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Illinois Student Organization Family, Career and Community Leaders of America Holds Meeting

News Progress Posted on by

•October 25, 2023•

Every day the news is filled with negative stories of what teenage youth are doing. Yet, every day we also have thousands of young people who are doing great and positive things. The Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) recognize that teens can play an essential role in improving the lives of families, schools, and communities. Given our vast network of established chapters in schools, FCCLA provides a tremendous vehicle for young people to take on projects and activities in all areas of life. From youth violence to financial fitness and healthy lifestyles, FCCLA members are tackling issues that not only affect the world today but their future also. Read More

Grants Promote Ag Literacy Through Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom

News Progress Posted on by

•October 25, 2023•

The Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom (IAITC) program continues to thrive as a resource for educating children about connections to agriculture. Recently the program received funding to continue classroom lessons thanks to IAA Foundation grants to local county coalitions. 

Eighty coalitions serving 89 Illinois counties were awarded $647,000 in grant dollars which can be used for materials, training, educational lessons, and activities taking place during the 2023-2024 school year. Moultrie County was one of the counties included in this.  Read More

12th Annual Candy Fundraiser to Benefit Moultrie County Food Pantry

News Progress Posted on by

•October 25, 2023•

by Crystal Reed

Flesor’s Candy Kitchen of Tuscola is teaming with the Moultrie County Food Pantry for a candy fundraiser in its 12th year. Each year 20% of the proceeds from the candy sale go to the food pantry. When COVID hit, the fundraiser became order by mail, and it became so successful that this method has continued. Read More

Thompson Selected to Serve on Statewide Vision Group

News Progress Posted on by

•October 25, 2023•

The Regional Office of Education #11 recently announced that Regional Superintendent, Dr. Kyle Thompson, has been appointed as a key member of the IASA Vision 2030 Workgroup.  The Illinois Association of Administrators (IASA) recently developed this visionary initiative following the previously successful framework of its Vision 20/20.  Vision 2030 aims to revolutionize the landscape of public education across the Prairie State.  Read More

5 Ways to Ensure a Greater Work-Family Balance 

News Progress Posted on by

•October 25, 2023•

Individuals have to juggle many different responsibilities on a daily basis. Those with full- or part-time jobs, children, spouses or partners, or aging family members that require assistance, will often find they are pulled in different directions. In many cases, work takes priority over family time because people rely on their jobs for the income that funds their lifestyles. Rather than jeopardizing that income, certain individuals will make time concessions that favor employment over personal relationships and family time.

Recent data indicates that many people are trapped in unhealthy work-life balances and can’t find the time to unwind and enjoy themselves. The e-commerce company Groupon asked 2,000 Americans about stress at work and 60 percent indicated that pressures and responsibilities of the workplace and home life do not have boundaries. Learning to balance work and life better may come from following these tips. Read More

Take Risks

News Progress Posted on by

•October 25, 2023•

by Columnist

Sarah Hudson Pierce 

If we are to achieve our dreams, sometimes we must risk everything to reach those goals or sit forever in our own backyard!

Once upon a time there was a man named Robert Manry, former copy editor of the Cleveland, Ohio, Plain Dealer newspaper.

He set sail alone in 1965 in a homemade 13 1/2 foot boat named Tinkerbelle, which was then the world’s tiniest sailboat to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Manry sailed from Falmouth Massachusetts to Falmouth England, a voyager of 2600 miles in 78 days.

He was capsized, chased by sharks, and he hallucinated. He had to stop in the middle of the ocean to repair the rudder of his tiny boat. When asked why he undertook this tremendous life-threatening fate, he replied, “there comes a time when one must decide whether to risk everything to achieve our goals or sit forever in his own backyard! Read More

You’re a Sight for Sore Eyes, Unlike the Eyesore on that Site

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•October 25, 2023•

“What a sight!” I exclaimed as I gazed across the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

A higher-up in the Chicago Bears organization might have stood on the site of the former Arlington Park racetrack and exclaimed, “What a site! I’ve never seen anything like this.”

We’d both be right.

Of course we would, because “sight” and “site” are homophones, so you’d hear no difference. But for the purposes of a written word column, we simply have different perspectives on what we’re looking at. Read More