Guest Speaker Geoffrey Soyiantet on African Immigration Experience in STL
Geoffrey Soyiantet, founder and President of Vitendo4Africa (V4A), will join Civitas on February 6 via Zoom to talk about the African immigrant experience in St. Louis and other areas of Missouri. “Vitendo” is a Swahili word that means action, which is the core of the non-profit organization, providing action through support and services to Africans planning to arrive in St. Louis and those who are already here. Jeff and others will share how they have benefited from V4A’s help. Sign up now for this hour-long event that will focus on the trials and tribulations for immigrants merging two different cultures.
The event is Saturday, February 6 from 11 am until noon via Zoom. It’s free for all high school or middle school students.
Click here to register.
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Follow-up This Thursday Evening: Continue the Conversation with Melissa Vatterott on Impact of Local Farming on Climate Change
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We had a terrific session with Melissa Vatterott of the  Missouri Coalition for the Environment on Saturday, January 23rd. There was tremendous interest in continuing the conversation. We sent out a poll for what date and time would work for interested students and the winning time is this Thursday, February 4, from 7:00 - 8:00 PM.
There are a number of remaining questions about how current conventional farming techniques cause enormous challenges to a clean environment. Many want to know what they can do to address the issues, as well as how to minimize their personal environmental footprints.
This is a quick turnaround; the follow-up session is this Thursday. Students and teachers are welcome to attend, even if they were not at the previous Saturday session.
To register, click here:
Below are important follow-up links to Melissa's presentation:
- Link to Melissa's PowerPoint.
- Link to blog post from Metro High School freshman Alice Kovarik on related environmental issues.
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Calendar
Look for information next week on Greater St. Louis Model UN
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Thursday, February 4
7:00 - 8:00 PM
Saturday, February 6
11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Saturday, February 13
11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Saturday, February 20
9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Saturday, February 27
11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
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Follow-up session with Melissa Vatterott from Missouri Coalition for the Environment. This is a rare Civitas evening session. When you register, you can include questions that you'd like to ask.
Click here to register
Geoffrey Soyiantet, director of Vitendo 4 Africa, and recent immigrants from Africa to St. Louis will discuss their experiences.
Click here to register
Conversation with Journalists from Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the meat-packing industry in Missouri and the Midwest.
Click here to register
High School Model UN -- Spring Session
Click here to register
Nicole Rainey of American Civil Liberties of Missouri (ACLU-MO)
Click here to register
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Civitas Students: ZOOM with Journalists Who Are Covering the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Midwestern Meatpacking Industry
 As many of our readers know, Civitas collaborates with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. The mission of the Pulitzer Center is to cover stories that are under-reported, mis-reported or not reported at all. Most of the Center's work focuses on occurrences outside of the United States, but in recent years it has included important domestic stories
This Spring, Pulitzer journalists will be visiting classrooms in and around St. Louis by ZOOM to report on how Midwestern meatpacking plants have been particularly hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. We will be scheduling those visits closely. But in the meantime, we will have a special Saturday ZOOM for interested students and teachers. This is a terrific opportunity to hear from reports who have been on the ground reporting from the meatpacking plants and visiting the families of the workers there.
 The primary journalist with whom we will be working is Sky Chadde, Managing Editor of the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has been a Data Fellow for USA Today.
You can register by clicking here.
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Back by Request--Another Model United Nations on Saturday, Feb. 20 from 9:00 am-12:00 pm!
 With national events and news dominating our lives these days, it will be a nice break to concentrate on international events again for a morning via Zoom when Civitas hosts another High School Model UN session on February 20. Middle School students are welcome to attend, too. If you participated in the November or December MUN event, you can sign up for the same country. If you do not have a country, just choose one for registration. If it is not available, we will let you know.
Writing a resolution is optional, but encouraged. Send resolutions to Stephanie via email: gavinstephanie89@gmail.com.
We hope to see you there!
Click here to register.
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Nicole Rainey from ACLU-MO to talk about Civil Liberties Issues
Special Focus on Student Rights
On Saturday, February 27, Nicole Rainey of the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri will ZOOM with Civitas students to talk about Civil Liberties Issues. The federal government's view of inalienable rights has changed considerably as we have moved from the Trump Administration to the era of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The ACLU was established in the 19-teens to protect liberties that were threatened by the government overstepping its reach. Many of the causes that it supports are not popular (e.g. advocating for Nazi protestors to have the right to march through a Jewish neighborhood), but they consistently work to protect individual liberties. This is true regarding student rights in school. Nicole will be joined by at least one other attorney from the ACLU-MO.
You can register for the event by clicking here.
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Another Great Student Blog Post -- Review of "Radium Girls"
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 People clash with police in St. Petersburg, Russia, while protesting against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Saturday, January 23. Navalny was detained by police on January 17, five months after he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. He was placed on the country's federal wanted list last month for violating terms of the probation related to a years-old fraud case, which he dismisses as politically motivated. Dmitri Lovetsky/AP |
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This past week at the United Nations
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