August 2011
58 posts
New focus on early education on first day of... →
ELGIN — While they waited for the rest of their class to arrive on the first day of preschool, Carol Prieur’s students lined the hallways of Huff Elementary School, sitting cross-legged on colored dots on the floor.
Twins Haylie and Kaylie Gallegos, wearing pink ribbons in their matching side ponytails, swapped the board books they’d chosen from a plastic bin with each other. Meantime, Keila...
The #wedding is on this weekend, despite #Irene, so I’m researching #NewBern. It has fudge shop, ghost tour and bookstore. My kind of town!
STEM growing in U46 schools (Sun-Times Media) →
Quote of the day: “Oh, no! She’s got a tool!”
Marianne Palczewski, 17, of Bartlett never would have thought she could use a compound mitre saw, she said.
And Serena Patel, also 17 and of Bartlett, summed up her experience in the lab: “All the guys are like, ‘Oh, no! She’s got a tool!’ ”
“But it feels really good to be able to do it by myself,” Serena said.
That’s the confidence...
RT @gracekelle: xtreme weather reminds us that we’re human, not invincible, need to talk/interact w others, & can be incredibly resource …
The other proposals (Sun-Times Media) →
Elgin firefighters debate whether to use ECC... →
ELGIN — The issue with a training tower 15 miles away from the city of Elgin is that having firefighters head there during a regularly scheduled shift “effectively stripped the city of having those firefighters available should a larger emergency have happened.” That’s according to Elgin Fire Capt. Robb Cagann.
If those firefighters train while off-duty, the full-time and union fire department...
A 'fantastic' tale (Sun-Times Media) →
What’s an Elgin-headquartered church doing in NORTH KOREA?!
The answer is pretty “fantastic.” And it’s one of those stories I haven’t been able to get out of my head since I started reporting on it.
ELGIN — Howard Royer admits the story sounds “fantastic”: A Korean-American, imprisoned as a suspected spy while helping with famine relief in North Korea in the 1990s,...
NOW I get why my cars keep getting smashed: VAMPIRES. Good thing I have so many religious artifacts in my car! #FrightNight #myluckwithcars
First day in U46 has its issues -- but busing... →
Sure, I could have done the first day flag raising story. But I wanted to give readers a sneak peek at the big issues coming up this school year…
ELGIN — Just after 6 a.m. Wednesday, Jacob Ellis and Darion Grant already were circling the foggy Sheridan Elementary School playground, backpacks hanging from their shoulders.
Jacob and Darion both are 14 and freshmen this year at Elgin High...
Shhhwhat? Vinyl re-release of @monkeestour’s “Head” album, one of my all-time favorites? This is happening! http://t.co/cOJivWA via @addthis
D300 proposes longer school day for high school... →
Chicago Public Schools wasn’t the only district this week to announce plans for a longer school year, although suburban Chicago District 300’s aren’t quite so dramatic…
ALGONQUIN — Community Unit School District 300 unveiled a proposal Monday to lengthen the school day and move from a four-block to an eight-period daily schedule next school year at its three high...
Really, @chipublib? I made it with five minutes to spare and the doors were locked! http://t.co/zU4uRFP
Jesus appears at Algonquin coffee shop (Between... →
On Mondays when the Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education meets at Westfield Community School in Algonquin, your friendly neighborhood mobile journalist works from nearby Cafe Firefly, 301 S. Main Street, Algonquin.
Yesterday was one such Monday.
The school board presented a not-quite balanced 2011-12 budget, even after all those controversial cuts, at that meeting. You...
6 tags
D300 budget comes up short (Sun-Times Media) →
ALGONQUIN — Even if Community Unit School District 300 receives all the money it is owed by the state of Illinois for the past school year, its budget for the new school year starts out $6.3 million in the hole.
That leaves the Carpentersville-area school district’s 2011-12 tentative budget $500,714 short, according to District 300 CFO Cheryl Crates.
Crates presented a budget with $191.5...
Eating my way through the Illinois State Fair... →
I’ve already eaten my way through the Kane County Fair — twice. But when it came to the Illinois State Fair, which ends today in Springfield, there was only one food, fried or on a stick, I was interested in: Fried Kool-Aid. Fried Kool-Aid made a splash at the beginning of the fair season (which I keep close tabs on, having grown up in Springfield) when it turned up at a California...
New D300 logo was an effort by community and... →
Bachelorette party, everybody! (@ Floyd’s Thirst Parlor w/ @nicolec26) http://t.co/kiTIwXA
Annie: “The only thing that makes me happy about this hat is that you bought it for me.” #ILSTATEFAIR http://t.co/SdlCWTD
Parents question U46 on transportation changes... →
BARTLETT — Gary Percy is just “another cynical, disgruntled parent.”
That’s how Percy put it last week in an email to Elgin District U46 officials and Board of Education and Citizens Advisory Council members in which he resigned from his position as vice chairman of the CAC.
The last straw for him, he said, was the district’s decision to cut all bus stops for high school students this school year...
