0 1 . 1 9 . 1 7 / / F R E E E V E RY T H U R S D AY
VENTURE OUT
Take your tastebuds on a quick trip outside Columbia PAGE 4
NOBLE LAUREATE
Poet Aliki Barnstone inspires children through poetry PAGE 14
College readiness program prepares Columbia students for the leap to higher education
IN THIS ISSUE
ONLINE
JAN. 19, 2017 VOLUME 19 ISSUE 42 | PUBLISHED BY THE COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
FEATURE Nationwide school program AVID challenges students in Columbia to build skills that will help them get into college. For Loui Briones, a student at Rock Bridge High School, AVID could help him become the first in his family to earn a college degree. PAGE 6
NEW ON SCREEN Missouri Theatre pulled out the white screen last night to premiere the movie 20th Century Women. In the movie, three women in 1970s California explore what love and freedom mean to them. Read up on whether it’s worth the watch.
NEWS & INSIGHT Ever wanted an app to save money on eating out? Or one to help you budget your finances? Vox breaks down five helpful apps that are worth the download. PAGE 3
TO BINGE OR NOT TO BINGE A new Netflix series focuses on a multigenerational family all living under one roof. Netflix took One Day at a Time from the ‘70s and rebooted it by writing the main characters as Cuban-American. Find out what one writer thought before committing to binge watch the show.
SCENE Adventure beyond Columbia for the evening with a trip to an out-of-city eatery. Your stomach might be rumbling on the drive there, but you’ll forget the mileage once the fork reaches your mouth. PAGE 4 MUSIC MU music group Talking Drum promotes campus unity through the understanding of student backgrounds. The mission of the group is to help every student find a place at MU by performing classic songs that push diversity and acceptance. PAGE 5
TRUMP YOUR BINGO SCORE Study up on President-elect Donald Trump’s (in)famous speeches to see if you can guess the winning phrases at the inauguration.
EDITOR’S LETTER
CORRECTION: A photo in the Dec. 22 issue
COVER DESIGN: ELIZABETH SAWEY COVER PHOTO: LIV PAGGIARINO
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Q&A Aliki Barnstone, Missouri’s fourth poet laureate, helps poetry stay relevant. She has made it her literary mission to enlighten students around the state about the benefits of writing poetry. PAGE 14
showed an incorrect book cover for Celia, A Slave. Barbara Seyda wrote the version referenced in the story.
320 LEE HILLS HALL COLUMBIA MO 65211 EDITORIAL: 573-884-6432 VOX@MISSOURI.EDU ADVERTISING: 573-882-5714 CIRCULATION: 573-882-5700
CHRISTINE JACKSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
@VoxMag @VoxMagazine
Happy New Year, Columbia! We may have taken a bit longer holiday than many of you, but we’re back now, and that’s what matters. This year is going to be an interesting one. Tomorrow will be marked by a new president and massive protests, which may be as good a metaphor as any for the time we’re moving into. Disagreement, it seems, rules the day. Debate is important, but we have plenty of that at the moment. So let’s pause and instead focus on some people and programs creating positive change through education. This week’s Q&A (Page 14) is with Aliki Barnstone, Missouri’s poet laureate, who uses her position to introduce children in grades K-12 to poetry and increase their exposure to the arts. At the university level, MU’s Talking Drum (Page 5) works to use music to foster important conversations about diversity and inclusion among new students. Their genre-bending mashups and wide array of artists help students talk about and address the lines that divide them. And in this week’s feature (Page 6) we meet Loui Briones, a student enrolled in Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) at Rock Bridge High School. AVID not only helps those who take the class become better students in high school, but prepares them for college and everything that comes with it. With the help of this nationwide program, Loui is on track to become the first in his family to graduate college. So, just for today, read up on some change we can agree on. We can all get back to debating tomorrow.
VOX STAFF Editor: Christine Jackson Deputy Editor: Dan Roe Managing Editor: Madison Fleck Creative Director: Madalyne Bird Digital Managing Editor: Abby Holman Art Directors: Elizabeth Sawey, Mary Hilleren Photo Editor: Annaliese Nurnberg Online Editor: Lea Konczal Multimedia Editor: Mitchel Summers News & Insight Editors: Madelyne Maag, Elaina Steingard, Jing Yang The Scene Editors: Lauren Kelliher, Alyssa Salela, Danielle Zoellner Music Editors: John Heniff, Taylor Ysteboe Arts & Books Editors: Claudia Guthrie, Renee Molner, Zachary Van Epps Contributing Writers: Bobby Ceresia, Corin Cesaric, Mitchell Forde, Max Havey, Kelsey Hurwitz, Lis Joyce, Rick Morgan, Rachel Phillips, Karlee Renkoski, Stephanie Sandoval, Alex Schiffer, Tyler Schneider, Guimel Sibingo, Mike Tish, Carolina Vargas, Catherine Wendlandt, Taylor Ysteboe Editorial Director: Heather Lamb Executive Editor: Jennifer Rowe Digital Director: Sara Shipley Hiles Writing Coach: Berkley Hudson Office Manager: Kim Townlain
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PHOTOS BY OR COURTESY OF LIV PAGGIARINO AND ROTTEN TOMATOES
NEWS & INSIGHT
Digitize your discounts
Five apps to help you save money while still having a good time BY DANIELLE ZOELLNER The phrase “there’s an app for that” holds true, especially for those looking to save money. Start the new year off with apps that help you save while you spend, because cutting back on expenses doesn’t mean not spending. Whether you’re looking for deals when you hit the town or fill up the tank, we’ve reviewed the best apps to help you save cash.
