`GROW YOUR OWN,' PLAN URGES

A partnership designed to benefit Cape Girardeau's minority students, the public school district and Southeast Missouri State University will begin in the next academic year.

The project, called "Grow Your Own," was initiated by the Professional Black Men's Club as a way to encourage talented minority students to become teachers in the Cape Girardeau Public Schools.

Edward Spicer, assistant to the president at Southeast and a member of the club, said students for the inaugural year will be chosen in the next few weeks.

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education approved the project in March.

James Englehart, interim superintendent, said, "We're very positive about the idea of encouraging minority students to first try to achieve the very best they can in high school and college and then go into the teaching field."

The "Grow Your Own" project will also be the topic of discussion at the Professional Black Men's Club's awards banquet May 22. Gov. John Ashcroft will be the keynote speaker. The dinner is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.

Spicer said: "We started this thing so we might encourage talented minority students to pursue teaching as a career. The payoff for them is that the public school system will hire them."

He said the public school system, the university and the community will also benefit.

Eventually, the program will target minority students in the eighth grade. But for the first year, Spicer said he would like to select high school juniors.

"We would like to see students ready to enter college at least by 1992," he said. Those students could return to the school district sooner to begin teaching.

The first year, Spicer said, five or six students will be selected to pilot the project. In succeeding years, additional students will be added.

Students will be guaranteed a scholarship to attend Southeast, through the club. Club members will also serve as mentors for the selected students.

Those who successfully complete the teacher education program at Southeast are guaranteed a teaching job in the Cape Girardeau public schools, provided they agree to teach in the system at least four years.

He said the program also offers other benefits for students who are selected.

"We will serve in support of the public school system. These kids will meet with members of the Professional Black Men's Club and members of the university staff to provide them with the necessary motivation and supportive services they need.

"The students selected for this program will be a cut above the rest. We want to get the best of the best."

Spicer said the Saturday academies will concentrate on academics.

"But there are so many good-judgment, common-sense things which are not in a textbook that we want to pass on," he said.

The school system and in turn the community will benefit from the program by having more minority teachers. The Cape Girardeau school system has had difficulty recruiting minority teachers.

Englehart said the district has had trouble recruiting minority teachers.

"That's a long range goal of the district and one we haven't been highly successful at," he said.

"The ~`Grow Your Own' program encourages the very best and academically talented students to go into teaching," Englehart said. "That's what we're looking for in teachers all the time."

Spicer said: "We know (recruiting minority teachers) is a particular problem in Cape. We hope to dispel the myths and bring these teachers in so we can have a truly diverse community.

"So we will be helping the school system meet that challenge.

Spicer said the program also fits the university's goals. The university trains teachers.

"Hopefully we want to open this up to the entire service area all 27 counties," he said. "We want to show the state we are taking a leadership role in teacher education."

Under the "Grow Your Own" program, a committee consisting of four members of the Professional Black Men's Club and three representatives of the Cape Girardeau Public School system annually will select a group of minority eighth grade students to participate in the program.

School counselors will recommend Cape public school students with a B grade average or better. Selected students must maintain a B average.

The club will fund scholarships of at least $1,000 for participating students who complete high school and agree to enter Southeast's teacher education program. The scholarships will be coordinated with other available scholarships to cover students' tuition and fees while enrolled at Southeast.

"It's an exciting project," Spicer said. "I think we're all looking forward to getting started."