Author: Diane Toroian Keaggy

The African Film Festival, which begins Friday, April 1, offers a lineup of award-winning films that provide a nuanced look at Africa’s cultures and concerns. The festival, which is free and open to the public, runs through Sunday, April 3.

Harvey Fields, assistant director for academic programs at Cornerstone, the Center for Advanced Learning, has been named assistant dean for student success. The position is a new one that will advance the university’s commitment to better serve low-income and first-generation students.

As a PhD student, Tim Bono submitted article after article to leading psychology journals and was rejected every single time. “No one thought I was making a substantive contribution,” he said. But that failure led Bono, now an assistant dean, to discover positive psychology, a field he loves to research and teach.

The Amazing Brain Carnival, beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 5, delivers a full day of brain demonstrations, experiments, puzzles and games at the Saint Louis Science Center. Visitors also will get to touch a real brain.

Among Missouri’s poorest performing districts, the Jennings School District had lost accreditation and community support. But when a dynamic new superintendent arrived with a bold plan to turn around the district, Washington University stepped up with resources to serve children both inside and outside of the classroom.

The Institute for School Partnership has introduced its MySci curriculum to every elementary classroom in the Jennings School District. The result: prepared educators, inspired students.

As a social work practicum student, Keyria Jeffries will do anything to help the children of Fairview Primary. Some days that means finding a child a place to live. Other days, it means giving a hungry child something to eat.

Cyclists traveling near the Delmar Loop are encouraged to avoid the recently installed Loop Trolley tracks and take a newly marked bike route. The route will be marked in the upcoming weeks with signs and painted sharrows.

The Institute for School Partnership at Washington University in St. Louis has been accepted as a partner for 100Kin10, a 10-year national coordinated effort to train and retain 100,000 excellent science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers in schools by 2021.

Scientists solve the world’s greatest challenges and are paid well to do so. Yet the gender gap persists in engineering, computer science and other fields. Women in STEM Day at Washington University in St. Louis welcomes high school girls into the community of female scientists and introduces them to cutting-edge research. Hosted by undergraduate female science students, the event features demonstrations, top speakers and a sleepover.