For a night on the town…
NIGHTLIFE
Description: Nightlife allows you to hit the dance floor with the best bargains in town. This free app uses your location to give you the deals for clubs and bars in the area. The app even lets you choose your location, so you can see what is going on near you. Likes: The ability to scroll through the different bars and clubs makes it easier to see what options are available for your night out. Dislikes: If you’re planning your weekend out on the town, you have to individually tap on each bar to see the deals for the next day, which can be an unnecessary hassle. Final thoughts: The app offers a nice breakdown of deals for the day but not much else. Rating: 3/5
For dining…
TASTEBUD Description: Appease your appetite and wallet with this app that gives you sweet restaurant discounts. If you “lock” a deal, you can get a certain percentage off your bill, which the app recognizes on your bank statement and uses to reimburse you within six days. Likes: There are deals on the app every day, typically around 20 percent off. It’s easy to use and removes the need to remember a coupon. Dislikes: TasteBud does not have a GPS function, so you have to customize your location in order for the app to recognize discounts. Final thoughts: With so many restaurant choices, it would be easy to pick a place where a discount could be used on the bill. Rating: 4.5/5
10p4.284
For filling the tank...
For financial planning...
IBOTTA
GASBUDDY
Description: Ibotta draws in
Description: Gas prices aren’t as
Description: Getting a fresh
For shopping...
shoppers with digital coupons and rebates for popular stores. You can search the app for deals on specific items. Once items are purchased, scan their barcodes, take a picture of the receipt, and within 48 hours, you will be reimbursed. Likes: The app is easy to use. All it takes is planning for the rebates you want to download. Dislikes: The discounts are small. To really see the impact, you need to use it often. Final thoughts: This app replaces the need for a coupon book. If you’re looking for more ways to save money on groceries, Ibotta will help.
Rating: 4/5
MINT
high as they once were, but cheap gas is still great. GasBuddy lets you know what all the gas stations are charging in your area. Likes: Users update prices constantly, so you can count on up-to-date information. The more you use the app, the more points you get to enter in a daily drawing for $100 in gas. Dislikes: Sometimes cities and states don’t have competing gas prices, so there aren’t always options for other stations to go to for a lower rate. Final thoughts: The reward system is an added bonus. If you are willing to consistently use the app, it can help save money in the long run. Rating: 4.5/5
take on financial planning through an app helps you view all your expenses on one screen. It calculates your income and expenses based on past transactions to let you know what your budget should be each month and where you are breaking the bank. Likes: The app does all the work for you, so you can instantly figure out the savings. Dislikes: There are a lot of components to this app, so there is a learning curve to figuring out how to change different elements. Final thoughts: This app presents information that will improve savings in a simple format. Rating: 5/5
KOPN 89.5fm...Where Else? Monday thru Friday National Programming Line-up... Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman 8-9am and Noon-1pm
The Diane Rehm Show 9-11am
Fresh Air with Terry Gross 11am-Noon On your radio dial at 89.5 fm or live streaming at kopn.org ILLUSTRATION BY MARY HILLEREN
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THE SCENE
Short trips, full stomachs Fulfill your foodie wanderlust close to Columbia
BY CATHERINE WENDLANDT
It’s winter, and the sky is just as gloomy as your mood. You’re starving, but you’re sick of going to the same places every Saturday. Good ol’ Columbia has made you stir crazy, and you’re ready to leave ASAP.
CAFE ELENA
Luckily, a variety of mom and pop restaurants are within just an hour’s drive of CoMo. It doesn’t matter which direction you head on your way out of town. These restaurants can satiate any craving from breakfast to dinner.
BEKS
THE BUZZ CAFE
Location: 108 E. Broadway, New Franklin
Location: 511 Court St., Fulton
Location: 106 N. Ogden St., Sturgeon
Hours: Thurs.– Fri., 5:30–9 p.m.
Hours: Mon.– Thurs., 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri.– Sat., 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Beks recommends reservations, which can be made by calling 592-7117.)
Hours: Tues.– Fri., 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
what to order: Schnitzel — This entree is made
with pork or chicken and garnished with a fresh dill sauce. available: If the menu offers it that week price: $11, dinner (comes with two sides and a dinner roll); $9, sandwich (comes with one side)
what to order: Chipotle Chicken Pasta —
Cafe Elena is a place where patrons can sit down, relax and have a glass of wine, co-owner Jeff Wright says. He and his wife, Elena Wright, and their three employees try to make as much of their food from scratch as possible. The menu lists different burgers, sandwiches and fish dishes, and in the winter months, meatloaf and soups are offered. Every week or two, the menu and featured dishes change. The specials are what people really love, Jeff says. “The best part is you get to be as creative as you have time and energy to be,” he says. Elena is Romanian, and many times, the special or dessert is a European dish, such as a gelato platter or tiramisu. Jeff says he and Elena originally wanted to open a food truck in Boone County, but after discovering the many regulations, they began looking at options outside of the county. They found a restaurant for sale in New Franklin and opened Cafe Elena in August 2015.
Continuity is not Beks’ focal point. Located in Fulton’s Brick District, the restaurant constantly mixes up the menu. “Twice a day, our website will change and say what’s featuring right now,” owner Garry Vaught says. Beks uses lots of forageable foods, such as hen of the woods mushrooms, as well as food from nearby farmers markets and from Vaught’s own garden. The season is taken into consideration when creating the menu. For example, during deer hunting season, the restaurant offers more venison. It also has wild game nights that feature meats such as kangaroo, bison and elk. Vaught bought the building that houses Beks in an effort to help his community revitalize downtown Fulton’s Brick District. He and his wife, Rebekah Vaught, opened the restaurant in 2005.
