Bill Billman is well aware of the irony of the situation he found himself in earlier in the high school football season.

He was on the football sidelines at his alma mater on a night when the opposing team was the school where he has been employed as a teacher for the past 31 years.

Billman was inducted into the Unity High School Hall of Fame as part of the festivities at a game against St. Joseph-Ogden.

“I am a SJO Spartan now, but my heart and soul will always belong to the Unity High School Rockets,” Billman said. “I was able to celebrate with my Class of ‘80 friends from Unity and my co-workers from SJO at the same time.

“I wore an old Unity football jersey the Thursday before the game and all of the students were questioning why I was wearing the jersey.”

Even though he participated in three sports at Unity – and was the state runner-up in wrestling as a 119-pound senior in 1980 – Billman wasn’t expecting the honor.

“I never thought I would be a Hall of Fame candidate,” said Billman, who also played football and ran track while at Unity.

His Hall of Fame credentials included one feat that makes him unique.

Billman was part of the state wrestling tournament in all three ways that were possible: as an athlete, as a coach and as an official.

“Wrestling and coaching at the state championships was a little different, but still the excitement and nervousness of being there was about the same,” Billman said. “It is just a great privilege to represent the best officials in the state and watch some great officiating and awesome wrestling each year at the state finals.”

When Billman arrived at Unity High School as a student, he considered participating in the other winter sport that is offered.

“I thought about playing basketball because I was quick and fast but I just wasn’t tall enough, so my brothers and Coach (Joe) Summerville talked me into wrestling,” Billman said.

Though he was not a product of a youth program in the sport, he wasn’t a total novice at wrestling.

“I grew up with six brothers of which all wrestled at Unity High School under Coach Summerville,” Bill Billman said.

He took to the sport quickly.

“I liked wrestling because of the one-on-one competition where it was you against someone else,” Billman said. “My first wrestling experience on the mat was my freshman year in high school.”

The lack of experience wasn’t a hindrance.

Billman made the varsity lineup as a freshman at 105 pounds and was eventually chosen as the team’s most improved wrestler.

He would bookend that recognition as a senior with awards as the program’s most valuable wrestler and as the school’s Senior Athlete of the Year.

In sports, Billman absorbed lessons that followed him into adulthood.

“I learned a great deal about self-discipline, honor, strength, integrity, hard work and what it took to be successful in any life situation,” Billman said.

As a senior, Billman missed out on more than a state championship.

“My dad promised me a new car if I won the state championship but I fell one match short,” Billman recalled. “I think he was kind of nervous before that match, but unfortunately my championship match was against a two-time state champion.”

The person who defeated Billman in the 1980 finals went on to make history a year later. Mark Ruettiger, from New Lenox Providence, became Illinois’ first four-time individual state champion in 1981.

“I said to myself if I am going to get beat, I hope it will be by the best and it sure was,” Billman added.

Raised on a farm, Billman delayed attending college for a year after graduating from Unity.

“I worked at a grain elevator,” he said.

As he looked ahead, Billman saw himself as a teacher and a wrestling coach.

“I became a teacher mostly because of my real desire to coach at a local high school and give back to the sport that taught me so much about life,” Billman said.

“I decided to enroll in Ag Education because I was from a farm and knew a great deal about raising livestock and growing crops.”

He entered Illinois State University in the fall of 1981 and joined the wrestling program as a walk-on.

“I wrestled a few varsity matches and did well, but not enough to receive any scholarship, so I decided not to participate my senior year, and focus more on my studies,” Billman said. “Wrestling in college was so much different than high school and I had learned so much, I was eager to show others my wrestling skills.”

He had met qualifications to become a wrestling official by the time he graduated from ISU in 1986, but he mostly just worked club tournaments at the outset.

Billman’s coaching career began at Unity. He worked with football as a volunteer and baseball as the head coach for one year. In 1988, he started a four-year stint as the Rockets’ head coach in wrestling, replacing the legendary Summerville.

“Mr. Summerville was the only head wrestling coach the school ever had,” Billman recalled. “He gave me the opportunity to follow his path.

“I knew what it took to be successful and that is how I coached my athletes in wrestling. You work hard and it will show in the end. Mr. Summerville encouraged me to work hard in high school and encouraged me to wrestle in college.

