January 2012
40 posts
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ECC Alliance seen as ‘common core standards’ model... →
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School districts say proposed state aid hikes not... →
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A new thing
I went to a women’s thing at church Saturday. A women’s thing about creative journaling called The Compass.
If you’ve been around The Tumblr long enough to catch The Occasional Personal Commentary, you know “women’s thing” and “creative journaling” are two phrases you would not normally associate with Things I Like To Do.
But if there’s...
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U46 issues alert about recalled eggs (Sun-Times... →
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School celebrates new library as a success of 2009... →
ELGIN — Three years ago to the day, “it was hanging in the balance,” Elgin Community College President David Sam said.
The ECC District 509 Board of Trustees was considering whether to go for a $178 million bond referendum at its Jan. 27, 2009, meeting.
The economy had begun to sour, and the community college already had lost a referendum in 2006, Sam said. But its campus at 1700 Spartan...
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Hampshire students get role in film on veterans... →
HAMPSHIRE — There were no desks in the classroom. Just a teacher, about 30 students, a blue star flag and a question written on the chalkboard:
“What have you done to earn to earn the right to sit at your desk?”
When the students answered that question, their teacher told them, they could have their desks.
It wasn’t their grades or their behavior. It wasn’t even their good looks, Colorado-based...
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VIDEO: When Brides Meet - Part 3
Here’s a sneak peek of Elgin native Shannon Wapole meeting the other brides featured on tonight’s Chicago-area episode of “Four Weddings” on TLC. Guess whose wedding dress looks “like a cupcake!”
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VIDEO: Four Weddings - How They Met Part 3
Wondering how Elgin-area bride Shannon Wapole and her husband Andy Stoker, featured tonight on TLC’s “Four Weddings,” met? Wonder no more!
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Area bride's one of 'Four Weddings' on TLC show... →
One in four people will appear on a TV show in their lifetime, according to a statistic Shannon Wapole of DeKalb read.
So when she was stuck inside on a rainy day this May at her parents’ home in Elgin, watching a “Four Weddings” marathon on TLC, the then-bride-to-be said, “I was just thinking, ‘What a once-in-a-lifetime experience to say I’d been on reality TV!’ ”
And now she can: Wapole and her...
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Found bullets put Burlington, Elgin schools on... →
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U46 eyes college, work readiness (Sun-Times Media) →
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Designing equity (Sun-Times Media) →
ELGIN — Ushma Shah invoked universal design in her debut before the School District U46 Board of Education at Monday’s regular school board meeting.
That’s the architectural idea that designing a building to be accessible for people with disabilities — “with the widest and most inclusive vision” — really makes it better for everyone who uses it, Shah said. Curb cuts aren’t just used by people in...
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D300 makes Quantum leap in priorities this school... →
LAKE IN THE HILLS — The fifth-graders in Jamie Soprych’s classroom at Lincoln Prairie Elementary School already have learned about fairy tales, folk tales and tall tales.
Last week, the students learned about mythology, writing stories and drawing pictures of their own gods and goddesses. Sitting back-to-back on the floor, they read their stories to their partners, trying to guess the...
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Technology upgrade in U-46 (Sun-Times Media) →
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Lt. Gov. Simon to colleges: Focus on the finish →
Where’d your school rank? Here’s a link to Illinois Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon’s full report, remarks on community colleges.
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Lt. governor encourages community colleges to... →
ELGIN — Illinois Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon has released a report on the state of the state’s community colleges, and has proposed a number of reforms summing up her fact-finding tour of every community college in the state over the past year.
That report found that four out of five recent high school graduates who enter such colleges do not complete a certificate or degree within three years,...
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Second child abduction attempt reported in D300... →
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Customer love for this local businesss wins grant... →
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D300 delays middle school schedule change... →
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Chinese students get warm welcome in Elgin... →
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“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be...”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
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D300 remembers late science fair namesake Hart... →
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Durbin keys in on local efforts at job readiness... →
SOUTH ELGIN — U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin surveyed the display of Raid cans, jars of Miracle Whip and Welch’s jelly, bottles of International Delight coffee creamer and Tide-to-Go sticks at Hoffer Plastics Corp., all made at the South Elgin company.
Touring the South Elgin facility Wednesday, he joked, “I’m going to learn something today. The education of a senator is a daunting task.”
Durbin’s...
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U46 closer to issuing bonds for second year... →
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On the topic of AVID (and live-tweeting school... →
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U46 report: Schools calmer, suspensions down... →
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U46 schools chief gathers food for thought during... →
ELGIN — The students at the experimental primary school U46 Superintendent Jose Torres visited loved to be photographed, he said.
They insisted on showing the superintendent how to build an electric circuit. He got to “throw the switch” at the end, he said.
The students were attending school in Tianjin, China, which Torres visited in November as part of a Chinese Bridge Delegation sponsored by...
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From the Storyteller: Local economy showing signs... →
Things are looking up for businesses in the Fox Valley.
And I’m not just saying that because — full disclosure — my husband works in commercial real estate in Kane County. (Although being a newlywed does lend itself to all kinds of optimism.)
I’m saying that because the U.S. Department of Labor announced Friday a burst of hiring in December has pushed the unemployment rate to its lowest level...
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Storyteller: Fox Valley businesses expanding as... →
As a winery, Village Vintner was going to close up shop after six years on Randall Road.
In fact, owner Steve Boyer closed the Carpentersville winery on Dec. 31, blaming his drop in production on the gloomy economy.
“But,” he said, “I’ve been watching, and restaurants have been doing pretty good.”
Plus, he added, “Microbreweries are big right now all over the U.S.”
And that makes it the perfect...
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D300 gets loan from state to buy new technology... →
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Share with me on Pinterest! →
I got a Pinterest invite last month. But I’m just now really “getting” Pinterest. Come share stuff with me!
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Sears EDA legislation, from start to finish... →
Here’s a look back at how I spent my 2011: Covering Community Unit School District 300’s protest against Sears EDA legislation, from start to finish.
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Attempted abduction reported at Carpentersville... →
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PLAYLIST: D300 protests Sears EDA legislation →
This was my pick for the Courier’s year-end “Faces of 2011” series. Certainly the biggest story I covered this past year was the battle against legislation to extend the Sears EDA in Community Unit School District 300, part of Superintendent Michael Bregy’s first year at the head of the suburban Chicago school district. Here are some of the videos I took at board meetings...
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VOTE: What was the biggest local news story of... →
Your browser doesn’t support iFrames :( Vote for this poll <a href=”http://twtpoll.com/4grwby” _mce_href=”http://twtpoll.com/4grwby” title=”here” target=”_blank”>here</a>.
For links to all the stories listed above, visit The Courier-News’ Between the Bylines blog.
Forget what I said about cable: MT @NPR Robert Siegel hosts live Iowa Caucuses special tonight, 9-11PM (ET). station http://t.co/R5H1o9iv
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New Dist. 300 superintendent has trial by teacher... →
This was my pick for the Courier’s year-end “Faces of 2011” series. Certainly the biggest story I covered this past year was the teacher layoffs (363 in one meeting!) and battle against legislation to extend the Sears EDA in Community Unit School District 300 — all part of Superintendent Michael Bregy’s first year at the head of the suburban Chicago school...
Why, yes, I AM wearing my children’s dinosaur footie pajamas to a #NYE pajama party. #fb
