elementary for the Tyrone Thompson Institute For Non-Violence

Tony (far right) and family members at approximately five years old.

Tony studied karate under Kyung Yu and earned his black belt at age 16.

Joyce Roberts: Retired SLPS administrator

2011

Lifetime Achiever

By Rebecca S.Rivas

Of The St.Louis American

Joyce Roberts’home in North St. Louis City is full of life, literally.

On every surface sits a pothos vine, hardy succulent or some other happy house plant.

All of her life, Roberts, a retired school administrator, has planted seeds of education in the minds and hearts of St. Louis students. So it’s not surprising that her home is a garden like the community of educated young people she’s sowed.

“I’ve done a variety of things, but in all of that, I just view it as a teacher with more responsibility.”

Before retiring in 2005, Roberts served as assistant superintendent for professional development at the St. Louis Public School District. Her career spanned from teaching preschool to leading the national awardwinning Pierre Laclede Elementary School as principal for 10 years.

– Joyce Roberts,2011 Lifetime Achiever

“I’ve been a teacher for twothirds of my life, and I am still excited about the possibilities it brings,” she said. “I’ve done a variety of things, but in all of that, I just view it as a teacher with more responsibility.” Teaching was something automatic for her, starting at a young age, she said. The greatest influence on her life was her mother.

“She believed in the power of education,” Roberts said. “She only finished the 12th grade, but it was instilled in each and every one of us that education would allow us to do and be anything of our choosing.”

After attending Harris-Stowe and Truman State universities, she began her teaching career at Pierre Laclede. When the school district made some personnel shifts, Roberts was moved to another school.

“It was a great feeling to come back to the place where I started and serve as the principal for 10 years,” she said.

Under her leadership and the hard work of the staff, parents, and community supporters, the students at Laclede made a huge leap in academic achievement.

In 2003, the state recognized the

Joyce Roberts will receive the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award at the St.Louis American Foundation's 2011 Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala.

school as one of the top 10 most improved schools. After receiving the Missouri gold-star recognition, the school received the Blue Ribbon U.S. Department of Education national recognition. At that time, Roberts said,

See ROBERTS, page 46

President George W. Bush was running for reelection and had initiated the No Child Left Behind criteria. Bush made a personal visit to the Blue Ribbon school

Photo by Wiley Price

ROBERTS

continued from page 45

award winner.

“Having the president of the United States come to recognize us for being outstanding achievers I would say would be the proudest moment in my career,” she said.

The biggest lesson of her career is that the best kind of leader is a servant leader.

“What you’re doing is outside of you; it’s bigger than you,” she said. “It’s the ability to move people to do the work. And the best way of doing that is to serve with humility and integrity.”

Roberts said her role as a leader was to build capacity in others and to allow them ownership in the effort. In a 2005 video of Pierre Laclede, produced by the SLPS district, various teachers affirmed Roberts as this type of leader.

“Pierre Laclede is an outstanding school because we have a strong leader,” said Lavena Tomlinson, then a thirdgrade teacher, now deceased. “She lets you choose your path, and then she’ll help you in any way she can.”

“She is not one of those principals that beats you down,” said Deborah Faye Dampier-Byrd, teacher. “She allows you to be in your position and take flight.”

Robert A. Hudson, a retired school administrator, said he followed Roberts throughout his career because he believed in her leadership. At one time, they were principals together. Then when Roberts became assistant superintendent of low-performing schools, she asked him to come out of retirement to lead Carnahan High School and then again in the Wellston School District.

“She was a successful principal because she worked hard,” he said. “She believed in students and teachers. She set up a program where students could achieve.”

Even in retirement, Roberts stays active as a consultant for several school districts, including SLPS and Riverview Gardens. She is the CEO and founder of For Kids’Sake, a nonprofit organization that helps staffs undergo professional development.

Besides spending more time with her granddaughter, she is also completing her dissertation at UMSLfor her doctorate of education and administration. She said she hopes the dissertation will give insight into effective ways of closing the achievement gap.