“Using that experience in college wrestling, I coached and trained the athletes to be the best that they can be. Unity High School gave me the opportunity to coach multiple sports, but wrestling was my true love.  If they could have had an agricultural program back then, I might have been still teaching agriculture at Unity High School.”

Instead, for the first four years, Billman was on the faculty at SJ-O and coaching at his high school alma mater.

Under his tutelage, Unity qualified teams for the state wrestling dual meet tournaments for the only two times in school history, including a runner-up finish in 1989.

His accomplishments as Unity’s head wrestling coach also included directing 14 Rockets to state tournament berths. Three of his wrestlers became state champions, two were state runners-up and two others placed third.

His last three Unity teams (from 1989-91) captured conference, regional and sectional crowns. Overall, his Unity teams won 60 of 91 dual meets.

“I taught at SJO and coached at Unity which was very difficult to do,” he said. “I would hear it from both sides whenever we played Unity in football and wrestling.

“It wasn’t easy to teach and coach at schools that were rivals in sports. After four years as head wrestling coach at Unity, the position to be head wrestling coach at SJ-O was open, so I had to jump at the chance to coach there.

“It was a hard decision, but easier for me and my family to be at one school.”

By the mid-1990s, when he and his wife, Kathy, started a family, Billman was ready to return to a different aspect of the sport. He stepped aside as the Spartans’ coach after seven seasons.

“I decided to get out of the coaching ranks and start my new career in officiating,” Billman said. “With the help of veterans Ray Cummings, Andy Warner and Bob Jones, I was able to watch and learn from the best as all three were state officials.

“I wanted to follow in their footsteps and became a state official as well.”

In 22 years as a high school official, BIllman has now worked as an official at 17 regional tournaments, 10 sectional tournaments and six wrestling state tournaments.

He credited his time at Unity for setting the foundation for his career.

“As a teacher and coach, I have always been a motivator and encourager with my students and athletes,” he said. “Having been a Unity athlete and coach has given me the leadership skills necessary to inspire others to do the best job they can in whatever they decide to do.”

Billman plans to retire from teaching in three years, but won’t walk away from his duties as a wrestling official that soon.

“I will continue to officiate until my wife and I decide to move to a warmer climate,” he said.

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The world is filled with children and adults, peers and colleagues, athletes and musicians, students and teachers.

At Oakwood Junior High School, seventh- and eighth-graders are learning that everybody is on the same team.

“My word for the year is relationships,” principal Anne Burton said. “Student, staff and community coming in, I just think that’s huge. We all have to work together.”

Burton’s vision has been the catalyst for staff creating opportunities for students in different grades coming together in “houses” which foster teamwork while providing healthy competition.

“But then they have to realize we’re all one family, so we are the Knights,” Burton said.

In her second year at Oakwood Junior High, Burton’s focus is helping the students gain independence through responsibility.

At the beginning of the 2019-20 school year, students were encouraged to hit attendance benchmarks.

“Our students came to school, ready to learn. They got on the bus. They get off the bus smiling, and they’ve worked really hard this year,” Burton said.

The staff noticed the teenagers’ positive attitude, and wanted to give them a day away from the coursework. Wednesday, staff and students, along with professionals from the Vermilion County community came together to give the students an “Empowerment Day.”

“I wanted to give them some time to strengthen their friendships, to continue that because we all have to have that little bit of boost to keep going at the end of the quarter. So I wanted to give them something to drive them into the next quarter,” Burton said.

Students were asked to provide information about their future interests, then staff worked to find community members who spent the day talking about their profession. While the junior high staff was not able to meet all interests of every student, the students felt like the variety of professionals they got to listen to helped them understand what it takes to realize their dreams.

Vermilion County Coroner Jane McFadden had to explain what the job entailed to the 12-, 13- and 14-year-old students, and what it means to be an elected official.

“What I do is so much more specialized than what the requirements are, so I told him anybody can run with these requirements, however, it doesn’t mean you’re going to win,” McFadden said.

The candidate, who is running for re-election in 2020, told the students that it is important that elected officials are qualified to do the job at hand.

But she also said talking to teenagers about professional possibilities is important.

“It’s a little bit more relaxed atmosphere because they’re smaller groups, you’re not speaking before a large group of people,” she said. “They’re more inclined to ask questions. It is important to get to kids early, get them thinking about what they want to be when they grow up.”

