East St. Louis Center

 
“Whenever someone will tell you something that's impossible, always look for an opportunity to say I’m possible anyway.” Keynote speaker and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville alumna Leslie Hardin (’19) shared her road toward entrepreneurship with dozens of SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School scholars at the traditional Thanksgiving luncheon. Students and staff gathered for an early afternoon o...

Director Kimberly Allen Strategizes for a Successful Year and Beyond   

Weeks into the start of the new year, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School’s (CHS) New Director Kimberly Allen shares her vision, along with goals for students, faculty and the school. 

SIUE alumna Allen, who worked at the CHS for four years as a faculty associate for special education, has returned to the school with a wealth of knowledge. Allen earned a bachelo...

CHS Welcomes New Director Kim Allen; CHS Students Enjoy Full Day of School Orientation   

To enter the building, there was no escaping it – the hip-hop tunes playing from the speaker, amplified personal messages, supporters lined up cheering, shaking pom-poms and holding signs and finally – the long red carpet. On Monday, Aug. 18, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) welcomed its scholars to the first day of classes with exhi...

SIUE Project Success, SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School and the Illinois Community College Board Collaborate to Support Community Gardening  


The children made it look easy. They hustled and bustled without any talking – only intense concentration – as they industriously pulled weeds, removed brush, sticks and other debris from the over-run Community Garden beds on the Wyvetter H. Younge Higher Education Campus in East St. Louis.

Seven students from the Southern Illinois U...

Friends and Family Cheer for Graduating Students During the School’s Commencement Ceremony   

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) provided pomp, circumstance and a chance for graduating seniors to revel, strut and shine during the school’s 2025 Commencement Ceremony. 

CHS graduated 28 seniors on Friday, May 9 in the middle of campus at the Wyvetter H. Younge Higher Education Center. The commencement speaker was Nate Wi...

Free Information, Screenings and Prizes; Fraternity Gives Clinic $7,000  

Metro East residents received valuable information, participated in health screenings, enjoyed free haircuts, beauty services, clothing, lunch, and major door prizes during the Spring Forward Health and Wellness Fair, co-hosted by the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing’s (SON) WE CARE Clinic in East St. Louis. 

The WE CARE Clinic partnered with the East St. Louis (IL) Alumni Cha...

SIUE Alumnus is Credited for Work at SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School 

For being a positive influence and giving students a good view law of enforcement officials, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Police Sgt. Kasey Hoyd received Fox 2’s “Proud to Serve” award. 

SIUE alumnus Hoyd, who serves as the resource officer at the SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School, accepted the station’s March award and $500 on a live segment that aired on Tuesday,...

Detainees Echo in Sorrowful Chorus, “Jail is No Fun!”

He was dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit. She was clad in a gold one. Both, with their wrists and ankles chained together, sat under watchful eyes of armed law enforcement officers. 

Mr. Scott and Ms. McCottrell, detainees at St. Clair County Jail, spoke to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) students on Wednesday, Feb. 26 in the Multipurpose Room on the Wyvetter H. Younge ...

Black Greek Step Show, a Highlight during CHS Homecoming 2024 Activities

A week of excitement, high spirts and friendly competition was punctuated with foot-stomping, explosive energy during Homecoming 2024 activities for students at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS). 

The school began its festivities on Friday, Oct. 25 with sports activities, where rounds of basketball were played and former and current CHS track, and basketball pla...

CHS Students Enter the First Day of School to Much Fanfare   

Some walked down the long red carpet with much excitement and flair. Others cruised along quickly, hoping to pass by without much attention. But that didn’t happen, because the order of the day was for the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) to give their students a rousing welcome on the first day of classes, Monday, Aug. 12. 

Watch video of SIUE East St. Louis C...

Bestselling author and commencement speaker, Nic Stone, gave the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) 2024 graduating class five words that could be fashioned into survival weapons:  gratitude, resilience, empathy, audacity and tenacity.

Stone addressed 22 seniors, their families and friends on Friday, May 17 in the middle of campus at the Wyvetter H. Younge Higher Education Center.

Robin Hughes, PhD, dean of the SIUE School of Education Hea...

Wearing embossed, white-collar sashes and holding white candles, the inductees of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) Chapter of the National Honor Society looked out on a roomful of family, friends and staff. Thunderous applause and shouts were offered in celebration of the inaugural class. 

“You are making history today as being the SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School’s very first National Honor Society (NHS) members,” ...

Rebirth is the theme of Nichlas Hart’s pencil drawing, which was one of 100 pieces of art selected to be showcased during Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Annual Regional High School Juried Art Exhibition, Feb. 8-16. A total of 200 pieces were considered for the show. 