Mentoring and coaching school leaders is at the top of the how-to list.

“Principals are responsible for a host of things,” she said. “As a new person coming in, it’s an awful lot to do. When you don’t exactly get it right and you are not encouraged in the right way, you may lose your footing. School districts should redouble their efforts to ensure that’s not happening.”

With husband,George,at an Alpha Founder’s event

Joyce with her mother (seated front,center) and her sisters

Joyce and former President George W.Bush at the No Child Left Behind roundtable at Pierre Laclede

Joyce with daughter Olivia (left) and husband George

Joyce receives a proclamation at City Hall

Joyce with her mother Georgia (left) and sister Wanda, receiving her RN

Receiving the Gold Star State Award from the Dept.of Elementary and Secondary Education

Joyce receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award from Harris-Stowe.

Joyce meets Nelly during an event at HarrisStowe.

Joyce circa 1971–72

‘School of Excellence’– and equity

Bermuda Elementary of the Ferguson-Florissant School District

2011 School of Excellence

By Rebecca S.Rivas Of The St.Louis American

Before Bermuda Elementary students leave their classrooms at the end of the day, they recite a reflection together.

“Whatever I want to be, I can be. Whatever I want to see, I can see. Whatever I want to believe, I can believe. So today did I do my very best to learn?”

Bermuda, at 5835 Bermuda Ave., produces some of the best students in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, said Superintendent Art McCoy. With a 98 percent African-American student population and 85 percent of them receiving free or reduced lunch, the students have their share of challenges, he said. Yet a strong work ethic is not one of them.

“One of the main strengths at Bermuda is that they get the parents involved.They are very familyoriented.”

– Bernice Sanders,Bermuda Elementary parent and grandparent

“They do twice as many exercises in communication arts and math,” he said. “They represent excellence and equity because they are showing that it’s possible to close the achievement gap.”

In the last five years, the school’s fifth and sixth graders have made huge leaps in their Missouri Assessment Program test scores. In 2006, 6.9 percent of Bermuda fifth graders were proficient in math, and in 2010, the number rose to 34.2 percent. The sixth graders equally went from 15 percent in 2006 to 42.2 percent in 2010 for math proficiency. Ferguson-Florissant is one of the few districts statewide that has a majority black student population and is still fully accredited. Bermuda represents some of the district’s strengths, McCoy said. Bermuda successfully uses a strategy called “mastery learning,” where teachers meet students at their learning levels.

For example, if a third grader excels at reading, then that student will move up to the next grade level in reading. Vice versa, if a sixth grader is performing at a third-grade level in math, then that student will move to a lower-level class until the next assessment. Students are assessed every four weeks, said Alice Aldridge, former principal at Bermuda.

“It is a way of following the children rather the curriculum,” said Aldridge, who left Bermuda in May to become the district’s director of turnaround and compliance.

Janet Walker is the school’s interim principal.

Even the students who are placed in lower levels respond well to the program because they work hard to get back to their classrooms.

“They also have something to look forward to,” Aldridge said. “We don’t play it as something negative.”

In order to make students lifelong

learners, the teachers understand that they have to be lifelong learners themselves, she said.

In 2011, 60 percent of the teachers had advanced degrees, which is higher than the state’s average of 56 percent. Aldridge has 30 years of experience, and last year she earned a doctorate from Maryville University.

It takes serious commitment in the classroom for the district to maintain its accreditation and increase its academic achievement, McCoy said. On average, Bermuda’s teachers have 11.5 years of experience. That’s an increase from an 8year average in 2006.

“Longevity is big here in FergusonFlorissant School District,” he said.

Parents have also shown serious commitment. Bernice Sanders has been involved at the school ever since her 32year-old son came to Bermuda 27 years ago. Now her granddaughter attends fourth grade there.

Bermuda Elementary School in the FergusonFlorissant School District,where Janet Walker is interim principal, will receive the Monsanto School of Excellence award at the St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship & Awards Gala on Sept.16.

