The Lead
Stay connected with the School of Education at Lindenwood University
February 2021 Vol. 2021 | February Issue
Dean's Message
Hello everyone,

Welcome to the first 2021 issue of The Lead, the newsletter of the Lindenwood School of Education. With this New Year comes a new semester and the excitement of the return to the “classroom”. The energy among our students, faculty, and partners is evident in their enthusiasm. Our undergraduate teacher education program enrollments have increased despite the many challenges of the past several months. This is a testimony to the commitment of our students, the dedication of our faculty, and the engagement of our community partners who together have shown a remarkable determination to accommodate unprecedented circumstances and maintain quality. Similarly, our administrative and human services faculty, students, and partners continue to ensure program growth and integrity. Also, we are very proud to announce that our newly approved Doctor of Education program is now accepting applications for its inaugural student cohort. And finally, watch for a change of name for the school in the coming months. A change that recognizes its position and reflects the diversity of its many programs.
 
While the challenges that have beset higher education the over these past months have been daunting, I think you will agree after reading The Lead that we continue to thrive and greet the new year with enthusiasm.

Enjoy,
Anthony Scheffler, Ph.D. 
Dean, Lindenwood School of Education 
Student Reflection - Amy Shapiro
Featured Stories
School of Education Sponsors The 2021 State of Black Educators Symposium

Lindenwood - School of Education and Center for Diversity & Inclusion sponsors The 2021 State of Black Educators Symposium February 4-5, click here to register

The inaugural State of Black Educators Symposium was created for people/organizations interested in coming together to discuss better ways to recruit, develop, support, and mentor Black educators.

The State of Black Educators Flipped Job Fair Scheduled February 6, 2021 - click here to register. DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR SUBMISSIONS - Over 40 local, regional, urban, suburban, rural, K12, college, and nonprofit organizations will be represented and looking to connect with teachers, administrators, professors, advisors, instructional specialists, even nurses!

At the #SBE21 Flipped Job Fair, potential employees will provide information to potential employers while also interviewing potential employers to determine why they should apply for positions in their organization.  As an attendee, you will be able to share information about who you are and what type of educational employer you would like to work for.

  • SOE-DEI Committee seeks suggestions and feedback from our Students, Faculty, and Community to help further our mission of cultivating a state of equitable engagement and the promotion of a culture of unity. We value your input, click here to submit your feedback.
  • SOE-DEI Committee meeting was held December 10, 2020 and included featured guest speakers - Co-founders of Black Male Educators - St. Louis (BMESTL). During the meeting Diggs spoke to the committee about some of the challenges he experienced as a black male in education and the importance of young people seeing a representation of themselves in schools. Diggs stated, "I believe having representation is the catalyst for making dreams a reality and sparking the spirit of imagination. If we are not giving young people our best and variations of greatness, then we will further decrease their potential."
Announcing New Ed.D. in Leadership

Lindenwood University is excited to announce an online Doctor of Education in Leadership program. This 48 credit-hour, three-year, cohort-based learning experience offers students the opportunity to develop and transform educational processes, practices, and organizations, implement design thinking principles and applied research methodology, and emerge as a scholar-practitioner. Each fall and spring scholar design teams, including content experts and students, engage in the process of design thinking, research, and developing a problem-based dissertation. Doctoral students, along with members of the scholar design team, will receive individual and ongoing support throughout the Ed.D. experience. During the application process, students will select an area of concentration; Curriculum and Instruction or Education Administration (Missouri Advanced Superintendent Certification).

Faculty in the Leadership Ed.D. program utilize open educational resources (OER’s), eliminating the cost of textbooks and providing access to the most current research. As a part of the School of Education’s Digital Initiative students will access all program materials via an iPad, which may be purchased through the university, or on a comparable device of their own.

All courses will be asynchronous, with planned synchronous sessions tailored to facilitate the course outcomes, as student engagement is a recognized best practice. Applications are being accepted now through March 31, learn more about this exciting new offering today!
School of Education Faculty to Join The Confluence Editorial Review Board

Dr. Nichole Torbitzky, Editor-in-Chief of the newly imagined online journal, The Confluence, has announced she is looking for faculty to participate on the editorial review board. The School of Education is proud to announce that two of our own faculty members, Drs. Kristen Levin (above) and Tonya Thompson (below), have been selected.
 
