CSD Legislative Action Center

From the Desk of…
Diana Bourisaw, Superintendent

SLPS Principal Wins National Award for Community Collaboration
Dr. Alice F. Roach, principal of Carnahan High School of the Future, has won the 2008 MetLife Foundation Ambassadors In Education Award. The national award recognizes the most collaborative public school principals in twenty-five cities across the country. With the honor, she earns a $5,000 grant for her school.

The Ambassadors In Education Award, a program of the National Civic League, recognizes exemplary school principals who:

• Build partnerships with community organizations, parents, and guardians;
• Resolve conflicts and promote safety in the school and the community; or
• Promote civic engagement and community service.

The MetLife Foundation and the National Civic League started the Ambassadors In Education Award program in 2003 after the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher revealed a divide between educators and their schools’ communities. The program has now recognized 115 Ambassadors In Education with a total of more than $500,000 in grants.

Each year, the Ambassadors In Education program alternates recognition between teachers and principals. Previous award winners in St. Louis include:

• Dr. Thomas Cason, principal, Soldan International Studies High School
• Harold Kumke, teacher, Soldan International Studies High School
• Andrea Walker, principal, Compton-Drew ILC Middle School
• Marjorie Deem, teacher, Compton-Drew ILC Middle School

Congratulating Our Young Scholars
Five SLPS students will join gifted students from public and private high schools across the state to attend the 2008 Missouri Scholars Academy. Gateway Institute of Technology student, William Donnelly, and Metro High School students, Celine St. Peters, Jesse Mitchell, Danijela Bule and David Wimmer, have been selected to take part in the unique and concentrated “summer school” for academically gifted juniors.
Sponsored by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the academy will be held June 8-28 at the University of Missouri campus.

At last Monday’s SAB meeting, we honored the top scorers on the ACT college entrance exam from each high school. Their test scores range from 23 to 35. Congratulations to the following students:

Celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, May 4-10
In 1984, PTA (Parent Teacher Association) established Teacher Appreciation Week to honor the dedicated men and women who lend their passion and skills to educating our children.

“Where are the heroes of today?” a radio talk show host thundered. He blamed society’s shortcomings on education. Too many people are looking for heroes in the wrong places. Movie stars, rock musicians, athletes and models aren’t heroes; they’re celebrities. Heroes abound in public schools – a fact that doesn’t make the news. There is no precedent for the level of violence, drugs, broken homes, child abuse, and crime in today’s America. Education didn’t create these problems, but deals with them everyday.

You want heroes?

• Jane Smith, a Fayetteville, North Caroline teacher, was moved by the plight of one of her students, a boy dying for want of a kidney transplant. This teacher told the boy’s family that she would give him one of her kidneys. When they appeared together on the Today Show, Katie Couric was in tears.

• Doris Dillon always wanted to be a teacher. She was one of those great teachers who could bring out the best in every child. Suddenly, she was stricken with Lou Gehrig’s disease. She asked to stay on her job. When her voice became affected, she communicated by computer. She is currently running two elementary school libraries!

Last year, the average school teacher spent $468 of their own money for student necessities: workbooks, pencils and other basic supplies that children need but can’t afford. That’s a lot of money from underpaid teachers!

The average teacher works more hours in nine months than the average 40-hour employee does in a year.

If you want heroes, go to your child’s school and see our real life heroes who are changing lives for the better each and every day! Please take the time to honor and celebrate our wonderful teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week!!

Note: some of the information in this article originally appeared in an essay written by an assistant principal in Ohio.

Oak Hill e-MINTS Academy – “Celebrating 100 Years of Teaching and Learning”
Join the faculty, staff and students of Oak Hill e-Mints Academy for a special 100th Anniversary Open House on Friday, May 9, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Share your memories and enjoy entertainment, fun, refreshments and more! The school is located at 4300 Morganford. For more information, contact Mr. Adrian Wright, committee chairman, at 314.481.0420.

Helpful Tip from the Finance Department
After filing this year’s taxes, did you feel like you had too much or too little withheld from your paycheck? Visit www.PaycheckCity.com. This is a great website for helping employees with their W-4 process. You can access a paycheck calculator where you plug in your check information and test various withholding scenarios. There’s also a ‘W-4 Assistant’ that will give you recommendations for filling out your W-4 based on the answers to a few questions regarding your last tax return.

"The world will tell you to play it safe, but I say play it all. The world will tell you to make money. I implore you to make friends and to make a difference."
- Christa M. Compton, South Carolina Teacher of the Year

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

“The great teacher is not the man who supplies the most facts, but the one in whose presence we become different people.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson