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Lewis & Clark

Big family-friendly Lewis & Clark exhibit to open

(Another in our Lewis&Clark series)

A giant Lewis & Clark National Bicentennial Exhibit opens here Wednesday, Jan. 14. There are lots of special features and hands-on activities for kids and families.

The exhibit will be at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park until Sept. 6, 2004.

Then, the exhibit will move around the country for lengthy stays in Philadelphia, Denver and Portland, Ore., before ending at the Smithsonian Institution in 2006.

Tim Grove is the museum's exhibit educator. He's one of those responsible for making sure there's plenty of interest for kids. He came here two years ago from the Smithsonian to work on the exhibit.

The exhibit is so large that it's been divided up into theme areas. That way, you can easily find aspects of the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery you like best.

The major themes are:

• Planning for the Trip
  
• Politics and Diplomacy
  
• Women
  
• Mapping
  
• Animals
  
• Language
  
• Warriors/Soldiers
  
• Trade and Property
  
• Plants

Grove said there will be a special printed "Family Guide" available at the museum and on the internet. That will identify the special stuff available for kids and families.

There are displays of animals and fish encountered by Lewis and Clark during the visit. They include a buffalo, a Rocky Mountain sheep, sage grouse, prairie dogs and salmon.

Also, in the Animals area, there are "touch tiles" where you can feel the animals' fur and see how large their feet were. The four animals with "touch tiles" dedicated to them are a grizzly bear, an antelope, a coyote and a sea otter.

There are also "touch boxes." For instance, the "buffalo box" is covered by fur. And it contains examples of useful products produced from buffalo parts. They include a spoon made from horn, buffalo teeth and a water jug made from the buffalo's bladder.

Another neat feature that will interest kids are the interactive exhibits.

In the Language area, there are recordings of four languages used during the journey westward from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean. They include English and French as well as Indian languages, Hidatsa and Shoshone.

The language exhibits let you try to figure out how the Discovery crew communicated with Indians they met. Of course, they had the Indian woman, Sacagawea, along to help.

There's also an interactive mapping exhibit, with three different maps of the area.

Grove said, "Remember, this area wasn't totally unknown." He said trappers worked the area before Lewis & Clark came, buying animal pelts and running trap lines themselves.

You'll be able to compare the maps of 200 years ago with those of the area today.

Another fun interactive exhibit is in the Trade and Property theme area. Your job is to try to buy a canoe from Indians. You have to figure out answers to three questions. The exhibit will tell you how good a negotiator you are and whether you would have purchased the canoe.

Grove said, "This is a good exercise in negotiating with people from a different culture."

There are also exhibits that tell you as much as is known about certain members of the crew. Among them were York, the slave of William Clark, and the Indian Sacagawea. "You've got to remember we don't really know a lot about these people," Grove said.

There's also a whole exhibit area that focuses on Lewis & Clark in Missouri and St. Louis.

For instance, after their return from the Discovery trip, both played important roles in development of Missouri as a state. Lewis was territorial governor until his death in 1809.

Clark lived a long time in St. Louis. He was general of the militia, territorial governor and finally a U.S. Indian agent for the Missouri River.

Clark died in 1938 and is buried in St. Louis' Bellefontaine Cemetery.

You can get information about the exhibit from the Missouri History Museum's website at www.lewisandclarkexhibit.org. That website will be enhanced Jan. 14 with addition of a "virtual journey," with sound and motion added to regular text and pictures.

 

Exhibition seven years in making

Carolyn Gillman of the Missouri History Museum staff has spend seven years assembling the Lewis & Clark exhibition, which opens here Jan. 14.

Many of the exhibit materials were borrowed from museums across the country. The Missouri museum itself has one of the best collections of Lewis & Clark memorabilia.

But, many other individual items were in the hands of private collectors. For instance, Meriwether Lewis unusual Tomahawk tobacco pipe is privately owned.

Curator Gillman has written a book about the exhibition, "Lewis and Clark: Across the Divide." That book was published in association with the Smithsonian. It is on sale at the Museum gift shop or online at www.lewisandclarkexhibit.org.

 

Science

Claymont team wins robot league meet

Everyone on Claymont Elementary School's First Lego League team said they'd played with Lego building blocks. However, before this fall, only one of them knew that Lego toys had gone "high tech."

Despite little experience, the 10-member Claymont Aces team won the top award during the 2003 First Lego League Missouri State Championship tournament. Their winning entry featured a home-made Lego robot vehicle powered by a computerized "brain brick."

(To learn more about participating in First Lego League, see sidebar below.)

Teams in the tournament had to research a Mission to Mars. They then built a robot vehicle and programming it. The Claymont team even included a "news broadcast" skit explaining the project and their teamwork.

The Director's award went to the team with the highest total category scores. There were teams from across Missouri, included some with previous experience.

Ten-year-old Victoria Kaiser was one of the Claymont team members. She's the one who had previous experience with the higher-tech Lego systems.

"When I was younger, my older sister, Katherine, and I built an alien-type bug that moved," Victoria said.

Other team members said their Lego experiences were with original style Lego blocks.

Ten-year-old Grant McConnell said, "I had made a model helicopter out of Legos but it didn't move or fly."

Ten-year-old J.D. Hankammer said, "I've got a big bin of Legos at home. My older brother, John, and I made a big Lego base with a tower." It didn't move either.

For the Lego league competition, the kids learned about "high tech" Lego. There were computers, electric engines, the "brain brick" and lots of vehicle movement programming.

The Claymont robot vehicle could move forward and backward and made sharp turns. They even programmed the vehicle's catapult to throw a "payload" ball.

Also, there was a special "windshield wiper" to clean imaginary Mars dust off solar panels.

The Claymont project turned out to be more than a school effort.

For instance, 10-year-old Brad Baber's father, mother and older brother, Brandon, helped. Father Brent Baber is an engineer at Monsanto and he provided technical help.

Also, brother Brandon was the team's "mentor coach." Brandon is a sixth grader at Claymont. The boys' mother was one of several parents who helped teacher Mary Buck in class during the three-a-week project classes.

Brad said the Lego project got him thinking about a career as an inventor or engineer.

Eleven-year-old Haleigh Smith said her favorite part of the robot project was writing the informational skit. All kids had voice parts in the skit, which was in the form of a radio "news broadcast" from Mars.

In addition to explaining the science of the project, the broadcast included two commercials. One was for the Dusty Point Resort on Mars and the other was for the Dust Buster vacuum to clear the heavy Mars dust.

Haleigh said her mother, Kris, is helping create a scrapbook about the team's accomplishments.

Eleven-year-old Madison Bechmann said her favorite part of the project was the researching. "It taught me a lot about Mars," she said. But, she admitted the knowledge didn't convince her to take an actual trip to Mars.

Eleven-year-old Scott Tucci said the team got a Lego kit from the company to use in building the robot vehicle. However, he said lots of kids brought extra Lego pieces from home so they could make their project bigger and better.

He said he brought the pieces that let the team add a catapult arm to the vehicle. Kids then programmed the vehicle's "brain brick" so the arm threw a ball into a container.

Eleven-year-old Sara Krachmalnick said her favorite part of the project was "watching the robot compete against itself" while it navigated the tournament course. She said you can make the vehicle turn sharper corners by shortening the time of the "turn" program.

Eleven-year-old Kyle Bailey said, "I liked the programming because I'd never done that before." The team made lots of programming changes to make sure the robot vehicle ran the best possible route.

Ten-year-old Jordan Smith said she liked the Mars research the best. "I did research on the rover vehicle and learned lots about the weather on Mars and how cold it was," she said.

Several team members said they'd like to upgrade their home Lego sets to include higher-tech parts. Scott Tucci said he's interested in pieces that would enable him to build a bug "that crawls on wires across a room."

 

You can participate too

Kathy Reuter is the chairman of the First Lego League. She's interested in having more St. Louis area kids get involved in the Lego robot program.

She told YSL.com that she's planning to have a Lego training camp this summer. During the camp, kids will be shown how to design and construct the Lego robot vehicles.

If you or someone at your school would like to participate, you can e-mail Ms. Reuter at reuts@aol.com.

The Lego league competition has expanded throughout the world. In addition to local and state competitions, there is an annual international tournament also, Ms. Reuter said.

 

Movies

From Normandy beaches to documentary film

Alex Townsend's long-time interest in World War II was sparked by a trip to the Normandy beaches in France. This fall, his war documentary film, "Six Heroes," was selected for showing at the St. Louis International Film Festival.

The three-year period between the trip to France and the festival was a blur of activity for Alex. He made three versions of his documentary.

The versions ranged from a 10-minute class project to the nearly two-hour festival film.

Alex said his view as a sixth grader of the French invasion beaches was "indescribable."

He added, "You can't feel the emotion until you've been there. The ruins, the sunken ships, the Nazi bunkers. They're still there. But, the most dramatic part of the whole thing was the acres of white crosses over the graves."

His way of capturing the emotion was to arrange interviews with six World War II veterans. All had participated in the Normandy invasion and the Battle of the Bulge.

He captured their intense battle emotions on film in their own words.

The veterans were Paul Golden, Everett Schultheis, Lee Berkel and Phillip McKnight of St. Louis and Paul Rogers and Roy Creek of Kansas City. Several of the veterans were wounded in the invasion.

He said Paul Rogers received shrapnel wounds in the head. "They didn't take it out and you can still see little lumps in his head," he said.

The most unusual injury happened to Everett Schultheis. Alex said, "He was injured when a blind horse stepped on him when he was sleeping in a barn."

Alex didn't know any of the six veterans before he started his film project.

"I researched the internet to find names of Missouri veterans who had been interviewed previously about their World War II experiences," he said. He said he compiled about 10 names before he started to ask for interviews.

He ended with six. "The others either didn't want to talk about it anymore or were too sick," Alex said.

The first film version was only 10 minutes long. He did it to satisfy a World War II assignment in his seventh grade social science class. He got an A.

In eighth grade, he reworked the material for an entry in the History Day competition at school. "I kept the film the same length but reedited the footage," he said. The film won in a regional History Day competition.

Alex got encouragement to expand the film project from his father, Tom, an advertising agency executive.

"My father helped me a lot. In addition to urging me to enter the festival, he helped me learn how to operate the film editing equipment. It's very difficult," he said.

He was the youngest filmmaker to have an entry selected for showing at the 2003 festival.

Alex said there were only a couple empty seats during the theater showing of "Six Heroes." He said, "At the end they got up and gave me a standing ovation."

He said his film experience probably has convinced him to try for a career in film. He said, "I'll probably go to college in Los Angeles," a center of film making education.

Alex already has his eye on other documentary film projects. First, he said he plans to interview other World War II veterans "who have called me since my film was shown."

Then, he's also looking at doing a documentary on the Tuskegee Airmen. That's a group of African-American pilots who made heroic efforts during World War II. Many of the airmen were from St. Louis.

A mural honoring black airmen is featured at Lambert International Airport.

Alex said he'd also like to do a documentary about experiences of Missourians who were prisoners of war during World War II. Another possibility is a documentary on the experiences of women who worked in war factories in the 1940s.

Alex is now a ninth grader at Clayton High School.

But, he doesn't spend all his time on film making. He takes drum lessons at Drums Headquarters in Maplewood. He said his favorite type of music is "70s Rock."

He also likes to play tennis and get involved in outdoor activities.

But, a lot of his activity does center on his filmmaking.

Whether it turns out to be a career is still open. But, Alex said, "It's certainly going to be a lifelong hobby."

 

Books

This month's book reviews

A boy can't believe his best friend would just disappear

Eleven-year-old Ben along with his mother and senile grandmother has gone on a picnic in the woods at the edge of the Shellrock River. Ben's best friend, Ring, and his mom and dad are also there. They're all just eating and having fun when Ring decides to go down to the riverbank to wash off the front of his messy shirt. He rolls up his pants and walks out into the water. He just keeps walking and slowly disappears beneath the surface of the water. The picnickers aren't too concerned at first. They know Ring is a good swimmer and think that maybe he is just trying to fool them.

When Ring doesn't reappear, Ben and the grown-ups panic and rush down to the water to look for him. Within half an hour the fire department is there to help look. No sign of Ring turns up. If he has drowned, no body can be located.

Ben is devastated. He can't bring himself to believe Ring is dead and will never return. It just doesn't make any sense. Ring is a jokester and does weird things, but why would he suddenly disappear and leave everybody thinking he was drowned. He was too good a swimmer to do a dumb thing like go into the river and just give up. But what happened to him, and why were all of them, especially Ben, left "dangling" by Ring's disappearance?

Days go by and, finally, weeks go by, and there is no further word on Ring. Ben, who had no real friends before Ring came along, tries to adjust to not having Ring and his strange antics around anymore to make life interesting. But some strange things start to happen. Ben discovers candy wrappers, Ring's favorite kind of candy, in a hiding place where the two of them had gone at an earlier time to watch migrating whooping cranes. Reports of a homeless boy who fit Ring's description appeared in the newspaper, but the boy had a different name. Ring's mom and dad had left town but all their belongings were still in the old schoolhouse where Ring and they had lived.

To find out what really is happening, you have to read the book. Only then, will you, like Ben, no longer be left "dangling."

 

An orphaned girl must tame her unbroken colt
if she is to be able to continue her schooling

Harriet Gibson was called out of school. Her mother was at home badly injured in an accident between her buggy and an automobile. Harriet, or Harry as she preferred to be called, returned home to find that her mother was dying. After her mother's death, Harry found out that she was to go live with her Aunt Sarah and Uncle Clayton. Harry knew that her mother and Aunt Sarah had never gotten along. But since they were her only relatives, she had to go live with Sarah and Clayton on their farm.

Harry found out quickly that her Aunt Sarah did not appear to like her and resented her living with them. Sarah was critical of Harry's mother, something that Harry could not accept. Her Aunt and Uncle had only begrudgingly allowed her to bring her young colt to live with them on the farm. Harriet knew that she had to train the wild young colt so that she could ride him to her school, which was now 7 miles away from her new home.

Harry tied to get along with her mean-spirited Aunt. But nothing seemed to please Aunt Sarah. One discovery made life bearable. Harry found that her Uncle Truman lived in a small house at the edge of the farm. He was a Civil War veteran who had lost one arm. The house he lived in was the one that Harry had been born in before her mother and father had moved to town. Truman did not like Sarah much either and he was protective of Harry.

Whether Harry could continue to live with her aunt and uncle remained in question. The colt did not seem to be responding to her efforts to train him. Would she have to give up her dreams of schooling and live unhappily on the farm? This story, set in early 1900's Vermont, is based on a diary of a real person who lived in close to that period in New England.

 

Boy thinks spiders, especially
huge tarantulas, make great pets

Sixth-grader Bobby Ballinger's family had just moved from Illinois to a town in New York. They had to move because his dad got a better job. His older sister, Breezy, was outgoing and very active in everything, so she had no problem adjusting to a new school. Bobby on the other hand was very unhappy and missed his old buddies. His new classmates thought he was strangely withdrawn. They would have been astonished to find out he was worried about his pet tarantula, Thelma, because she hadn't eaten anything since the family's move.

When his new classmates did find out about Bobby's pet, the class bully named him the "Spider Boy from Illinois." Bobby didn't mind being thought of as different because of his interest in spiders, but he resented being taunted with the name "Spider Boy." He knew how important spiders were to ridding the earth from insect pests and how fascinating their hunting habits were. Besides, the tarantula he had as a pet seemed to like being handled and petted. She might be pretty big as spiders go, but she was really harmless.

Bobby's science teacher paired the kids in class up to prepare outside reports as a class project. Bobby was paired with a girl named Lucky. At first he resented being paired with a girl. He found out though that she was the fastest runner in the school. She also liked science and was even interested in his spiders. It turned out that having Lucky as a friend helped turn things around for Bobby. But Chick Hall, the smart aleck bully, just wouldn't let up on him.

Spiders play a big role in what happens between Bobby and Chick. How that enmity becomes even more complicated before it is finally resolved makes up most of the rest of the story. Also, when you finish this book you will know a lot more about spiders than you did before reading it.

 

If you like spooky old mansions, assorted aliens,
and space travel, this one is for you

Every kid in town knew about Morley Manor. It was the darkest and gloomiest old mansion in Owl's Roost, Nebraska. When Old Man Morley died, someone bought the old mansion to tear it down and build a new house on the site. Everything in the house was put up for sale with the sale scheduled for a Sunday afternoon. The manor was to be torn down the next day. Sixth grader Anthony Walker and his younger sister, Sarah, decided to go to the sale, explore the scary old house, and, maybe, buy something if it was within their budget. Luckily, their parents were gone for the day and grandma was sound asleep.

Anthony found an old box, the size of a cigar box that had strange carvings on it. It was locked but Anthony thought he could open it if he got it home. It took some haggling, but he finally got the box for the little bit of money that he and Sarah had with them.

When they got home, Anthony eagerly worked at opening the box. Prying it open was difficult, but once it was opened, there was another box inside. Printed on the second box was "Martin Morley's Little Monsters." Below that in small type was, "Open not this box lest my curse fall upon you." Naturally, Anthony opened the box, since he didn't believe in curses. Big mistake!

He found five compartments with a different little statue-like figure in each one. They were tiny five inches tall monsters. By accident, Anthony discovered that if he got the figures wet enough they actually came to life. Once alive, the little monsters convinced Anthony and Sarah to go back to Morley Manor where the little monsters could be brought back to full life size. Back at the mansion was where the real adventure began.

It turns out that the manor contains some kind of a gateway into outer space. The kids and their monster companions become deeply involved in saving Earth from evil aliens. Besides dealing with good and bad aliens, the kids have to go to the Land of the Dead and deal with ghosts. Their mission to save the Earth has to be accomplished before Morley Manor is torn down. Otherwise, they will be too late.

All of this rushing around through space and time might leave you the reader just a little tired. I know it did me.

 

Music

Lots of music, lots of instruments

Amy Rosenthal started playing the violin at five. Then, there was the piano at seven. Since then, there's been the flute and viola. To come, the cello and maybe more.

The 13-year-old has had success. She's the 2003-04 Kenneth R. Mares Scholarship winner at the Webster University Community Music School.

The scholarship helps to fund her music lessons and also makes her a spokesperson for the music school. She's asked to perform at various functions sponsored by the school.

But, the seventh grader at John Burroughs School isn't sure she wants a career in music.

Amy said, "I've been considering a career in science, maybe as a doctor. I really like math and science in school."

But, for now, she's involved in all kinds of music and musical instruments.

One of her new efforts is practicing as a violin duet with Sarite Brown,. They have a recital coming up this month.

"We met at the Webster Music School. We've been trying to practice at least once a week," Amy said.

She started violin lessons, using the Suzuki method, at age five. She used a quarter-sized violin at that time. Her mother, Debby, started at the same time. Debby said, "It was something we could do together."

Amy's been taking lessons ever since, progressing through a half-, three-quarter and finally a full-sized violin. She now takes lessons with Susan McDonald at the Webster Music School.

The piano lessons started two years after those on the violin. She now has piano lessons with Sandra Geary of the music school.

Her recital playing started shortly after the beginning of the lessons.

Amy admits that she gets more nervous now before a recital than she did when she was younger.

"Now, the music is harder, I've worked on it harder and there are more ways to mess up," she said.

And when the audience is larger, that helps make her more nervous. Her largest audience for a solo piano recital has been 200. But, she's also played in an orchestra before an audience over 1,000.

With all the instruments she plays, Amy has had experience of playing complicated pieces on some and easier ones on others.

For instance, she just started playing the viola last summer. She plays the viola with the John Burroughs orchestra. Most of those players haven't had as much overall musical experience as Amy.

But, she's also much less experienced on the viola than on the violin or piano.

Like most musicians, Amy sometimes gets bored with practice. "I get tired of a piece. But, then I'll take a week off from it and then I like it again," she said.

Amy said the best experiences she's had in music are associated with summer music camps in Aspen, Colorado. She said, "The camps have hundreds of kids from all over the world."

The camps are held in ski resorts which are devoid of skiers in the summer.

There's a wide variety of classes, ranging from full orchestra, to ensembles and quartets.

Most of her playing involves classical music.

Her favorite violin pieces are Accolay's "Concerto No. 1 in A minor" and Bach's "Concerto for two violins."

Her favorites on the piano are Debussy's "Deuxieme Arabesque" and Chopin's "Nocturne in C-sharp minor."

Not all of her extra-curricular activities involve music. She's a Girl Scout member. "I like the activities and being with my friends," Amy said. The kids go on camping trips and do community service projects.

She also came up with her own idea to help sick kids who are in the hospital. Her mother is a radiologist at St. John's Mercy Medical Center.

Amy created individual "care packages" for the kids. The kit combines a written original story with a craft exercise they can make. The craft and the story have the same theme.

 

Lifestyle

Kids expand their understanding of art

Fourth-graders Jeffrey McGhee, Terrance Joyner and Jamia Union all have done original art drawings. Last month, they and other Keeven Elementary School kids got a chance to expand their knowledge of other forms of art.

During December, the North St. Louis County youngsters made weekly field trips to the St. Louis Art Museum. They were taking part in the museum's Arts in the Basic Curriculum (ABC) program.

One Wednesday morning, Young Saint Louis.com joined a dozen Keeven kids on one of their museum field trips. That day, they were studying Japanese and Chinese art styles.

Their other December trips included experience with African and decorative art forms.

The kids didn't just look at art. On each trip, they created their own artwork that went with that week's theme. During the visit on African art, the kids made original face masks.

Ten-year-old Raven Beverly said she made an African girl's mask that portrayed "love and kindness."

For the decorative arts, the kids designed and built chairs out of paper.

On the Asian art trip, they created a pen-and-ink landscape on a vertical art scroll.

Ten-year-old Terrance Joyner said landscapes were his favorite type of art. He said the best one he's done was a pencil drawing of his own house and yard.

"Sometimes, I give the artwork to my Mom and she puts it into a frame," Terrance said. The drawing of his house is one that was framed.

Nine-year-old Jeffrey McGhee said his favorite original drawing is of Rams running back Marshall Faulk. "I drew it in pencil and then traced over it with markers," he said. That drawing is in his bedroom at home.

Ten-year-old Jamia Union said her best original artwork was a self-portrait painting. She said, "It's framed and hanging in our hallway."

During the museum visit, the kids each got a sketch book. Then, they got a tour by museum art educator Heidi Lung through some of the Asian galleries.

The kids looked at different styles of Asian art scrolls. In addition, they saw several samples of multi-paneled wall screens. These larger works of art were used to screen off portions of larger rooms in Japanese buildings.

Ms. Lung urged the kids to make sketches of various landscape features from both the scrolls and the screens. They were then to use those elements when their put together their own landscape scroll.

The kids also got to look out one of the museum windows. That gave them a chance to study landscape features from the museum grounds. Those included the lake at the foot of Art Hill in Forest Park.

The kids then went through a gallery of American art. Ms. Lung wanted them to compare Asian landscapes to those painted by American artists. One painting was of the City of St. Louis in 1846.

One difference they noted was Asian scrolls were usually vertical in shape. The American landscapes mostly were horizontal. The Asian scrolls was flexible since they often are rolled up for easy storage. Most American landscapes were in rigid frames.

Then, museum educator Lung gave them some tips on doing their own art scrolls. She told them to rough out their scroll design in their sketch books. That's because the scroll surface was made with flimsy rice paper.

"You can't erase anything on the rice paper," she said. She told them that if they made a mis-stroke on the rice paper, try to incorporate that into something else in the design.

When it came time to do her scroll, Raven Beverly came up with a unique idea.

Her drawing was of a river running through a town. Kids in boats were racing on the river. There was even a river bridge that was tall enough so the boats could get under it.

Raven said she likes to look at artwork. "I like the colors. And, if you concentrate, you can even see the artist's brush strokes," she said.

Of the four kids questioned by YSL.com, Jeffrey McGhee was the only one that had any artwork entered in a competition.

"I made a Martin Luther King Day poster and it was entered. But, I didn't win," he said.

Jamia Union was the only kid questioned who wanted to be an artist when she grew up. But, Terrance Joyner said he'd like to be an architect.

 

Sports

Basketball success with new, old blood

The 14-and-under Gateway Basketball Club is trying to qualify for a sixth straight year of national tournament play. The team's continuing success comes from blending experienced players with new recruits.

Although they're only 13, guards Chris Rosehill and John Simon represent the "old guard." They've been qualifying for nationals since they were in third grade.

