We want to hear from you as we look at how we cover Columbia neighborhoods

Dear Readers:

We’re taking a break this summer from updating the Missourian Neighborhood News blog, in part to look at whether this is the best way to showcase neighborhood news for Columbia. We’ll be asking a similar question about the monthly newsletters we e-mail to people who sign up for them.

If you have thoughts on this or ideas about how we can improve, please be in touch. As the editor overseeing the Missourian’s neighborhoods coverage, I’d like very much to hear from you. Some of the things on my mind: Should we include the obituaries of people from your neighborhood in newsletters or on the blog? Should we include your submissions to MyMissourian.com?

Send me an e-mail at brixeye@missouri.edu. I’m in and out of the newsroom until June 27, when I’ll be back full time, but I am reachable by e-mail.

Thanks for your help with story ideas and information about your neighborhoods this year.

Regards,

Elizabeth Brixey

City editor, Columbia Missourian

Parkade Elementary to host Spring Festival

SCHOOLS: PARKADE ELEMENTARY

By SARA JOHNSON

neighborhoods@ColumbiaMissourian.com

Parkade Elementary is hosting its annual Spring Festival from noon to 3 p.m. May 21.

The school has been hosting the Festival for more than 10  years as a way for teachers and students to have fun together.

“As teachers, it’s fun to have the students see us in a more fun environment, and it’s fun for us to see them in that environment,” said Emily Noelker, learning specialist and PTA member at Parkade Elementary.

The festival is opent to students, families and community members.

Pilates for Every Body provides monthly boot camp

CHERRY HILL

By KACIE FLYNN

neighborhoods@ColumbiaMissourian.com

Pilates for Every Body, 4200 Merchant St., Suite 105, provides a monthly boot camp in the Village of Cherry Hill.

Jenn’s Pilates Boot Camp is a 10-day program designed to get participants into shape using intensive Pilates classes. Boot camp sessions run Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 7:20 a.m.

According to the Pilates for Every Body website, Pilates is an exercise system developed by Joe Pilates to strengthen muscles, increase flexibility and improve overall health. Activities in the 10-day program include mat exercises and some use of special equipment.

Aside from the boot camp, Pilates for Every Body offers classes for golfers and Mini-lates, a Pilates class for children ages 6 and older.

The next boot camp will begin June 13 and run through June 24. To sign up, visit the Pilates for Every Body website.

Mothers Morning Out runs Summer Fun Camp

FAIRVIEW

By KACIE FLYNN

neighborhoods@ColumbiaMissourian.com

The Fairview United Methodist Church’s Mothers Morning Out program will run two Summer Fun Camp sessions during the month of June. The first camp session will run from June 13 to June 17, and the second session will be from June 20 to June 24.

Both sessions will be Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon.

The camp will include water and sand activities, arts and crafts, music, dancing and snacks, according to the church.

Sign up for Summer Fun Camp at the church’s website.

Fairview youth group does Rent-A-Youth month

FAIRVIEW

By KACIE FLYNN

neighborhoods@ColumbiaMissourian.com

The Fairview United Methodist Church youth group is at it again.

The group is trying new methods of fund-raising for its summer mission trip to Cincinnati for a Week of Hope volunteer event. Right now, the group is holding Rent-A-Youth month, which will last the entire month of May.

If you rent a youth, you can employ members of the youth group to do tasks such as babysitting, painting and lawn work.The proceeds will go directly to funding the July trip.

To rent a youth, call Linda Adams at  (573) 445-2832.

Rock Bridge’s Niyonzima Etienne named Gates Millennium Scholar

SCHOOLS: ROCK BRIDGE HIGH

By KATIE MORITZ

neighborhoods@ColumbiaMissourian.com

Rock Bridge High School senior Niyonzima Etienne was named one of the 1,000 nationwide recipients of the Gates Millennium Scholarship, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The scholarship will pay for Etienne’s undergraduate education at Missouri State University, where he plans to earn a degree in construction management.

According to the program’s website, the scholarship can be used at the university of the recipient’s choice, and is awarded based on academic achievement, community service and leadership potential.

Niyonzima Etienne

Etienne, who was born in the Congo, was a refugee in Tanzania until he moved to the U.S. with his family in 2007. When he came to Columbia, he spoke no English. But he was a quick learner, and soon wanted to teach English to other African refugees in the area.

In an interview with Etienne earlier this year, he said the three needs of refugees that must be met for them to have successful lives in the U.S. are English language skills, transportation and employment. Etienne began teaching refugees English in his living room every week. He also travels to churches and hospitals with them to act as a translator. In February, he was helping 10 families.

