Native St. Louisan returns home from L.A. to bring hip-hop dancing expertise to hometown students in a brand new state of the art dance studio

 ST. LOUIS, May 22, 2013 – From St. Louis to L.A. and back again, Rashad “Wizdom Truth” Rounds proudly presents a new home for Midwest dancers to experience hip hop in its purest form. Famous Fresh Studios opened June 15, 2013 in the St. Louis Outlet Mall in Hazelwood, showcasing the best hip-hop, street, breaking, tap and jazz teachers in the St. Louis area.

Famous Fresh Studios creator Wizdom, a 2001 graduate of Ladue Horton Watkins High School, began his self-taught dance career in St. Louis training hard as a founding member of local dance crew The Flyboyz. He got his professional break touring with hip-hop artist Pretty Willie, as well as dancing for AT&T and Vibe Magazine. Soon after, he moved to L.A. where he danced on MTV’s Video Music Awards with Usher and on popular TV shows Dance Behind the Moves and Dancing with the Stars, as well as working with some of the world’s best choreographers including Dave Scott (You Got Served) and choreographing for artists such as David Guetta and Estelle. Now he returns to his home and his roots.

“I really want to give back to my community and bring the skills I’ve acquired and the L.A. dance vibe to St. Louis,” Wizdom says. ”My vision is to be the premiere industry studio in the Midwest where we can groom kids, teenagers and adult dancers to a professional level.”

Famous Fresh Studios is the first of its kind in St. Louis, designed to provide professional hip-hop dance training to serious dancers seeking commercial dance careers. However, classes will be offered for all ages and levels of ability and across multiple genres. While hip-hop takes center stage, beginning and intermediate classes will also be offered in the areas of ballet, tap and jazz, as well as “dance moms” and other adult fun fitness classes. The class schedule is set up so there will be a new teacher with a new choreographed combo every hour on the hour to help speed up each dancer’s learning ability as well as keep them excited in a creative, fun and stress free environment.

For more information on the studio and class offerings, visit www.famousfreshstudios.com.

Achievement, Outcome – What Dictates A Student’s Success?

School system performance is paramount for any family looking to move and start a family, as it was for Rob and Diane Pattershuk, when they moved to Ladue 20 years ago. 

They made a good choice – the district offers a several extracurricular activities, advanced placement classes, and was ranked as the top school in the state on this year’s Newsweek poll of America’s Best High Schools.

Their daughter, Alex, attended elementary and middle school in the Ladue School System – so for them the choice for high school was pretty simple, says Diane. “She was doing so well in grade school, I didn’t see any reason to pull her out. It’s an excellent community here. When they get to the high school, they’re all so competitive, and that environment just made her a stronger, harder worker. It made her a better student.”

Alex Pattershuk, who will be attending Texas Christian University in the fall, is aware of the weight that her school’s name carries. She has been involved in sports, has a 3.6 GPA, and started a club called Due-Care that helps need-based families.“I think that your grades are what gets you in to college – not going to Ladue. I think that going to Ladue helps, but your grades are what ultimately gets you in to the school,” she says.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Riverview Gardens school district, which is also in St. Louis County, has been unaccredited since 2007 and had a 77% graduation rate in 2012.

RaShaun Travis is a recent graduate from Riverview Gardens High School. He had a 3.3 GPA, played baseball, and was involved in DECA, a high school entrepreneurial program. His thoughts on achievement are plain and simple: “I feel that if you want whatever you’re working for and you work for it, you put in the time for it, you’ll get it no matter where you’re coming from, what school you went to, your background, your history, if you want to work for it you’ll get the opportunity.”

According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, last year, a quarter of Riverview Gardens’ 2011 senior class, of which there were 349 graduates, went on to a four year university. Like Ladue, the school offers a plethora of extracurricular activities, and students are afforded the opportunity to have a counselor dedicated to their post-grad needs.

But for Travis, who will attend University of Missouri-Columbia in the fall to major in biology, statistics meant nothing. He was aware of the school’s accreditational faults, but wasn’t deterred. “It’s just a school. The school I go to is the name of the school, and my academic success is what they judge. It gave me motivation,” he says. “If you tell me that I can’t do something because of something that I can’t control, I’m willing work and put in the effort to prove you wrong.”

Sarah Potter is the communications coordinator for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She says that attendance and graduation rates are also included in determining a school’s status. But that shouldn’t negatively affect a student’s performance. “When you get an unaccredited classification, that’s a serious red flag that something is not working or many things are not working within that district. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t have very smart children within that district who are soaking up everything that they can and doing a very good job. That classification should not prohibit them from being successful later on.”

