News Progress

2015

In January, Okaw Valley’s administration released details on their participation in a new initiative aimed at reviving manufacturing in east central Illinois that, at the same time, promised to revitalize how individuals become proficient in trades before entering the workforce. The initiative, being called the Student Learner Program, places students with novice level experience in specific trades, gained through their time at Okaw Valley, into paid internships at local businesses that encompass the trade in which they are interested.

2015

The Sullivan Chamber & Economic Development awarded Small Business of the Year to the Briarwood at the annual dinner. Business of the Year was awarded to Petersen Health Care. Citizen of the Year was awarded to Larry Stenger and the Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Ron White.

One Knights’ fan traveled 1200 miles to see the Little Okaw Valley Conference championship game against the Hutsonville-Palestine Tigers in Arcola. ALAH made sure that fan, Danny Powell, left with a smile, defeating the Tigers 69-51.

The Sullivan High school will be hosting the Boys’ Senior Night on Thursday, February 20th 5-7 p.m. Tickets for the dinner are $15, ticket sales are open.  

For more information or to purchase tickets for the Senior Night, contact stinebring@sullivan.k12.il.us.

•January 29, 2025•

On February 22nd from 8:30am to 3:30pm, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in collaboration with Ameren Illinois will be hosting a “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day’ for all middle and high school students. Attendees can expect keynote speaker - Angela Heise, a SIUE computer science alumna who currently serves as Corporate Vice President for Microsoft Worldwide, public sector. There will be hands-on engineering activities in computer science, electrical/computer, mechanical, civil and industrial engineering. Continuing there will also be professional panelists, discussion with Q&A and intern/co-op info sessions.   

The event is free to attend with registration, registration must be done by February 2nd. Lunch will be provided.  

For more information contact SIUE at swesiue@gmail.com. To register for the event visit tinyurl.com/siueige.

•January 29, 2025•

Cheri Burcham
Extension Educator
University of Illinois Extension      

Like many things, there are positive and negative effects of screen time for all of us, and it can be hard to come up with that magic amount of time that should be spent interacting with a screen. We do know that too much time spent on screens can be detrimental to youth - they can experience sleep problems, lower grades in school, reading less, spending less time with family and friends, and can also lead to weight problems, mood problems, poor self-image and body image issues, fear of missing out and spending less time learning ways to relax and have fun!    So, what are some other alternatives we can all try to incorporate in our lives to replace some of that screen time?