News Progress

Photo furnished
Letter Writers from the back left: Anna Mathias, Arabella Dudley, Jerralee Goad, Drew Rogers, Ian Plank, Noah Bates.  Front left: Carley Towle, Mallory Nichols, Brea Farris, Taylor Orris, Carsyn Seeley.

•October 9, 2019•

Letters to the editor written by Cami Badman’s honors English juniors at Sullivan High School explored controversial subjects with a maturity and logic that should be envied by adults.
Badman opened the school year challenging 24 students in two classes to present well rounded arguments for controversial subjects in letters to the editor.
Throughout history letters to newspapers on important local topics have crafted public opinion into pivotal changes in society.
In a age of electronic dominance and sound bite arguments, exploring topics in depth brought some interesting and convincing results.
Students explored a wide range of topics ranging from discontinuing the penny to gun control.
“The students had to select a topic and take a stance finding evidence from reliable sources,” Badman said of the assignment. Read More

•October 2, 2019•

Rikki Ray

Rikki Ray Selected Sullivan High School Alumni Who’s Who
By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

Rikki Ray, a 1990 Sullivan High School graduate, has had a lifelong affair with books so she was destined to found the One Book, One Sullivan (OBOS) program to help promote literacy and a sense of community.
Ray was selected by the SHS Alumni Association for the Who’s Who Award presented at the annual banquet Oct. 5 at Building 1225 in Sullivan.
She received her BA in Education as well as her MA from Eastern Illinois University and began her teaching career in Findlay in 1995. The following year she started teaching in Sullivan where she continues to inspire students to engage in the lively discussion of books.
She developed OBOS in 2007 when one of her students, Sarah DeLong, wondered why Sullivan didn’t have a program like the one she had seen in another school involving the entire community in reading.
Ray recalled, “It took a year of planning and to get funded from SCEF to start the program. We are most grateful for the Sullivan Rotary for sponsoring OBOS ever since our second year for the past 12 years.” Read More

•October 2, 2019•
By Ralph Kirk
for the SHS Alumni Association

The very first Sullivan Homecoming banquet was held November 2, 1928 in the school gym, alumni were served chicken pie and the Sullivan football team played Arcola. Neither side scored a single point!
Alumni awards were given to Dr. Butler, Bo Wood, Tiny Hill, and C. B. Shuman.
Many Sullivan SAA banquet alumni and SAA award winners have gone on to remarkable careers that helped improve the area and the world. One of the main halls at Sullivan High School is lined with their “footprints” or plaques marking their passage through Sullivan and detailing some of their accomplishments in the area and world.
Dedicated volunteers such as SAA founder Maxine Davis willingly put hundreds of hours of their volunteer time in planning and executing the banquets each year. Ninety years of banquets is certainly a remarkable accomplishment, and SAA decided it should do something special to mark that success. Read More