Forwards Terrell Collins and Byron Ferrer are newer players. Collins is in his third year and Ferrer has been with the team only a few months.

Coach Henry Rosehill freely admits he recruits from all over the St. Louis metro area.

Team member Keith Burton is from O'Fallon, Ill., and Collins comes from the City of St. Louis. Ferrer is from Florissant in North St. Louis County while John Brandenburg, another new player, is from Des Peres in West County.

Veteran John Simon is a point guard for the team. He said, "This is the best atmosphere I've ever played in. Everyone shares the ball."

Ferrer also said he likes the team chemistry. "If I do something wrong on the court, my teammates don't get mad. They encourage me."

Collins said his participation in basketball has helped him make new friends. For the last three years, he's been transported from the city to Parkway Southwest Middle School.

Admitting he can be shy, Collins said, "When I play basketball, it's easier for me to make friends."

When recruiting, Coach Rosehill is looking for more than just skilled ball players.

Gateway has a detailed mission statement. Kids can't continue on the select team unless they maintain a 2.0 academic record. Most of them do much better.

Rosehill said, "We also look for personal character and kids with a 'faith.' Basketball comes after that."

Byron Ferrer attends a Baptist church where he is on the usher board and in the youth ministry. At school, he's on the student council and does summer community service.

John Simon attends a Catholic church, where he's in a youth group. At school, he takes part in service projects. His class supports an orphanage in the Asian country of Nepal.

And, then there's basketball. They work very hard to stay on the team.

They practice twice a week and play games nearly every weekend. For instance, by early December, the team already had competed in a tournament in Kansas. Their season extends into July. Last year, the team played in well over 100 games.

The Gateway team is an integrated one. The team has six black and four white players. They have both short, quick players and lots of tall ones. Some of the tall ones are fast.

John Brandenburg is their tallest player. And he got tall in a hurry.

Coach Rosehill said, "When John tried out a year ago, he was 5'11". This year, he's 6'6"."

But, he's not the only tall one. Jason Smith is 6'5" and Wesley Kemp is 6'4".

Some of the players earned a spot on the team through tryouts. But, others were recommended by other coaches.

Collins, who plays either power or small forward, is one who was recommended.

He said, "When I was 11, I didn't know how to play at all." But, after he got better, his early coach recommended him to Rosehill.

One of the reasons other coaches recommend their players is because of the Gateway's past success. Gateway sponsors teams in a variety of age groupings, from grade school through high school.

Since 1999, over 70 past Gateway players have earned college scholarships. Rosehill said that represents over $2 million in scholarship grants.

One of the Gateway "graduates" is Chris Sloan, now a starting forward for the Saint Louis University Billikens.

Several of the Gateway 14-and-under team want to play in college. Collins hopes to play in the NBA.

But, the team's immediate goal is to qualify for next July's AAU nationals in Orlando, Fla. If they do, the team's "old timers" will tell about their good experiences there in a previous national meet.

 

Profile

Eighth in a series

Lots of changes in Illinois Achiever's life

Lydia Bishop has changed her career goal and the school she attends since being named a 2003 St. Louis Young Achiever of the Year. But, her dedication to community service remains strong.

The Fairview Heights, Ill., teenager also has a much better grasp of how fragile a person's life can be. That understanding came while recovering from a serious swimming accident.

Fifteen-year-old Lydia is now a freshman at Belleville East High School. Last spring, she was one of four middle school students awarded a Young Achiever designation.

(For more about the Young Achiever of the Year program, see sidebar below.)

Then, she was an eighth grader at Pontiac Junior High in Fairview Heights.

At Pontiac, she was one of 100 students. At Belleville East, she's one of 3,000 students.

Despite the huge difference in size, Lydia said, "I like high school better." However, she has changed her approach somewhat.

In her former school, she did just about everything. Besides earning good grades, she was student council president, played on three sports teams and did lots of community service projects. She was captain of her school's unbeaten eighth grade basketball team

She also was convinced she wanted a law career as a prosecuting attorney.

As a freshman, she still works hard in classes. But, she's cut back on some activities. She isn't doing sports. The 5'3" Lydia said, "I decided I wasn't going to grow much more."

For now, she's put off getting into student government. "But, I'll run for council next year," she said. But, she is the sport editor for the school yearbook and is in French club.

Also, she's decided on a career as a high school history teacher.

But, one thing she hasn't cut back on is school and community service.

She served as a peer mentor and tutor ever since she was in third grade. Most of the tutoring was in math, science and English.

She said, "I get satisfaction from helping others." And she added, "I also get to review my own classwork."

That experience of teaching others helped her career-change decision. She hopes to go to either University of Illinois or Southern Illinois University to become a history teacher.

As the daughter of a Methodist minister, she was introduced to summer mission trips early. When she goes to Nebraska next summer, it will mark her fifth trip to work for poor families.

Earlier trips were to Mississippi, West Virginia, Montana and, last summer, to Michigan.

She said, "After the trips, I come back thinking I've made a difference in lives of others." She said her trip to Montana to work with Crow Indian families "was the best of all."

Another mission-trip benefit: "I realize I have it good and understand all I have at home."

As she gets older, she's looking forward to missionary trips out of the country.

Part of her heightened personal awareness comes from her close call in the swimming pool. That came when she was a seventh grader.

As she came to the surface, she was hit in the face by the heel of a boy were was coming off the diving board.

The accident broke her nose and jaw. She said, "They had to sew my nose back on."

What followed was over two years of treatment, including plastic surgery. In fact, she just got the braces off her teeth this fall. Her dad, Pastor Shane Bishop, said she's now got "a perfect nose and perfect teeth."

The only mark on her face is a slight scar on the bridge of her nose.

About that experience, Lydia said, "I certainly appreciate life more. I know you have to live life to the fullest while planning for the future."

One of the things she does for herself is lots of writing, mostly poems.

"I have a whole book of poems and other things that I have written," Lydia said.

Her life experiences so far have given her lots of topics for her writing...both the ups and the downs.

 

More about Young Achiever of Year program

Young Saint Louis.com has provided regular coverage of the St. Louis-area Young Achiever of the Year program for two years.

In May of 2002 and 2003, YSL.com started with a story announcing that year's winners. Four kids each from elementary, middle and high schools are selected.