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Chipotle alfredo sauce and noodles are topped with house-marinated chicken. available: If the menu offers it that day price: $12, lunch; $16, dinner
what to order: Breaded Pork Tenderloin —
Freshly cut and fried on a grilled bun, this sandwich is served with one of 22 side options. available: Year-round price: $6.75 regular plain, $7 regular with toppings; $8.75 jumbo plain, $9 jumbo with toppings
The Buzz Cafe offers nearly anything you could ever want to eat. The menu lists more than 100 options, including all-day breakfast, enchiladas, burgers and potato skins. There are 22 side options, including a cup of chili, fried okra and five-bean salad. Along with the listed menu, owner Stacy Griffith says the restaurant typically offers multiple home-style daily specials, such as salmon patties, turkey dinners, frog legs and barbecue. Some days, there are four specials; other days, there are 12. Griffith, who worked in a Columbia hair salon for 11 years, opened The Buzz Cafe in 2000. She says she used to work for her father’s restaurant and bar in Kirksville and felt the urge to start her own. While she waits tables and takes orders, her husband, Bruce Griffith, cooks. They are the only two employees. Bruce joined her a few years after she opened the cafe when the distribution plant where he worked closed.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JEFF WRIGHT, GARRY VAUGHT, STACY GRIFFITH
MUSIC
The power of song
MU students are using music to spark challenging discussions “We gon’ be alright. We gon’ be alright.” On Nov. 9, 2015, a crowd of protesters on the Mel Carnahan Quadrangle chanted lyrics from Kendrick Lamar’s song “Alright” off his 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly. Marginalized students who felt the weight of systematic oppression found reassurance in these lyrics. The campus protests that fall encouraged conversations throughout MU and across the nation, and a group of student musicians now seeks to foster an inclusive campus climate. Talking Drum uses popular music to start difficult dialogues about the fault lines, or differences in identity, that divide people. The mission of Talking Drum is to teach people that everyone is a citizen of MU, says Taylor Lynn Cullen, a singer, songwriter and guitarist in Talking Drum. “Regardless of your race, regardless of your major, regardless of where you come from, you’re here at Mizzou, and we’re one family,” Cullen says. The band is part of Citizenship@Mizzou, a diversity initiative developed by three university divisions in response to the protests. These divisions include the Division of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity; the Department of Black Studies; and the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies. The band performs classic songs in different styles with the goal of sparking conversation among the audience. Stephanie Shonekan, the manager of Talking Drum and coordinator of Citizenship@Mizzou, says they try to pick recognizable and relatable songs. “It all has somewhat the same message,” says vocalist
BY CAMERON EVANS
Kenya Woods takes the lead for a rendition of “What’s Going On” accompanied by other members of Talking Drum.
Kennedy Moore. “It doesn’t matter if you like R&B, it doesn’t matter if you like pop, rap or country. That music is one thing that brings everyone together to understand the common goal.” The band’s most well-received song is a mashup of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” and John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Jacob Somerscales, the band’s drummer, had the idea to combine the songs. “They were both songs that were recorded in 1971 by men who are total opposite sides of the spectrum of social and cultural belongings,” Somerscales says. “The fact that they can both connect on that level I think is very important to all of us to remember, that there’s a lot more connecting us than dividing us.”
Talking Drum met for the first time in spring 2016. Shonekan says she chose students who were in her class and who she knew were musicians to be in the group. The band had to get together and see if it could work with different genres. “It’s not often that you see a country singer, a soul singer, a rapper, pop and kind of gospely-soul together in one group,” Moore says. The band named itself Talking Drum after a traditional drum that is used by different communities in West Africa to communicate and send messages. “We thought that would be a TALKING DRUM good symbol of what we’re Social Justice trying to do with this band, Symposium which is to use the music MU Student Center to communicate some Feb. 11, Free, students messages, and we want to only; register by Jan. 27 talk about those messages as at leadership.missouri. an audience or as a bigger edu/sjs/ group,” Shonekan says. A Taste of Arts and Somerscales agrees Science that the group contributes Memorial Union positively to the campus: March 11, 8:15 a.m. “I feel like I’m doing $25, register at coas. missouri.edu something that helps people and makes people feel comfortable coming to Mizzou and makes Mizzou a better place, a more healthy, a more open learning place.”
