Ambassador Nancy Brinker was named Person of the Year at the George Herbert Walker School of Business at Webster University. Brinker is the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer organization and a former U.S. Ambassador. Pictured: Walker School of Business dean Benjamin Akande, Webster president Elizabeth Stroble, Ambassador Nancy Brinker and Webster provost and senior VP Julian Schuster.

Back-to-school time can quickly become a blur of paperwork piling up in the house and leaves mounting in the yard. These tips can get your home and lawn in top shape for fall.

A slate of new attractions is on tap at family-friendly venues throughout St. Louis. Check out these events and exhibits for some end-of-summer fun to avoid the back-to-school blues.

Actor WILLIAM HOLDEN is the latest star to be inducted in the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Holden, a native of O’Fallon, Ill., made his mark in 1939’s Golden Boy—and the film’s title stuck as Holden’s nickname. Considered one of the greatest movie stars of the 20th century, Holden earned Academy Award nominations for his roles in Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Network (1976); and won the Best Actor Oscar for 1953’s Stalag 17. Other classic starring roles include Sabrina, Picnic, The Bridge on the River Kwai and The Wild Bunch.

Most back-to-school articles tend to talk about preparing kids for the first days of school—and this is an important, attention-worthy topic. I, however, want to focus on us, the parents, and how we deal with the freedom that September brings. While many are excited to reclaim their homes and their free time, some actually dread the start of school and experience significant stress about their child’s academic success, social circles and self-esteem.

It’s important for kids to look their best on the first day of school. Before putting together your child’s perfect back-to-school outfit, check out some of our top picks.

Make a little, share a little is a belief that fuels the newly established American Student Supply, as noted by St. Louis mom Marlene DeNoyer, who conceived the company while considering the annual scavenger hunt supply list that parents face each school year. Although American Student Supply is not a nonprofit, it is an organization built on an educational outreach platform. “We wanted to create a convenience for parents with an online retail store dedicated to the kindergarten through eighth-grade student,” she says. “The act of purchasing from us, whether it is through individual parents, teachers or partnering schools, generates enough revenue that gives us the ability to share with a student in need.”

Summer is over and you child’s mood has shifted: He is not the happy, carefree kid of a few short weeks ago; rather, he has become irritable, complains about headaches and is having sleep difficulties. Welcome to back-to-school stress.

January - March

They had quite the sendoff for outgoing St. Louis Cathedral Concerts founder and executive/artistic director JOHN ROMERI: A public farewell and award presentation for Romeri and his wife KAREN was witnessed by more than 1,000 people during the cathedral’s LIBERA concert earlier this month. Romeri, the Arch dio cesan music director for the past 18 years, has brought more than 60 performing groups to St. Louis, half of which had never before performed here. He’s headed East to lead the office of liturgical music for the Philadelphia Arch dio cese. He’ll also serve as music director and organist for the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.

We are making some big adjustments in the Baldwin household. Cranky, as you may know, graduated from sixth grade in June, and she is starting her new school in the fall. Oh, and by ‘in the fall’ I mean last week. Schools have adjusted their schedules. Now school starts in mid-August—and if you play a sport or an instrument or participate in any activity that will help you get accepted into anything better than an online college, it’s even earlier than that. (What are we trying to do—keep up with the Japanese?) I couldn’t figure it out until I went back-to-school shopping (in July!), and Cranky had some odd requests.

For almost 60 years, Lauries Shoes has been providing kids (and their parents) with a wide selection of back-to-school shoes, along with casual and dress shoes. Family-owned for three generations, the store has six area locations—including Lauries Shoes Etc., which recently opened in the St. Louis Galleria. “Lauries Shoes Etc. is a fresh, high-end approach,” says owner Mark Waldman. “The focus is on high-fashion and classic shoes and accessories that aren’t available at our other stores.”

Like it or not, back-to-school season has begun. Our LN teen experts, Anna Kaczkowski and Bry Rechan, went in search of the coolest stuff you’ll want to have around for the upcoming school year. 

As a child, Beth Kodner saw the same public service announcements about poor children in Africa that the rest of us did. “But it wasn’t until I was a little older that I realized there were kids here in St. Louis who’ve never been to the dentist, or are ashamed to go to school because they have no shoes, or can’t afford schoolbooks,” Kodner says. “NCJW’s Back-To-School! Store makes an immediate, concrete difference in these kids’ lives.”

For most kids in the St. Louis area, the phrase ‘back to school’ means new beginnings, new books, shiny new shoes and crisp new clothes. But even with Labor Day sales and discount stores, not every family can afford the considerable expense of outfitting a child for school. That’s where the Back-To-School! Store, sponsored by National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)-St. Louis Section, comes in. Now in its 10th year, the ‘store,’ actually a one-day, invitation-only event held at a midtown location, gets the academic year off to a solid start by providing new clothing, school supplies and other necessities for nearly 1,000 deserving kids ages 5 to 10.

When…St. John’s Mercy held its fifth annual Benefit for the Kids golf tournament and dinner auction? The event raised more than $650,000 and will benefit the 85,000 pediatric patients that St. John’s Mercy Children’s Hospital serves each year in neonatal intensive care, pediatric intensive care, pediatric oncology and hematology. Pictured: Rene Knott, sports director at KSDK NewsChannel 5.

 If the Hwy. 40 project and back-to-school road congestion have you frustrated, you may want to pull into a book dealer on your next commute. The entertaining new book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), by Tom Vanderbilt may offer some catharsis, or at least some interesting factoids to think about as you fume about drivers slowing down to look at the car on the side of the road.

When…Saint Louis University received three grants totaling $400,000 to expand its community outreach efforts, scientific research and clinical care? The $200,000, two-year grant from Emerson will support expanded community outreach and education programs that target African-American residents of North County and north St. Louis areas. The $150,000 gift from Francis and Ruth Stroble will expand breast cancer research. The $50,000, five-year grant will provide seed money for the only dental oncology program of its kind in St. Louis.

Travel has been getting a bad rap lately, thanks to extraneous airline fees, crowded airports, and concern over security and safety. Many of these inconveniences are beyond the traveler’s control, but there is at least one thing we can do to make our journeys more pleasant: Bring the right luggage.