Hart, a junior at the SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS), said his piece, “Transfigure of the Shell,” was created out of a sense of him releasing negative emotions. 

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“Stretch your arms out wide. Now, take them and wrap them around yourself,” said Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Venessa A. Brown, PhD. 

Brown, associate athletics director for diversity, equity and inclusion, athletics chief diversity officer and professor of social work, spoke to a red, pink and white decorated roomful of SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) female students on Wednesday, Feb. 14 in the Multipurpose Room on the Wyvetter H. Younge Hig...

More than dribbling down the court, laying up a shot or jumping for a rebound, three Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) seniors enjoy being part of their basketball team. The players’ love for the team, in large part, is because it brings them a sense of belonging. 

Tra’Veon Dennis, Chross Mister and Lathan Streater talked about their experiences on the CHS team ahead of their Senior Day basketball game with a scheduled tip o...

It wasn’t the North Pole. It wasn’t the night before Christmas. And they weren’t Santa’s helpers. But that didn’t keep “elves” from the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) from stuffing holiday swag bags and distributing them to their students. 

CHS faculty and staff worked diligently and in secrecy on Monday, Dec. 11 in the Multipurpose Room on the Wyvetter H. Younge Higher Education Campus in East St...

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School’s (CHS) Angel Tree Campaign was showcased on KMOV-TV Channel 4’s newscast on Sunday, Dec. 3.  

In the segment, CHS Director Gina Jeffries, EdD, explained that the school’s 10-year-old Angel Tree Campaign was created to support scholars in need and to give a gift to each scholar at the holidays.   

A few students also talked about the benefits of the gift-giving campaign and t...

End-of-the-year gifts are needed, valued and provided by real-life “angels,” according to three Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) students. 

CHS students A’Khyra Allen, Dannica Davis and Patrick Washington have been recipients of the CHS Angel Tree Campaign and fondly recall presents of yesteryear. 

“During the pandemic, we couldn’t go out, and the supplies that the Charter School gave us really helped out...

Before leaving for their holiday break on Friday, Nov. 17, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) students sat down to a school tradition – a meal of turkey, dressing and all the fixings. 

“We are grateful for every one of you. You are valued, and we see each of you,” said CHS Director Gina Jeffries, EdD, to the scholars who had assembled in the Multipurpose Room on the Wyvetter H. Younge Higher Education Campus. “I’...

First came the lesson, then the application and the result was freshly brushed and polished teeth. Bright Smiles Mobile Dental, of Swansea, concluded its services to more than 60 Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) students on Friday, April 22. 

“We have to report to the state regarding students’ physical, vision and dental exams,” said CHS nurse Marquita Holton, LPN, who contacted and coordinated the dental visits. “We...

A business expo and musical celebration kicked off Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Black Heritage Month on Friday, Feb. 1. 

This year’s theme is “Our Powerful Purpose.” Amelia Williams, a senior majoring in biological sciences, is the Black Heritage Month Campus Activities Board (CAB) chair. Kimberly Pope is the graduate assistant for the SIUE CAB Black Heritage Month committee. 

“I am very excited about all of the events that SIUE has planne...

The breadth and span of African American history is as old as the first civilizations and as current as the young faces listening to Eugene B. Redmond, PhD, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville emeritus professor of English and East St. Louis Poet Laureate. Redmond spoke about the brilliancy, beauty and battles of African Americans during SIUE’s Black Heritage Month Opening Ceremony on Monday, Feb. 4 in the Morris University Center’s Goshen Lounge.

“From Africa to East St...

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville emeritus music professor Johnetta Randolph Haley and one-time SIUE East St. Louis Center (ESLC) for Performing Arts instructor Keith Tyronne Williams will both be honored at the 2018 St. Louis Arts Awards on Jan. 22, 2018 at the Chase Park Plaza in St. Louis. 

Haley, who retired from SIUE as the ESLC executive director and who earned a master’s in music from SIUE in 1972, will receive the Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award from the Arts a...

A group of female students from the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) ECM program got to hear honest, frank and uncensored remarks about life’s challenges and self-improvement from one of today’s popular actresses – Gabrielle Union.

Union talked to more than 300 women about her New York Times best-selling book, We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True, on Saturday, Oct. 28 at the St. Louis County ...

For the first time in years, the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Center (ESLC) for the Performing Arts Program is functioning predominantly with monies provided by an outside source – the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

ISBE awarded the performing arts program with a $68,000 Healthy Communities Investment Grant through the spring of 2018, according to SIUE ESLC Executive Director Jesse Dixon.

“The East St. Louis Center for the Performing Arts is e...