Freshmen

Sophomores

Juniors

Seniors

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Brooks writes that the district’s goal is to get 100-percent of SJ-O students back in school every day as soon as possible. But, under the current guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), the district does not believe that it can adhere to those guidelines with full-time in-person attendance.

IDPH guidelines require use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), including face coverings; prohibit more than 50 individuals from gathering in one space; require social distancing be observed, as much as possible; require that schools conduct symptom screenings and temperature checks or require that individuals self-certify that they are free of symptoms before entering school buildings; and require an increase in school-wide cleaning and disinfection.

“We have families that feel we should be 100% back in school full time, families who feel we should be 100% Remote Learning due to safety concerns, families who have major concerns for daycare, and everything in between,” Brooks writes. “We understand and share in the concerns of each of those groups. This is an extremely difficult situation for everyone. We also realize that we cannot meet each groups’ needs, and the frustrations and stress that can cause families. Our expectation at SJO, as well as our parents’ expectations during times outside of a pandemic, is that student safety must come first when there is a potential known danger to students. There is also an expectation that we provide a strong education to our students.”

“Therefore, we don’t feel that we would be doing our due diligence with those expectations if we aren’t following the state health department’s safety guidance during a pandemic, and then aren’t doing everything we can to provide a strong education to our students within those guidelines.”

If the Central region of the Restore Illinois plan remains in Phase 4, as it is today, SJ-O plans to have a hybrid schedule of in-person instruction and remote learning to start the 20-21 school year. Should the Central region of the Restore Illinois plan move back to Phase 3, groups larger than 10 will not be allowed.

In SJ-O’s plans, students would be split into one of two groups (Maroon or Columbia Blue) and would have in-person instruction every other day for a full day. 

“There were three primary areas that we looked at and discussed extensively before coming to this recommended hybrid schedule,” Brooks wrote. “1) Safety of our students and staff, 2) Determining the hybrid schedule that best meets the academic needs of our students and provides them with the most face to face instructional minutes, and 3) The concern our families have with daycare due to SJO and our two feeder school districts being on hybrid schedules.”

St. Joseph CCSD #169 will discuss their plans at the school board meeting tonight. Prairieview-Ogden plans on releasing their plans this week.

“This schedule allows us to meet the safety guidelines provided by the IDPH and ISBE, and also allows our students the greatest amount of in-person instruction minutes with their teachers,” Brooks wrote. 

“However, it does not offer great assistance for our families who would like their high school student to watch younger siblings and we recognize that. PVO and St. Joe Grade/Middle Schools are both leaning towards two completely different hybrid models, so even if we mirror one feeder school, we would not be assisting the families in the other district. We have spent a lot of hours trying to determine if either of their schedules would work at SJO, but in the end, we feel that both would short change the academic needs of our students. High school education is just completely different than elementary education.”

Brooks said that remote learning will look differently than what took place in the spring during the stay-at-home order. 

“We are working towards trying to implement continuous instruction/learning where teachers are moving forward with their curriculum each day (whether in-person or remote) so that students are able to learn as much of the curriculum as possible,” he wrote. “Students will also be assessed for all of their work, and grades will be able to go up or down based on student work.”

The plan will be revisited in September once students are back in the building, and assessments on hallway traffic flows, lunchroom, and classrooms can be made. 

“If we determine at that time that we can meet the safety guidelines with all of our students in the building at the same time, then we will transition back to that,” Brooks said.

“All of the information above is contingent on everything in regards to Covid-19 and the IDPH remaining the same on August 17. The whole situation could completely change by then, for the better or worse.”

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High Honors

Honor Roll

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She’s also been named a Valedictorian of the Class of 2020.

“I’ve always set high standards for myself when it comes to my grades, and I kept that mindset when I started high school,” Schaefer said. “Becoming Valedictorian was a motivating factor for me in my schoolwork especially as I got closer to the end of high school.”

The last eight weeks of high school did not look like she expected it to.

“When I was still going to school, I really enjoyed spending time with friends during all of my extracurriculars, especially marching band, and during school,” she said. 