Then, starting in June each year. we provided profiles of elementary and middle school winners. By using our Past Stories archives, you can read the individual profiles, starting in June and ending in following January.

The Young Achiever program is sponsored by the International Leadership Network (ILN). The group also has other programs aimed at St. Louis area youth.

For more information, go to the website at www.iln-gateway.org.

 

St. Louis History

This Month in St. Louis History

President Jefferson asks Congress for Money

In January, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson asked Congress to authorize the Lewis and Clark expedition. A year later, the Corps of Discovery left from St. Louis.

Before Meriwether Lewis and William Clark could explore the Louisiana Purchase, the exploration team needed authorization and money.

Congress gave it quickly. Jefferson immediately set about organizing the exploration of the Missouri River "and whatever river heading with that, runs into the western Ocean."

He wanted to limit the scope of the Corps of Discovery's journey to "those objects only on which information is most deficient and most desirable." He sent letters to several persons to get ideas.

Then, he sent Capt. Meriwether Lewis to pick up the suggestions and plan the trip. Lewis had been secretary to President Jefferson before getting his new assignment.

Jefferson described for Lewis what he wanted to get from the trip. He wanted detailed mapping of the territory from St. Louis all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

The president added, "Your observations are to be taken with great pains and accuracy to be entered distinctly and intelligibly for others as well as yourself." The Lewis & Clark journals were especially detailed, filled with sketches as well as written entries.

Jefferson said he expected Lewis to "compleate his tour there and back in two seasons." Lewis and Clark left St. Louis in 1804 and returned in 1806.

Author T.S. Eliot and St. Louis

Famed author T. S. Eliot was a St. Louis native. He died in Jan. 4, 1965 after a long career as a poet, dramatist and literary critic. He had been born in St. Louis in 1888.

He was from a famous family and one of his books of children's poems was the basis of a long-running, modern Broadway musical.

Eliot's grandfather, William Greenleaf Eliot, was the founder of Washington University. Also, one of his distant cousins, Tom Eliot, was a chancellor of the university.

T.S. Eliot was well known for his adult poetry. Some of the titles were "Wasteland" and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

But, his book of children's poetry, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," probably links him best to the modern day. That book was the basis of Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running Broadway musical, "Cats."

For more about T.S. Eliot, visit http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot.

Braille language for blind starts in St. Louis

The inventor of the Braille alphabet for blind people, Louis Braille, was born in France in 1809. But, his language got its first test in St. Louis.

He lost his sight when he was only three. He learned to read using embossed Roman letters. That was the accepted way for blind to read in those days.

But, he spent much of his leisure time trying to invent a better alphabet for the blind.

His system of relief printing had its first success in 1859 or 1860 at the St. Louis School for the Blind. In 1868, the British and Foreign Blind Assn. provided strong support for books printed in the Braille system.

To learn more about Braille, click on: www.afb.org/braillebug.

Powell Symphony Hall opens in 1968

The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra's present home opened on Jan. 24, 1968.

That's when the redecorated St. Louis Theater was re-opened. The old theater was acquired in 1966 and the Symphony spent two years redecorating.

For just $2.5 million, the Symphony got a world-class home. That included $500,000 to buy the old theater and $2 million to redecorate it. The cost estimates of building such a theater from scratch run as high as $75 to $100 million.

For more about Powell Hall, visit www.speakerseries.com/psh.htm.

 

From "St. Louis 365"

Significant--and trivial--St. Louis history events

Some significant St. Louis historical events happened during Januarys past. Also, there were some not-so important events that were still interesting.

In 1944, the battleship "Missouri" was launched. Later, in Tokyo Bay, Missouri-born President Harry Truman would sign the treaty that ended World War II.

In 1959, McDonnell Aircraft received the contract to build the nation's first space capsule. Two years later, a Mercury capsule would take the first American into outer space.

Two St. Louis Cardinals figured in January events that went beyond ball-playing skills.

In 1960, outfielder Stan Musial asked for--and was granted--a reduction in pay. He said his efforts the previous year hadn't been worth what he was paid.

Then, in 1970, centerfielder Curt Flood filed a court challenge to baseball's reserve clause. He lost his suit but his effort led to the current free-agency rule--and high player salaries.

These are just some of the 159 items of St. Louis history listed in the January chapter of "St. Louis 365." That's a book of historical items compiled by local historian Joe Sonderman.

(This book is available in local book stories or at www.booksonstlouis.com. Sonderman has given Young Saint Louis.com permission to quote from his book.)

Here are 10 of the January entries from "St. Louis 365."

Jan. 1, 1861: The last slave auction in St. Louis took place on the steps of the Old Courthouse. A crowd of about 2,000 abolitionists showed up to thwart the auctioneer. They refused to bid any higher than eight dollars over two hours for a "boy" valued at $800 to $1,000. The auctioneer gave up and went home.

Jan. 3, 1909: The city excise commissioner was ordering that all paintings in saloons be taken down or covered up. State law prohibited saloons from featuring works of art, music, entertainment or any other special feature that might inspire patrons to linger.

Jan. 7, 1970: A cold snap caused the Arch to shrink by three inches. Workers adjusting interior cables noticed the difference. Engineers reassured everyone that the summer heat would restore the missing three inches.

Jan. 13, 1927: Airmail pilot Charles Lindbergh made the first night flight over the newly-lighted St. Louis-to-Chicago Airway. The government had spent $80,000 to install 24 beacons 10 miles apart. Aviation experts said the flight proved the practicality of night flying.

Jan. 13, 1959: McDonnell Aircraft celebrated good news from NASA. The government had awarded McDonnell a $15 million contract to build the Mercury space capsules. A Mercury capsule would carry America's first man in space, Alan Shepard, on May 5, 1961.

Jan. 16, 1970: Curt Flood filed suit in New York Federal Court to have baseball's reserve clause overturned. The Cardinals had traded him to the Phillies, but Flood refused to report. Flood sat out the entire 1970 season and lost his case in the Supreme Court. But, his case is seen as the turning point in baseball labor relations and the start of free-agency, clearing the way for today's salaries.

Jan. 21, 1826: The Missouri General Assembly adjourned for the last time at the state capitol in St. Charles. The following spring, all the state property was loaded onto a keelboat, and the capitol was moved to Jefferson City.

