•May 12, 2021•
by Crystal Reed
NP Writer

Josie Orris reflected on the Lady Lakers NJCAA Division II national championship win by saying that it was absolutely incredible. “I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my career,” she said.
The team earned the national title at the championship game on April 24 where the Lakers won against the Johnson County Cavaliers with a score of 53-49. The team qualified for the national tournament last year, but the event was cancelled due to the pandemic. Read More

Planning for all students to return to in-person learning

•May 5, 2021•
by Ariana Cherry
NP Writer

"I am pretty proud of where we are. We are in good shape. I feel pretty confident we will continue to move in that direction,” noted Superintendent Shannon Cheek when he presented COVID-19 updates to the board during his superintendent’s report. At the time of the meeting, there were 16 students who were in quarantine and only one student in quarantine due to a positive test. No staff was in quarantine. Since August 19, the district has had only 75 positive cases among students and 21 positive cases among staff.
The district is planning on a full return with pre-COVID schedules for the next school year. This means that all of the buildings are looking at a full school day with everyone returning to in-person learning. There will be guidelines that the district may have to follow, and if there are students with health conditions who have a note from their doctor that requires them to have remote learning, then the district will make plans for that. Read More

•May 5, 2021•
Charles Willis, Jr., 26, has been sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
At a hearing on April 26, 2021, Judge Jeremy Richey accepted a plea in which Willis pled guilty to the offense of Arson, a Class 2 Felony, Moultrie County case 2020-CF-17. Read More