Maryville, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University will connect talent with opportunities when it hosts its upcoming biennial Career Day.

According to a press release from Northwest, Career Day is open to all students, alumni and community members to explore potential internship and career opportunities. Additionally, some attending employers will offer “next day interviews.” More details and a listing of attending employers is available by clicking here.

“Being able to have a face-to-face conversation with recruiters allows students to learn more about different industries and to become more comfortable with the job and internship process,” Zach Nielsen, a graduate assistant in Career Services, said. “Even if they are not looking for a position, being able to practice their elevator pitch and network with employers is a great benefit of attending Career Day.”

Career Services offers Career Day during the fall and spring trimesters and recommends that students attend at least one per year. Nielsen, who earned his bachelor’s degree from Northwest last year, is pursuing is Master of Business Administration at the University and has attended five Career Days at Northwest.

“Whether you are looking for a position or not, being able to network, get your name out there, and make connections can open the door for some amazing opportunities in the future,” Nielsen said. He added, “The best benefit I have received from attending Career Day is the development of face-to-face communication skills with employers. During my first Career Day, I was very nervous and wasn’t able to have the best experience. I found that as the day went on and with each new Career Day, I was becoming more confident.”

Career Day takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, in Bearcat Arena. Additionally, Northwest’s Education Expo from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. is designed to connect qualified teacher applicants with prospective employers. The Graduate Information Fair from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. offers information to students about graduate school opportunities at Northwest and elsewhere.

For more information about Career Day, Education Expo, the Northwest Graduate Information Fair or any of the available services at Career Services contact at (660) 562-1250 or nwmissouri.edu/careerserv.

The community will have a chance to learn more about the candidates vying for one of three open seats on the St. Joseph School District’s Board of Education.

According to a press release from the School District, five candidate forums are scheduled to take place during the weeks leading up to the election on April 3rd. The forums provide an opportunity to meet the candidates and learn more about why they want to take on the role of an SJSD Board member as well as what they have to offer to the position.

The candidates are Lorrie Hollis, Aaron Duncan, Larry Koch, Lute Atieh, Seth Wright, David Jordan and Kenneth Reeder.

The forums are scheduled for the following dates:

United Democratic Club of NWMO
February 14, 6:00 p.m.
Bandana’s Restaurant

PTA Council
March 5, 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Troester Media Center

St. Joseph MSTA
March 20, 5:30-6:00 (Meet and greet), 6:00-7:30 (Forum)
Troester Media Center

St. Joseph NEA
March 24
2:00-4:00 p.m.
East Hills Library

Community Alliance will also hold a candidate forum, but does not have a date at this time.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Several construction projects are planned across Northwest Missouri during the 2018 construction season.

These projects, administered by the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Northwest District, range from resurfacing to bridge reconstruction to safety improvements.

With more than 35 projects planned to begin this season, the department is making an investment of more than $64 million to infrastructure improvements throughout Northwest Missouri, including more than 300 miles of resurfacing. Some of the planned projects include:

• Surface improvements on U.S. Route 71 in Nodaway and Andrew counties spanning more than 11.5 miles
• Eighty-three miles of surface improvements along U.S. Route 65 from the Iowa state line to the Missouri River
• Improvements on Interstate 29 including the rehabilitation of the Nodaway River bridge (southbound) and more than 30 miles of resurfacing
• Resurfacing eight miles of Interstate 35 between the Iowa state line and Eagleville
• More than 15 miles of resurfacing and safety improvements on several stretches of U.S. Route 36 in DeKalb and Caldwell counties, including realignment of the westbound lanes near Osborn
• Several bridge replacement, rehabilitation and repair projects throughout the region including the Honey Creek Bridge on Route 13 in Daviess County, two bridges on U.S. Route 136 in Putnam County and the McGuire Creek Bridge on Route 116 in Buchanan County

“These projects represent our year-round work with our planning partners to prioritize projects and determine the best use of the taxpayers’ dollars with which we’re entrusted,” said District Engineer Don Wichern. “Not only will motorists see contractors working on these roadways throughout Northwest Missouri, but our maintenance forces will also be out there doing preventative maintenance to preserve the life of other roads and stretch the taxpayers’ monies as far as we can. We ask everyone to Buckle Up and put their Phone Down, especially in work zones, so our workers and all motorists can get home safely each day.”

For a complete list of major projects, click here.

For more information about a project, please contact MoDOT at 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (888-275-6636) or visit modot.org/northwest. You can also follow MoDOT’s Northwest Missouri District on Twitter @ModotNorthwest and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MoDOTNWDistrict.

The East Hills Library in St. Joseph will be offering an informational session later this month for anyone needing help filing taxes online this year.

Library Assistant Sara Whitten said East Hills Library is offering this presentation because they saw a need.

“We have a lot of patrons coming in to file their taxes on the computer right now and some of them have ended up paying and I believe most of them probably could have gotten them for free and I don’t think everyone has that information,” Whitten said. “Because if you make under $66,000 a year, you have options to get both your federal and state for free if you file online.”

Whitten said the presentation will provide information on the benefits of online filing and more.