Jan. 21, 1960: Stan Musial asked for and received a pay cut from $100,000 to $80,00 per year. Stan said he had been overpaid in 1957 and 1958 and his salary should be cut back because of his performance in 1959! On this date in 1969, Stan was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Jan. 29, 1944: The battleship "Missouri" was launched at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The Japanese signed the surrender papers at the end of World War II aboard the "Mighty Mo" in Tokyo Bay.

Jan. 30, 2000: The Rams brought St. Louis its first Super Bowl title, with a 23-16 win over the Tennessee Titans at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Rams linebacker Mike Jones tackled Titans receiver Kevin Dyson at the one-yard line as time ran out to preserve the win.

 

Places to go, Things to do

Places to Go, Things to Do

Eagle Days is big event in January

One of the neat outdoor activities for kids and their families in January is Eagle Days. That's the chance to view wild eagles from the Chain of Rocks Bridge on the Mississippi River.

The free viewing from the bridge will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 17 and 18. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

In addition, lots of kids from both Illinois and Missouri will be on eagle watching school field trips earlier in the week.

The bridge has been reserved for Illinois school groups on Wednesday, Jan. 14. Missouri school groups have the bridge on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 15 and 16.

All the viewing slots for school groups already have been filled.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) host the Eagle Days.

Special viewing scopes will be installed on the bridge to provide close-ups of the eagles. Conservation agents will be on hand to help kids use the scopes.

In addition, educational programs will run every half-hour from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Re-enactors also will acquaint visitors to aspects of the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery exploration.

Dick Turner of the Missouri Department of Conservation said eagles started moving into the St. Louis area early in December. The Mississippi River at St. Louis is an ideal wintering spot because the river remains open. That means the eagles can find plenty of fish in open water.

In addition to free admission, free parking also is available.

The free parking is close to the bridge on the Illinois side. On the Missouri side, the free parking is a little further away but there are free shuttles from the lots.

On the Missouri side, $5 parking is closer to the bridge.

Missouri is one of the nation's leading bald eagle states. Thousands of eagles migrate south from Canada and Great Lakes states every fall, searching for open water.

The bald eagle has been the national symbol since 1782. After a sharp decline, eagle numbers in the U.S. have made a comeback in recent years. There were more than 2,200 eagles reported in Missouri during a recent winter.

For information on the Chain of Rocks Eagle Days, you can call Trailnet at (314) 416-9930, the IDNR at (618) 462-1181 or the MDC at (314) 877-1309.

Trout fishing plus a chili feed

Kids get a special two-for-one fishing treat in January at the Suson Park lakes in south St. Louis County. On January 24, there will be after-hours trout fishing opportunities for kids as well as an all-you-can-eat chili supper.

The event is from 4-8 p.m. Admission is $5 for kids 6 through 12 and $8 for those 13 and over. Kids under 5 are free.

Advance registration for the fishing event is required. Call (314) 416-4374.

The Missouri Department of Conservation stocks trout in a number of lakes in metro St. Louis during the winter. The lakes at Suson Park are included in that stocking program.

Then, twice during the winter, Ranger Tim of the County Parks Department comes up with special chili suppers to make the fishing at Suson even better.

The first event was in November and the final one is January 24.

The chili comes in two "heats," Regular for tenderfoots or Leg Kickin' Hot.

For a story about all the city fishing lakes that have been stocked with trout, click here.

Hunter education classes

January is a good time for kids to take their mandatory hunter education classes. Both the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the St. Louis County Parks are offering classes this month.

In addition, there are mapping classes offered by the County Parks to keep you from getting lost on those hunting or hiking trips.

Certification of completion of hunter education classes are required before kids can get hunting licenses in any of the 50 states.

In St. Louis County, special hunter education certification classes will be offered on January 3 and 10. They will be offered at the Greensfelder Rec Complex in Queeny Park in west St. Louis County.

The MDC will offer hunter education classes at the Jay Henges Shooting Range and Training Center on January 10 and 11. The range is located off I-44 at 1100 Antire Road in High Ridge.

Both the county and conservation classes are for 11 and over. Kids under 16 need to be accompanied by an adult.

Advance registration is required.

For the county, call (314) 416-4374. For the MDC classes, call (636) 441-4554.

St. Louis County Parks also are offering a class on using topographical maps and a compass. That's helpful information to keep you from getting lost on a hunting trip or while out hiking.

This mapping class will be offered January 18 at the Alpine Shop in Kirkwood.

The cost is $3 and advance registration is required. Call (314) 416-4374.

For information on other St. Louis County programs, visit www.stlouisco.com/parks. For more information on MDC programs, visit www.mdc.state.mo.us.

 

Math Puzzler

Mr. Math Puzzler is starting the 2004 year with questions that involve series of numbers. Some are pretty easy but others are tougher.

There are some where an educated guess can be the proper approach. Then, there are others where a proper equation would be most helpful.

You remember that Young Saint Louis.com's Mr. Math Puzzler is Mr. Wayne Hesse. He's an eighth grade math teacher at Green Park Lutheran School in south St. Louis County.

The Math Puzzler feature has been on this website since September, 2001. Sometimes we have a bunch of winners and other months no one gets all six Puzzlers correct.

There were three winners in the December competition. Before that, we had gone two months without a winner. But, in December, the winners were 13-year-old Leslie Hlavaty from St. Gabrie Catholic School and two brothers from Chesterfield, 10-year-old Eric and 12-year-old Phillip Hsu.

If you'd like to check on the December questions, answers and explanations, click here.

(If you'd like to check a number of the past editions, just click on the Past Stories tab at the top of the home page. Then, pick any month from September, 2001, on and review both questions and answers.)

If any of our contestants get all six answers correct, we publish their names in the following month. Also, as an added incentive, we enter all kids who get six right answers into a drawing for $10 Border's book certificates. Up to three certificates will be awarded each month.

A reminder: These Math Puzzlers can be quite challenging, especially for younger kids. Remember, we don't mind if you get help from a parent or older brother or sister. In fact, you might want to make this a family activity.

