Brown School

The George Warren Brown School of Social Work honored three individuals with Outstanding Alumni Awards at the 2005 Outstanding Social Work Awards Banquet May 12 at the Forest Park Visitor Center. The school also presented an Outstanding Faculty Award to Mark R. Rank, Ph.D., the Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare. Outstanding Alumni Awards were presented to the Rev. Cynthia S. Bumb, Ruth Greene Richardson and Frank S. Seever.

She did a practicum as an adviser with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Regional Office in Thailand.

Alumni awards were presented to Cynthia Bumb, Ruth Greene Richardson & Frank Seever; the Outstanding Faculty Award went to Mark Rank.

Photo by Kevin LowderThe School of Social Work held its annual International Festival April 22 in Brown Hall; the theme was “Crossroads: Celebrating One World.”

This year’s theme is “Crossroads: Celebrating One World”; the event will begin with an international banquet and art exhibition.

Photo by Bill StoverA powwow featuring an expanded drum circle and a special stomp dance exhibit was the final event of American Indian Awareness Week.

From traditional foods to lively entertainment, international students at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work will offer a taste of their homelands at the 11th annual International Festival 5-9:30 p.m. April 22 in Brown Hall. The event will begin with an international banquet and art exhibition from 5-7:30 p.m. in Brown Hall Lounge. This year’s theme is “Crossroads: Celebrating One World.” The entertainment, which includes dance, song and poetry from numerous countries, will start at 7:30 p.m. in Brown Hall Room 100. All events are free and open to the public.

Instead of solely fostering high schoolers’ self-esteem to curb African-American dropout rates, school social workers and educators should focus on the students’ academic self-beliefs, says a school social work expert. “There is little evidence showing a link between feeling good about oneself and academic achievement, particularly with African-American youths,” says Melissa Jonson-Reid, Ph.D., associate professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. “School social workers need to focus on programs that promote a student’s belief in their academic abilities and the importance of education, such as study skills training and mentoring.”

Washington University’s George Warren Brown School of Social Work and Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies are hosting the 15th annual powwow, in conjunction with American Indian Awareness Week and the celebration of the Buder Center’s 15th anniversary. The powwow, which is free and open to the public, will run noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 9 at the University’s Athletic Center near the intersection of Forsyth Boulevard and Olympian Way. Arts & crafts booths will be open at 10 a.m. This year’s anniversary powwow features American Indian arts, crafts, music, food, a stomp dance exhibit and an expanded dance contest, which is expected to draw tribal dancers from throughout the Midwest. Grand entries of dancers will be showcased at 1 and 7 p.m.

An American Indian powwow, traditional cuisine, storytelling, music and crafts will be among the highlights.