“Where did you go to school?” In St. Louis, of course, this preeminent question means where did you attend high school. For fun, we put the high school photographs of some of St. Louis’ business and civic leaders on the front cover. How many can you pick out? The answers, including names, titles and companies, are on the next page. In this month’s issue of St. Louis Commerce Magazine we focus on education. The cover story, by Laurie Burstein is about Creg Williams, St. Louis’ dynamic superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools. A protegé of national educational reform leader Paul Valles in Chicago and Philadelphia, he was deputy chief academic officer at the School District of Philadelphia from 2002 to 2005. Before that, he spent 18 years with the Chicago Public Schools. Read how his background and his plans for St. Louis are earning him a national reputation as a top educational reformer. Speaking of public schools, Linda F. Jarrett writes about the dramatic shifts that have taken place in the Milwaukee public schools, thanks to its School Choice program. The business community and the political community joined forces to create the program. An initiative is also underway to bring School Choice to Missouri. A bill is working its way through the legislature that would allow $40 million in tax credits to be used to provide the option to urban public school students in Kansas City, St. Louis and Wellston Public School Districts to private schools. Other education-related stories in this issue include a piece on GEAR UP St. Louis, co-sponsored by the University of Missouri-St. Louis and St. Louis Community College. It is a $28 million national program that encourages middle and high school students to prepare for college. Another article is on Mentor St. Louis, which offers a mentoring environment for some of the neediest pupils from kindergarten to fifth grade. Other stories focus on why the Saint Louis Science Center is no longer just for the kids, and a program by Webster University that provides international business internships in which students spend six months living and working overseas. As St. Louis rolls out the national components of its regional branding strategy through a national media relation and advertising campaign, the initial full page coverage in The New York Times was a great beginning to the branding effort. Read in this month’s St. Louis Commerce Magazine about how the NYT takes the reader on a fast-pace tour of St. Louis, noting that it has “undergone remarkable transformation.” Finally in our spotlight, Christine Imbs interviews Jim Weddle, the new managing partner at Des Peres-based Edward Jones. As the leader of the national stock brokerage firm, Weddle is bullish on the market and on St. Louis; he has a story about how a real bull chased him down during his early years at Edward Jones. Read why Weddle almost chose to become a veterinarian. We hope you enjoy reading this issue of St. Louis Commerce Magazine. As always, please send your comments and suggestions to us at dfleming@stlrcga.org. RICHARD C.D. FLEMING President and Chief Executive Officer St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association

May 2006 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cover Story with Creg Williams, St. Louis Public Schools Dr. Don Senti, School District of Clayton Circus Flora - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.stlrcga.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.technologygateway.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jim Weedle, Edward Jones Mike Shannon’s Steak and Seafood