Here's how to enter:

1. Print out the following entry form.
2. Fill out your name, address and telephone number.
3. Give your answers to the six Math Puzzlers.
4. Put your completed entry into a stamped envelope.
5. Mail your entry to:
   
   Math Puzzler Contest
   Young Saint Louis.com
   231 So. Bemiston Ave., Suite 800
   Clayton, MO 63105
   
   
6. All entries must be postmarked by the 15th of the month to be eligible.

-------------Clip here to make entry-------------

Entry for January, 2004, Math Puzzler Contest:

Name: ___________________________________ Age: ____

Address: _____________________ School: ______________

City:____________________, State:______ ZIP__________

Contact phone no.(____)____________________

The Math Puzzlers
(January, 2004)

1. Begin with a large cube. Slice off a tiny triangular pyramid at each vertex of the cube. How many vertices does the resulting polyhedron have? How many edges does this resulting polyhedron have?

Answer: _______________

 

2. In one round of a TV game show, five questions are asked. The second question is worth twice as much as the first. The third question is worth three times as much as the second. The fourth question is worth four times as much as the third. The fifth question is worth five times as much as the fourth. If the fifth question is worth $12,000, what is the first question worth?

Answer: _____________

 

3. The four children in the Gonzalez family have a combined age of 25 years. Maria's older brother is six times as old as she is. Her next-to-the-oldest brother is 5 years older than she is and the youngest of her brothers is twice Maria's age. How old is each of the Gonzalez children?

Answer: _____________

 

4. An electrical panel has 100 switches in a row, all in the OFF position. Every second switch is turned to the ON position, and then every third switch is changed from whatever position it is in to the other position. How many switches are now in the ON position?

Answer: _____________

 

5. What is the least whole number that is divisible by all the whole numbers from 1 through 9?

Answer: _____________

 

6. Find the product:

(1 - 1/2) (1 - 1/3) (1 - 1/4) (1 - 1/5) through (1 - 1/39) (1 - 1/40)

Answer: _____________

 

There were three winners in the December Math Puzzler competition. That broke a string of two straight months when Mr. Math Puzzler had stumped all of those who entered.

Thirteen-year-old Leslie Hlavaty and two brothers from Chesterfield, 10-year-old Eric and 12-year-old Phillip Hsu, bot all six o the December Math Puzzlers correct. Leslie was among a number of entrants from St. Gabriel Catholic School.

Eric goes to Wild Horse Elementary School and Phillip is at Crestview Middle School

Mr. Math Puzzler is Wayne Hesse, an 8th grade math teacher at Green Park Lutheran School in south St. Louis County. In December, he used a series of questions that were similar to some he'd used in the past.

That gave entrants an opportunity to look at past editions to check for the similar questions and their answers. With those past answers, there was also an explanation of how to arrive at those answers.

The Math Puzzler competition started in September, 2001. That means there are over two years of past Puzzlers--with answers--that can be checked. To do that, you just go to the Past Stories tab on the top of the home page and look at any editions from September, 2001, to the present.

Young Saint Louis.com likes it when there are kids who get all the right answers.

We not only name winner in this story. We also mailed a $10 Borders' gift certificate as a special bonus.

Here are the questions, answers and explanations for last month's Math Puzzlers:

The December, 2003, answers

1. Jim's pennies are worth as much as his nickels, his nickels are worth as much as his dimes and his dimes are worth as much as his quarters. If the total value of all his coins is $12, how many dimes does he have?

Answer: 30 dimes

The explanation: If each of the batches of coins are all worth the same, that means each batch is worth one-fourth of $12 or $3. That means there would be 30 dimes.

 

2. Four straight lines can cross in as many as six points (see diagram). What is the greatest number of points in which five straight lines can cross?

Answer: 10 points

The explanation: Here's an illustration of the answer:

 

3. Kevin is 14 inches taller than George. The difference between Kevin and Richard is 2 inches less than between Richard and George. Kevin at 6'6" is the tallest. How tall are Richard and George?

Answer: Richard is 6' and George is 5'4"

The explanation: With Kevin at 6'6" and 14 inches taller than George, George must be 5'4". Then, you divide the 14 inches so that one number is two more than the other. That makes Richard 6' even, which is six less than Kevin and eight more than George.

 

4. A baseball team just won a championship game and the players wanted to congratulate each other. They began shaking hands. How many handshakes were necessary for each player to shake every other player's hand? Remember, there are nine players on a baseball team.

Answer: 36 handshakes

The explanation: There are nine players. The ninth player shakes hands with the other eight. The eighth player has seven other players with which to shake hands.
This series can be set up in the following series of numbers:

     Player: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
     Shakes: 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 - = 36 shakes

 

5. Two trains are on a head-on collision course. The trains are currently 65 miles apart. The north-bound train is traveling 55 mph and the south-bound train is traveling 80 mph. What is the distance between the two trains two minutes before they collide?

Answer: 4.5 miles

The explanation: The following formula will explain:

• One train will go 55/60th of a mile in one minute or 110/60th in two.
• The other train goes 80/60th of a mile in one minute, 160/60th in two.
• Both go 270/60th of a mile in two minutes, that's 4.5 miles.

 

6. A car travels at a speed of 30 mph over an unknown distance, and then returns over the same distance at a speed of 20 mph. What is the average speed for the total trip.

Answer: 24 mpr

The explanation: Distance equals time x rate (d=tr). To answer this question, you can pick any distance. We'll pick 60 miles so it matches up easily with 1 hour or 60 minutes. The 30-mpr car takes 2 hours to travel 60 miles. The 20-mpr car takes 3 hours. The two cars go 120 miles in 5 hours. The average speed is miles divided by time or 24 miles per hour.

 

 

Fun & Games

Fun & Games

Trivia - Advertising Slogans

When you're done, click here for the answers.

1. What chain of stores claims to have "Always low prices - always"?
2. What St. Louis grocery chain says they're "The friendliest stores in town"?
3. Another grocery chain claims "The more you shop the more you save". Which one?
4. This popular soft drink has been "For those who think young". Which one?
5. Which radio station claims to be "The voice of St. Louis"?
6. Who claims "The last place you would go for a burger has become the first"?
7. This huge chain of eateries has the new slogan "I'm lovin" it".
8. What do you send "When you care enough to send the very best"?
9. What car company says "If you haven't looked at a _____lately, look again"?
10. What eatery says "Think outside the bun"?

 

Crossword Puzzles

When you have completed the puzzles, you can click here to find the answers!

Young Saint Louis.com #1

 

Young Saint Louis.com #2