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Lindsay Williams, a first-grade teacher at Lee-Hamilton Elementary in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, says there is no way she’d be able to sit still in a 9-to-5 office job. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t expect her kids to sit still, either. She keeps them moving and stretching about every 10 minutes, even if they’re doing a quiet activity such as looking at books — not to mention the days they’re milking cows or making soap or learning how plants grow during field trips. “I have so much fun at my job,” she says. “I literally dance and sing and laugh every day.”

Vatterott Educational Centers announced the immediate closure of all its campuses Monday, citing financial difficulties.

In a letter sent to students, the for-profit college based in Berkeley pointed to a U.S. Department of Education decision to limit Vatterott’s participation in federal financial aid programs.

The waiting list at Big Brothers Big Sisters never shrinks.

“People always ask, ‘Why isn’t the wait list going down?’” said Becky Hatter, president and CEO of the mentorship program’s regional chapter. “It’s because the children just keep coming.”

Meanwhile, mentors to pair with those kids come along at a much slower pace.

That scarcity is highlighted by a quick glance at the wait list for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri. The local arm of the national organization has about 1,000 children waiting for a match — 800 of whom are boys.

Former U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond is back in the news, handing out the first batch of <a href="http://nie.post-dispatch.com/%3Ca%20href%3D"https://blogs.umsl.edu/news/2018/12/06/bond-international-scholars/"">https://blogs.umsl.edu/news/2018/12/06/bond-international-scholars/" target="_blank">Bond International Scholars</a> grants — including five to students at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.