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Extensive Salute to Excellence in Education Gala photo coverage next week
St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited OCTOBER 3 – 9, 2019
91 years serving, empowering and advocating equity in St. Louis
Vol. 91 No. 28 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Pastor with bullet-proof vest St. Louis County Police Chaplain Byron Watson wears a badge – and a cross By Chris King Of The St. Louis American Byron Watson is a pastor who wears a bullet-proof vest and carries a gun. As one of the St. Louis County Police Department’s 32 chaplains (10 of them, like Watson, are black), he is often in harm’s way. “That’s a dynamic I can’t live with – that a man of God has to wear a bulletproof vest,” Watson said. “But I am not going to put on riot gear or pull out my weapon.”
Working out of the North County Precinct, Watson goes wherever the action is to see if anyone on the scene needs to talk – or pray. He is spiritually armed and available to minister to victims, their family members, and police officers alike. He finds that many people on the victim side are surprised to find that a police department employs spiritual leaders who report to crime scenes. Police officers know about his role, but may be hesitant to take advantage of it. “They don’t want to be seen
St. Louis County Police Chaplain Byron Watson
as showing weakness,” Watson said. So, he has learned to look for a certain gleam in an officer’s eye. “I get in their peripheral view,” he said. “I don’t approach them. I let them approach me.” He has prayed with cops in hospital corridors, around corners near crime scenes, and in their squad cars. Watson understands their work and pain. He retired from the St. Louis County Police Department as a sergeant after 35 years and
See WATSON, A7
Photo by Wiley Price
Clay demands Postal Service inquiry into Trump By Chris King For The St. Louis American U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Missouri) blasted the Republican National Committee (RNC) and President Trump’s reelection campaign for exploiting the U.S. Census for purely partisan fundraising pitches. The RNC and Trump campaign authorized and distributed campaign mailers to U.S. Rep. targeted households in Missouri’s Wm. Lacy 1st Congressional District, and Clay other areas across the country, that are deliberately designed to look like official
See CLAY, A6
Photo by Wiley Price
You got to Believe Glasgow Elementary School students in the Riverview School District give a performance on October 1, during the opening of a new reading space at the school called The Believe Project.
Teen Center of Excellence opens in Ferguson Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis provides new ‘Innovative Education Hub’ By Chris King Of The St. Louis American The Ferguson Commission called the community to action in its “Forward Through Ferguson” report, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis are responding with their new Teen Center of Excellence, which opens Thursday, October 3 at 9200 West Florissant Ave. in Ferguson. “Placing ‘Youth at the Center’ is needed to impact generational change. This center is an expansion of the Innovative Education Hub called for in the report,” said Flint Fowler, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis. “We strongly believe that greater attention
n “Scholarships and other forms of support are available for those who qualify. No child is ever turned away due a family’s inability to pay.” – Flint Fowler, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis
must be given to the massive out-of-school time opportunities we have to support, protect and prepare our children and teens.” The newly built $12.4 million,
The American wins 2019 Gold Cup Fifth top award from Missouri Press Association in seven years American staff
26,856-square-foot center will house an innovation center, recording studio, teaching kitchen, gymnasium, theatre, gaming room, fitness zone, garden area, concession stand, and intellectual commons. “All Teen Center programs align with our current logic model, driven by our Formula for Impact theory of change,” Fowler said. “These are the four Pillars of (program) Excellence: Education and Workforce Development; Health and Wellness; Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (S.T.E.M.); and Leadership and Civic Engagement.” He said specific programming will include
The St. Louis American won 31 awards, including the top Gold Cup award for large weekly newspapers, from the Missouri Press Association in its 2019 Better Newspaper Contest. This marks the fifth time in the past seven years that The St. Louis American has won top honors among all large weeklies from the state press association. Each year, a different state press association judges the competition. This year, it was the Colorado Press Association. Besides the Gold Cup, The St. Louis American won 11 first place awards, six second place awards, eight third place awards and five honorable
See TEEN CENTER, A7
See GOLD CUP, A6