“One of the main strengths at Bermuda is that they get the parents involved,” Sanders said. “They are very family-oriented.”

Every year she hosts a Christmas ornament workshop, where each child gets the opportunity to make an ornament. The students take pride in it, Sanders said, and she enjoys doing it.

“The teachers work with me hand-inhand,” she said. “You can talk to the teachers. They don’t have any problem taking time to meet you before or after class.”

Aldridge said the teachers and staff walk the neighborhood in the evening, making sure students get where they need to go. They work together like a family, she said.

“The power of working together,” she said. “It’s never an ‘I’concept. We can accomplish anything collectively, and everybody’s input is important.”

Photo by Wiley Price

Terrance Brown: 2011 Suggs Scholarship recipient

Seven named as St. Louis American Foundation Scholars

St. Louis American

Foundation Scholars:

Brinique Woodcock

My name is Brinique Woodcock and I am a freshman at the University of Missouri- Columbia. I plan on majoring in broadcast journalism, focusing on strategic communications. My career goals are to work in the advertising and public relations aspects of some company; hopefully a network television station or a magazine company. I am in general classes, such as Psychology 1000 and British Literature. My favorite class as of now is Introduction to Fitness and Exercise, because it has motivated me to live a healthier lifestyle.

I am currently involved in some organizations on campus, and I love them already. I am the president of my residential hall council and the academic chair on my floor council. I am also involved in the National Association of Black Journalists—Ale Chapter, and I am now a part of the MUTVcrew under news and promotion teams. I know that I made the right choice in selecting my college, and I am eager to continue my education. I hope that this summer I can intern under some journalism-related company in order to get more experience with strategic communications.

Deanna Lockette

I attend the University of MissouriColumbia. I attend on majoring in Elementary Education to become an elementary school teacher. I am currently enrolled in courses such as College Algebra, Psychology, Mythology, Health Education, History, and Teacher Development Orientation. As of now I am not involved in any campus activities or any summer work programs. I am trying to orient myself with college life before I dive into any extra activities. I am having a good time here at Mizzou. I am enjoying my classes and all of the networking opportunities I have attended. I am really looking forward to the rest of the school year here.

Jasmine Jones

I am a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis. I am currently enrolled in seven classes (16 credit hours) including: Calculus I, Chemistry I, Chemistry I Lab, Writing I, Psychology of Young Adulthood, Eureka! Exploring Research Careers in the Biomedical Sciences, and Phage Hunters. The last mentioned class is a national research project through the Howard HughesMedicalInstitute (several other colleges in the USAparticipate). In this class we investigate virus-

Dr. Donald M. Suggs Scholarship Recipient: Terrance Brown

University of Missouri—Columbia

So far college has mirrored my expectations for it, a laid back environment with the emphasis on student responsibility. Mythology, Psychology, and Rural Sociology have been insightful classes filled with captivating information. My fondness of Greek mythology has only grown from Professor Barnes’lectures. I am also impressed with the availability of campus involvement in my area of interest, journalism. I’ve decided to join the National Association Of Black Journalists and to write for The BLACKout (an online magazine) and The Maneater my freshman year. I may look to get even more involved in upcoming years. All in all, I am excited about the many opportunities the University of Missouri provides.

es that infect bacteria.I am currently undecidedin regards to a major, but I aminterestedin a Biology major with a double minor in Psychology and Urban Studies. With my degree, I plan to enter either a professional or graduate school with the ultimate goal of becoming a research scientist.

Classes have just begun, and I am a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information I have been given in such a short period. I don’t have much time for campus involvement, but with the little time that I do have, I plan to join the Association of Black Students, one of the premierecultural organizations at the university.

JenniferLunceford

Hello, my name is Jennifer Lunceford, and I attend Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. I am considering majoring in Political Science or American Studies, then going on to attend law school. This semester I am taking a film studies course that analyzes

Spike Lee’s works, an intermediate Spanish course, a writing course, and another humanities class. I plan to audition for one of Yale’s dance groups, and I may play on my residential college’s intramural tennis team.