The Confluence has distinguished itself as a regional studies journal since 2009. Under the vision and guidance of Provost, Dr. Arant, The Confluence is shifting its mission to become a student-centered publication designed to offer exciting opportunities for real experience in undergraduate student and faculty-student joint research and publishing. Starting this spring, The Confluence will begin to publish student and/or joint student-faculty scholarly papers. It will also highlight unique student and/or student-faculty research projects and collaborations to celebrate Lindenwood students’ real success.
News from the Center for Innovation & Insight

The Center for Innovation & Insight was excited to support our Library Resources in hosting an Open Educational Resources (OER) workshop on January 15, 2021. Leah Rosenmiller, our Engagement and Outreach Librarian with Lindenwood's Library Services presented SOE Faculty and Adjuncts essential information on how to locate and implement OER in course design. She specifically walked faculty through services available here at Lindenwood and answered questions related to the intricacies of locating material. As OER is an important initiative our School of Education is working toward, this workshop was designed to prepare faculty to be able to adopt, adapt and transform their courses. SOE is dedicated to delivering high quality courses with a dedicated emphasis on equitable access to course materials.  We thank Ms. Rosenmiller for her efforts in preparing this professional development opportunity!
Dean, Dr. Scheffler, is a Guest on the Teach and Retire Podcast

Dr. Anthony Scheffler, Dean - School of Education at Lindenwood University, talks teacher preparation and educating pre-service teachers about saving for retirement on the Teach and Retire Rich podcast.  The Teach and Retire Rich podcast is produced by 403bwise.org, a non-profit dedicated to educating teachers about the 403(b) and 457(b) supplemental retirement plans.

Additionally, Dr. Scheffler was a featured guest at 403bwise’s January 27 event: Shark Repellent: Panel discussion about how to educate pre-service teachers about saving for retirement before the 403(b) sales sharks get to them. You can watch a recording of the event below:
Recent News in Research and Grants

Beginning in February, after receiving the PRIDE Fund Award Grant, Rebecca Panagos will begin field-testing the Android and iPhone Apps for the Family Planner. The Family Planner is a tool to assist families with goal setting, decision-making, and advocating for services for their child. Participating families that receive Missouri First Steps services for early interventions invite the research team on their virtual home visits. Critical to the PRIDE Fund Award Grant, Dr. Kyle Coble leads marketing students in developing a marketing plan to introduce the Family Planner to potential business partners. We also congratulate Agata Freedle for being awarded both the E-FSAC Scholarly Deployment and the PRIDE Fund Award for her research, "Psychological Outcomes Following Reproductive Trauma" (see information in story below).
 
Additionally, we congratulate Dr. Kristen Levin for receiving the School of Education's Faculty and Student Advisory Committee's (E-FSAC) Scholarly Deployment award. Dr. Levin's study is titled, Unfamiliar Ground: The Effect of Moving Instruction to Virtual Platforms on Higher Education during the COVID Era. Dr. Levin intends to interview faculty teaching virtually in various disciplines who report a lack of experience in online teaching. Dr. Levin’s research goals are to identify factors that contribute to the efficacy of these professors’ instruction, University support structures perceived to be most helpful, the likelihood that they will choose to use these support structures, and their unmet scaffolding needs.  
Humanities Education Scholarship Available

The Jack J. Isgur Foundation is a Missouri not-for-profit corporation formed for the purpose of promoting an interest in the field of education in the humanities, such as literature, fine arts, music, art. poetry and dance. The Foundation awards scholarships to students studying at colleges and universities who indicate an interest in teaching courses in the above described areas in school districts, preferably rural school districts located in Missouri or Kansas. It is available to those at the junior and senior levels of undergraduate college, as well as graduate students. For more information and access to the application, visit the link below:

Counseling, Social Work, Behavior Analysis
Dr. Freedle Receives PRIDE Grant to Fund Research

Dr. Agata Freedle has been selected as a recipient of the President’s Research, Innovation, and Development toward Excellence Fund (PRIDE), an internal grant. The PRIDE fund provides faculty with support for projects promoting research, scholarship, and creative activity at Lindenwood. 