McFadden especially wants to reach young women who might be interested in non-traditional careers.

“They can really do whatever they want, but they need to start,” she said. “This is the age where they really need to start buckling down in school and doing better.”

Eighth-grader Kai White said that she thinks that the opportunity to listen to professionals is important as she prepares to consider what high school and college courses she might take.

White is interested in being a teacher to help kids or to serve in the military. Listening to speakers like Oakwood’s Superintendent Larry Maynard, put the demand for teachers into perspective.

Listening to Maynard also strengthened Rebecca Wagner’s desire to become a teacher.

“I want to be a teacher, for possibly fourth grade,” Wagner said. “I love math a lot so teaching really interests me.”

Wagner also realized that being a banker is something she might fall back on with her math skills.

But, most immediately, Wagner will get involved with Vermilion County’s Peer Court.

In the program’s 25th year, Executive Director Katie Osterbur is continuously looking for teens who want to volunteer in the process of running a court session as jurors, attorneys or clerks.

The teens don’t decide their peer’s guilt or innocence, but instead, as the youth takes responsibility for his or her actions, the teens decide an appropriate punishment that must be completed.

Osterbur said that kids are often excited about the opportunity because they are “incredibly willing to help.”

“I think peer court offers them the tools,” she said. “There are very few programs where youth can take an active role in decision making. Normally it’s adults, telling them how to do it.

“In this way, they are using their own judgement.

“I really think that this gives youth power to make good decisions and to help their community. These kids are just incredibly smart.”

White said that during the morning sessions she learned that “no matter what our differences are we can still at least try to work together, instead of bickering and gossiping the whole time.”

The morning prepared her for an afternoon of team-building games that the male students participated in during their morning session.

Oakwood Social Worker Marcy Nicoson said that the entire day was built on three components: team building, communication skills and self-reflection.

While there was one quiet station where students wrote about themselves and their peers, the majority of the activities revolved around problem-solving and communication through play.

Former Oakwood wrestling Coach Dave Markwell, who has spent the last 12 years subbing in the district after retirement, led teams in a communication activity.

He took a group of 13, and asked them to pass a story down the line.

“You’ve got to realize how stories change,” Markwell said. “I tell you something, you tell someone else, they tell someone else, that story has totally changed from when you first started, which is gossip and people get upset with that.”

He then had students lock hands as they walked together around the playground railing. If one member of the group fell off the wood, the entire group had to start the course over.

Markwell hoped that students learned that you have to know your teammates’ strength and weaknesses, and make adjustments.

“In our society this day and age, it takes a lot of teamwork just to get through,” he said. “Where would you be without someone to help you? These kids have got to realize, I know they are seventh- and eighth-graders, but they’ve got to realize that there are people out there that can help, even your peers can help you.”

Seventh-grader Nate Stewart said the team-building activities are something he sees helping him in the classroom.

“Some of the kids that needed help working in groups, it helped them; it helped me,” he said. “I don’t like working in groups, but going through this, it just helped me out.”

Seventh-grade Language Arts Instructor David Parker had students sit in a circle and pass a ball with questions attached to it. As a student received the ball, they answered the question so their peers would know something new about them.

Physical Education Instructor Clint England set up an obstacle course for peers to guide each other through as they were blindfolded.

England said he hopes that the teenagers will take what they learned to focus in other areas of their lives.

Eighth-grade Science Teacher Brady Leeman also ran a blindfold activity where students had to heighten their other senses to problem-solve with other students who may be in different circles.

Keevyn Wilson said the entire morning helped him learn more about other students in his school.

“I thought it was pretty cool,” he said.

Nicoson said that the school will seek feedback from the students to see what they liked and where the staff could better serve them. The group hopes to continue to do smaller events throughout the year, and to make “Empowerment Day” an annual activity.

Burton said the students are always positive, but this year, they are willing to try whatever the staff provides for them.

“There are people outside this willing, that want to step in and want to be a part of their lives and want to be a part of it,” Burton said. “And I think that’s really exciting.”

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Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.

The same can be said for marching band competitions.

“Competition season in Illinois can be weird,” St. Joseph-Ogden High School Marching Band Director Chuck Hess said. “There are contests where you are grouped by school size and others by band size.  There are also different judging formats and how scores are tabulated, so week-to-week it’s hard to get a solid read on if we’re improving.”