Find Talking Drum’s album suggestions on VOXMAGAZINE.COM
FREE FOR ALL STUDENTS
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALESSANDRO COMAI
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Loui Briones is a junior at Rock Bridge High School. He is enrolled in Rock Bridge’s AVID program, which prepares high school students for college. 6
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National education program AVID helps Columbia students in the academic middle prepare for college
BY LIZ RAMOS PHOTOGRAPHY BY LIV PAGGIARINO
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A
t 6 a.m., Loui Briones rolls out of bed tired and gets ready for another day at Rock Bridge High School. The 16-year-old puts on a hoodie, gym shorts and wristwatch and brushes his teeth; his backpack is already good to go. He usually doesn’t feel like eating, so he skips breakfast. Around 7:20 a.m., Loui gets into the car with Uziel, his 10-year-old brother, and his mother to drive to Rock Bridge Elementary School, where they drop off Uziel first because he’s a safety monitor at the school. Next, they commute to Rock Bridge High School down Providence Road to drop off Loui. He arrives at school 10 minutes later and heads to a common area by the main entrance of the building. Loui, a junior at the school, sits down at a brown foldout lunch table with his friends Alex Elms and Dominic William and pulls out his Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, a Japanese card game based on a manga series. Only a few other students gather, talking with one another and joking around. For Loui, playing Yu-Gi-Oh! and other card games provides an escape before having to traipse to classes such as honors chemistry, U.S. history, Spanish 3, pre-calculus and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID). Loui examines his deck of about 40 green cards with different monsters, wizards, spells and traps printed on them. The boys decide to begin a game and shuffle their decks of cards. Alex will make a move first, then Dominic and finally Loui. Their friend Dylan Van Hise joins and the battle begins. Loui holds his cards with both hands. He anxiously bounces his leg up and down as he looks at all the cards spread across the table and waits his turn. He’s a man on a mission. His brown eyes are laser-focused on what is happening in the game; he’s not thinking about classes. Over the next 40 minutes, a few more of Loui’s friends join the group at the table and watch as a battle among Loui, Dylan, Alex and Dominic presses on. They continue to play Yu-Gi-Oh! as the common area fills with students grabbing breakfast and others traveling to their classrooms or to meet friends. The boys focus on which card to use next rather than what their teachers will assign in class or how much homework they could have to do by the end of the day. In the end, Dylan defeats Loui by bringing Loui’s total life points down to zero. “I put up a good fight,” Loui says.
OFF TO CLASS
Loui leaves for his first class of the day, AVID, at 8:51 a.m. AVID helps students prepare to get into college and succeed 8
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Loui Briones takes time to play card games with his friends Dominic and Alex before a long day of classes.
academically once they enroll. Students swarm around him as he fights against the current to get to class, walking with his hands in the pockets of his black shorts. He turns right into a hallway dotted with only a few other students and heads to room 215. The classroom is not just for AVID; it is also a U.S. history classroom. The only visual cues of AVID’s presence are the 64 pennants of different colleges and universities hanging along the top of the walls. Loui enters the classroom and sits in his assigned seat in the front row, right by the Smart Board and closest to the door. He pulls out some of his class materials and waits for his teacher, Stephanie Brown, to start class. Before class begins, all the students, 14 juniors and six seniors, stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Afterward, Brown presents the “bell ringer,” an exercise to help students practice their writing abilities and critical thinking. The bell ringer for the day is: What triggers anger in you or someone else? Loui takes his time responding on a sheet of loose-leaf. He writes what makes him angry in brown pen. Once he’s done, he waits for Brown to say the five minutes are up and listens in on the conversations happening around him. Dariana, who sits behind Loui, tells him the dream she had about Doritos Locos Tacos from Taco Bell. Brown calls for the attention of the class. Four students share what makes them angry as Loui listens attentively. Then, Brown calls on him. He waits as the class calms down and becomes silent. “I get angry when someone is disrespectful to my mom,” he says. Brown shares what
makes her angry, and the class goes on. When Loui was in eighth grade at Gentry Middle School, a teacher suggested he look into AVID, and, after learning more about the program, he decided to enroll. “For me, I was pretty determined just to get through high school because I just wanted to pass all my classes and take some advanced courses,” he says. Loui is one of the 71 students participating in AVID at Rock Bridge. Debbie Feinberg, Senior Director of Marketing, Communications and Development for AVID, says it’s rare for students to drop out of the program because they simply don’t enjoy the class. If a student does drop the program, the decision is usually a result of a student wanting to take a different elective course. AVID’s mission is to “close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society,” according to the organization’s website. Rock Bridge, Battle and Hickman High Schools are among more than 6,000 elementary, secondary and higher education schools that have utilized AVID since its inception over 35 years ago in California. The program has grown to include more than 1.5 million students who are considered to be in the academic middle, meaning they receive grades in the B to D range. “To say that we’ve only hit 1.5 million, we have a long way to go,” Feinberg says. “We are figuring out how to access more of the schools through superintendents, social media, visits and conferences.” AVID can be either an elective or a school-wide program, but one of the
largest obstacles AVID faces is finding funding in schools because of other competing expenditures in a school’s budget, Feinberg says. To convince superintendents, principals and other academic administrators how valuable the program can be, AVID staff has worked to administer more training for educators as well as researching and testing new ways to refine the program. As Rock Bridge’s AVID guidance counselor, Rachel Reed works with students to see if AVID is the right fit. She also provides guidance throughout high school on which classes to take and post-high school plans. AVID staff selects students based on their GPA, standardized test scores, behavior, attendance and students’ determination and desire to be successful academically. “If you’ve always been smart and you’ve always been at the head of your class, it’s one thing,” says Lisa Holt, AVID coordinator for Rock Bridge. “But if you’ve been down here, kind of the lower grades in your classes, and now suddenly you’re closer to the top, it just makes you feel really good. We see
that in kids quite frequently.” Loui says before starting in AVID, he earned mostly C’s in school, but with the skills he has learned from the program he has brought up his grades to a B range. Loui says the organization and notetaking skills he learned through AVID are reasons for his growing confidence and higher GPA. Holt says she has noticed a change in Loui’s personality since he enrolled in the program. He is not as shy as he once was and is now more of a leader and more self-assured about his academic performance. “I would say I’m one-of-a-kind, unique, really helpful and respectful,” Loui says. “The Dr. Pepper commercial says everyone’s unique, and I feel like that’s true.” AVID uses a student’s freshman and sophomore years to teach basic skills to guide them in a direction that will help raise his or her grades and test scores. To assist with organization, each AVID student must have a 3-inch green binder to carry all papers, assignments and anything else received in classes. Feinberg says the students have been working to
become more technologically advanced instead of using paper for tasks such as writing the bell ringer or taking Cornell notes, which teach students to write down an essential question from a lecture and answer it in summary form to elevate their understanding of a subject. Once per week, the class will conduct tutorials during which students separate into groups. Each student does a tutorial on a point of confusion they have from one of their classes. “It’s a student-led study group,” says Brown, the 11th and
The average GPA of an AVID student is 3.3. The program helps not only with academics, but also with organizational skills. Stephanie Brown works with Loui and other AVID students in her class.