Dr. Freedle’s project will focus on exploring the relationship between two mental health outcomes that can take place following a traumatic event: posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG). Recent research suggests that these two outcomes may not be on opposite ends of a spectrum as previously believed but rather may co-occur. More specifically, this longitudinal study will investigate the factors associated with the development of PTSD or PTG as well as the predictive trajectory of these two possible outcomes following a pregnancy loss, a devastating and traumatic event. The data collection is set to start in February. 
Admission Counselor Starts a Support Group Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Current student and LU admissions counselor, Ben Carril, took the initiative to start a support group when COVID-19 struck back in March! Ben states:
 
“When COVID-19 struck us last March and we were sent to work at home fully, I was a bit overwhelmed as my son is a toddler and working became a juggling task along with taking care of him. About two weeks into working from home, I was thinking one morning about how stressful each day was, how my motivation had decreased due to the lack of human interaction I had, and just the anxiety of no end date to everything that was happening. I thought there was no way out of our 25-person department I was alone. 
 
So, I emailed Kara Schilli, our AVP of Enrollment Management asking if I could take one hour of each week for an undetermined amount of time to gather my peers on Microsoft Teams who were interested to just be present together and voice our struggles, concerns, and victories. Personally, I knew I was feeling very stressed with the balance and all the unknowns, and I thought this is one way it can help - to have a support team. She was on board immediately. Fifteen people were interested and attended most weeks, which was just amazing. We met every week together with enrollment staff members and some director-level members, too. We had discussions that were open-ended check-ins, talked through stress-relief tactics, self-care while working from home, other specific topics, and we really worked through social justice conversations when George Floyd was murdered. Along with that, I believe the timing of our group was no coincidence. I'm so glad that together we all could talk through so many emotions during such an important time in this nation's history. 
 
The group did much more than relieve stress and anxiety, I believe. It truly built this strong cohesive bond in the Enrollment Management team, as we had half the group from our St. Charles location, and the other half were people from our LU extension sites. Not many of us know each other well, and this was a fantastic and unique way that we were able to do that. I really appreciate all the members who were apart of this and so vulnerable, and I hope this can encourage other departments and their members to lean on one another during unprecedented times.”
Counseling Alum Recognized as a College Board Counseling Gem

Former School Counseling student, TaReal Kee, who currently works as a School Counselor at Collinsville High School was recognized as a College Board Counseling Gems. Congratulations!

Counseling Student Creates Virtual Wellness Center at Local School District

Current student, Sabrina (Young) Gearon helped create a Wellness Center on the Fox School District Website. Sabrina states:
 
“At the beginning of the school year, myself, my counselor, and my principal really wanted to create a document listing out different tips, coping strategies, and resources for those who need it this year. It started as just a Google Doc where we just linked to different things online, but while we were searching for different resources, my counselor came across another school who had made a similar website for it, so that's where the idea came from. We call this 'grabbing greatness from those before us'. 
 
We made the website through Google Sites (which is very user friendly!) and just added whatever pages and resources we wanted to it. We've continuously added items throughout the semester, and it has been a group effort between myself, my principal, and my counselor! 
 
Once we finished it, my principal and counselor shared it with our superintendent (after we had already shared with our school), and she loved it so we decided to make it a district wide site that anyone has access to. It's now listed on our district website for anyone to use! It has gone over very well and we have gotten great feedback from it! It is filled with tons of online coping strategies, resources, community help, etc.! My personal favorite is the animal live feeds.”
 
In the photo, from left to right: Kelli Allen (School Counselor), Gina Buehner (Assistant Principal), and Sabrina (Young) Gearon (Secretary/Counseling Intern)
Counseling Student of the Month

December:
In December we spotlight Ashley Mackins (above). Ashley (she/her) is in her second year of the Clinical Mental Health/Professional Counseling Master’s program. Her research interests include Family Counseling and her goal is to contract with mental health clinics and the military base post-graduation. When Ashley is not taking classes, she spends a lot of time helping her children with remote learning. Her favorite TV show is Forensic Files, her favorite movie is The Fighting Temptations, and her favorite book is Think like a Monk.
 
January:
In January we spotlight Sara Barchak (below). Sara (she/her) is in her first year of the School Counseling Master’s program. Her research interests include social media and the importance of a good design aesthetic in promoting credible mental health development in adolescents. Her goal after graduation is to become a high school counselor and a wedding planner on the side. When Sara is not taking classes, she enjoys playing with her dog and helping her husband on the farm. She also likes to read, eat good food, and design pretty things. Her favorite book and movie are Pride and Prejudice (2005 movie version).
 
If you’re interested in being spotlighted reach out to Program Coordinator, Brittany Grass bgrass@lindenwood.edu
BCBA Program Welcomes New Faculty Member

Welcome to our new Behavior Analysis faculty, Dr. Robbie Hanson! 

