•October 30, 2019•
By Ellen Ferrera
for The News Progress

On October 24 the Okaw Valley School District entertained public comment on the Board’s intent to issue $750,000 Working Cash Fund Bonds.
Hollis Dick of Bethany was the only person to make public comment. Mr. Dick complained that the public wasn’t given enough time to respond to the notice. He asked who the board attorney was and if he had been consulted about giving proper notice.
The Board assured Mr. Dick that they had worked with their attorney and that all public notices had been handled properly. Read More

Photo by Mike Brothers
Gerry Nolen gets ready to Round up as Sullivan IGA cashier Tony Feeler checks out.

•October 23, 2019•
By Turk Rounder
for The News Progress

Where else could giving so little mean so much?
It’s Round up time at Sullivan IGA from Nov. 3 to Nov. 9 giving every customer a chance to help buy turkeys for Moultrie County Food Pantry’s Thanksgiving.
“It’s amazing how quickly it adds up,” IGA manager Pat Stinson said of the eighth annual fund raising event for the food pantry.
“The most you can donate is 99 cents and even a penny makes a difference,” he continued, noting the week long event contributes some $1200 annually to the food pantry’s Thanksgiving meal giveaway. Read More

File photo
Major Lynn Lowder was awarded Silver Star for Valor in Vietnam. He knows a little about what it is like to return home after serving in a foreign conflict, now he is committed to helping others.

•October 16, 2019•
By Barry Sadler
For the News Progress

If you have never heard of V-Harmony, you should.
According to founder, Sullivan High School 1964 graduate and retired Marine Corp Maj. Lynn Lowder, V-Harmony matches veterans with business opportunities.
“When WWII veterans returned, 49 percent helped rebuild America by owning or operating a business,” Lowder, a special operations US Marine veteran, said.
“Less than seven percent of all returning Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans are in business for themselves; although 25 percent would like to be.”
Lowder explained that the provisions of the GI bill that helped create the great American middle class are no longer available to returning veterans.
Credit scores and collateral drive business loans which are a detriment to today’s veterans who return to civilian life with no FICO and little collateral.
That’s where V-Harmony comes in. Lowder and partner Dale Eisenburg have established a 501c3 which entitles the Veterans Business Project to help bridge the ownership gap.
Special operations and National Guard have had to return repeatedly since 9/11, stretching the few to their physical and mental limits. Lowder explained the suicide rate among returning veterans continues to escalate.
“Our country trains us to be warriors,” Lowder said, explaining that when a warrior returns from the battlefield, the transition is not easy, and for some, almost impossible due to post traumatic stress from repeated exposure to conflicts overseas. Read More

Photo furnished
Ag in the Classroom
With Ag in the Classroom back for a new season, September’s lesson was on apples. Stephanie Naylor visited Sullivan and Okaw Valley Elementary schools. The Kindergarten and First graders tasted three popular types of apples and filled out a worksheet picking their favorite and completing a craft. The second, third and fourth graders learned several apple facts and completed an experiment creating an apple volcano. Naylor will meet with students one time a month to discuss a variety of Agriculture related topics.

•October 16, 2019•
By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

Stephanie Naylor has, for several years, been the Moultrie County instructor for the Ag in the Classroom program.
In that capacity she visits every K-3 class in Moultrie County once a month for 20 minutes and, in a year, teaches over 6,000 students about the wonders of agriculture through a variety of interactive programs. But such agricultural experiences were not always available.
Throughout much of our history, agriculture and education have been closely related. Old school books are full of agricultural reference because farming was part of nearly every child’s life prior to 1920.
From 1920-1950 farm populations shrank, agricultural emphasis decreased in books and agricultural education became more of an occupational specialty or a trade school course. Ag classes had virtually disappeared from most curriculums.
In 1981 the U. S. Department of Agriculture invited educators and representatives of agricultural organizations to discuss agricultural literacy and to form a task force to help bring agriculture back into the classroom. That same year the national program – Ag in the Classroom – was established and, as result, each state now addresses agricultural education in ways best suited to its own needs. Read More