Student work from a PR writing class. The assignment was to write an hard news press release announcing participation in a new study. We were given information on the study, and then we had to synthesize it.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact: Claire Richardson
Director of Media Relations
Tel: (636) 544) 544-5353
Email: clairerichardson@mail.missouri.edu
New program hopes to prepare struggling students for college
COLUMBIA, Mo. (Sept. 12, 2017) This week the Missouri Educational Research Foundation announced that Central College is one of five institutions of higher education state-wide selected to participate in Early Support. The program is a four-year pilot study of long-distance remedial education.
Other participating institutions include Truman State University, in Kirksville, Webster University, in St. Louis, William Jewell College, in Liberty, and Drury University, in Springfield.
“We can’t wait to start collaborating on this program with all of these elite institutions,” said Leon C. DeWitt, Ph.D., president of Central CollegeDeWitt. “To have been chosen as part of the study is an honor. It really just shows how good we are at what we do.”
The study, funded by the Missouri Department of Education and the Missouri Educational Research Foundation, will bring high schools and higher education institutions together.
High school juniors and seniors will attend virtual classes taught by college professors for their final two years. Students will be instructed in core areas like reading, writing, math and computer skills.
The goal of the program is to help students who are struggling academically become college ready. As an added incentive, Central College will offer admission and financial aid to students who pass the program.
“I’m convinced the collaboration between high schools and colleges will be so beneficial for the young people of our community,” said Dr. DeWitt. “We want to give our young people every possible tool to succeed, whether that’s in high school, at Central College or out in the world.”
Located in Columbia, Missouri, Central College is a private, non-denominational, liberal arts college. Founded in 1902, it was the first institution of higher learning in the region. Today, the college teaches more than 6,000 full-time, part-time, night and weekend students on two campuses.
Committed to bringing the full college experience to an intimate setting, the college has an IAA Athletics program, wellness center and a campus that consistently ranks among the region’s most beautiful. The college is also committed to its community, with 75 percent of students coming from the region and a community service program.
For more information visit www.centralcollege.edu.
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Student assignment to write a PR feature story. I chose to write about the student organization I served in and later became president of. I did all of the research and interviews to write the story.
A life lived for dance
When Kate Germain Kromann was 2 years old, she entered a small room with a mirror-covered wall. There were strange pieces of wood horizontally attached to the wall, something she had never seen before in her young life. Little did she know that that dance studio would set the course for the rest of her life.
A tall and lanky child, Kromann found that dance taught her grace and coordination, in addition to pirouettes. Her form was perfect for ballet, something she came to adore.
Kromann took as many classes as possible, and soon started competing her dance routines. The schedule was demanding, and most nights of the week were spent inside that small room with mirrors and bars.
When she was about 13, a teacher recommended that Kromann start taking pointe classes. In the dance world, this transformation from dancing ballet on soft slippers to dancing on the tips of your toes in a hard wood-spined shoe is a revelation. In no time, Kromann began twirling around the studio, her whole weight on the tips of her toes.
When recital came, she strutted onto the stage in a midnight blue tutu. Kromann looked more like a snowflake twisting and twirling its way to the ground than an actual dancer. As she finished the routine, the audience roared.
High school was a blur of dance classes, performances at Friday night football games with her dance team and dance competitions. In the process, Kromann racked up trophies bigger than her and brought enormous joy to those watching.
When she turned 18, she was met with heart-crushing news: Kromann’s scoliosis was worsening. She needed surgery to correct the curve in her spine. While the doctor was convinced he could fix the curve in her spine, he remained unsure if Kate would be able to dance again. In this tough time, Kate turned to God with thanks for the time she was able to spend dancing thus far.
A year later, Kromann astounded many when she began to dance again. Slowly but surely she eased back into her former dance routine.
Now she was reminded of just how precious the gift of dance was, and she was determined to share this gift with others. In 2003 when Kromann was studying at the University of Missouri –Columbia, or Mizzou, she knew the time was right to share dance with others.
That year she founded Center Stage Dance, a student-run organization with the mission of providing free dance classes to those who cannot afford traditional classes.
Last spring, more than 50 tiny dancers took the stage at Jesse Hall auditorium. Filled with heart and pride, they twirled, leaped and sashayed across the stage. During the final bow, former Center Stage president President Brittany Hackmann made a poignant announcement: Kate, the woman who had founded the organization, had died unexpectedly a few months earlier.
Following Kromann’s death in 2015, her mother Susan Bartel started Kate’s Heart, a non-profit organization that aims to support organizations that involve empowering children. Next spring, Kate’s Heart will make a $1,000 donation to Center Stage.
The donation “is a reminder of how meaningful the organization was to [Kromann] and her vision for Center Stage,” said Wooldridge.
Next spring, this donation will allow the organization to fulfill Kate’s dream of making Center Stage as close to traditional dance classes as possible.
“I think parents and kids alike will find joy in their dance costumes,” said Wooldridge. “The recital will be a lot more professional and comparable to a dance studio's recital with the new dance costumes.”
For ballet, this will look like mini ballerinas in real tutus. For hip-hop, students will wear more than a decorated t-shirt for a costume. For jazz, this will surely include sequins, and for pom-pom class, this will include real, durable poms instead of the current ones made of plastic tablecloths.
Bartel told Wooldridge “[Kromann] loved the look on kid’s faces when they saw their costumes.”
Providing joy through special dance costumes is just one facet of Kate’s Heart. Since founding Kate’s Heart in 2016, the organization has donated more than $30,000 to various non-profits.
According to Wooldridge, Bartel hopes to create an ongoing partnership with Center Stage to help support the organization and to ensure that Kate’s legacy of service continues.