Dr. Hanson obtained her master’s degree in behavior analysis from Western Michigan University in 2008 and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst the same year. She has been working in the field for approximately 15 years and her applied areas of interest include co-morbid diagnoses, functional behavior assessment and analysis, and severe maladaptive behavior. She obtained her Ph.D. in applied behavior analysis in 2020 at Endicott College. In addition to her faculty position with Lindenwood University, she is an associate researcher with the Verbal Behavior Research Laboratory at California State University, Sacramento overseen by Dr. Caio Miguel. Her research interests include the quantitative analysis of behavior, stimulus control, stimulus equivalence, verbal behavior, and bidirectional naming. She currently resides in Sacramento, California with her husband and three children. 
Welcome to New Staff Member, Karen Vaughn!

The Counseling Department welcomes Karen Vaughn aboard! Karen is the new Clinical Mental Health Counseling Internship Coordinator and comes with a wealth of experience which will provide as a major asset to our program, students, and internship sites.
Social Work Alum Joins the Social Work Advisory Council

Monique Ruiz Goris, BSW class of 2015, has accepted our invitation to be a member of the Social Work Advisory Council. The Council, made up of social workers in community practice, is our link to the community as to the relevance of our curriculum and trends in social work practice. They also interview our social work majors who are seeking formal admission to the social work program. As an alumnus, Ms. Ruiz Goris can empathize with our students as she, too, had gone through this challenging formal admission process while a social work student at Lindenwood. Since graduation, Ms. Ruiz Goris has obtained her MSW degree at University of Missouri-St. Louis and worked as a social worker with Youth in Need. She currently is employed as a school social worker for the Hazelwood School District.
Curriculum & Instruction
Congratulations to Fall 2020 Outstanding Cooperating Teachers

We would like to thank all of our Cooperating Teachers for opening their classrooms to Lindenwood Teacher Candidates, and for sharing their knowledge, expertise and mentoring with enthusiasm. You have made a difference in the lives of our future educators!  

A special congratulations goes out to the fall 2020 Outstanding Cooperating Teachers for their exceptional efforts:

  1. Stephanie Venker, Chemistry teacher, St Charles West High, City of St. Charles School District 
  2. Jennifer Grawitch, 3rd grade, Progress South Elementary, Fort Zumwalt School District
  3. Jolene Thomas, P.E teacher, Hardin Middle School, City of St. Charles School District
  4. Margaret Ruzycki, Spanish teacher, Nipher Middle School, Kirkwood School District
  5. Katie Reed, 4th grade teacher, Pond Elementary School, Rockwood School District

SOE Program Focus


Our recently launched Master of Arts Education (33 hours), which includes an emphasis in Designing and Implementing K-12 e-Learning, is teacher-smart and classroom ready! This program will help educational professionals successfully meet the online teaching and learning needs of today! This degree is cutting-edge and designed to empower all teachers with the expertise needed to design, plan and implement K-12 e-Learning. Enroll now and start learning and implementing new online
strategies immediately. All courses are online with some 8-week options. Completion of the MAE includes a transcripted certificate in Designing and Implementing K-12 e-Learning (18 hours).

Already have an MAE? Then enroll for just the degree certificate and increase your marketability in the field of Education. 

Find more information by clicking here, or by scanning the QR below.
Our Alumni Demonstrate Real Experience and Real Success

Please join us in congratulating these Lindenwood School of Education students! They successfully completed their student teaching experience in December of 2020 and have already accepted classroom teaching positions:

Angela Davis Lyles, 1st grade teacher at LoveJoy Elementary School in Brooklyn Illinois (above).

Kaleigh Jessen, 6th grade teacher at Vineland Elementary School, in the De Soto School District (below).

We are so proud of you! Please stay in touch.
Dr. Garcia is Recipient of a Q2 Award

Congratulations to Assistant Dean of Curriculum & Instruction, Dr. Ricardo Garcia.

Q2 is a service excellence initiative that promotes content for the model of service excellence that is specific to higher education and personalized for Lindenwood University. Q2 stands for two simple questions, “what and how.” What do you need and how can I help? But it also encompasses the bigger picture, What are the expectations of our students and colleagues? How can we exceed those expectations, all of the time, for all people? These questions lay the foundation for Q2.

