Stories
Children are not problems to be solved, but humans to be loved | The Belleville News-Democrat
There’s the person you are, and then there’s the person people see. And for me growing up, there was always a big gap between one and the other. In school, people knew me for my behavior problems.
Read MoreA Conversation Between Longtime Eastside Residents, Marie and Sam
Our children are our future champions. Strip away the bad roads, the politics, the economics, and they are what East St. Louis is made of. We’ve got to make sure they’re acknowledged and recognized and taught that they are geniuses—that they can be proud of the place they’re from.
Read MoreWhy I care about East St. Louis public schools | The St. Louis American
Students show up to school with the trauma of systematic racism on their shoulders and are just expected to grow in an environment that doesn’t value them as human beings.
Read MoreTake it from this SLPS Parent: We need to talk about school funding | The Riverfront Times
Before starting at Gateway Middle seventh grade I was forced into motherhood. I had to figure out how to balance school and still have a child. One day I was Smart Alexis, and then all of a sudden I was Alexis with the Baby.
Read MoreVisioning Our Futures through Courageous Conversations
As part of our Engage Community programming, we are partnering with Black Futures Lab on the Black Census Project. Kristen Trudo, St. Louis field organizer with the Black Census Project, reflects on the Project’s recent community organizing training in Atlanta.
Read MoreOn Reading Out loud and Encouraging Imagination
One afternoon in grade school my teacher made up a new rule: each student must finish reading a section aloud from their book before leaving the classroom that day. I couldn’t make it through a page. I was stuttering so badly. Then to add to my embarrassment, I caused my classmates to miss their bus.
Read MoreOn Daring More Boldly and Scaling Community Ventures
Diverse minds represent diverse ideas, whether they come from entrepreneurs themselves or diverse teams. They generate ideas that others may not recognize as opportunities, and solve some of our community’s greatest challenges.
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