Abigail Hollis

My college experience so far has been wonderful. I am a freshman at the University of Missouri-Columbia and am currently a Business Major. One of the many interesting classes that I am enrolled in is the Vasey Academy Marketing class. It is a small class of about 15 diverse students. I am also in an Honors American History class. We have gotten off to a great start by reading Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington. I plan on getting a business degree, and possibly moving on to law school, so I feel that these two classes are a fantastic beginning. As far as campus involvement, I haven’t joined anything yet because I am still getting a feel for the campus, but I look forward to becoming

St.Louis American Publisher

Dr.Donald M. Suggs with the 2011 Suggs Scholarship recipient Terrance Brown and the 2011 St.Louis American Foundation Scholars.

an involved member of the Mizzou community. Overall, I am excited about how the year has begun, and I know that I will apply myself in order to make the best out of the next four years.

Daniel Bowie

Daniel graduated from Mehlville High School in 2011, where he was an honor roll student and participated in football, concert band and Spanish honor society. He is a freshman at the University of Missouri—Columbia. He is undecided about his major area of study, but hopes to pursue a career that is first and foremost of service to others.

Calvin Lewis

Calvin is a 2011 graduate of Webster Groves High School, where he was active in jazz band and participated in several music workshops with the Community Music School. He is the recipient of the Gateway West Young Achievers Award and a 2009 participant in the Missouri Scholars Academy.

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Wiley Price

2010

Previous Salute to Excellence majoraward recipients

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)

Khatib Waheed (Stellar Performer)

Eugene B.Redmond (2009 Lifetime Achiever)

Dr.Henry Givens (2004 Lifetime Achiever)

Lifetime Achiever)

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)

Martin Mathews (2003 Lifetime Achiever)

Harris (2010 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)

Dr.Zelema

Rev.William G.Gillespie (2000

Regional Business Council salutes SLPS’ District Teacherof the Year

Nevels N.Nevels

Mr. Nevels N. Nevels, a Mathematics teacher at Northwest Academy of Law, has been recognized as the 2011-12 St. Louis Public School District Teacher of the Year.

An educator with the St. Louis Public School District since 1994, Mr. Nevels bases his teaching philosophy on the socio-cultural theory, the writings of Lev Vygotsky and Barbara Rogoff, and the National Research Council’s model of effective learning environments.

Mr. Nevels ensures that the courses he teaches begin with a “risk-free” environment that is filled with content-rich resources so that students are comfortable talking and interacting with the content, the instructors, and their peers.

Previously, Mr. Nevels was recognized as the St. Louis Public School District’s 2010 High School Mathematics Teacher of the Year.

The Regional Business Council is a consortium of the presidents and CEOs of 100 of the region’s largest mid-cap companies. With a business, civic and philanthropic mission, the RBC focuses on: advocating for regional governance initiatives; improving educational opportunities; supporting business diversity issues; strengthening regional arts and cultural institutions; and increasing the involvement and investment of RBC members for the betterment of the St. Louis region.

Past Excellence in Education Awardees

Looking back at all the awardees from the past 23 years

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:

• 2010 Patrick Henry Elementary

• 2009 Lexington Elementary

• 2008 Froebel Elementary

• 2007 Herzog Elementary

• 2006Bel-Ridge Elementary

• 2005 Peabody Elementary

• 2004 Pierre Laclede Elementary

• 2003Barbara C. Jordan Elementary

David Price, Larry Thomas to be honored at Business Salute

Veteran local businessmen David Price, Jr. and Larry Thomas will lead this year’s awardees at the 12th annual Salute to Excellence in Business Networking & Awards Luncheon, Wed., Nov. 9 at The Ritz Carlton, St. Louis.

David Price, Jr. will receive the 2011 Entrepreneur of the Year award. While with BF Goodrich Company from July 1997 to February 2001, Price served as Executive Vice President and President and Chief Operating Officer of BF Goodrich Performance Materials.

