Category Archives: News Section

Good Weather for Graduation in Sullivan

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Photo by Mike Brothers Pomp and Circumstance-Sullivan High School seniors Evan Baker holding the flag and Ben Berner line up during the processional Sunday. It was the 138th high school commencement held at 5 p.m. May 15 on the high school football field.

Photo by Mike Brothers
Pomp and Circumstance-Sullivan High School seniors Evan Baker holding the flag and Ben Berner line up during the processional Sunday. It was the 138th high school commencement held at 5 p.m. May 15 on the high school football field.

•May 18, 2016•

The weather blessed Sullivan High School with outdoor graduation ceremonies at 5 p.m. Sunday with 83 seniors receiving diplomas.

District 300 board president Steve Poland announced the salutatorian Zane Uphoff and valedictorian Emily Stutzman.

In her valedictory address Stutzman recalled arriving at Sullivan High School as a new student.

“When I arrived here three years ago, I was amazed how quickly news travels,” she began, “I wasn’t used to everyone knowing everyone.”

She explained the dread she felt in the beginning was relieved when unfamiliar classmates quickly became friends. “Now I’m not quite ready to leave.”

“How we see others is a reflection of how we see ourselves,” Stutzman said, pointing out the friends and memories of high school are priceless.

“Ours is a bright, untouched future, where the possibilities are endless,” she continued, encouraging her classmates to work for their dreams. Read More

Progress on the Square

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Photo by RR Best Progress on the Square Traffic around the Sullivan square has been challenging lately. Sidewalks are completed and resurfacing the streets downtown are underway. Ne-Co Asphalt of Charleston was awarded the $919,122.30 contract with the city of Sullivan.

Photo by RR Best
Progress on the Square
Traffic around the Sullivan square has been challenging lately. Sidewalks are completed and resurfacing the streets downtown are underway. Ne-Co Asphalt of Charleston was awarded the $919,122.30 contract with the city of Sullivan.

WHS Prom 2016

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Photo furnished Windsor Prom Court The Windsor High School prom was held in April. Prom Court: Back Row (L to R): King Candidates Tristan Warner and Tyler Kemper, 2015 King Devin Deremiah, 2015 Queen Paige Woolard, Queen Candidates Breana Wiltermood and Raquel Jackson. Front Row (L to R): Crown Bearer Grayson McCray, 2016 King Zach Caywood, 2016 Queen Autumn Bennett, and Crown Bearer Emma Hickman.

Photo furnished
Windsor Prom Court
The Windsor High School prom was held in April. Prom Court: Back Row (L to R): King Candidates Tristan Warner and Tyler Kemper, 2015 King Devin Deremiah, 2015 Queen Paige Woolard, Queen Candidates Breana Wiltermood and Raquel Jackson. Front Row (L to R): Crown Bearer Grayson McCray, 2016 King Zach Caywood, 2016 Queen Autumn Bennett, and Crown Bearer Emma Hickman.

A Twist of Fun Followed by the Sound of Laughter

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Photo By Mike Brothers Deb Joy Hart brought the WorldLaughterTour to Mason Point as part of National Nursing Home Week activities.

Photo By Mike Brothers
Deb Joy Hart brought the WorldLaughterTour to Mason Point as part of National Nursing Home Week activities.

•May 18, 2016•

National Nursing Home Week brought a variety of activities to area facilities May 8-14. The sounds of laughter arrived when Mason Point residents in Sullivan met Deborah Joy Hart.

Hart, a laughter therapist, is part of the WorldLaughterTour and stopped by Mason Point May 10 for…you guessed it…a few laughs.

“Laughter has psychological and physiological benefits for the body, mind and spirit.” Hart of St. Joseph, Ill. has spread laughter therapy all over the world.

“I was the class clown in school, and while I was a nurse I saw the positive effect humor had in healing and health,” she said of her start in applied and therapeutic humor. Read More

ALAH District Board Reviews School Lunch Programs

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•May 18, 2016•

By Ariana Cherry
For the News Progress

Last school year after experiencing rising costs in services with Aramark, Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond questioned the possibilities of finding alternatives. The new 2016-2017 contract with a 2.6% increase (due to cost of living) was brought to the table at the last ALAH board meeting.

“With new regulations and menus that have come about in the last few years, it would be a huge undertaking to find other companies,” commented superintendent Kenny Schwengel .

“High school lunch numbers have gotten bigger since there is an open menu. More kids eat here,” noted principal Buck Condill.

“The menu has changed drastically since last year,” said Lindsay Blickenstaff, Atwood-Hammond elementary principal. “Some complaints I have heard are portion size—some students may not be getting enough to eat. Although our breakfast numbers are large, there are a lot of people who eat breakfast,” she added.

At Lovington Elementary School, the story was a little different. “Our lunch numbers are down,” informed principal Brandon Stone. “The main complaint heard in Lovington is the variety. Variety is lacking. Even the students who receive free and reduced lunches are bringing their own lunch. That is rare,” he said.

Sage Hale, principal of Arthur Elementary School reported little change in numbers served. After some discussion among the administrators and school board, the 2016-2017 contract was approved unanimously. Read More

Moultrie County Looks into Improving Courthouse Technology

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•May 11, 2016•

Moultrie County Courthouse computer systems have grown slower and older, prompting the county board building and grounds committee to recommend an upgrade.

