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By Liz Langton  ¦   Matthew Straw warms up for practice sessions as the family dog, McTavish, looks on. Matthew plays on a scaled-down cello, a ½-size cello, to fit his height.

By Liz Langton  ¦   Melissa Straw, a music teacher at Smithton Middle School, pauses for a moment during a seventh- grade choir class and asks students if they are ready for a concert that’s coming up.

By Webster-Kirkwood Times/The Associated Press  ¦   Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton

By Amy DiFrancesco/Missourian  ¦   Wei Du instructs students in the sixth grade Cultural Enrichment class at Smithton Middle School. The lesson focuses on traditions and vocabulary of the Chinese New Year, which began Thursday.

By SAIT SERKAN GURBUZ/Missourian  ¦   Lilly Dailey makes a Chinese painting on Thursday in celebration of the Chinese New Year. Lilly had a little red ribbon on her wrist because in Chinese it is a tradition to wear something red on the new year.

By SAIT SERKAN GURBUZ/Missourian  ¦   A first-grader at Lee School applies the technique of holding the bamboo brush masterfully, according to Dr. Ann Mehr, their art teacher. Dr. Mehr was introduced to this form of art by Hui-Yun Chen, a Chinese student at MU. Lee School has a diverse student body and every year they celebrate a different traditional festival. This year, they decided to celebrate the Chinese lunar new year.

By ALEX LEWIS/Missourian  ¦   Rock Bridge junior Andrea Martin is pictured looking at the accessories in Envy.

By MICHAEL NUNEZ/Missourian  ¦   Michael Eric Dyson delivers the keynote address for MU's Black History Month at Jesse Auditorium on Thursday evening.

By ALEX LEWIS/Missourian  ¦   Ruth La Hue is the owner of My Secret Garden at 16 N. Ninth St. in downtown Columbia.

By AARON DOHOGNE  ¦   Robert and Sandi Flaaskog watch as Christopher Vanesler ramps onto the gym's stage. The Flaaskogs say they want to act as support for the skaters, and Robert frequently rides around and skates with them.

By AARON DOHOGNE  ¦   Sandi and Robert Flaaskog started the facility as a place to come skateboard, but after eight months it was also a place for the youth to worship on Sunday mornings.

By AARON DOHOGNE  ¦   Mary Heaney gives a 10-minute service to skaters about how skateboarding is a God-given talent. She said taking the credit for being a good skateboarder is a deception to ourselves.

By STEPHEN BROOKS/The Associated Press  ¦   Donna and Wayne Bernskoetter of Wardsville page through the collection of every letter, e-mail or picture sent to them from their son, Shane, during his service with the 245th Maintenance Company in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II.

By AARON DOHOGNE/Missourian  ¦   Mary Heaney gives a 10-minute service to skaters about how skateboarding is a God-given talent. She says that taking credit for being a good skateboarder is a deception to ourselves.

By AARON DOHOGNE/Missourian  ¦   Sandi and Robert Flaaskog started the facility as a place to come skateboard, but after eight months, it was also a place for the youth to worship on Sunday mornings.

By AARON DOHOGNE/Missourian  ¦  

By AARON DOHOGNE/Missourian  ¦   Robert and Sandi Flaaskog watch as Christopher Vanester ramps onto the gym's stage. The Flaaskogs say that they want to act as support for the skaters, and Robert frequently rides around and skates with them.

By Columbia Police Department Photo  ¦   Stefhon Hannah

By MU Athletic Department  ¦   Jason Horton

By REBECCA H. ROMANO/Missourian  ¦   Missouri sophomore Nicholas Marable, the second-ranked 165-pound wrestler in the nation, pins Max Dean of the University of Oklahoma, at the Beauty and the Beast event at the Hearnes Center on Friday.