Accreditation or not, school and administrators agree that when it’s time for a student to submit applications, its status in the state’s eyes is more of a factor for the district, not the college. But a student’s inner determination is something that can’t be classified.

• On May 25 – 26, 2013, the team earned second place at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments High School National Championship.
• On June 8-9, 2013 the team finished first at the National Scholastics Championship in College Park, Maryland.
• On June 15-16, 2013 the team, chosen to represent Missouri, finished first at the National All-Star Academic Tournament (NASAT.)

Team members (pictured left to right in photo) are Ben Zhang (Junior), Max Schindler (Senior), Haohang Xu (Senior), and Jialin Ding (Junior.)  Schindler will attend the University of Chicago this fall and Xu will attend Yale University.  LHWHS social studies teachers Mike Hill and Jeff Miller coach the team.

Schindler is not yet finished competing this year, however.  Out of all students in the United States participating in the North American Computational Linguistics test, Schindler and three others were chosen to represent the U.S. at the international competition in Manchester, England in July 2013.

“On many levels, our community should be very proud of the performance of these students,” explains Coach Mike Hill.  “Achieving first in two national competitions is quite an accomplishment, and to do it as a public high school amongst schools across the nation who pick and choose their students is nothing short of amazing.  On top of this, Max Schindler is literally known across the nation for his incredible intelligence and ability to excel in these competitions.”

The Grannie Annie invites students in U.S. grades 4 through 8, and homeschooled and international students of comparable ages, to interview an older relative, write a story about something interesting they discovered from their family’s history, and share their work. Students are also invited to submit illustrations with their stories. After stories for publication have been selected, additional illustrations are solicited from students in the St. Louis area.

Authors from Conway Elementary School participating in the gathering were Miles R. Bassett, “Remember Me?”; Tripp Gatch, “The Pilot”; and Rebecca Tan, “A Miscommunication.” Participating artist Madison Grady, from Old Bonhomme Elementary School, drew an illustration to accompany “Attack of the Polar Bear,” which was written by Daniel Volobuev, a fifth grader at Conway.

Additional student authors and artists from the St. Louis area, as well as authors from Alabama, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, joined the celebration at the Gathering—reading excerpts from their stories, discussing their illustrations, and signing books. Volume 8 includes stories and art from 47 students in nine U.S. states.

Founded in 2005, The Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation based in St. Louis. Its mission is to inspire young people to discover, write, and share stories from their family’s history, and to publish collections of their work. The Grannie Annie nurtures writing and illustrating skills, fosters an interest in history, and helps to strengthen family and community bonds. Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.

Stories published in the eight Grannie Annie collections have taken place on six continents over a span of nearly 400 years. Including humor, adventure, hardship, and triumph, the stories vividly depict unique events, while reminding readers of the fundamental experiences common to all.

Complete details about The Grannie Annie, including all of the published stories, are available at www.TheGrannieAnnie.org. The books can be ordered online or by calling toll free: 1-888-641-5353. Stories to be considered for publication in “Grannie Annie, Vol. 9,” must be submitted by February 1, 2014.

Contact Information

Fran Hamilton, 636-527-2822
TheGrannieAnnie@att.net

Connie McIntyre, 314-863-0775
familystories@thegrannieannie.org

www.TheGrannieAnnie.org

If it takes a village to raise a child, how many people does it take to train an educator? It’s hard to say, but 50 helping hands seems like a good place to start.

In the spirit of community, collaboration and information sharing, EdTech: Focus on K–12 has rounded up 50 ed-tech blogs that we deem must-reads for the K–12 community. We launched our first Must-Read IT list last year to great response so we hope that you all enjoy this year’s batch of blogs as well.

These blogs are a mix of voices and include blogs authored by teachers, administrators and technology vendors. They share real-world classroom experiences, offer inspiration and distribute valuable best practices.

This list was built in part by you, our readers. We reviewed the nominees that were submitted and selected some superstars from the suggested blogs.

Here is the 2013 Honor Roll.

JONESBORO — Arkansas State senior Logan Uxa was selected in the 32nd round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday. He was the 975th player taken overall was the second A-State player chosen by Cincinnati.  The Reds also drafted A-State senior pitcher Daniel Wright on Friday in the 10th round.

Uxa, a native St. Louis, Mo., started all 59 games for the Red Wolves in 2013, while posting a .268 batting average with 60 hits, 23 RBIs, a .384 on-base percentage and 37 runs scored.