“The last eight weeks have definitely been less stressful as I’ve been much less busy, but in this case I wish I would have been busier. Graduation doesn’t seem like as big or important of an event since the gym will be empty.”

Schaefer will move on to the University of Illinois to study Environmental Economics & Policy. She hopes to pursue a career implementing sustainable practices into businesses.

Looking back, Schaefer said she’s been lucky to have gone through a rigorous and supportive program at St. Joseph-Ogden.

“My teachers were all very supportive and helpful if I ever needed anything,” she said. “My family was also supportive of me and let me focus on schoolwork. They all made my high school experience a lot better and I’m grateful for them.”

In a school that is small enough to know everybody and big enough to meet a lot of different types of people, Schaefer participated in band, scholastic bowl, drama, National Honor Society, Spanish club, Rube Goldberg club, and We the People.

“During my senior year of marching band, we placed third or better in each of our competitions. At the We the People Competition, we placed second. It’s important to get involved because you can make lots of friends or become closer with friends you already have,” she said.

There is one lesson that Schaefer will take with her as she moves forward.

“I will remember to not take anything for granted and how important it is to work hard but also have fun,” she said. 

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SJO 2019-2020 2nd Quarter Honor Roll

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OGDEN
John M Acklin
Zach T David
Adam D Frerichs
Caleb L Johnson
Devon M Miezio
Katelyn M Smith

ROYAL
Mickaela J Fleming

SAINT JOSEPH
Melanie L Broch
Abigail C Burnett
Julie A Burnett
Rebecca M Campbell
Erin E Christians
Elena K Cotter
Avery M Edwards
Tenneal R Frerichs
Justyn R Fruhling
Dylan M Heck
Gabriell R Jones
Kaitlyn M Landis
Caroline E Moore
Allison P Morenz
Brendan Z Olauson
Kristen A Polizzi
Megan K Schumacher
Nora E Slater
Kaitlyn R Taylor
Keisha R Taylor
Mitchell R Thompsen
Hannah O Watson
Sarah E Wiseman
Nicole L Woller

URBANA
Abigail M Dunham

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St. Joseph-Ogden’s girls’ basketball team recovered from an early-game deficit on Monday at Mahomet-Seymour and extended its winning streak to four games.

SJ-O rallied past the Bulldogs 41-30 in a game it trailed 7-4 after one quarter. An 18-2 second-quarter spurt created a double-figure lead at halftime and the Spartans pulled away.

Ashlyn Lannert scored a team-high 12 points for the Spartans.

Payton Vallee contributed eight points and Abby Behrens added five points.

SJ-O hit 13 of 22 free throws and scored all eight of its fourth-quarter points on free throws, including four by Katie Cramer.

The Spartans (8-1) return to action tonight, starting a four-game homestand with a game against Teutopolis.

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There was a time in the late 1980s that St. Joseph-Ogden had a leg up on the competition and it had nothing to do with the quality of the boys’ basketball program.

The advantage was the timing for the school’s annual holiday tournament. It came after the multitude of events that marked Thanksgiving week and it preceded the plethora of tournaments that take place immediately after Christmas.

The Leader Classic was a community staple in mid-December, starting and finishing before the Christmas holidays.

The entry list was a literal list of Who’s Who in Central Illinois basketball.

Chrisman, which has more than 1,600 wins in its history, was a participant. So were storied programs such as Monticello, Tuscola and Cissna Park, each of which have at least 1,400 wins. State-ranked teams from Paxton-Buckley-Loda, Unity and Armstrong-Potomac had their turns in the event that made its debut in 1989.

And don’t forget the SJ-O Spartans, who have more tournament titles (17) than all opposing schools combined in the first 30 years of the extravaganza.

“It exploded,” said Randy Wolken, who was the school’s boys’ basketball coach when the tournament began.

“The best teams in the area wanted to be in.

“The first year, we had five teams and right away after that, we had eight. We had our pick of the litter. No one else was doing it.

“You wanted to attract the best schools because you wanted great competition.”

