South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Lindbergh High sophomores selected for summer enrichment opportunity

Emily Stubbs
Emily Stubbs

By AIME PARENTEAU

For the Call

Three gifted Lindbergh High School sophomores recently attended the University of Missouri-Columbia to study such diverse topics as botany, time travel and the “Mad, Mad, Mad World.”

Paul Nauert, Jessica Sparks and Emily Stubbs were selected to join more than 300 other sophomores at the Missouri Scholars Academy for three weeks in June.

Nauert heard great things about the academy’s program from friends. He decided that it would be “cool to be at a college campus” this summer.

Since each attendee can select from a list of specialized curricula, Nauert picked the study of current events titled, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World.”

While at Lindbergh High School, Nauert worked on an advanced independent investigation in the field of languages. He studies Arabic and French.

He hopes to pursue his future interest of international law at Washington University or an Ivy League school.

Nauert is president of the school’s French Club, a cross country runner and played the lead in “Midsummer’s Night Dream.” He works summers and weekends at Johnny’s Market.

Nauert is the son of Paul and Suzanne Nauert.

Sparks originally wanted to do summer work to raise funds to attend Stanford Uni-versity upon graduation. But Michelle Ryder, her teacher, convinced her that applying for the academy would benefit her and allow her to “meet and enjoy others who share her interests.”

Sparks selected a study of time travel for her specialized curriculum. The class included discussions of the theory of movement in time and reading top science fiction authors. Sparks currently is interested in teaching English because she “loves to write.”

Sparks is the daughter of Bob Sparks.    

Stubbs said she applied for the academy because she “wanted to study topics I couldn’t get at school.” Her specialized curriculum will be botany, ecology and field classification.  

One requirement for the Missouri Scholars Academy application was writing two essays.

The first concerned “how you would help your community.” Thinking of the high school community, Stubbs wrote about the need for more sidewalks. She wrote that Lindbergh Boulevard “can be dangerous to walk along without sidewalks.” In her second essay, Stubbs wrote about her best friend, Paula Smith, and how Smith affected her life.

Stubbs is a member of the National Honor Society and the Strolling Strings.

She has been with the latter for seven years, playing the violin. Stubbs’ parents are Neil and Jeanette Stubbs.

This was Sparks’ and Stubbs’ first time away from home. They said they were very excited about going away for three weeks.

The Missouri Scholars Academy is funded by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in cooperation with the University of Missouri. The program reflects Missouri’s desire to strive for excellence in education at all levels.

High school teachers selected from throughout the state comprise the academy faculty. The program also includes guest speakers, performers and general discussions as well as extracurricular and social activities. Established in 1985, the 19 years of the project have included more than 6,300 state high school students.

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