The Marching Spartans only have one measure that they can hold to: doing better than the last band on the practice field.

“When we’re at competitions we focus on having our best performance ever,” he said. “The students know about the judging system and how it can be finicky one week to the next.  If we come off the field feeling like we’ve done our best, we learn from what the judges share with us to help us get to the next level in our performance.”

The system, coupled with a compelling story of zombies who are called back to life to perform, has worked during the first half of the 2019 competition season.

The 51-member band hit the field in July for two weeks, resulting in students learning all the music and charts. Once school began, the Spartans worked on tightening up their show and playing catch up with some band members who were absent during the two weeks of camp.

Hess said by the time September rolls around, underclassmen, particularly the freshmen, are wondering why they have spent so much time working so hard.

Then, they hit the road to their first band competition where they not only get to perform, but watch other bands and await the awards ceremony.

“The first show is usually the one where the hook finally gets set in our freshmen,” Hess said.

The Spartans traveled to Washington Community High School on Sept. 7, bringing home third place in their class and the best color guard in their 2A class.

Hess said the experience helped them work out a lot of things logistically.

On the Sept. 14, the Spartan headed west, playing at Morton High School with five other 2A bands.

“This contest was based on school size and so we had some stiff competition from programs that have larger bands,” Hess said.

SJ-O placed third out of six band and were only .85 points away from second place.

With that confidence, the Spartans finished up the first half of their competition season last weekend at Mount Zion, where six other bands performed in the 2A section.

“While we took second in our class it’s cool to point out that out of 18 bands that competed that day, we were fourth overall beating all of the bands in the next larger size class and one of the bands in the largest class,” Hess said.

Drum Major Tyson Madsen also took home Best Drum Major.

With a three-week break before picking up again on Oct. 12, Hess said the band will focus on individual growth.

“We’ll be spending more time on marching fundamentals and making sure they are being incorporated into the show and working musically on timing, tone quality, and projection,” he said.

Hess also said that the success the band has found in September has also taught them about hard work.

“They are starting to realize that you can’t escape the hard lifting if you want to improve,” he said.

Students have also noticed that the SJ-O crowd has been more receptive to their performance during home football games.

“I believe the show lends itself to that,” Hess said. “Their support is great and I believe has helped build confidence in our students.”

The Spartans will travel to Illinois Wesleyan University to compete on Oct. 12 before going to Lebanon, Ill. for the Small Band Championships on Oct.19. Their season will conclude near home, at the University of Illinois, on Oct. 26.

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[pdf-embedder url=”https://sjodaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Heritage-Board-Meeting-Agenda-8.19.2019.pdf” title=”Heritage Board Meeting Agenda 8.19.2019″]

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The student (grades 4 through 12) and teacher surveys became available on Dec. 11.

Administered by a third party, the UChicago Impact at the University of Chicago, the 5 Essentials Survey was implemented by ISBE more than seven years ago as a tool to gain confidential feedback about the climate and culture of a school or a school district from parents, students and teachers.

The survey, which ISBE now provides an opportunity for students and teachers to take annually, asks questions about students’ experiences, attitudes, activities in school, instruction, professional development, the school as a workplace and parents’ overall relationship with the school.

Prior to 2018, the districts were required to provide the survey biannually. To view results specific to each school click here.

Constituents can preview the questions from the survey on the 5 Essentials Survey website. School districts are also encouraged to provide the pdf document on their website.

Parents, teachers and students are not required to complete the survey that collects data on the climate and culture of a school district, but, in order for the survey to be counted, schools must achieve a 50-percent response rate from students and/or a 50-percent response rate from instructional staff to qualify for a report.

The data will be categorized into five sections: school leadership, collaborative teachers, involved families, supportive environment and ambitious instruction.

The data will be shared with school leadership as early as June 2019, and will be available on the district’s Illinois Report Card in the fall of 2019.

The 5 Essentials parent supplemental survey has been available online for parents of current students to take since Oct. 22. Schools are not required to provide the parent survey supplement. Results of this survey will only be reported to schools and school districts. The district needs a 20-percent response rate from parents to qualify for the report.

The surveys will remain open until Jan. 18, 2019.