D300 preschool begins 20th year in 7 more schools... →
CARPENTERSVILLE — It was the first day of preschool in Community Unit School District 300.
But preschoolers didn’t arrive Wednesday just at the deLacey Family Education Center, 50 Cleveland Ave., as in some years past.
This year, District 300 has expanded its preschool program to include classrooms at seven additional elementary schools. And that means it will be able to enroll more than 1,000...
Thanks. :) RT @elginista: @mcemilywrites Your wedding was so beautiful—and looks like FUN too! Great venue. Congrats, Mrs. #McMillion!
Elgin, Carpentersville-area high schooler’s ACT... →
While both my school districts are celebrating “statistically significant” increases in their ACT scores, it’s important to note both still are just behind state and national averages. And those scores show three of four high school graduates are not ready for college. The Sun-Times has more on that in its report.
Composite ACT scores are up this year in both Elgin School...
#pigroast 2011 on Flickr →
And here are my photos of this weekend’s pig roast…
How to roast a pig in the ground →
Here’s the start of Nathanael Szobody’s Google+ write-up on our glorious pig roast this weekend in M!ch!gan, in case you ever wanted to try it yourself…
Four new principals, leader greet students in... →
HAMPSHIRE — Jonathan Ramirez of Hampshire hit the floor first.
That’s because he likes pushups, the 8-year-old said. And third-grade teacher Mike York was explaining to his classroom at Hampshire Elementary School how to do the “mountain climber”: Drop into a pushup position and bring your knees up into your chest, like you’re climbing a mountain, York said.
The mountain climber was one of...
D300 educators rally behind new school year... →
Here’s a little sneak peek at what you can expect of the 2011-12 school year, starting today in Capentersville-area Community Unit School District 300…
HOFFMAN ESTATES — What could possibly get a roomful of teachers more excited about the start of a school year than a marching band?
How about all three of Community School District 300’s high school marching bands together in one...
Wet weather brought out bugs (Chicago Sun-Times) →
The first of my school districts heads back to class today AND my cover story for the Courier made it into the Sun-Times? This could be a good year!
Partnership between Elgin school, salon a cut... →
Workforce provides rehab muscle (Sun-Times Media) →
More bugs bugging the Fox Valley (Sun-Times Media) →
Pig eaten. Campfire inhaled. Friends enjoyed. #Pigroast a success. Photos to come!
We have arrived in #Michigan. And we have buried the pig. It begins. #pigroast
U46 planetarium reaches new heights with new... →
ELGIN — The best viewing of the Perseid meteor shower will be Friday night, with the moon at your back, according to Peggy Hernandez, School District U46’s planetarium teacher.
She modeled what the sky will look like late Friday night on the dome of the Elgin School District U46 observatory and planetarium, using the Star Lamp that’s been part of the building at 312 Watch St. since the...
At back-to-school assignment today, lady asked, “Didn’t I see you last night at the planetarium?” School starts Monday. You’ll see me A LOT.
D300 resumes discussion about schedule changes... →
More Good News: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” #PrayforLondon http://bible.us/Rom12.12.NIV84
The top health conditions prompting kids to miss... →
Start working on your excuses now, kids. ;)
ELGIN — It’s just about that time of year again.
Time for back-to-school clothes. For new notebooks and folders and freshly-sharpened pencils. For lunch money jangling in pockets or plastic-wrapped sandwiches brought from home.
And it’s time for head lice.
The tiny insects made KidsHealth.org’s list of the top five conditions that are likely to keep a...
Regional superintendents work without pay -- for... →
Illinois’ regional superintendents of schools agreed this past week to continue working, more than a month after Gov. Pat Quinn eliminated their salaries from the state budget.
But Robert A. Daiber, superintendent of the Madison County Regional Office of Education and president of the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, said he’s not sure how long that agreement will...
Sinless Scoop: The Political Edition (Lean Girls... →
Not going to lie: A pretty great venue for a bridal shower! (@ Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library) http://4sq.com/nRnrVl
Evidently, my sister’s shower is Sunday—not tomorrow. So now I have a day to kill in Springfield. Who wants to hang out? #facepalm #fb
Documenting what is working (Sun-Times Media) →
ELGIN — Madeline “Maddy” Stone, 19, of St. Charles was one of about seven Elgin Academy graduates and current students laying out breakfast for two dozen or so clients on a recent early morning at PADS of Elgin.
It was a small act — like one St. Therese of Liseux described when she said, “Pick up a pin for the love of God, and count the day well spent.”
It was an act that might have gone...
Complete coverage of #U46trial coming soon to @couriernews on www.couriernewsonline.com, in tomorrow’s newspaper.
Judge wants to hear rest of U46 bias suit... →
CHICAGO — “Maybe we’re just kicking the can down the road a little bit,” Judge Robert W. Gettleman said.
But on Thursday, the judge denied without prejudice School District U46’s motion to rule on phase one of the racial discrimination lawsuit against the district. That phase alleges the Elgin school district’s 2004 school boundary plan discriminated against black and Hispanic students by placing...
Lunch break! (@ Argo Tea) http://4sq.com/oBw4Xs