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12th grade AVID teacher. “There are tutors from universities that come and facilitate the group. One person presents their question, and the group asks them questions to help their thinking along.” By 9:15 a.m., Brown separates the class into three groups for the AVID tutors to take control of tutorials. Loui is in a group of seven students who crowd around a small brown table. He doesn’t have the official tutorial sheet, so he makes one out of a blank piece of paper by creating three columns. Loui’s classmate Alyssa tries to convince him to be the first to present his tutorial. After some deliberation, Loui agrees and heads to the dry-erase board at the front of the table. His question is from his honors chemistry homework. AVID highly recommends that each student enrolls in at least one foreign language, Advanced Placement, dual-credit or honors course. In Loui’s case, honors chemistry fulfills the requirement. “We want to take these kids and put them in classes that are going to challenge them,” Holt says. “They are going to have to work really hard to be successful, and we try to support them and help them to be where they can do well in the class.” As his point of confusion, Loui writes on the board “how to solve mixed energy” in neat handwriting. He then provides the specific problem: 1,200 grams of steam at 118 degrees Celsius to water at 100 degrees Celsius. He explains each step as he goes but speaks so quietly that he can barely be heard over his other classmates. He uses two equations to solve the problem. Alyssa, who is also in chemistry, attempts to assist him in solving the problem. Bill, the AVID tutor, questions Loui on what the symbols in the equations mean and what his next steps are going forward. After plugging the numbers from the problem into the equation, Loui gets his answer. Afterward, Loui erases his work and copies down the steps he took to get to his answer. Honors chemistry has been one of Loui’s biggest struggles throughout the semester. He tells Alyssa that he has trouble memorizing all the equations
AVID PROGRESS 1979
Teachers Mary Catherine Swanson and Jim Grove of Clairemont High School in San Diego create the AVID program. 10
1980
Swanson recruits 32 low-income, racially diverse B, C and D students to the first AVID elective course.
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With help from the AVID program, Loui has the potential to be the first in his family to graduate from college.
and that he’s nervous about the exam. As they continue to talk about the exam, the next student presents a tutorial. The students finish the tutorials around 10:15 a.m. and write their reflections on the presentations. Loui is one of the first in his group to finish. He turns it in to Bill and packs up his materials as he puts worksheets into his folder and back into his backpack. Loui and his classmates talk about AVID and work as they leave the room.
FIRST IN THE FAMILY
Loui’s mother picks him up from school around 4:15 p.m. She takes him to Walmart on Grindstone Parkway, where he works three days per week returning carts to the store. He has some downtime to relax and grab a bite to eat at the in-store Subway before starting his five-hour shift. Once 5 p.m. rolls around, he punches in for work and puts on his bright yellow vest. He ventures outside
to start collecting carts and begins with the areas that contain the most carts then moving to those with fewer. For safety reasons, he can only push 10 at a time. When there aren’t too many carts to collect and he sees trash on the ground, he will recycle it or throw it out. Loui passes any down time by talking to his co-workers, sharing stories (which he jokes are classified) and helping customers in any way he can. His shifts generally last four to five hours, which gets him home between 9 and 10 p.m. on school nights. Although he doesn’t have much time to do his homework and comes to school tired, Loui says working doesn’t have an effect on his academics. Brown says the AVID class structure assists in helping Loui keep track of his schoolwork. Occasionally, he will use his earnings to take his family out to dinner or treat them to ice cream. “I feel happy because we don’t usually get the opportunity to go out,” Loui says. “I’m trying to make them happy.” Family is important to Loui, which is why he wanted to start working at age 15. For Loui, one major benefit to working is being able to save up for college — Loui could be the first in his family to graduate from college, which will make his family proud, he says. His mother attended college but never graduated. “I feel pretty good about being the first one, but there’s always that worry about, ‘What will I do then?’” he says. Of AVID’s 42,418 nationwide seniors for the 2015-16 school year, 74 percent have parents who didn’t graduate from college. At home, Loui’s stepfather speaks Spanish, while his mother speaks English. Loui is bilingual but says he struggles when writing in English. His brother, on the other hand, refuses to speak Spanish. Loui moved around Columbia during his elementary school years and attended three different schools. His occasional self-perceived language barrier can get in the way of his attitude toward success. “Sometimes, I’m not really great at my English, so I just think, ‘Ugh, I’m probably going to fail all my classes because I’m not good at learning stuff,’” he says. He is aware of his negative
Since its inception, the AVID program has grown to include more than 1.3 million students across 6,268 schools in the U.S. and 16 other countries. Take a look at how the program has progressed throughout the years.
1981
The first schoolwide AVID site team is formed.
1984
The first group of AVID Clairemont High students graduate and move on to post-secondary institutions.
1986
AVID is disseminated throughout San Diego County. Ten sites implement the program.
1987
Thirty sites in San Diego County adopt the AVID program.
1989
Ramona High School in Riverside County, California, implements AVID, making it the first school outside of San Diego County to adopt the program.