Earlier this year, Etienne was named one of six distinguished finalists in the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. The program honors middle and high school students for outstanding community service.

Upon receiving a construction management degree, Etienne hopes to employ refugees to help build structures in their communities. Etienne will graduate from Rock Bridge on May 21.

Meet your neighbor: Ted Glasgow, four-time Mr. Missouri winner

Ted Glasgow talks about the ads he has been featured in. Photo By Kathryn Landis

EAST CAMPUS

By KATHRYN LANDIS

neighborhoods@ColumbiaMissourian.com

Ted Glasgow’s smile is infectious, but his physique may be a little intimidating. He’s a body builder, originally from East St. Louis, who has won the Mr. Missouri title four times.

He got his start in 1976 at a competition in Springfield.

“It was in an air-conditioned hotel, and they didn’t have a stage or anything like that,” Glasgow said. “There were no weight classes, no music, and we did our posing routine.”

At 5 feet 8 inches, 189 pounds and 53 years old, Glasgow is still competing.

Meet your neighbor: Connie Leipard

ROCK BRIDGE-GREEN MEADOWS-BEDFORD WALK-CEDAR LAKE

By KATIE MORITZ

neighborhoods@ColumbiaMissourian.com

Connie Leipard works daily to give girls the chance to do whatever they want when they grow up — including construction work.

Connie Leipard works in her office at Quality Drywall Construction on May 5. Leipard is a regional director for the National Association of Women in Construction.

Leipard, who owns Quality Drywall Construction, 165 E. Hoedown Drive, with her husband, Michael, is the Region 6 director of the National Association of Women in Construction. The all-female organization supports women in the construction industry, and sponsors youth events to build awareness and interest for construction work in the younger generation.

Region 6 comprises Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, and part of Illinois, and includes seven chapters with about 300 members total. Nationwide, NAWIC has 14 regions and about 4,000 members. The organization also has chapters in Canada, the U.K. and South Africa.

NAWIC sponsors the Block Kids Building Program, which challenges elementary school-age children with the MacGyver-esque task of creating a structure in one hour, using only 100 Lego bricks, a rock, a string, a piece of aluminum foil and a poster board. This year, a second grader from Region 6, Augustus May, won first place at the national Block Kids competition and will be honored this fall at the Construction Innovation Forum NOVA Awards banquet in Orlando, Fla.

Leipard said the most influential youth program NAWIC sponsors is Mother-Daughter Construction Career Day at Linn State Technical College in Linn.

“We try to get out and help the girls think that in real life they can be successful at anything they really want to do,” she said.

Meet your neighbor: Melvin George

COLLEGE PARK -WEST BOULEVARD

By ANN ELISE TAYLOR

neighborhoods@ColumbiaMissourian.com

When Melvin George stands at the front of a classroom, he commands it.

In his class on Thursday, May 2, George’s voice, clear and warmly rounded with age, filled the space with energy. The 75-year-old strolled across the length of the classroom and read animatedly from a packet of papers in his hands. Occasionally, he leaned forward on his desk towards the students and peered over his large, silver-rimmed glasses to emphasize a point. When he made a joke, his students erupted into laughter.

Although it was the second to last week of classes at MU, George’s students seemed entertained and engaged — quite a feat for any professor competing against laptops, cell phones and warm weather for students’ attention. But after 52 years of working as an educator, George has learned a few things.

“I think the secret to success is to like students,” George said “If you sincerely like students, it’s pretty easy to show that. I think students respond positively to people who really enjoy them, respect them and understand them. I think that’s the key to it.”

George said his passion for students and learning is what has kept him working in academia since his first regular faculty job as a professor in MU’s mathematics department in 1960, just after he graduated from Princeton with his doctorate degree in mathematics. Since then, George has held a myriad of positions ranging from presidencies to deanships at the University of Nebraska, St. Olaf College, University of Minnesota and MU.

Gospel musicians to perform for Heritage Family Weekend at Douglass Park

DOUGLASS-NORTH CENTRAL

By CATHERINE NEWHOUSE

neighborhoods@ColumbiaMissourian.com

This year’s Heritage Family Weekend will feature three gospel groups  from St. Louis, a DJ and games in the park on Saturday, May 14, and Sunday, May 15 in Douglass Park.

Bill Thompson, recreation specialist with Columbia Parks and Recreation, said the annual event has been held in the park at the corner of Rogers Street and Providence Road for more than 20 years.

“It kicks off the summer activities for Douglass Park,” Thompson said. “It’s like the opening of Douglass Park for the season.”