East St. Louis Center

In keeping with its tradition of celebrating children’s first teachers and those who help create an effective learning environment, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Head Start/Early Head Start held its 36th Annual Parent Training and Recognition Luncheon on Friday, April 12, at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville. This year’s theme was “Building an Effective Wellness Program for Nurturing and Supporting Parents.” 

“We couldn&#82...

Being the first person in her family to graduate college, in part because of the guidance and help of a government-funded TRIO program, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Yvonne Maldonado Hart knows the value of and need for such opportunities. 

It is one reason that drew Hart to the SIUE East St. Louis Center’s Upward Bound (UB) Scholar’s Academy program, and compels her to offer her best as its director. 

“I am a strong believer that TRIO programs w...

It’s lunch time at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Head Start/Early Head Start’s Lovejoy Center, and the pitter patter of little feet are amplified just a bit too loud. Parent Lateyka Vaughan steps to the office door and gives directives in a pleasant, but firm tone. 

“I can hear running. We walk inside, and please use your inside voices,” said Vaughan, 2019 Illinois Head Start Parent of the Year. “I love being here. If I could, I would come every da...

Women – in all of their glory, complexities and struggles – were lauded and discussed during the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School’s (CHS) mini-conference, held Friday, March 29. 

“We wanted to both celebrate and bring attention to the issues that have affected women in history and those that are still affecting them today,” said Bridget Nelson, CHS English faculty associate and conference coordinator. “Although...

It wasn’t her first career choice, but Sandra Goodwin’s response to a need, and her desire to educate and empower others has earned the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Head Start/Early Head Start teacher high marks and the 2019 Illinois Head Start Teacher of the Year award. 

“I was really shocked and humbled by it,” said Goodwin, home visitor with SIUE Head Start since 2010 and early childhood educator for approximately 17 years. “Teaching is somethi...

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s fifth annual Phenomenal Women’s Luncheon held Tuesday, March 26, honored 15 women, comprising faculty, staff, students and community members, for their incredible positive impact as people and leaders.

In honor of Women’s History Month, and hosted by the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, the annual event honors women from all walks of life who have made contributions to diversity and inclusion at SIUE, the region, nati...

Explore new opportunities. Be prepared. Go the distance. Students from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) heard this advice and more during the Pre-Collegiate event, “Get Plugged In.” 

 “The event focused on connecting the students with faculty, staff and student leaders at SIUE as a way to get them plugged into the community,” said Makesha Harris Lee, EdD, assistant director for Pre-Collegiate Programs. &...

For 30 minutes, with only a pen, a notebook and unbridled imagination, students at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) brought to life aliens, vampires, lovelorn teenagers and more. 

CHS’s Creative Writing Club is in its second full year of operation, facilitated by Valerie Vogrin, professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, and Carolyn Kribs, CHS social studies faculty associate. After school, students assemble i...

Because hands can wield pain and destruction but can also bring comfort and love, celebrated fabric artist Edna Patterson-Petty led Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Center’s (ESLC) Project Success students in developing a work of art made out of decorated hands. 

The Pulitzer Arts Foundation of St. Louis commissioned SIUE alumna Patterson and her granddaughter, artist Eugenia Alexander, both of East St. Louis, to work in collaboration with the Project Success ...

The room was full of excitement and energy of the learning kind, as groups of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School (CHS) students gathered around tables with activities centered around pi. 

The William Graebe Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Lab at the CHS held its first Pi Day Festival on Thursday, March 14, the internationally known day of pi. 

 “Pi is the mathematical constant that has the worldwide symbol o...

When the book opened and the reader began, “From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere . . .,” Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Head Start/Early Head Start preschoolers sat in rapt attention. 

In celebration of the nationwide Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss’ birthday on Friday, March 1, SIUE Head Start and the Gateway Chapter of the Links, Incorporated promoted literacy with the reading of Dr. Seuss’ One Fish Two Fish Red Fish...

From marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and warning Malcolm X weeks before his assassination, to working with Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress, to helping illuminate and preserve black antiquity in his native town of East St. Louis, 83-year-old Reginald Petty is a seasoned civil rights leader, activist, educator, author, historian and former Peace Corp director worthy of his own acclaim. 

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Center’s Learning...

Elaborate and meticulously crafted braids, cornrows, twists, “locs” and Bantu knots are just a few ways African women wore their hair in their native countries, according to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Makesha Harris Lee, EdD, assistant director for Pre-Collegiate Programs. 

Harris Lee presented “Black HAIRitage” to SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School girls on Thursday, Feb. 14 at the East St. Louis Higher Education Campus. 

“In...

A group of veterans spent the morning at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Center (ESLC) learning about a host of educational opportunities available to them, how to obtain those benefits and how to best navigate their way to success. 

ESLC’s Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) program presented a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) and Veterans Educational Benefits Workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 5. 

“This workshop illustrates just a ...

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...