Thank you to Dr. Garcia for your dedication to service excellence and congratulations for the recognition and Q2 Award!
Faculty Awarded a Grant to Study the Pandemic's Impact on Student Teachers

Drs. Michelle Whitacre, Amanda Aldridge, and Ricardo Garcia were recently awarded a Lindenwood PRIDE Fund grant for their research with student teachers. Their study, A Phenomenological Study of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Culminating Field Experiences, explores teacher candidates' experiences while student teaching during the pandemic. Their research includes a diverse sample of student teachers across all grade levels as well as different placement environments. Participants taught in urban, suburban and rural settings. Some taught fully online, while others taught using a hybrid model that included a mix of virtual and face-to-face teaching. Some began their semester teaching online and transitioned to teaching in a face-to-face classroom. The researchers hope that their study will give insights into the experiences of these teacher candidates who were forced to adapt to a new and different way of teaching. They also seek to understand how to better support and prepare teacher candidates to be successful in this new and evolving instructional landscape. 
Educational Leadership
Alum, Tiandra Bland, Is Recognized in River View Garden School District's Principal Spotlight

School of Education alumna, and principal at Lewis & Clark Elementary, was just recognized in the Principal Spotlight for the Riverview Gardens School District.

Congratulations to Principal Tiandra Bland, and thank you for being such a great representation of Lindenwood University, and especially the School of Education.
Crystal Sanders, Ed.D. Student, Presents Research at RAMP Symposium

Crystal Sanders, doctoral student at Lindenwood University, recently presented her research titled Student Attitudes Towards Graduation: A Comparison of the Motivational Factors for Greek life and Non-Greek life Undergraduate Students at the Research Association of Minority Professors (RAMP) St. Louis Virtual Symposium. Please visit the link to learn more about the symposium. Congrats to Crystal!

Dr. Mitch Nasser Hosts Dissertation Support Zoom Meetings

Dr. Mitch Nasser, Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership, is hosting a variety of Zoom meetings for dissertation support. Any students who are currently enrolled in or completed Capstone courses (I, II, III, and Experience) are encouraged to attend.

February 10: 7:00pm-8:00pm
Meeting ID: 826 5217 0192
Passcode: wzD9Gi

March 18: 12:00pm-1:00pm
Meeting ID: 810 5262 3178
Passcode: TWW3nb

April 15: 7:00pm-8:00pm
Meeting ID: 889 5191 3689
Passcode: QfwPA6

May 14: 12:00pm-1:00pm
Meeting ID: 898 7583 6335
Passcode: g3KNw5
Educational Leadership Spotlight on Adjunct Faculty

In an effort to help our readers get to know our faculty and adjuncts working in Educational Leadership, we will be spotlighting a member of our team each month. This month, our Spotlight falls on Adjunct Instructor, Dr. Randy Eikel.

What brought you to Lindenwood?  
Several years after graduating from Lindenwood's master's program in Educational Administration, I was lucky enough to join the faculty as an adjunct.  At the time, I was simply interested in helping out with a program that gave to me meaningful preparation into an administrator role. However, my experiences have proved so much more. It also filled that teacher void I have missed since entering administration. My hope is that I provide our students with a high-level learning experience full of practical and research-based knowledge and skills to use in whatever path they take as educators. I believe as an institution, we give them every opportunity to set themselves up for success, and I love being a part of it.   
 
What are your research interests?  
Within most classes I teach, I am able to weave in my educational research interests and applicable experiences from my role as a building level administrator. From research, I tend to focus mainly in the area of implementing best practices related to student achievement. I have been closely following the work of John Hattie for over a decade and grading/assessment/testing research for about 15 years. These topics fit well into the natural progression of school improvement, and our students typically love diving deep into conversation surrounding them.   
 