Parent Survey
https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/login/

Teacher Survey
https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/teacher/login/

Student Survey
https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/student/login/

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The Dekalb School District in Northern Illinois has had to have principals act as substitute teachers.

Oakwood teachers advertised on social media that their district was looking for substitutes.

St. Joseph Grade School posted on their Facebook page in November that they were in great need of substitute teachers and urged people to contact the Regional Office of Education at 217-893-3219 to find out how to get a short-term license.

Some local school districts said they are finding ways to fill substitute teacher needs even though they would like to have a deeper pool of substitutes to rely on.

Heritage Superintendent Tom Davis is one local superintendent who is thankful for the substitute teachers he has.

“I still feel there is a sub shortage and we are lucky we can cover everything usually,” he said.  “The winter sick times are coming however, so we will need everyone we can some days to fill at both schools.”

Davis said that the current roster of substitutes that Heritage is outstanding.

St. Joseph-Ogden Principal Gary Page said the high school also has a high quality substitute teacher pool.

“While we don’t have a ton of subs in terms of quantity we have very high quality subs and are typically able to match subs with their content area strengths,” he said. “This allows many of our subs to step in and teach or at least follow through with a lesson plan. “

SJO has used 128 substitutes through Thanksgiving break but Page expects the number to increase as winter weather and sickness occur.

Davis said the district has had 94 percent attendance so far this year for teachers.

This year the state made it easier for substitute teachers to get licensed in Illinois.

The law created a short term substitute teaching license so people with an associates degree or 60 hours of college credit can substitute teach, allowing teachers with lapsed Professional Educators Licenses to qualify for substitute teaching licenses and increased the number of days to 120 that retired teachers can substitute teach without jeopardizing retirement benefits.

According to a Teacher Shortage Survey done in 2017 by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools over half, 53 percent, of the surveyed districts said that they have a serious problem with finding substitute teachers. That same survey found that there are 16,500 teacher absences every week and schools are unable to fill 18 percent of those absences.

Page said that in order to substitute a person must obtain a substitute license and register as a substitute teacher at the regional office of education.  

“The regional office of education takes care of all the licensing and other registration procedures such as a physical and background check,” he said.

In order to get a regular license, a person must have a bachelors degree.

However, the short-term license allows people to substitute teach for five years, sub no more than five consecutive days, with only an associates degree or 60-hours of completed coursework.

“To sub at SJO, once a prospective sub has their license registered at the ROE they should bring the ROE paperwork to me and fill out an application,” Page said.

Heritage has similar procedures, Davis said.

Davis said the district, on average, uses one substitute per day at each building.

“We try to in-house when possible at each school if a last morning sickness or emergency comes up,” Davis said.

This means a teacher with a prep period fills in for a classroom needing a substitute and then it rotates through people with a free prep period throughout the day.  The teachers are paid an in-house sub rate by the minute for the coverage.

Heritage occasionally uses long-term substitutes.

“We used a long-term sub for high school social studies for a maternity leave that just ended, and he did an outstanding job,” he said, “We also have a long-term sub for high school Spanish who worked with us last year as the job remains open.”

What do area schools pay for substitute teachers?
Oakwood School District: $100/day
Heritage School District: $95/day
Prairiview-Ogden School District, St. Joseph-Ogden High School, Thomasboro School District and Villa Grove School District: $90/day
Rantoul Township High School: $85/day
St. Joseph Grade School: $80/day

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The St. Joseph-Ogden senior plans on pursuing a law degree.

In order to help prepare that step, Chahine joined the SJO We the People Civics team.

“I am very passionate about particular political topics so I figured this was the perfect opportunity for my voice to me heard,” she said.

The We the People Contest is a nationwide civics contest.  Teams must first win their state competition or place second through wild card availability to advance to the national contest in Washington D.C. During the contest students participate in simulated congressional hearings and testify as congressional experts before a panel of judges who act as congressional committees. The groups are scored on a performance based-assessment.  The students have to show they have a depth of knowledge, understanding and the ability to apply constitutional principals.

This is the third year SJO has participated in the contest.

Senior Hannah Lewis has teacher Marshall Schacht to thank for getting her involved in the We the People team.

Schacht approached Lewis and talked up the experience previous teams have had.

