Student Writers for Beacon
|
|
Students in Civitas programs continue to write engaging articles for the St. Louis Beacon, our community's foremost on-line newspaper. Katharine Joiner, a junior at Lindbergh High School, recently wrote about Civitas' meeting with Eric Greitens: "Eric Greitens doesn't believe in putting things off, When he was recently introduced at a Civitas program as an example for students to become leaders of the future, he disagreed. 'I don't believe you have the capacity to be leaders of the future,' Greitens said, 'You have the capacity to lead now.'"
|
|
Wash. U. Model UN this Weekend |
|
There is still time to register for the Washington University Model U.N. (WUMUNS). The staff of the MUN is very flexible, so students would not have to miss any school. WUMUNS and Civitas have combined to ensure that any student desiring to participate and who cannot afford the fees (limited) will be able to attend. The committee structure is very creative and exciting. In one group, each student will represent one of President Kennedy's advisors during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. In another, delegates will represent one of the twenty-five members of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China. There will also be a World Health Organization and a U.N. Security Council. You can get more information at www.wumuns.net. Registration is available at www.wumuns.net/registration.html. If you want more information, please contact our Civitas-WUMUNS liaison, Ariana Miller at miller.ariana@gmail.com.
|
|
Another Excellent Discussion
|
|
We had another fine discussion last Saturday. We touched on two topics below and focused on John McCain's reference to Barack Obama as "that one" in the Oct. 7 debate. The general consensus was that it reminded students of when parents refer to them in a demeaning fashion. The topics were: - Is the presidential campaign going to get dirtier? If so, will one side be more responsible than the other?
- Does it scare you when even "the smartest people" in our society don't have good answers to our national and global financial problems?
Our next discussion is a week from this Saturday, October 25 at Crossroads College Preparatory School (map) from time is 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM. That will be ten days before the election! We'll have open discussion as well as some instruction on writing resolutions for the November 22 High School Model U.N. If you need help with transportation or have any questions, please let us know at info@civitas-stl.com. More photos from last Saturday are available by clicking here.
|
|
On Friday evening, October 24 (UN Day), Civitas will be presenting the movie Hotel Rwanda. It is about a terrible period of genocide in Africa. We will have a guest of honor, Eric Greitens, who will relate personal experiences from his humanitarian work in Rwanda. The event will be at the Brentwood Community Center (map) from 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM. Copies of Eric's new book Strength and Compassion will be for sale with Civitas subsidizing student costs.
|
|
Election Verification Exit Polling .... you may have never heard of this before, but you've heard of election fraud. This is a case of the defense trying to keep up with the offense; can honest citizens and public officials take sufficient steps to ensure that the Nov. 4 presidential election is as honest as possible. Civitas is working with Professor Kenneth Warren of St. Louis University in the relatively new science of election verification polling. This is a type of polling which measures the likelihood that polling places are accurately reporting results from their precinct(s). We'll give more details on how it works in the next couple of weeks, but Dr. Warren and Civitas are looking for students to work 6 1/2 hour shifts on election day to monitor the election. A stipend will be paid to participating students. So far we have fifteen students signed up from Webster Groves High School (thank you Julie Burchett); another four should be coming Parkway West (thank you, Kristen Collins). We can use more. If you are interested and either (a) don't have school that day, or (b) can excuse yourself from school that day, please contact us at info@civitas-stl.com or (314) 367-6480.
|
|
Middle School MUN Faculty Meeting Yesterday Thanks to all of the middle school teachers who came to yesterday's information meeting and country draft. We just about had a full house; we really appreciate your dedication and commitment to the program. We are reviewing the country selections and will post the results on our web site shortly. We will also make them available in next week's newsletter. Special thanks to Mike Braeuninger from the Red Cross for sharing with us the resources that his organization has, particularly with regard to International Humanitarian Law. A number of teachers made arrangements with Mike for class visits; we look forward to those. If you have any questions, feel free to email Lisa at granichkovarik@sbcglobal.net or give her a call (314-865-4704).
|
|
Upcoming Civitas Events
(Actual events in bold -- always subject to change when change occurs!) Black: High School Blue: Middle School
|
|
| Date | Time | Place | Activity | | | | | | | Fri., 10/17 - Sun. 10/19 | Varies | Varies | Washington University Model United Nations for High School Students | Thurs.
10/23/2008 | 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM | Washington
University | Carl Bernstein at Center for Study of Ethics & Human Values | Fri.
10/24/2008 | 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM | Brentwood Community Center (map) | Viewing of "Hotel Rwanda" with Eric Greitens | Sat.,
10/25/2008 | 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM | Crossroads (map) | Civitas Discussion #5 & Model UN Prep Session | Fri.,
10/31/2008 | Early Evening | Varies | UNICEF Trick or Treating | Sat.,
11/01/2008 | 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM | Crossroads (map) | Civitas Discussion #6 & Model UN Prep Session | Fri.,
11/07/2008 | T.B.A. | Missouri History Museum (map) | Eric Greitens Book Signing | Sat.,
11/08/2008 | 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM | Crossroads (map) | Civitas Discussion #7 & Model UN Prep Session | Wed.
11/19/2008 | 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM | Chase-Park Plaza (map) | Middle School MUN Student & Teacher Workshop | Sat.,
11/22/2008 | 9:00 AM - 2:30 PM | Spazio's of Westport (map) | HIgh School Model U.N. |
|
|
|
What's Civitas? See video below: |
|
Our thanks to all the students who came to Crossroads last Saturday for our 2008 Country Draft. This is in preparation for our Saturday, November 22 session at Spazio's in Westport (map) from 9:00 AM - 2:30 PM. Here is a list of countries that were drafted as of early Tuesday morning, Oct. 7: | Bishop DuBourg Collinsville - Afghanistan
- Kenya
- Vietnam
Lindbergh Maplewood-Richmond Heights - Italy
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- United Kingdom
Metro Nerinx Hall - Colombia
- France
- Kuwait
- Turkey
Rosati-Kain St. Joseph's Academy - Brazil
- Costa Rica
- Georgia
- Libya
S.L.U.H. - China
- Cote D'Ivoire
- Japan
- Switzerland
University City - Burundi
- Russian Federation
Webster Groves - Ireland
- Jamaica
- North Korea
- South Africa
- Spain
- St. Kitts
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Ukraine
| As you can tell, a number of countries still remain for drafting. We will allocate them on a "first request - first serve basis." To request a country or if you have any questions, e-mail us at info@civitas-stl.com or call (314) 367-6480.
|
|
|