What authors or books have influenced you personally and/or professionally? Other authors/speakers I enjoy hearing from are Nancy Frey, Doug Fisher, Sharroky Hollie, Mike Mattos, James Nottingham, and Mike Schmoker.  Practically speaking, each day/year of work in my position lends itself directly to what the students in the Educational Leadership program are preparing for. Our best discussions come from diving into change leadership and handling professional discourse and conflict, most specifically in the area of building and maintaining relationships with a vast stakeholder group.
Dr. Mitch Nasser Will Publish Book on Supervision in Higher Education
 
Dr. Mitch Nasser, Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership, will publish a book on supervision in higher education. The current title is Identity in supervision: Understanding who works for you and who you work for in higher education. The book will discuss the intersection of personal identity, professional identity, and positionality with supervision techniques. The structure of the text will outline historical contexts to supervision, development of models, connection to identity, and impact of position while providing a framework for self-reflection. Various populations including new professionals, middle managers, senior administrators, faculty, and graduate students will connect to the themes of the text. Readers will benefit from self-reflection, review, and understanding. Congratulations to Dr. Nasser!
Dr. Rocky Valentine, Recent Ed.D. Graduate, Hired as Assistant Superintendent of Operations

Dr. Rocky Valentine, Superintendent of Sparta School District, was recently hired as Assistant Superintendent of Operations for the Marshfield School District. Dr. Valentine recently defended his dissertation and earned his doctorate from Lindenwood University as well as his Education Specialist degree. More information can be found in the following article from Christian County Headliner News. Congrats to Dr. Valentine!

Economists Share Financial Advice with Educators Nationwide

As you begin to plan ahead for the coming year, do yourself a favor and plan to be a part of this virtual discussion in February. Dr. Tawni Ferrarini and her coauthors will help educators discover how to achieve financial security based on their new book Teachers Can Be Financially Fit: Economists’ Advice for Educators. Written by an expert team of four award-winning economic educators, the book offers straight-forward, actionable advice tailored to those in the teaching profession. In this virtual discussion, Dr. Ferrarini will share highlights from the book’s research, share practical tips for how teachers can be financially fit, and answer participants’ questions. Ten participants will win a copy of the book! This virtual event is hosted by the economic education program at the University of Arizona.
 
Tuesday, February 9, 2021 | 4:30 pm-5:45 pm
Professional Development Events in February

Plan ahead to be a part of new virtual professional development opportunities in February 2021. In fun, interactive online events led by Dr. Tawni Hunt Ferrarini (director of the Economic Education Center), discover new ways to engage students and enhance your online, hybrid, and in-person teaching. Registration is free and easy. These events are perfect for teachers, curriculum coordinators, and pre-service teachers.
 
  • Friday, February 12, 10:00-11:00 a.m. (CST) | The Seven Principles of Effective Online Teaching: This webinar applies the decades of research in the field of teaching and learning to online instruction in economics. Using a strategic mix of instructional technology tools, it provides guidelines on how economics instructors create a successful online learning environment. With the aid of technology, economists can provide students with frequent and scheduled access to knowledge and skill sets, motivate students to cooperate and reciprocate with other learners, keep everyone active and on task, provide students with prompt feedback, and help them meet the highly demanding expectations set forth in economics courses while, at the same time, be inclusive and diversified in their teaching and office hours. This event is FREE but registration is required. Register at http://econed.center
  • Wednesday, February 17, 12:00-2:30 p.m. (CST) | Winter 2021 Virtual Bootcamp - Macroeconomics: Explore relevant topics, trends, and issues related to macroeconomics, such as the Federal Reserve System, monetary and fiscal policy, exchange rates, and the benefits of trade. Learn to apply the economic tools to analyze and debate the effects of monetary, fiscal, and trade policies. Investigate long- and short-run effects on production, employment, and inflation using the aggregate demand and aggregate supply framework. EconEdLink content and EdTech tools like PearDeck will be used to show how to engage and excite students about related topics. This event is FREE but registration is required. Register at http://econed.center.
EEC Earns Lindenwood Pride Fund Award

The Economic Education Center (EEC) is one of the recipients of the inaugural grants awarded by the new President’s Research, Innovation, and Development toward Excellence (PRIDE) Fund at Lindenwood University. The PRIDE Fund provides faculty with support for projects promoting research, scholarship, and creative activity at Lindenwood. The PRIDE Fund offers opportunities to test new ideas, provide a runway for pilot projects, develop new partnerships and experiences, and create pathways to innovation. The EEC will launch a new initiative called Get Money Smart @ Lindenwood in spring 2021. The program is designed to combat financial illiteracy among college students. Get Money Smart @ Lindenwood provides unique opportunities for Lindenwood students to learn relevant and practical financial information and skills, empowering them to make sound choices that lead to financial stability and security. The program features four events in April 2021 to coincide with National Financial Literacy Month and Money Smart Month St. Louis. The project draws on the expertise of a faculty team representing each unit of the university as well as a team of student interns and volunteers. Look for more information in future issues of the Lead.