Drew Boland, student body president at DeSmet Jesuit High School, is leading a nationwide effort to address the lack of access to clean water for millions of people around the world. Starting this month and continuing through March, DeSmet students will join other Jesuit high school students across the country in a campaign to raise money for water.org, which provides resources, manpower and logistics to build sustainable wells andworking restrooms in developing countries.
Chesterfield Day School alum Austin Smith (’02) brought a few extra guests with him when he visited his alma mater recently. His band, Roots of a Rebellion, performed for students (including Smith’s nephews, Grayson and Truett Marks) during lunch periods. The Nashville musicians promote appreciation for music as a healing art and combine a variety of musical influences.
John Burroughs junior Cole Gieseking chose Aim High as the beneficiary of his Eagle Scout project when his math teacher, Aim High co-director Kevin McKone, informed him the nonprofit had no support for its athletic program. Gieseking organized an equipment drive at Sports Authority in Brentwood, asking shoppers to purchase desired items from a list he passed out at the door. He also went to neighbors and sent out hundreds of letters asking for donations. The drive collected more than 300 items, enough to fully stock the Aim High athletic programs at both the John Burroughs and Priory campuses. Aim High is a four-year, tuition-free program for fifth- through eighth-graders who have demonstrated potential, the majority of whom come from challenging economic and social circumstances.
Students from Marian Middle School donned pink hard hats to build a wheelchair ramp for a young man with a spinal cord injury at his South City home. The girls took turns with construction and neighborhood clean-up while also learning about power tools, physical disabilities and construction careers. The project was made possible by a grant from Emerson awarded to math/STEM teacher Heather Olsen. Olsen applied for the grant after receiving an Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award. (Pictured, above)
Xiomara Mendoza-Colon, a junior at Ritenour High School, received the 2014 Sidney Johnson Learning Award from the St. Louis County Library Foundation for exemplary service to the library. Mendoza-Colon, 17, began volunteering at the Rock Road branch when she was an eighth-grader and has since then helped with numerous projects, including story time, the Summer Reading Club and shelving library material. She is the daughter of Eloy Mendoza and Romelia Colon-Caban of Overland.
Fifth- and sixth-grade students at Rohan Woods School recently traveled to New Brunswick, Canada, for a hands-on science experience at the Huntsman Marine Biology Centre. The Centre, which has access to one of the world’s most biologically productive ecosystems, offered students a unique learning experience about achieving sustainable development and effective management of coastal shores. Students studied sea stars, fed stingrays and went on a whale-sighting expedition.
Pictured: Marian Middle School students on a volunteer project
