SLPS Spotlight Weekly News February 27, 2007

Gundlach Students Celebrate Black History Month

Gundlach Elementary School will have a special ceremony to celebrate Black History Month on Wednesday, Feb. 28, beginning at 1:15 p.m. Students from 10 classes will be participating by showcasing a variety of talents in dance, poetry, singing, and skits. St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley will be the special guest speaker during the program entitled “Working Together.”

15 SLPS Students Win Student Essay Contest

Fifteen SLPS students are winners in an essay contest entitled Dear Mr. Scott. The contest was inspired to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dred Scott Decision. A special awards ceremony for the winning students will be held at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, March 3, at the Historic Old Courthouse. Essays were about the legacy of the Dred Scott decision in the form of letters addressed to Mr. or Mrs. Scott. The winners are as follows:

9-12-year-old category

First place - Adisa Nasufovic, Oak Hill

Honorable Mentions - All students attend Baden School:

Terrance Kemey

Arlando Johnson

Kimbria Criner

Mathew Johnson

Donna Green

13-15-year-old category

First place - Elmina Tasie, Oak Hill

Second place- Enis Brdarevic, Oak Hill

Third place- Anquenette Jackson, Cole eMINTS Academy

Blessing Kubbe, Long Middle

16-18-year-old category

All students attend Metro Academic and Classical High School:

First Place -Kenitria Reed

Second place - Nakia Billups

Third place - Elizabeth Cantrell

Honorable Mentions - Teresa Thevary and Nate Wallace

Carr Lane VPA Students Participate in 150th Anniversary of Dred Scott

Tre’Von Griffith, a talented student from Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School , along with 12 of his classmates has written a play commemorating the 150th anniversary of Dred Scott. The play, entitled Freedom Will Come Someday, will be presented at 1 p.m., Saturday, March 3, at the Old Courthouse, located at 11 North 4th Street. The musical, co-directed by Diana McCullough, depicts the struggles of slavery and how one man’s determination changed the course of America. Students will sing, dance and act. Other students involved in the creation of the musical are Donay Ramsey, Kayla Kelly, Precious Taylor, Ricki Lokeomanivang, Camron Ross, Natasha Ramsey, Patsha Ramsey, Alea Grover-Ramsey, Jada Jefferson, Kelsey Miller, Veronica Lake, and Benjamin Clark.

Gateway Institute of Technology Students Gear Up for Regional Robotics Competition

Twenty-five students from Gateway Institute of Technology will compete in the St. Louis Regional Robotics Competition March 1-3, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Charles Family Arena. The team, called Perpetual Chaos along with their Robot Gearmo 6, will be shooting for the gold. The robot’s mission is to successfully pick up tubes and place them on a rack better known as Rack N’ Roll. Gearmo 6 has 2 minutes and 15 seconds to accomplish the task.

Carr Lane Students Win Art Contest

Four sixth graders from Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts will be honored at 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 7, for being one of the 100 top finalists in the Picture the Music art contest. The awards ceremony will be held at Powell Symphony Hall. The student’s artwork will be on display that evening in the Symphony Hall. The winning students are Alexus Jones, G’airra Boyce, Kierra Bradley and Nicholas Thomas. Over 23,000 students from 130 St. Louis metropolitan schools competed. The number was narrowed to 730 students.

24th Annual Career Awareness Fair for 8th Graders

The Career Education Office of the St. Louis Public Schools will hold its 24th annual Career Awareness Fair on March 6-7, at America’s Center from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. The Career Awareness Fair provides eighth grade students an opportunity to interact with and learn from thousands of businesses and tradespersons.

Bunche Students Communicate with Students in China

Bunche International Studies Middle School students have pen pals in China. In December, students started receiving letters from students who attend Jinghan Foreign Language School in Yantai City, China. The students composed letters in English and Chinese to learn more about American and English writing skills. The project helps Bunche students understand and speak Chinese while assisting Chinese students with their English. For more information contact principal Carol Howard.

Hamilton eMINTS Young Poets to Soon Be Published

Nine of Hamilton’s eMINTS seventh grade students will have their poetry nationally published in the anthology called “A Celebration of Young Poets.” Their poetry was chosen out of 5,000 entries. The winning students are Aiceanna Baker, Antonio White, Jae’nisha Hammond, Jasmine Harlan, Jessica Hunter, Adrienne McClellan, Makiya Terry, Courtney Wheeler and Breunna Burton.