Before joining BF Goodrich, Price held various executive positions over a 25-year span at Monsanto Company, including the post of president of the Performance Materials Division from 1995 to 1997. From 1993 to 1995, he was vice president and general manager of commercial operations for the Industrial Products Group. His career has been complemented by his work with many civic organizations including the Urban League, YMCAand the United Way. He received a B.S.C.E.

from the University of Missouri-Rolla and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. Larry Thomas will receive the 2011 Corporate Executive of the Year award at the luncheon. Thomas orginally came to Washington University in St. Louis to study music. He later began his business career in 1977 as an intern at Edward Jones. He has been with the firm ever since, and is a longtime Partner. For three years, Thomas co-chaired the Charmaine Chapman Society, the African American Leadership Giving society of

the United Way of Greater St. Louis. Four Excellence in Business Performance awardees will also be honored at the luncheon. The St. Louis area’s Top 25 African-American Businesses of the Year will also be cited at the event.

Tickets for the St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Business Networking & Awards Luncheon are $75 each. For information, call 314-533-8000, visit stlamerican.com, or watch for upcoming articles in the St. Louis American newspaper.

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.

The St. Louis American Foundation supports activities in three broad areas:

Career Encouragement Internships

Achievement Recognition

Education Special Initiatives

Scholarships to Under-served Students

Honors College.....................................................................$1,000

Early Childhood Educator of the Year Grant................................................$500

SLPS Teacher of the Year Grant...................................................................$1,500

Counselor of the Year Grant..........................................................................$500 YWCAHead Start Grant...............................................................................$2500 James E. McLeod Scholarship Fund.............................................................$1,500 Total 2011 Foundation Community Grants..............................................$19,500 2011 Donald M. Suggs Scholarship.............................................................

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

Computers for students and School of Excellence....................................... $20,000

Community Health Health Literacy & Education

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.

Do you know an outstanding African-American educatorwho is deserving of a Salute to Excellence in Education award?

The St. Louis American Foundation is now accepting nominations from the public. The nomination can be a selfnomination or come from a third party, for the following special awards: 2012 Lifetime Achiever in Education Award, and 2012 Stellar Performer in Education Award

We’re asking for your input in identifying committed, energetic and innovative educators who truly believe that “every” child can learn and that no child should be left behind. Please tell us why should this person deserves public recognition.

Lifetime Achieverin Education

* An outstanding educator who is in the latter stage of their career, or recently retired, who exemplifies the higher standard of excellence in the field of education and has dedicated a substantial part of his/her life to that field.

StellarPerformerin Education

* An outstanding educator in early or mid-career. Someone who works with the parents as well as the students, and has instituted innovative teaching methods that have had tangible, positive results, while exemplifying the higher standard of excellence in education.

Please fill out this form, and attach any additional information (including resume’and a narrative description) you wish, and send it to:

St. Louis American Foundation Attn: Education Awards 4242 Lindell Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63108 (Fax: 314-533-2332)

Nominee’s Name: _____________________________ School:______________________________________

Nominated for (check one): __Lifetime Achiever__Stellar Performer

Your Name:_______________________________ Your Contact Phone #_________________________

Finalists will be announced 1st quarter of 2012.

2011 Salute to Excellence in Education -- Sponsors

LEAD Sponsor PL ATINUM Sponsors

BRONZE Sponsors

ATTENDANCE PRIZE Sponsor

Official Jeweler GOLD Sponsors

CORPORATE Sponsors

• Kwame Building Group

• McCormack Baron Salazar

• St.Louis College of Pharmacy

SILVER Sponsor

MEDIA Sponsor

PATRON Sponsors

• Maryville University

• Washington University

• Webster University

The St. Louis American Foundation is especially grateful to our sponsors listed above. Their generous support was indispensable in making possible the highly successful 2011 Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala and the 2011 Salute Scholarships.