1990
Within San Diego County, 45 high schools and 35 middle schools use AVID. The program spreads to Riverside and Whittier counties.
Stephanie Brown teaches juniors and seniors in the AVID program. She uses “bell ringer� exercises to help her students practice their writing and critical thinking skills.
1991
Swanson is the first public school teacher to ever receive the Charles A. Dana Award in New York City. The AVID program develops in Kentucky and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools overseas.
1992
AVID is in 340 schools throughout California, Kentucky, Virginia and DoDDS. Eight demonstration schools are developed in San Diego County.
1995
The program branches out to 414 schools including California, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, Virginia and DoDDS.
2000
More than 1,000 schools in 20 states and 13 foreign countries have implemented AVID.
2005
Serving more than 130,000 students, AVID is in 2,280 schools in 36 states and 15 countries.
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2016
More than 5,700 schools and 43 postsecondary institutions in 46 states and 16 countries serve 1.3 million plus AVID students.
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BECOMING AN AVID PROGRAM MENTOR
Starting last year, MU’s College of Education implemented The Bridge to Mizzou Ed: AVID Mentoring Program with Battle High School. They work to assist the high school’s AVID sophomores to excel in their academics in pursuit of a post-secondary education. The partnership was created by Norma Jackson, Director of Diversity Recruitment and Retention in the College of Education; Leslie Aguilar, Battle AVID coordinator; and Battle principal Kim Presko. Theresa Metz, The Bridge coordinator, says AVID staff members at Battle wanted to build an incentive for students to remain in the AVID program, so the two programs came together. This semester, each mentor will work with one or two of Battle’s 38 AVID sophomores. Mentors will visit Battle six times throughout the semester and have mentor development and planning sessions on the weeks they aren’t at the high school. “There is an opportunity to direct and guide a young person’s academic and personal journey,” Metz says. “It’s an opportunity for volunteer mentors to explore issues of education that I don’t know if everyone actually talks about.” While at the school, mentors will work with the sophomores in large groups or workshop sessions for half the time, discussing themes the students have identified, including meal plans and campus life, financial assistance, independence and career and workplace readiness. The mentors and students will then break off into one-on-one pairings or small groups to further discuss the theme. Applicants do not need to meet any specific requirements, but Metz does expect a high level of commitment from the mentors. “In order to model for younger people that college is possible and how to do well in college, I would much prefer people who are doing academically well and who can talk the talk and walk the walk,” Metz says. As of Dec. 13, Metz received 59 applications. Although applications are closed for the spring semester, Metz is always recruiting future mentors. Any MU student can apply to be a mentor. TIME COMMITMENT: 8:30–10:45 a.m. Tuesdays or Fridays all spring semester THE PROCESS OF BECOMING A MENTOR: 1. Apply to be a mentor. 2. Metz receives applications and sends emails to those interested in being a mentor. All applicants wishing to continue in the process must respond, acknowledging the level of commitment necessary. 3. Once accepted, Metz will ask the mentor to write a letter to a high school student as an introduction and to jumpstart relationship building. 4. The mentor’s job begins. EXPECTATIONS OF MENTORS: Full commitment to the program; Attendance at the six on-site sessions with sophomores and the mentor development and planning sessions; Participation in large-group and workshop sessions as well as one-on-one discussion. 12
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attitude toward academics and has been working to adjust his thinking with AVID’s help. On the days he doesn’t work, Loui usually spends about 25 minutes completing his homework and then plays video games. He steps into a virtual world where he gets to be Batman fighting against villains such as Scarecrow and the Joker to save Gotham City. “(Batman) is awesome and is the best detective in the world,” Loui says. The weekends are spent catching up on sleep, waiting for grades to update as they do every week and sometimes going out to Stephens Lake Park to walk around. “I think about nothing,” he says. “I try not to think and just look at the nature.”
website, around 95 percent of 42,418 of AVID’s 2015-16 seniors planned to attend a post-secondary institution, with 63 percent expecting to attend a four-year institution, 32 percent to attend a two-year institution and the remaining have other post-high school plans. Because the AVID classes include two grade levels, the juniors and seniors do separate activities on occasion. One Monday in September, the six seniors of the class went into one of the conference rooms in the media learning center to further their research on colleges while the juniors stayed in the classroom to talk about the college fair coming up later in the week. At 9 a.m., the group of seniors, three boys and three girls, entered a conference room more energized than most students COLLEGE PREP AVID provides opportunities for students would be on a Monday morning. They had checked out laptops from the library to conduct research on colleges or and sat around the small rectangular table. universities they might be interested Holt told them to visit cappex.com to in attending. According to the AVID
Loui decided to enroll in AVID after hearing about the program in eighth grade. Now a junior, he takes advanced courses and has improved his grades.
look up information such as acceptance rates, locations and student populations. Each student had to search 10 colleges of their choice and write the information on a worksheet. For Tylee Schnake, this task was unnecessary. She has her eyes set on MU, but she continued doing research for her assignment anyway. All of the students searched school after school, stating some of the facts they found. “Mizzou has an 81 percent acceptance,” Tylee says. “That has Tylee written all over it.” They continued on, one by one joking about what their futures could hold, talking about what each school had to offer. Three of the students, including Tylee, expressed interest in Illinois State University. This discovery surprised the students, and they began to plan out an imaginary future where they live in the same dorm and take some of the same classes. “We would be a sitcom by then,” Tylee says. “We would be like Friends but more ethnic.” The AVID program is designed to be demographically reflective of the school’s population. Each year, Holt, along with the rest of the AVID staff, works to find students in the academic middle who fit the profile but also help the program achieve its demographical goal. As a whole, Holt says the program’s ratios match the school’s, but when it comes to each grade level, that’s not the case. Nationally, last year’s AVID seniors consisted of 59 percent Hispanic or Latino, 14 percent black, 14 percent white and 6 percent Asian students. After about half the class period passed, the seniors went back to the classroom to listen to guidance counselor Reed give an overview of the college fair. She provided questions the students should ask of the admissions advisors as well as what they should be looking for in a college or university. Loui listened intently, taking notes and highlighting questions he felt were important.
