Road to restoration
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CAC Audited OCTOBER 21 – 27, 2021
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2021 Salute to Excellence In Education
James Avant named Bayer School of Excellence
Vol. 93 No. 30 COMPLIMENTARY
Community demands Paul McKee attend meeting Will be held Oct. 27 in City Hall
By JoAnn Weaver The St. Louis American
Photo by Jennifer Sarti / St. Louis American
Fifth-grade teacher Mrs. Kristy Roesch, uses an interactive quiz to get her students talking about chemical reactions during the science lesson at Avant Elementary School on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. Avant Elementary School is the 2021 Bayer School of Excellence and will be recognized at the Salute to Excellence in Education in a virtual event on Friday, Nov. 5.
Elementary school stepped up during COVID pandemic Sophie Hurwitz The St. Louis American James Avant Elementary School will receive the Bayer School of Excellence Award at the St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education virtual gala on Nov. 5. As elementary schools across the region struggled through the pandemic for the past 18 months, James Avant Elementary has stepped up to the plate. Through a framework of collaborative, public teaching and learning, with a focus on socio-emotional development, the school has
consistently improved student test scores over the past several years without sacrificing student well-being. In addition to the award, Bayer will provide Avant with eight new laptops and a $2,500 education grant. This year, the foundation and its partners will distribute over $2.9 million in scholarships and grants for area youth and educators. James Avant Elementary School Principal Quanshanda Nicholson credits the student body’s improved test data along with the staff’s practice of “addressing the whole child looking at social, emotional piece with the student as well as the academic, and being trauma-informed.”
That staff’s training was put to the test like never before as the school coped with COVID-19. School social workers were deployed to students’ homes when they didn’t show up on Zoom, communicating with parents in English and Spanish to ensure everything was alright. School lunches became take-home breakfast, lunch, and weekend boxes. The focus on social and emotional learning wasn’t just for the students. Nicholson explained as teachers coped with the panSee SCHOOL, A7
Colin Powell remembered as warrior, diplomat, and statesman
1st Black Sec. of State died Oct. 18 St. Louis American staff and NNPA Newswire
Colin Powell, the first Black US secretary of state and former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff died on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Maryland from complications from COVID-19, his family members have confirmed. He was 84. Powell was fully vaccinated. However, he was immunocompromised. His age put him at a higher risk for COVID-19, he was battling a blood cancer, and he also suffered from Parkinson’s disease. Powell became the nation’s first Black national security adviser during Ronald Reagan’s presidency and served as the youngest and first African American chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush. Powell was thrust into the global spotlight after leading the United States to victory during the Gulf War, with many people even considering him
Photo by Wiley Price
The late Colin Powell, the first Black US secretary of state and former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited St. Louis in 1995 during a book signing tour for his autobiography, My American Journey. Powell died on Monday from complications from COVID-19.
as a presidential candidate in 1996. “The world lost one of the greatest leaders that we have ever witnessed. (Powell’s wife) Alma lost a great husband, and the family lost a tremendous father, and I lost a tremendous personal friend and mentor,” said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the
first Black Pentagon chief. “I feel as if I have a hole in my heart. Quite frankly, it is not possible to replace a Colin Powell.” Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, said Powell “helped a generation of young people set their sights higher.” “Everyone who worked with General Powell appreciated his clarity of thought, insistence on seeing all sides, and ability to execute. And although he’d be the first to acknowledge that he didn’t get every call right, his actions reflected what he believed was best for America and the people he served,” Obama said of Powell, who broke with Republicans and supported him for president in 2008. “He never denied the role that race played in his own life and in our society more broadly. But he also refused to accept that race would limit his dreams, and through his steady and principled leadership, helped pave the way for so many who would follow,” Obama added. See POWELL, A6
Community leaders will hold a public meeting at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27, at St. Louis City Hall to discuss ongoing community concerns about the new medical facility named after Homer G. Phillips. The meeting will take place in the Kennedy Room on the second floor of St. Louis City Hall. Community activist and co-chair of the Campaign for Human Dignity Zenobia Thompson went with fellow co-chair and community organizer Walle Amusa to deliver an invitation in person to Paul McKee. “We went in a large empty room at the office building, but we didn’t see anyone,” Thompson said. “Then, a guy comes out of the office, and it Darryl was Paul McKee himPiggee self.” The pair requested his presence at a public meeting to discuss the facility’s naming after Homer G. Phillips. According to Thompson, each time the duo requested his presence at the upcoming meeting, he said they had to talk to Darryl Piggee, his attorney. In a phone interview with The St. Louis American, Piggee, former chief of staff to Rep. William Lacy Clay, said he does not know whether Paul McKee will attend the meeting. In June 2020, Piggie was selected to lobby on behalf of Rebuild Saint Louis Inc., in its unpopular and failed attempt to lease St. Louis Lambert International Airport to a private company. In May 2019, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch See MEETING, A7
The Bail Project’s city office closes, but the work continues New program seeks to disrupt system, minimize harm
By Dana Rieck The St. Louis American The Bail Project’s St. Louis city office is closed after almost four years of providing free bail assistance and pretrial support for more than 3,000 low-income people. The organization also worked on the effort to close the Workhouse (the city’s Medium Security Institution) with local activists. The Bail Project will remain active in St. Louis County and St. Charles County. Organization officials said of the people they assisted in St. Louis, 86% of them returned to their court dates, and nearly 50% of them had their cases dismissed. In addition, the city jail population decreased from an average daily population of 1,304 to 710 people from 2018 to 2021. “From day one, our goal has been to put ourselves out of business,” Robin Steinberg, CEO of The Bail Project, wrote See BAIL PROJECT, A6