Several schools that wanted to compete couldn’t break existing contracts when the Leader Classic began and had to wait a year to join.

Wolken and long-time SJ-O athletic director Dale Doehring were instrumental in getting the tournament established.

It wasn’t difficult to sell school administrators on the idea.

“They pretty well went for it,” Wolken said, “and I liked it from the aspect that I got four more home games.”

At the outset, there was a secondary advantage for Wolken and his teams.

“We could sit back and relax at Christmas-time,” he said.

The time of holiday leisure was short-lived.

“After a few years, we couldn’t get another tourney (in January), so we got in at Monticello (the week after Christmas),” Wolken said.

SJ-O superintendent Brian Brooks – who coached basketball at the school for 15 years – is not surprised at the tournament’s longevity.

“It was a tradition that our community wrapped their arms around,” Brooks said. “A big part (of the success) is that people at the school, and The Leader (newspaper) committed to it.

“The Leader played a big part with its support.”

As the years passed, more than the basketball schedules were changing. A growing number of schools were arranging their academic calendars to complete first-semester final exams before the Christmas break.

A week-long basketball tournament that coincided with final exams was not a good combination.
Since 2016, the SJ-O event was reduced from eight to six teams with each school playing all of the others in a round-robin format.

In 2018, The Leader newspaper closed its doors and the title sponsor changed to Toyota of Danville.
This year, another change was introduced. The tournament dates were moved up two weeks. First-round games will take place on Dec. 3.

The final day, Saturday, Dec. 7, will be an opportunity for each school to be showcased twice.
Defending tournament champion Cissna Park returns, but there are three newcomers in the field: Georgetown-Ridge Farm, Notre Dame La Salette and Watseka.

Brooks is optimistic that more expansion will take place.

“The last few years, it was more difficult to get teams because there was so much going on,” he said. “It’s not that they were not interested in coming, but the timing of it.

“We’ve gotten good feedback and may be back to eight in the near future.”

This year’s list of tournament entries features schools all within a 75-mile radius of St. Joseph.

In recent years, the tournament included schools traveling from Chicago Longwood and Stanford Olympia. Longwood bowed out after last year’s event.

While some coaches enjoyed seeing schools and styles of play they might not otherwise see in the regular season, there was a flip side to the long-distance commuter teams.

“The one negative from that far away is that you don’t get many fans, and the bottom line is that you need people in the stands to support paying the officials and the scorekeepers,” Wolken said.

“If it can’t break even, it can’t go too many years.”

Three-plus decades into the tournament’s existence, the staying power has been confirmed.

Though SJ-O twice had streaks of at least five tournament championships in a row, Wolken insisted it wasn’t because of scheduling.

“We didn’t just get teams we could beat,” Wolken said. “We had the best we could get in the area.

“You don’t want one good team and five or six poor ones. You want competitive teams and competitive games.

It can be tough to get everything to fall into place.”

Spartan administrators are hopeful that by reinventing itself with a new name and a new time slot, the tournament will remain viable for years to come.

The Toyota of Danville Classic will be held at St. Joseph-Ogden High School from Dec. 3 to Dec. 7. Home teams are listed first.

Tues., Dec. 3 @ 5p.m. Cissna Park vs. Notre Dame La Salette
Tues., Dec. 3 @ 6:30 p.m. SJO vs. Georgetown Ridge-Farm
Tues., Dec. 3 @ 8 p.m. Danville Schlarman vs. Watseka

Wed., Dec. 4 @ 5 p.m. Cissna Park vs. Watseka
Wed., Dec. 4 @ 6:30 p.m. Danville Schlarman vs. Georgetown Ridge-Farm
Wed., Dec. 4 @ 8 p.m. SJO vs. Notre Dame La Salette

Fri. Dec. 6 @ 5 p.m. Notre Dame La Salette vs. Danville Schlarman
Fri. Dec. 6 @ 6:30 p.m.Georgetown Ridge-Farm vs. Watseka
Fri. Dec. 6 @ 8 p.m. SJO vs. Cissna Park

