Jeanie Crain to publish book

Dr. Jeanie Crain, professor of English, has a textbook coming out in the fall of 2010 from Polity Press, an international publisher of social sciences and humanities books. Reading the Bible as Literature: An Introduction introduces students to the common tools of literary analysis while helping them understand the Bible as a literary text. The book seeks to return the Bible to the common reader and to build in that reader an appreciation fo a collection of ancient, literary texts.

Congratulations on a book of biblical proportions, Jeanie!

"Shhhh!" says Cindi Nicks, Librarian

Cynthia A. Nicks--the mother of two children (daughter Emily Auxier is also a MWSU graduate and teaches for the St. Joseph School District, and son Zebulon Auxier is currently a seminary student) is currently Medical Librarian for Heartland Health, belongs to the Health Science Library Network Consortia, and is the current President for the Friends of Rolling Hills Library.

Drop Cindi a line at cindi.nicks@yahoo.com

Spanish Pays Big for Alumnus

Jason Buss reports that "if you're wondering if learning Spanish is worth all the work--I can tell you it definitely is!" Jason finds that his ability to speak fluent spanish has been a great asset in his work in Human Resources. Jason speaks spanish daily with his HR counterparts all over Latin America. "This education combined with my BS in Business Administration . . . has allowed me to work and help people all over the world."

Chalk it up as yet another satisfied foreign language student in a global economy.

So where is Aimee Pike these days?

Living under the name "Aimee Wilson" and teaching in the Buchanan County R-IV school district, that's where. Aimee reports getting married to a mysterious Mr. Wilson, also a Griffon, and having a son, Collin. After taking teacher certification classes at some university up the road whose name escapes me (they wear green, I seem to remember), she took a job teaching Communication Arts and is in her 5th year teaching. She teaches 7th- and 8th-graders English and Mass Media and reports "loving every bit of it."

Catch up with Aimee at ajp0120@yahoo.com.

Open Mic Resumes in 2010

The next open mic reading will be at Fosters Martini Bar on Wednesday, February 3 from 7-9 PM. Come with your prose (fiction and non) and poetry (written before or after you get there).

See you there.

Area Language Arts Teachers Score Contest Entries

Thirty-0ne educators from western Missouri met on Saturday, January 16 at Missouri Western where they scored 220 Missouri Writing Region 2010 contest entries (and approximately 1,500 at-large submissions) submitted by students in grades 7-12 in the categories of personal essay/memoir, poetry, dramatic script, persuasive writing, journalism, humor, science fiction/fantasy, short story, short short story, and general writing portfolio (seniors only). We've posted pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/priarielands/ScholasticScoringSession# (be sure to add the number sign to the end of the address. Blogger won't do it.)

The top-scoring pieces from this round will be judged in Columbia, MO on January 23 to contend for state honors. Our state winners and their teachers will be honored at the 2010 Write-to-Learn Conference in Osage Beach, MO on Friday, February 26.

Tracy Jones completes training

EFLJ alumnus Tracy Jones recently completed an MA in TESOL (he graduated with distinction) from London Metropolitan University. He returns this spring to Seoul, South Korea to continue his teaching career.

Congratulations to Tracy, and best of luck!

Another grandbaby for Grandma Frick

Yesterday Jane Frick became a grandmother for the fourth time. Her son David's became the proud pop of Leo (the Capricorn) Mosely Frick (7 pounds, 2 ounces.; 19.5 inches; extra brains). Leo is named for children's illustrator Leo Lionni, most famous for his collage book _Frederick_ about a mouse who tells his pals stories throughout the long winter. That would come in handy around here!

Congratulations, Grandma!