County Clerk Georgia England reported Quality Network Selutions findings at the regular meeting May 4. Slow access and crash problems prompted QNS to look further into the problems within the courthouse system.

QNS discovered servers from 2001, 2003, and 2006 in use beyond their capacity. Average server life expectancy is five-seven years.

County board chairman Dave McCabe explained the county will have to start looking toward more frequent system updates. He explained the out-of-date servers are not useable, and the county will need to start from scratch on rebuilding new servers. Read More

Holocaust Survivor Shares His Story

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Photo courtesy Jessica Voyles Sullivan High School English teacher Rebecca Lawson left introduces Holocaust survivor Jerry Koenig, who gave his account of Poland under the Nazis during World War II.

Photo courtesy Jessica Voyles
Sullivan High School English teacher Rebecca Lawson left introduces Holocaust survivor Jerry Koenig, who gave his account of Poland under the Nazis during World War II.

•May 11, 2016•

Eleven people hidden in a hole under a barn in Poland lived in fear of death for 22 months during World War II.

Jerry Koenig, Holocaust survivor of that ordeal, told Sullivan students what life of a persecuted group was like under the Nazi reign of terror. Only 10 percent of the Jewish population in Poland survived the Holocaust.

Sunday, May 1 was Yom Hashoah (Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust), making Koenig’s presence historically significant for those gathered in the Sullivan High School gymnasium.

“After Germany took over Poland in 1939, they forced Jewish people to wear a white arm band with the Star of David,” Koenig, who was nine years old then, recalled. “Then they started rationing food to give the army first priority.”

Koenig and his middle class family lived in Pruszkow but were soon trucked to Warsaw ghettos where the Nazis were starting the starvation process to exterminate the Jews.

“There were 300,000 people crammed into a walled neighborhood and survival depended on how much food we could buy from the black market,” Koenig, said, recalling his father arranged an escape to the country for his mother, younger brother and himself. Read More

ALAH FFA Competes in Section 17 Agriculture Business and Horticulture CDE

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Photo furnished ALAH FFA Competes in Section 17 Agriculture Business and Horticulture CDE Two ALAH FFA members traveled to Parkland College in Champaign to compete in the Section 17 Agriculture Business and Horticulture Career Development Events (CDEs). Competing were Josiah Kinert in the Agriculture Business CDE and Jordan Jent in both Horticulture and Agriculture Business CDEs. The Agriculture Business CDE consisted of a 50 question test that had various questions on agriculture business such as net worth, budgeting, and marketing. The horticulture CDE included identifying 50 plants from a list of 300, a test, six judging rings, a landscaping practicum, and identifying plant disorders and diseases. Pictured are ALAH FFA members Josiah Kinert and Jordan Jent who participated in the Section 17 Agriculture Business CDE at Parkland College. 

Photo furnished
ALAH FFA Competes in Section 17 Agriculture Business and Horticulture CDE
Two ALAH FFA members traveled to Parkland College in Champaign to compete in the Section 17 Agriculture Business and Horticulture Career Development Events (CDEs).
Competing were Josiah Kinert in the Agriculture Business CDE and Jordan Jent in both Horticulture and Agriculture Business CDEs.
The Agriculture Business CDE consisted of a 50 question test that had various questions on agriculture business such as net worth, budgeting, and marketing. The horticulture CDE included identifying 50 plants from a list of 300, a test, six judging rings, a landscaping practicum, and identifying plant disorders and diseases.
Pictured are ALAH FFA members Josiah Kinert and Jordan Jent who participated in the Section 17 Agriculture Business CDE at Parkland College.

ALAH FFA Competes in State Livestock Judging

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Photo furnished ALAH FFA Competes in State Livestock Judging The ALAH FFA competed in the State FFA Livestock Judging Contest April 23 with a team of four consisting of Josiah Kinert, Makenna Green, Adam Day, and Katie Gingerich. The contest was held at the U of I beef farm. The students judged four placing classes, three keep and cull classes, and one grading of beef steers class. They judged beef cattle, sheep, swine, and meat goats. One hundred three teams and 458 individuals competed with the local team placing 21st in the state. Green, Day and Gingerich each earned “A” ratings, and Kinert earned a “C” rating. Pictured are ALAH FFA members who competed at the State Livestock CDE held at the University of Illinois. From L to R  Josiah Kinert, Katie Gingerich, Makenna Green, and Adam Day. 

Photo furnished
ALAH FFA Competes in State Livestock Judging
The ALAH FFA competed in the State FFA Livestock Judging Contest April 23 with a team of four consisting of Josiah Kinert, Makenna Green, Adam Day, and Katie Gingerich. The contest was held at the U of I beef farm. The students judged four placing classes, three keep and cull classes, and one grading of beef steers class. They judged beef cattle, sheep, swine, and meat goats. One hundred three teams and 458 individuals competed with the local team placing 21st in the state. Green, Day and Gingerich each earned “A” ratings, and Kinert earned a “C” rating.
Pictured are ALAH FFA members who competed at the State Livestock CDE held at the University of Illinois. From L to R  Josiah Kinert, Katie Gingerich, Makenna Green, and Adam Day.