“He told me that not only would I improve my civics skills but I would grow more as a person and hopefully gain a closer bond with my classmates,” Lewis said.

Schacht said the students who participate in the contest have bonded and have found an increased love of civics.

“Two of our unit groups were asked to leave the building this past week by the custodian for working together past school hours,” he said. “The fact that we have groups of seniors debating their stance on constitutional issues into the night gives me hope.”

Chahine said she enjoys learning about the rights and privileges that the Constitution allows United States Citizens.

She also credited Schacht for making the topic interesting.

“If it wasn’t for him, I know for sure I would not enjoy civics as much as I do today,” she said.

Lewis agreed.

She said she loves that the students can tell that Schacht is passionate about civics and tries to engage every student in his class.

“He makes the classroom environment fun and open so that everyone feels comfortable sharing their opinions,” she said. “He makes sure that we are all educated enough so that we have evidence to back up our opinions as well.”

Senior Rylee Sjuts said she is participating because she loves being challenged ad the debate aspect of the contest.

“It makes me feel really professional and sharp,” she said. “My favorite part about civics is the debating and discussions, but I also enjoy what we learn. Mr. Schacht makes it interesting and challenges us and leads really interesting discussions.”

This year’s We the People team has a variety of political views represented which leads to interesting discussions within the group, Schacht said.

“The judges find that respectful conversation refreshing and inspiring in our increasingly partisan world,” he said.

Judges at a recent practice included Attorney Chad Beckett and Judge Brett Olmstead. Four mayors also volunteered their time. They included Champaign Mayor Deb Frank Feinen, Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin, Savoy Mayor Joan Dykstra and St. Joseph Mayor Tami Fruhling-Voges.

Fruling-Voges said she was very excited to see students so interested in the Constitution, politics and civics.
“ I wish more students would become more interested, because young people take so much for granted when it comes to the freedoms that we enjoy today in our great country,” she said. “It’s so important for young people to understand how and why our government is set up as it is.  Our constitution is what holds our values as US citizens together.”

Dykstra said she was in awe of the students’ breadth of knowledge and understanding in civics, politics and The Constitution.

“Many of these students will surely become leaders in their community and, perhaps, run for office,” she said.

Feinen agreed.

“I am incredibly impressed with the SJO students,” she said. “I am inspired that the next generation is actively engaged in learning about civics, politics and the constitution and convinced that we will be leaving things in capable hands when they take over.”

Feinen and Dykstra said they jumped at the chance to be judges for the practice competition.

“I agreed to judge because as a Mayor and a lawyer I am dedicated to encouraging civil engagement in young people,’ Feinen said. “I know that part of my job is to demystify politics and law so that kids are inspired to get involved and also to eventually run for office.”

Dykstra, a former teacher, said she wanted to continue to encourage young adults to be engaged in fact-based, civil discussion.

“This skill seems to be lacking in public discourse today, even among adults,” she said.

Feinen said she hopes the students learned to see both sides of an issue and work towards their goals.

“I also hope they are inspired to someday attend law school, get involved in government, be an active and engaged citizen and/or run for office,” she said.

Fuhling-Voges said she hopes the students gained a deeper understanding of how politics and The Constitution should work together.

“With that understanding they will be more informed and engaged as citizens,” she said.  “Our country’s future depends on that knowledge and involvement.”

Dykstra said she hoped students were challenged and the practice helped them stretch their knowledge while allowing them to learn to ‘think on their feet.’

Schacht said the group appreciated the mayors giving up their Sundays to help them practice.

“The four mayors provide examples of civic participation that the students don’t regularly appreciate,” Schacht said.   “While the news focuses on the national agenda and our president, governing is done at the local level by people just like us.  Their insight was valuable as they could connect the theoretical to the practical. Furthermore, I loved the fact that the young women in my class to could see role models that have paved the way for them to lead.”

Schacht said the students care about the competition and want to win but more importantly they are passionate about the subject of civics.

“They are not doing this for a grade,” he said. “They are enjoying their moment.  I am fortunate to be surrounded by talented, motivated students with something to say on issues that matter. They want to be heard.”

Chahine said she feels it is important for student to be informed on their constitutional right so they can utilize them when needed.

“And so we can keep our democracy progressing in change for the better,” she said.

Senior Cassidy Bagby said she enjoys learning about the history of the country while learning how the government works.

