St. Ambrose University has established a new downtown-Davenport presence in the NewVentures Center, located at 331 West Third Street. St. Ambrose will initially use office space and state-of-the-art "smart classrooms" to administer the Master of Organizational Leadership degree program and offer several MBA courses. St. Ambrose will continue to develop a strategic vision for its downtown presence, including other business and leadership-development initiatives. Already in place, a collaboration between St. Ambrose and the Figge Art Museum has resulted in several exhibits, and other joint projects and initiatives are under consideration.
The 35th Annual Quad Cities Genealogical Conference will be held on Saturday, April 18, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will be at the Viking Club of Moline at 1450 41st Street. The speaker will be Curt Witcher, head of the genealogy section of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The Iowa Department of Education has received $21,847 from the U.S. Department of Education through the Advanced Placement (AP) Test Fee Program. The funds will be used to pay all or a portion of the fees for AP tests taken by low-income students. The program is designed to increase the number of low-income students who take advanced-placement tests and receive scores for which college academic credit is awarded.
Student filmmakers from Niagara College in Welland, Ontario, will arrive at Deere & Company world headquarters to bring attention to the decision to close John Deere Welland Works in November of 2009. The documentary crew will be presenting a message from Canadian John Deere employees and the townspeople of Welland to the people of Moline. Director Mark Lammert and Producer Charles Smith hope to raise awareness of the dramatic impact of the recession and to discover the reasons that resulted in the closure of one of Welland's leading sources of employment. This closure announcement will result in the loss of more than 800 jobs. A press conference will be held outside the John Deere Collectors Center, 320 16th Street in Moline, on Thursday, March 5, at 12:30 p.m.
The Quad Cities area has been selected as host for three scholarship students coming from predominantly Muslim countries. Before June 1, International Student Exchange (ISE) will select three host families from the Quad Cities area to host these young people for the 2009-10 school year. To apply to host one of these scholarship students, contact Deb Bowen at (309)582-8888 or debbowen@iseusa.com. For more information, visit ISEHeartland.com.
North Scott High School from Eldridge, Iowa, is among 15 finalist bands for the Jazz at Lincoln Center's prestigious 14th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival. Bands will compete and participate in workshops, jam sessions, and more during the three-day competition and festival, held May 8 through 10 in New York City. The festival concludes with an awards ceremony honoring outstanding soloists, sections, and the top three bands.
The Davenport Public Library's Theatre Club is looking for kids to join its lineup on the stage. All budding actors and actresses are encouraged to participate in the world of readers' theatre, with rehearsals and theatre games that will help kids gain experience and knowledge of acting. Rehearsals are every Thursday, March 19 through May 14, at 4 p.m. at the Main Street Library (321 Main Street). Registration is not required. Call (563)326-7832 or visit http://blogs.davenportlibrary.com/kids for more information.
The Muscatine Art Center and the Muscatine County Arts Council have announced a community-wide art exhibition and fundraiser called the Muscatine Mosaic Project. Artists, craftspeople, artisans, and other creative types from grade 6 through adult are invited to participate in the project by creating and donating an original work of art on a six-inch-by-six-inch canvas. As a fundraiser for the Muscatine County Arts Council, each canvas will be sold for $20 by means of a "blind buy"; purchasers will not know which of the 300 works of art they are buying. For more information, visit MuscatineArtsCouncil.org.
Iowa public-housing agencies have been awarded $7.6 million from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. The Davenport Housing Commission received $88,593.