ON THE COLLEGE TRACK
On Sept. 19, the day of the college fair, Loui walks into the Hearnes Center field house at MU with more than 90 possibilities at his fingertips and hundreds of other high school students swarming around him. While strolling up and down the five aisles filled with tables from different colleges and universities at the college fair MU hosts each year, Loui looks at the opportunities he could pursue; some would argue choosing a college will be one of the biggest decisions of his life. Loui can’t picture what college might look like for him. But, he knows a little bit about the type of school he wants: small class sizes that allow more time with the professor, a
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELIZABETH SAWEY
school close to home so he can be with his family and programs with either criminal law, like in the TV show Law & Order, or 3D animation, which are the two fields he’s considering as career paths. He had already stopped at the tables of Missouri University of Science and Technology, Kettering University in Flint, Michigan, and State Technical College of Missouri. He continues down the aisle packed with other students, some from his school and others from different Columbia public high schools. Loui walks as a friend talks to him about what he’s looking for in a college until he stops at the booth for Lindenwood University-Belleville, the last in the aisle. Looking down at the table, full of numerous brochures about the campus, courses offered, tuition costs, as well as other information and an iPad showing photos of students on campus, Loui turns his head to the school’s representative. “Can I have one of these?” he says as he gestures toward a general brochure on the university. “Of course, you can have anything that’s on this table,” the representative says. “Does that mean I can have this iPad?” Loui says, jokingly reaching toward the iPad. The representative laughs lightheartedly and says no. After a few moments of silence, Loui picks up one of the brochures. As he takes in the information, a few questions pop into his head. Would this college work for me? Would they accept me? With papers and brochures from other colleges and universities in hand, he nervously twirls a pencil and gathers up the courage to ask a few questions. “What is your student to teacher ratio?” “Our class size is 19-to-1.” “How are roommates chosen? Can I choose my own roommate?” The representative begins to talk about Loui’s housing options, highlighting the rooms for three people that were built in 2014 and how he can choose a person he knows as a roommate if they fill out forms together. These questions were some that Reed suggested the students ask the representatives at the college fair. With graduation in a year and the choice of which school to choose on his mind, AVID will assist Loui every step of the way to senior year through ACT preparations, college visits, college essays, college applications and more. But for now, he’s satisfied with the information the Lindenwood University representative provided. Loui thanks the representative and moves on to the next table, to the next opportunity, to the next possible road to college.
THE AVID INDEX AVID works to close the achievement gap, which can be wider among Hispanic and Latino students. Nationally, 57 percent of AVID’s 2014 graduates were Hispanic or Latino.
3.3
97
AVERAGE
90
PERCENT OF ALL ROCK BRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO GRADUATED DURING THE 2015-16 SCHOOL YEAR
AVID STUDENT
PERCENT OF HISPANIC OR LATINO ROCK BRIDGE STUDENTS WHO GRADUATED DURING THE 2015-16 SCHOOL YEAR
Hispanic and Latino students make up 6% of Battle High School’s population and 12% of Battle’s AVID program
GPA
Hispanic and Latino students make up 5% of Rock Bridge High School’s population and 14% of Rock Bridge’s AVID program
Hispanic and Latino students make up 5% of Hickman High School’s population and 9% of Hickman’s AVID program
74
74
Percent of AVID seniors in 2015-16 had parents who did not graduate from a college or university
PERCENT OF NATIONWIDE AVID STUDENTS COME FROM LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS
95
Percent of nationwide AVID students plan to attend a
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ALIKI BARNSTONE brings the art of poetry to Missouri children
A
liki Barnstone wanted to become Missouri’s poet laureate to share written work with students across the state. Barnstone was a child poet — she published her first book of poems, The Real Tin Flower, at age 12. Barnstone earned the poet laureate title on June 30, 2016, and plans to reach out to kids about the literary genre during this two-year, unpaid position. So far, she has spoken to classes at Hickman High School about creating poetry. She has also talked to administrators at Lee Elementary School and Two Mile Prairie Elementary School about incorporating poetry into their curricula. Barnstone has shared her love of language with students at MU for almost a decade. As an English professor, she teaches American literature and creative writing classes. “She really cares about her students, that they do well, that they’re successful, not just on an academic level, but on a personal level,” says Julia Castanzo, a senior who took Barnstone’s advanced poetry course this past fall. “She wants you to succeed. She takes your success personally.” Barnstone has published eight books of poetry and three chapbooks. Her published works include Dwelling, Bright Body and Dear God Dear, Dr. Heartbreak: New and Selected Poems. Vox spoke with Barnstone about why she wants to bring poetry to the children of Missouri. How were you encouraged creatively when you were young? Both of my parents really opened the way for us to be creative. We lived in an environment 14