“I feel it is important for students to be civic minded in order to participate in our government,” she said.

Lewis said she feels it is important for students to be civically engaged because they will soon be voting and making important decisions.

“As citizens it is important to know how our government functions at the local and national level because it has an effect on our lives,” Lewis said.

Sjuts said she thinks it is important for students to be civically involved because it is important for them to be informed voters.

“It’s important to know how things work and what we believe because it’s a big responsibility,” she said.

Currently, students are preparing on their own for the contest by refining their statements and preparing for the question and answer sessions. Schacht feeds them articles from the news and helps them with concepts they are trying to clarify but the students meet outside of school to practice their answers.

Schacht said the team has used the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution curriculum.

“We have studied all six units and engaged in congressional hearings in class since August,” he said.  “Now, the units are working own their own to improve for the state finals on December 7. We can refine their ability to answer questions clearly and concisely.  Their vocabulary must be efficient and contain nouns. Specific details and connections must be fluid and not sound robotic or rehearsed.”

Schacht said having teams participate in the contest has energized him as a teacher while bringing excitement to the students.

“They are eager to build upon the experiences of the past two teams to make their own mark,” he said.  

“Traditions must start somewhere and we have begun something special here at SJO. The state final competition at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago is now my favorite day of the year.  Seeing these teams of young people in their business suits having discussions on the Constitution with lawyers, professors and congressmen is remarkable. It is a true team experience where each unit has their chance to shine.  Pride, satisfaction, joy, relief and a sense of accomplishment all flood over the students with a wave of applause and cheering from their friends and family. What could be better than that.”

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At the November school board meeting the board discussed a teacher leadership committee recommendation that suggested moving high honors from 3.5 to 3.85 on the honor roll and moving honors from 3.9 to 3.5.

Superintendent Tom Davis said that using first quarter grade point averages for the 158 students he found that 100 students qualified for one or the other award on the honor roll under the current system. If the changes were implemented that would lower to 60.

“The board did not seem favorable to the changes at this time,” Davis said. “So I recommended the teacher leadership to have a representative to come to a future meeting to discuss the criteria and rationale for changes to the handbook.”

Also at the meeting, Heritage voted to renew their coop with Villa Grove.

The coop will include the sports currently in the coop. The schools do not coop volleyball or softball.

“I was very happy with the fall sports season,” Davis said.

Davis said football made the playoffs, Villa Grove volleyball and Heritage played a tough match to end the last LOVC season while both teams had successful seasons. VGH golf also had a great season, including a win over St. Joseph-Ogden, Davis said.

“So all in all, very positive,” he said.

Davis said he expects more of the same during the winter months with boys basketball off to a 3-1 start and girls basketball having a record of 3-2.

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The district has received the E-rate Funding Grant.

The grant is used to help schools and libraries obtain affordable telecommunication and Internet access.

The program is administered by the Universal Service Administration Company under the direction of the FCC.

Discounts given to schools and libraries depend on the level of poverty and the urban or rural status of the population served and range from 20% to 90% of the costs of eligible services.

E-rate was mandated by Congress in 1996 and implemented by the FCC in 1997.

A school or library that wishes to participate in the E-rate program must submit a request for competitive bids for the specific E-rate supported services it seeks to the Universal Service Administrative Company.

USAC posts those requests on its website for vendors to see. After reviewing the bids it has received, the school or library selects its preferred vendor and submits an application to USAC for approval listing its desired purchases then USAC issues funding commitments to eligible applicants.

Once a vendor provides the selected services to the applicant, either the vendor or the applicant submits requests to USAC for reimbursement of the approved discounts.

Fiber optic internet will be installed at PVO North Elementary in Royal and PVO Junior High in Flatville.

The cost will be $90,000.

The remaining $11,850 will be used to pay for the month-to-month cost of the internet for fiscal year 2019.

Superintendent Vic White said the grant, along with the ISBE State Fiber Grant for at least $37,500, will allow the school to have fast internet at both school buildings.

White expects installation to begin in the Spring with completion by August.

The PVO  Board also discussed moving one fifth or sixth grade teacher to the junior high for two years because of large enrollment at the junior high for 2019-20 and 2020-21.  The board decided there will only be one class of fifth-grade at PVO South Elementary in 2019-20 and then only one class of sixth grade at PVO South Elementary in 2020-21.