Sat. Dec. 7 @ 10 a.m. Cissna Park vs. Georgetown Ridge-Farm
Sat. Dec. 7 @ 11:30 a.m. SJO vs. Danville Schlarman
Sat. Dec. 7 @ 1 p.m. Notre Dame La Salette vs. Watseka

Sat. Dec. 7 @ 4 p.m. Danville Schlarman vs. Cissna Park
Sat. Dec 7 @ 5:30 p.m. Georgetown Ridge-Farm vs. Notre Dame La Salettesjo
Sat. Dec. 7 @ 7 p.m. Watseka vs. SJO

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St. Joseph-Ogden’s girls’ basketball team won the championship in the Lady Falcon/Lady Bunny Tournament on Friday at Fisher.

SJ-O (4-0) pulled out close wins in both the semifinals and the finals.

The Spartans edged Villa Grove/Heritage 46-43 in Thursday’s semifinal contest.

Katie Cramer drained four three-point shots and scored a team-high 14 points. Taylor Barnes added 13 points and Payton Jacob scored seven points.

SJ-O needed overtime in the championship game, a 45-43 decision over Paxton-Buckley-Loda.

No Spartan scored in double figures, but Cramer led the way with nine points. Alyssa Hamilton scored eight points and Jacob added seven.

Four players scored for SJ-O in the 4-minute extra session: Hamilton, Ashlynn Lannert and Payton Vallee each hit two points and Barnes added the last of her six free throw conversions.

SJ-O returns to action on Tuesday in its home-opener against Paris.

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The St. Joseph-Ogden Marching band had a dream-come-true kind of season.

It wasn’t just because they took third place at the University of Illinois Marching Band Competition. It wasn’t just because they placed second and received recognition for Best Music at the McKendree University Small Band Marching Competition.

Their dreams did not just come true because they put on a great show at the Normal Marching Band Invitational, taking second in Class 2A and best in class for Color Guard and Percussion or because they placed third at the Morton Invitational or third in 2A at Washington Community High School.

The accolades are something that propelled the Spartans through the long two-month competition season. But the day-to-day, the friendships, the doing-something-you-didn’t-think-you-could and bringing to life something surreal under the leadership of Director Chuck Hess are what the teenagers already know will stay with them for a long time.

First-year drum major Tyson Madsen set down his trumpet for his junior year to fulfill his dream of leading the group.

“Ever since the very first day of marching band camp my freshman year, I looked up to the drum major and wanted to become one,” Madsen said. “Knowing that I would be given the opportunity to help the band grow and help them have a good experience with music was a major factor.”

The family-like atmosphere that permeated the 51-member band this year led all members to give their all to make sure that their show was something special for the St. Joseph-Ogden community.

Madsen said the change from band uniforms to costumes, marching to music, to telling a story was something that drew everyone in.

The Spartans performed in red-tail coats and grey Victorian wigs to tell the story of musicians who sold their souls for success and fame. Upon death, the musicians are resurrected every hundred years to perform as the price for their bargain.

Although Madsen had his back turned to the crowd so that he could lead the band, the way the SJ-O crowd reacted to the band’s opening performance at the first home football game on Aug. 30 will be something he will remember forever.

“In previous years, halftime for most of the crowd was when the band comes on, you leave to do whatever you need to do, and maybe you catch the last bit of the show when you come to sit back down,” Madsen said.

“Some band members and I were worried that this year might be the same way. We tried to build hype throughout the school for the show, but there was no telling if people would actually pay attention.”

As the Spartans took the field, playing through their first song, they knew the crowd was larger than it had been in recent years, but they didn’t know what to expect.

“Until the end of the first song, I had no idea if people were even paying attention,” Madsen said.

“I just blocked it out and focused on the performance. The moment we ended the first song and had a pause, there was an applause much bigger than any we had ever gotten. I froze, and all I could do was smile.”

Madsen waited to begin the second song so that his peers on the field could take the moment in.

“That was the first of many large applauses we got this season and a feeling that I will always remember,” he continued.

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