The Notebook
Ruth Campbell began covering education and higher education for the
Southeast Missourian in August. She grew up in New York City and has a
literature degree from the State University of New York at Purchase. She got her first reporting job in Laredo, Texas, far too long ago and has been in journalism ever since.
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A rebranding Q&A
Posted Wednesday, November 26, 2014, at 4:54 PMI asked Dawn Marinacci, marketing director of the research and consulting firm Ologie, some questions about the market research and brand analysis it is doing for Southeast Missouri State University. Can you offer any details or insight on what the new direction is going to... -
Saxony touts successful Crusader Challenge
Posted Tuesday, November 18, 2014, at 5:15 PMFrom the beginning, junior Ashlynn Collier and her Saxony Lutheran High School classmates bragged that they were going to win this year's Crusader Challenge. That assertion proved true. "It definitely feels great," Collier said of the win. "I feel that we did brag a lot ... throughout the whole thing. We were always saying we were the winners from the very beginning and I think it's just icing on the cake that we actually did win."... -
Web-based programs help Jackson math students improve
Posted Monday, November 17, 2014, at 4:07 PM3Using a combination of two Web-based programs -- My Big Campus and Khan Academy -- R.O. Hawkins Junior High School math teacher Christine Miller of Jackson is making inroads on improving her students' understanding of the often difficult subject. Using the programs with 116 Jackson students in algebra A -- the first half of algebra I -- this year, Miller has found the number of children demonstrating an 80 percent or better level of mastery has "significantly increased" compared to last... -
Tuition, quality, repayment help Southeast make online list
Posted Thursday, October 30, 2014, at 12:56 PMOnlneU.org has issued a new list of the colleges and universities with the most affordable online programs. Southeast's business and nursing programs made the list. This the first year business has checked in, said Kimberly Wetter, head of marketing for SR Education Group, a Kirkland, Washington, education publishing company focused on creating online education and career-related resources... -
Updates on A + program available on higher education website
Posted Monday, October 27, 2014, at 3:34 PMStudents in the A+ Scholarship program could be facing uncertain reimbursement, at least for the spring 2015 semester. But the next school year could also be impacted, depending on the state budget situation. A + awards for the 2015-2016 academic year will depend in part on state... -
With the election coming, Amendment 3 foes gear up
Posted Tuesday, October 21, 2014, at 3:53 PMWith election day coming up Nov. 3, opponents of Amendment 3 are gearing up with TV and radio ads, plus a YouTube video featuring educators from Southeast Missouri. The proposed revision to the Missouri Constitution that would tie teacher evaluations to student performance and limit future teaching contracts to three years... -
McCaskill's tour positive
Posted Wednesday, October 15, 2014, at 4:00 PMIn answer to some questions about programs like Step Up, implemented at Southeast Missouri State University and elsewhere, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill's office said: We've seen a lot of schools are implementing bystander intervention programs, as well as the military, and anecdotally these programs seem to have successes... -
Saxony Lutheran's Crusader Challenge coming up
Posted Monday, October 6, 2014, at 10:08 AMSaxony Lutheran High School also is having its annual fundraiser, the Crusader Challenge, according to the school newsletter. The competition kicks off at an All-School Assembly Oct. 21. The purpose of the challenge, running Oct. 21-31, is to raise money for the school's general budget, build teamwork and increase school spirit, the newsletter said... -
Amendment 3 update
Posted Thursday, October 2, 2014, at 11:59 AMThe local not-for-profit group, No On 3, had its last meeting on Sept. 24 at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. The guest was Kristin Owen from the Campaign to Protect Our Local Schools. Amendment 3 would, among other things, tie teacher evaluations to student test performance... -
Get 'Happy'
Posted Sunday, September 14, 2014, at 6:47 PMFor those who need a lift in their week, there ware two "Happy" videos to look for on YouTube featuring students from Alma Schrader Elementary School and Notre Dame Regional High School. Alma Schrader posted theirs in April and Notre Dame more recently... -
Arrested journalist spoke here
Posted Friday, August 15, 2014, at 5:37 PMWesley Lowery of The Washington Post, and Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post, were arrested in Ferguson, Missouri, while at a local McDonald's, covering the aftermath of the police-involved shooting of Michael Brown. The local connection to this is that Lowery was here in February to speak to Southeast Missouri State University's mass communication students for the Michael Davis Lecture... -
A room of one's own; awards time
Posted Sunday, April 20, 2014, at 5:19 PMA room of one's own According to "Spirtuality in Higher Education: A national Study of Colelge Students' Search for Meaning and Purpose," colleges and universities don't give as much attention to the "interior" aspects of studentdevelopment as they do to the "exterior."... -
Arts save lives
Posted Thursday, February 20, 2014, at 5:16 PMAt the recent 36th Annual High School Art Exhibition, Southeast Missouri State University Art Department Chair Caroline Kahler gave the audience food for thought. Apparently President Obama made a remark that was one of those things where the more you say the deeper you dig the hole. ... -
Moving toward completion
Posted Tuesday, February 4, 2014, at 2:14 PMSoutheast Missouri State University is participating in several initiatives -- regional and national -- to help increase the number of Missourians earning postsecondary degrees or certificates. In September, vice president for enrollment management and Student Success & dean of students, Dr. ... -
Superintendents' group hears about many issues
Posted Thursday, January 9, 2014, at 11:54 AMInsurance, lawsuits, teacher evaluations, Obamacare and testing were just a few of the subjects touched on at Wednesday's gathering of the Southeast Missouri Superintendents. The group meets monthly at various locations around the region. Whether to keep family plans in the contracts of superintendents who have them was discussed. If it were him, said guest speaker, attorney Tom Mickes, he would wait and see what happens... -
Making a difference
Posted Tuesday, December 24, 2013, at 11:15 AMHaving just finished a story on the Central High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter rehabbing a home and helping with construction of another in the Webb City-Joplin, Mo., area, it gives you faith that there are some good kids out there... -
Southeast's Public Relations Student Society of America named a 2013 Star Chapter
Posted Wednesday, November 27, 2013, at 12:08 PMSince about 1983, Southeast Missouri State University has had a Public Relations Student Society of America chapter. For the first time, it was recently named a 2013 National Star Chapter. When Dr. Susan Gonders arrived in 1994, the chapter had 13 members and had never been to a conference... -
Special delivery: Laptops arrive
Posted Monday, November 25, 2013, at 9:13 AMCape Girardeau public schools assistant superintendent for academic services Sherry Copeland was like a "child at Christmas" on Friday when 1,200 convertible laptop devices were delivered to the district. Moving toward 1:1 started in spring 2012, when the district began researching the project. After all the planning and preparation, Copeland said it was "so exciting" to see the devices, which are part laptop and part tablet, and get photos of the paletes coming in... -
Superintendents gather
Posted Wednesday, November 6, 2013, at 4:01 PMEvery month, superintendents from around Southeast Missouri confab in various locations around the region to hear from a speaker and inform each other about issues of the day. Gary Van Meter, executive director of Missouri United School Insurance Council, spoke to 60 to 70 school officials on Wednesday in Sikeston. MUSIC provides property and casualty coverage to a vast number of Missouri school districts... -
Higher ed
Posted Thursday, October 31, 2013, at 1:57 PMDuring his Wednesday visit to R.O. Hawkins Junior High School in Jackson, University of Missouri System president Tim Wolfe asked eighth- and ninth-grade students to start thinking about going to college. In some families, college is an expectation, while others may not have thought about it, or think it's going to be prohibitively expensive. ...
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