Also at the meeting, White told the board that he hand delivered 12 high honor yard signs to junior high students’ homes.

White said he did that to show the importance of getting outstanding grades and getting on the high honor roll.  

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SJO bus driver Leonard Winchester was drafted into the army in 1967, year out of high school, and served in Vietnam.

Chris Hinen, father of SJO student Zoe Hinen, signed up to join the army because they would pay for his education and served four tours in Iraq.

Nicole Chamber’s Advanced English 2 Class heard from those three veterans, plus 12 more, during their Veterans panel held at the end of October.

The class read “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, which details the experiences of soldiers in the Vietnam War.  The students wanted to talk to actual veterans about their experiences in the military instead of assuming they knew how veterans felt.

The panel discussion was wide-ranging with questions regarding how and why they joined the military, what active duty was like, how their family felt with their deployments and what it was like to come home from being deployed.

Hinen told students that when he was first deployed to Iraq he was just starting his family and he has regularly been away from his wife and children since he has been deployed a total of four times. In July he will go to Fort Bragg in North Carolina and by October he will be deployed again.

“Your situation always seems worse to other people,” he told the students.

Nate Price, a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps served in Fallujah, Iraq from 2007 to 2008 and the Helmand Province in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010.

Price said that being deployed is not as hard on the soldiers as it is on their family back home.

“The hardest job in the Marine Corps is being a mom or a wife,” he said. “The deployments cause more stress for those at home.”

St. Joseph resident Bruce Rape told students how he was drafted. Rape was attending the University of Illinois and worked to keep his grades high.

“You studied really hard because if you kept your grades up they wouldn’t come get you,” he said.

Rape graduated and planned on becoming a history teacher.

Instead, he was drafted.

His number was 12 out of 365.

He joined the Air Force before he could be assigned to a different branch of the military. He served from 1970-1978 and served in Vietnam from 1972-1973.

“At the time I did not want to be in the military,” he said. “But it changed my life. It worked out OK.”

Hinen told students that he signed up to receive money for college.  He said he never thought he would be deployed.

“The last conflict we were in was in 1991,” he said. “I was nine. Then 9/11 happened and I thought ‘What did I do?’”

Townsend told the students that he was one semester away from graduating college when he decided to enlist and was motivated by 9/11.

“I felt compelled to join,” he said. “It was my generations war.”

The students asked the veterans what it was like to come back from deployment.

Some veterans said they had certain things they did for six to seven months upon returning such as when they left a room, checking for their weapon.

“I put y hand on my hip and my heart is in my throat,” Hinen said. “I don’t have my pistol on me. Oh wait, Im in my living room and don’t need it.”

Larry Nitzke, a Vietnam veteran, told students that adjusting to life after deployment can be difficult.

“Loud noises cause you to jump, someone taps you on the shoulder and you come around swinging, you sit with your back against the wall and face the door and you look for what you can use as a weapon,” he said.

Townsend asked his mother, Terri Herbst, to tell students about the changes she had seen in him since he returned from deployment.

Herbst said her son was a happy teenager and a football player. After his deployment, she saw changes in him.

Herbst said Townsend has weapons hidden in his home in case someone breaks in and sits with his back to the wall and watches the door no matter where they are at.

“Every time I talk to him I learn something else that he has gone through that was unpleasant,” she said.

Townsend told students he survived three Improvised explosive device attacks and was shot at daily.

“I was in the thick of it,” he said.

“He really wanted to join,” Herbst said. “But it wasn’t like they said it would be. It does something to your head but I am glad he is here.”

The students also asked the veterans what the public’s reaction is once they learned they served.

Winchester said in the last 10 years or so people have started to thank veterans for their service.

“It wasn’t always like that,” he said.

Rape said when he originally returned from Vietnam he didn’t tell people he had served because the reactions were not positive.

“It got to the point you didn’t want people to know you were in the military,” he said.

Nitzke agreed.

“I didn’t tell anyone I had been overseas,” he said.

Bill McLane, who served in the Navy on two aircraft carries off the coast of Vietnam, told students that the way people react to veterans has changed over the years.

“Now people constantly thank you,” he said. “It has been a pleasant change. Every person who serves put their life on the line.”

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