“I’m honored to be able to continue my baseball career at the professional level,” Uxa said.  “I have been blessed with great coaches throughout my career to help me get to this point.  Arkansas State was a great experience for me and I’m thankful for the opportunity to play for Coach Raffo and the coaching staff.”

Uxa has enjoyed one of the most successful careers of any A-State player in recent history. He finished with 127 walks in his career, ranking second only to teammate Ryan Emery. His versatility allowed him to play multiple positions including the outfield and first base.

In 2012 Uxa had his best season, registering a .289 batting average a team-high 10 home runs and 44 RBIs. He also had a .477 slugging percentage and a .434 on-base percentage. He had a career-high four hits against Troy in 2012, while also driving in a career-high five runs.

“We are excited for Logan to have an opportunity to play at a higher level,” A-State head coach Tommy Raffo said.  “He was a model student-athlete for the ASU baseball program and we are very proud of him.”

Uxa started in 115 straight games while Arkansas State and helped the Red Wolves become the only school to win at least two games in the Sun Belt Conference tournament in each of the last four seasons.

See also Arkansas State Red Wolves website article.

When Wolfson was a young teenager, he had his first experience with clay at Craft Alliance.  From that time on, working with clay became a passion for Wolfson, and one of his favorite pastimes.  The public is invited to attend the dedication in honor of Blake’s life and his love of this art form.  (R.S.V.P. to Danielle Sommer at 314-725-1177, extension 337.)

Jeannie and Drew Wolfson have established the S. Blake Wolfson Clay Scholarship Fund to support the Clay Studio and to ensure students who cannot afford art classes have the opportunity to learn clay techniques at Craft Alliance and to experience the joy of creating art.

The Craft Alliance is located in The Kranzberg Arts Center at 501 N. Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63103.

Competition Includes Both Public and Private High Schools  

On May 25 and 26, 2013, Ladue Horton Watkins High School’s (LHWHS) Scholar Bowl Team (A) earned second place among 256 teams in a national high school quiz bowl amongst a leading pack of schools dominated by private, parochial and academic magnet schools.  The next public high school is listed seventh – Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD, and the next is in the eleventh position – Dorman High School in Roebuck, SC.

LHWHS’s Scholar Bowl Team (A) is made up of two recent 2013 graduates, Max Schindler and Haohang Xu, and two juniors, Ben Zhang and Jialin Ding.  Schindler will attend the University of Chicago this fall and Xu will attend Yale University.  The LHWHS Scholar Bowl Team (B) finished 21^st  among the 256 teams competing and includes one senior, David Abraham, who will also attend the University of Chicago, and juniors Kisan Thakkar, Enze Chen and Sam Crowder.

Social studies teachers Mike Hill and Jeff Miller coach the two teams and look forward to reporting the results from two additional upcoming national competitions in June, the next one being held June 7-9, 2013 at the University of Maryland.

“On many levels, our community should be very proud of the performance of these students,” explains Coach Mike Hill.  “Achieving second in the national is quite an accomplishment, and to do it as a public high school amongst schools across the nation who pick and choose their students is nothing short of amazing.  On top of this, Max Schindler is literally known across the nation for his incredible intelligence and ability to excel in these competitions.”  Schindler recently earned the honor to be one of three people in the nation to represent the U.S. in the International Linguistics Olympiad in Manchester, England, in July 2013.

The following students received State Recognition for their results. These students are qualified to be recognized at a state-wide award ceremony. Those with an asterisk before their name also qualified for Grand Recognition, and qualify for recognition at the national level.

Dixon Bezzant, Jared Block,  Ryan Cox,  Levi Dyson,  Sarah Eisenman,  Opeoluwa Falako,  *Vinicius Fernandes,  Alessandra Francone,  Avery Fredman,  Macey Goldstein,  Kiyan Haider,  Allison Harpole,  Lily Hauptman,  *Albert Liu,  Annie Liu,  Charles Loitman,  Lauren Martin,  Erin McKenzie,  Glen Morgenstern,  Ian Pallares,  Benjamin Phung,  Fredrik Rhenman,  Emma Ross,  Yan Rybak,  Sophia Sachs,  Anthony Schuster,  Violet Shelley-Pettinelli,  Leah Snidman,  Adam Soldwish Zoole,  Matthew Tonn,  Grace Vidlak,  Brooke Waller,  *Audrey Wang,  *Julia Wang,  Thomas Xiong,  Kexin Xu,  Eric Yang,  Arron Zheng.