Leadership Missouri members tour Cape schools

When asked what kept him up at night, Brother David Migliorino of Notre Dame Regional High School said funding.

At the Alternative Education Center, the answer was getting students to school and getting them there on time.

Members of Leadership Missouri toured Cape Girardeau schools Wednesday through Friday, peppering administrators and experts with questions. The group consisted of people from public and private sectors wanting to use their leadership skills on statewide issues. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce sponsors the program.

For the last six months, participants have visited various Missouri cities to discuss economic, social and political issues. Each month there is a new topic and city. In Kansas City, participants discussed health care; in Macon, it was challenges facing rural Missouri; in St. Louis, the revitalization of downtown; and in Branson, tourism.

Cape Girardeau was chosen to highlight education because of its variety of programs, including public schools, parochial schools, a university, the Career and Technology Center and the Alternative Education Center.

"There are a multitude of different education options here," said Tim Arbeiter of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce and a participant in Leadership Missouri.

As a former Cape Girardeau school board member, he was familiar with educational issues facing the area but said his fellow Leadership Missouri participants were surprised by how well teachers managed with sometimes limited resources.

Speaking about the Alternative Education Center, he said, "The facility is not that great. But even though the teachers didn't have a lot, they were still enthusiastic and excited to be there. They thrive on small numbers."

Ray Forrester, president of the environmental management company the Forrester Group, said he was impressed by the quality of programs everywhere he went. Jeff Bloemker, in charge of federal government affairs with the Cerner Corp., a health-care information systems company, said he was surprised by the individual attention given to students throughout the district.

At Jefferson Elementary School, some members watched third-grade teacher Jessica Pederson teach a lesson about letter writing using SmartBoard technology.

She led 16 students gathered on a carpet through interactive questions, occasionally redirecting glances at the visitors back toward the board.

"When was this letter written?" Pederson asked. "Clap twice if you think Iesha's right."

"What word is indented in this letter? A lot of you did a good job doing this yesterday."

After the final question, the class celebrated getting all their answers right before heading back to their seats to write their own letters.

Arbeiter said members were impressed by how well-behaved the students were.

On Friday, state Sen. Jason Crowell was among a group of speakers who addressed Leadership Missouri participants. He discussed the state's role in education, briefly touching on MOHELA legislation, Access Missouri scholarships, the takeover of St. Louis public schools and school funding.

"We are in a better place," Crowell said of school funding. "By the end of this fiscal year, we will have a $370 million surplus. We have learned from mistakes in the past."

lbavolek@semissourian.com

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