“I’ll go over how they can request a transcript and… I’ll be able to show them some of the sites that you’ll be able to go to that will have the free filing options,” Whitten said. “Also, how, once they do file, they can check how they get their refund.”

The presentation on free tax filing will be at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 20, at the East Hills Library at 502 N. Woodbine Road. The program is free and no registration is required.

For more information, contact the East Hills Library at (816) 236-2136.

Maryville, Mo. (Press release) – Dr. Jiwon Choi, a staff accompanist at Northwest Missouri State University, recently was selected as a first prize winner in the 2018 Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition.

As a result of her selection, Choi was invited to perform March 14 at the Winner’s Recital in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in New York. The Golden Classical competition is open to artists of all nationalities and ages in strings, piano, wind and vocal, and winners are selected by a jury review of recordings.

Additionally, Choi was selected as a finalist in the professional solo piano performance division of The American Prize, a series of national competitions in the performing arts. The American Prize evaluates recorded performances and consists of preliminary, semifinal and final rounds. Choi performed “Polonaise-Fantasie” by Frédéric Chopin, “Sonata No. 8” by Sergei Prokofiev, and “Sonata Op.10 No. 3” by Ludwig Van Beethoven.

At Northwest, Choi collaborates with the University’s choirs, vocal and instrumental studios, student pianists, music faculty and guest artists.

She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Kansas, where she was a graduate assistant, and she was a faculty member at the University of Kansas Community Music School. She received her Master of Music in piano performance at Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and her Bachelor of Music in piano performance at Dong-Ah University in South Korea.

The Department of Music at Missouri Western State University will host the 12th annual MWSU/Phi Mu Alpha Jazz Festival Saturday.

According to a press release, school group performances will start at 7:30 a.m., with the MWSU Jazz Ensemble taking the stage at 5:45 p.m. with guest artist, New York saxophone virtuoso Jim Snidero.

Each ensemble performs for the adjudicators, receiving recorded and written critiques of the performance from the clinicians. Immediately following each band’s performance the clinicians will give a 25-40 minute clinic for the band, discussing and working on specific areas of the performance. Bob Long, Missouri Western’s director of jazz studies, said the focus and commitment of this festival is to make it an educational and musical experience for both students and directors. Clinicians for this year are Wayne Page, music educator, Waukee Iowa; Bob Harvey, professional musician and educator, Kansas City; and Dan Stecker, music educator, Pleasantville, Iowa.

In addition to his performance activities, this year’s guest artist Jim Snidero, is one of the most influential jazz authors in jazz education history. His best-selling Jazz Conception book series (Advance Music) have changed the way jazz is taught worldwide, being translated into four languages, and he is the founder of the Jazz Conception Company, offering multimedia products via apps.

The festival will be held in the Fulkerson Center and is free and open to the public.

For more information please contact the Music Department at (816) 271-4420, or [email protected].  

The Center for Entrepreneurship at Missouri Western State University is now accepting nominations for two awards that will be presented during Entrepreneurship Week March 19-23.

According to a press release from Missouri Western, the awards will recognize individuals for their professional achievements and their civic contributions to the community.

Regional entrepreneurs will receive the Emerging Entrepreneur and Entrepreneur of the Year Awards at the week’s capstone luncheon Friday, March 23. Nomination forms should be completed and returned to Annette Weeks by Feb. 28. For more information, click here.

Entrepreneurship Week is a series of free workshops and events for local business professionals, aspiring entrepreneurs, small business owners, college and high school students, and anyone curious about the skills needed to run a small business.

All of the sessions are open to students and the public. There is a $15 cost for the capstone lunch Friday; all other events are free. For more information or to register, visit the Center for Entrepreneurship website or call (816) 271-4283.

Hillcrest Transitional Housing of Buchanan County has announced a name change to Pivotal Point Transitional Housing.

“We are the same organization with the same people providing the same mission. We just changed our name,” stated Melissa Frakes, Pivotal Point’s executive director.

“The name change was the culmination of a long and prayerful process,” added Clark Hampton, Chairman of the Board for Pivotal Point. “We are very grateful for the help that the Kansas City-based Hillcrest organization provided over seven years ago to help initially establish our local mission. Both our local board and the Kansas City-based board engaged in a lengthy strategic planning process. As a result of that, we decided we could best fulfill our mission of transitioning homeless families and individuals in St. Joseph by remaining 100 percent local,” Clark added.

Pivotal Point Transitional Housing is located at 3000 Parkway A and offers homeless families, singles and young adults a disciplined educational program within a caring, supportive environment. Pivotal Point’s primary objective is to move clients from homelessness to self-sufficiency within 90 days by addressing the total life situation of the homeless families they serve. 

Frakes said the name Pivotal Point is significant to what the organization does.

“When our potential residents come to us, they are at that pivotal point in their life, where they have an opportunity to take a whole different direction of where their life is going and to get them back on track. Our goal is to help them become more financially secure by helping them with life skills and budgeting and providing them a place to live for the time that they’re in our program,” Frakes said. “So they really are at a pivotal point in their lives when they come to us and they can make a complete change in their life and so we feel very fortunate that, through the help of many people, Pivotal Point really came to us as our new name.”  

For more information about Pivotal Point Transitional Housing, click here.