Patsy Rodriguez remembers how close her 9-year-old twins Mateo and Marco were as babies. They were practically inseparable.
“They used to hold hands a lot even as toddlers,” she said. “They’d fall asleep side by side with one laying his head on the other.”
They were so close that Ms. Rodriguez worried about them being separated when they started school. But she remembers a teacher telling her that the boys would be fine. The separation would be good for them, the teacher said.

Lindbergh Elementary School third- and fourth-grade students are getting a hands-on lesson in helping the needy. Starting Monday, Jenni Miscavish’s third-graders and Kim Seckinger’s fourth-graders will begin a two-week canned food drive at the school.

Steve Fitzhugh stood in the middle of the Bode Middle School gymnasium Tuesday morning barking drills like a football coach. “Do you agree or disagree that’s it’s OK to drink?” He asked a group of students fidgeting at center court. Those who agreed were asked to move to one side. Those who disagreed were asked to move to the other side of the court.

One good thing about growing up poor is the experience comes in handy during tough times. That way, not having a job, a car or enough money isn’t so much a shock to the system.

Kylee Strough and her husband, Brett, can help their son Conner with his homework now. But the St. Joseph couple know that time is short. A day is coming when their only son will have to study on his own. “We’re able to keep up and help him at this point,” Mrs. Strough said of her fourth-grader. “I think they’re learning things earlier than we did when I was in grade school. I don’t remember some of the things he’s doing now at this age.” Kelsey Guthery doesn’t even think to ask her mother for help with her homework. The 17-year-old Lafayette High School junior goes straight to her older brothers for help.

John Ostertag didn’t know what to think. He and Enid Harris had been writing letters back and forth to each other for months. And he had saved up $100 so he could buy a Model T Ford and drive down to Kansas City from his home in Atchison, Kan., to see her for the first time.

Mike Chambers remembers a time when children followed in their parents’ footsteps to a line of work. Millers’ sons became millers. Steelworkers’ sons became steelworkers.
But as factories left, opportunities did, too. And as a result, the unemployment rate rose.
“A task force was created to look at unemployment in St. Joe, and they came up with several reasons,” said Mr. Chambers, regional director of external affairs for AT&T Missouri. “One of them being that a lot of our students in St. Joseph didn’t finish high school.”
The St. Joseph high school dropout rate was 26 percent in 1989 when the local United Way created its Profit in Education (PIE) program. PIE brought together business, government and school leaders to work on initiatives to decrease the dropout rate. Since PIE was created, the dropout rate has steadily declined. But it’s a problem that still exists.

In the not too distant future, children will become adults who will compete in the global market.
To be successful, they will have to connect with other societies around the world, both economically and socially.
And that is one reason why Central High School during the last few years has been working on approval for a program to give kids that edge.

he past year we’ve been deluged with music from the Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff Philadelphia International Records musical vault. Now we have the Total Soul Series from Philly Soul’s golden age in the 1970s.

The image of a man pushing two girls to school in a wheelchair is an unforgettable one. Soon, it will only exist in memory.