Author: Jon Marcus

Wednesday night Mass at St. Ambrose University attracts a congregation of mostly students. On one recent evening, they added a prayer for the university’s new partnership with Mount Mercy University. Mike Rundle for The Hechinger Report hide caption toggle caption Mike Rundle for The Hechinger Report DAVENPORT, Iowa — The Catholic prayer for the faithful echoed off the limestone walls and marble floor of the high-ceilinged chapel. The prayer implored God to comfort the poor and the hungry. The sick and the suffering. The anxious and the afraid. Then it took an unexpected turn. “Lord, hear our prayer for St.…

Muscatine Community College students in Iowa may get to pursue bachelor’s degrees. From left: Jake Siefers is majoring in psychology, Elexiana Oliva is majoring in criminal justice, Shiloh Morter plans to become an engineer and Jaylea Perez is pursuing psychology. Mike Rundle for The Hechinger Report hide caption toggle caption Mike Rundle for The Hechinger Report MUSCATINE, Iowa — The suspect moved menacingly toward her, but Elexiana Oliva stood her ground, gun drawn and in a half crouch as she calmly tried to talk him down. The confrontation wasn’t real, and neither was the gun. But the lesson was deadly…

Matthew Atha does steel work at Ironworkers Local 29 during an apprenticeship in Dayton, Ohio. Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images Joey Cook was 17 and a junior in high school when he heard about a way to learn a profession while getting paid: by landing an apprenticeship, a path into the workforce that everyone was suddenly talking about as an alternative to college. “I didn’t want to go get an associate degree,” he says. “I didn’t want to get a bachelor’s degree.” Cook wanted a certification in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning,…