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where creativity and intellectual exploration were encouraged. My parents have an American Dream way of looking at what their children can do or what anyone can do. They basically say, “You should do whatever you want to do.” They just wanted us to get the best education we could and to explore whatever it is we were interested in as deeply as we could. What do you remember about writing your first poems as a child? I remember the title poem of my first book, which was published when I was 12, Real Tin Flower. We were living in Amherst, Massachusetts. We rented a house for the summer, and there was a big long yard with a creek in the back and a swimming hole. It was very idyllic. There were some tiger lilies blooming, and then we came inside, and I dictated the poem. I said, “Real tiger lily,” and (my dad) said, “Real tin flower?” And I said, “No.” And he said, “Why don’t you write about that?” I wrote the poem all around the misunderstanding of a “real tin flower.” So that’s one of the ways in which you have the divine accident. Why did you apply to become the poet laureate? I made some inquiries into the position because I have had a vision of bringing poetry to children for a very long time. I was a child poet myself, and there have been a lot of studies done that show giving poetry to children K–12 increases literacy, increases their love of the language. Plus, when a child has something that is their own, that child has
self-esteem and has a buffer between (himself or herself) and the world. I think if you have an internal life that is interesting, that is you making something, that is generative and that no one can take away from you. No one can take your imagination away from you. It strengthens kids. What is the poetry game that you use in your college classes and with the high school classes you visit? We go around the room, and everybody says a word, and then you can use any, all or none of the words (to create a poem). The amazing thing about the poetry game is that people’s child-joy emerges. It just sort of frees you. The other interesting thing is there’s inevitably a connection between all the poems. Sometimes, there are words that come in that weren’t there that maybe were suggested. It’s just fascinating. How is poetry relevant today? People still find that it gives their lives meaning and that they can make meaning with it. There is something incredibly empowering about making meaning (of one’s life). Children should have access to arts in general because the arts allow the individual to make meaning, and we need different points of view now more than ever. Poetry gives us access to the ineffable, the profoundly human and loving. — TAYLOR YSTEBOE PHOTO BY JOHN FARMER DE LA TORRE
THE TO-DO LIST
this week in Columbia
ARTS & CULTURE Picturing Black American Families
MU hosts an exhibition of documentary photographs that depict the connections across generations and experiences of modern-day black families. The photos were taken from three collections, which were preserved in Columbia. Today–Sun., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Museum of Art and Archaeology, Free, 882-3591
Jay Owenhouse: Dare to Believe Award-winning illusionist and escape artist Jay Owenhouse brings his “Dare to Believe” tour to Columbia. The night will be filled with illusions, Bengal tigers and breathtaking escapes. Saturday, 7 p.m., Jesse Auditorium, $29–69, 882-3781
CIVIC 2017 MLK Celebration — Angela Davis viewing event
If you weren’t lucky enough to get tickets to Angela Davis’ sold-out lecture, you’re in luck. MizzouDiversity is hosting an overflow room to accommodate extra attendees, as well as streaming the talk online. Davis is known internationally for her ongoing work to combat all forms of oppression. Tuesday, 6:30–8:30 p.m., Keller Auditorium in Geological Sciences Building, livestream link will be posted on MizzouDiversity’s Twitter and Facebook pages, Free, 2348334
FOOD & DRINK January Epic Pie Tasting Event
Peggy Jean’s Pies greets the new year in the tastiest way possible with a blind pie tasting contest. Patrons try up to 12 types of pies with prizes available for the most discerning palates. Tonight, 6–8 p.m., Peggy Jean’s Pies, $20, 447-7437
MUSIC Close to You: The Music of the Carpenters
The musical prowess of Karen Carpenter has captivated listeners since the early ’70s. Now, singer and playwright Lisa Rock brings her emotinal tribute of The Carpenters’ catchy pop music to the stage with her six-piece backing band. Friday, 7 p.m., Missouri Theatre, $20–30, 882-3781
BoomBox at The Blue Note
BoomBox features the work of songwriter Zion Godchaux and producer Russ Randolph. The show will include work from the duo’s latest album, Bits & Pieces. Friday, 9 p.m., The Blue Note, $15, 512-1869
Regina Carter — Simply Ella
Violinist Regina Carter is considered the foremost jazz violinist of her generation and
is currently touring for her upcoming album Simply Ella, dedicated to “The First Lady of Song” Ella Fitzgerald. Join the “We Always Swing” Jazz Series for a night of beautiful music and cabaret-style entertainment. Monday, 7–9 p.m., Stephens College’s Kimball Ballroom, $20–37, 449-3009
SPORTS Missouri Men’s Basketball vs. Ole Miss
Cheer on the Tigers as they face off against the Ole Miss Rebels this weekend. Saturday, 2:30 p.m., Mizzou Arena, prices vary, 882-6501
Harlem Globetrotters 2017 World Tour
This one-of-a-kind show of basketball skills is fun for the whole family. Stay after the game for an autograph, photograph and high-five session with the team. Wednesday, 7 p.m., Mizzou Arena, prices vary, 882-6501
SCREEN 20th Century Women (R)
A determined single mother raises her adolescent son in 1979 California, a time and place of rebellion and cultural change. The mother, played by Annette Bening, enlists the help of two younger women in the neighborhood to help bring up her son. RT RUNTIME = 1:58
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James McAvoy stars in M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller about a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder who kidnaps three teenage girls and terrorizes them with his 24 different personalities. F, R RUNTIME = 1:57
xXx: Return of Xander Cage (PG-13)
Vin Diesel returns to the role of Xander Cage, an extreme athlete turned secret agent. The latest movie in the xXx series finds Cage returning from self-imposed exile to recover a superweapon before it can fall into the wrong hands. F, R RUNTIME = 1:47
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