Music has always been part of Ben Luginbuhl’s life. And as a music teacher for 21 years – all of them at Normal Community High School, he has wanted to share that with his students in hopes it will inspire their love of it, tool.

Luginbuhl is a choir music teacher who specializes in overseeing five sections of chorus, as well as coaching an after-school Acapella group, Madrigals, and teaching a course on American popular music. That last course is for students not involved in a performance class.

When this school year began, Luginbuhl’s name was put in nomination for the “Those Who Excel” award, given to a teacher who the Illinois State Board of Education believes motivates not only their students to do well, but presents ideas to other teachers to help them do the same for their students. ISBE had 200 teachers statewide receive nominations for people their colleagues all believed deserved the honor, which should one be chosen, would allow the winner to travel and present his or her ideas to teachers and schools across the country.

Of the 200 nominations, ISBE selects a Top 10 list of teachers they feel deserve recognition. Yet only one of the 10 is named to the honor. Luginbuhl won the district-wide honor and ISBE put potential finalists through face-to-face interviews to get that top 10 group of teachers, one of whom finds out whether they get the honor during an annual dinner in Uptown Normal at Bloomington-Normal Marriott Hotel’s Carol A. Reitan Conference Center. This year’s annual dinner was held Saturday, Oct. 20.

After making it through the district level, Luginbuhl had to submit a written essay to the selection committee and go through an interview to determine if he would become a finalist.

Luginbuhl said he tries “to make my program feel like a family. With a school like Normal Community, with over 2,000 kids, you want them to feel like they belong to something.”

“It’s important to me that I have a kind of family atmosphere in my classroom,” Luginbuhl added. “The kids feel like they’re part of a family when they’re in choir.”

Luginbuhl admits he hates talking about himself, but I managed to coax him into divulging a little about himself when it comes to teaching kids. “I’d say I’m an energetic teacher, and I have very high standards, but I try to make the classes as fun and interesting for the kids.

“I try to give them ownership of their learning,” Luginbuhl, 42, explained. He said he tries to make sure his students get to know each other better. One way he does this happens on a weekly basis in class when he asks each student to share their “high moment” and their “low moment” during each week. Doing this, Luginbuhl said, helps to give students a chance to connect, to understand each other better.

Such sharing helps “the kids learn about each other so that a bond can form and they learn about each other and learn to work as a team when singing,” Luginbuhl, 42, explained.

“It’s important the kids know each other and trust each other,” Luginbuhl said, “Because that will help them trust each other so that a bond can form and they can work as a team. This will help propel their music further. If you know the people you’re singing with — if you know them — you can work together better.”

A Roanoke, Ill.-native now living in El Paso with wife Kristy and their three young children, Luginbuhl admits his is a unique approach to teaching music but that it’s important for the students’ ability to come together while performing.

As he sees it, it’s just a continuation of how he has associated with music his whole life. He took piano lessons starting in third grade and was in band, too, in his school days. “Music was just something that came easily to me,” Luginbuhl admitted. “Singing in church and singing in school was just something I became very passionate about,” he said. “I know when I was a freshman in high school I wanted to become a music teacher.”

A National Board Certified teacher, Luginbuhl said his teaching process has shifted from just teaching music to the students to being concerned with whether the kids really learned from having experience in the choir. “My ultimate goal, I tell the kids, is that they won’t need me anymore, and they’ll be able to go use music in any way that they want,” he explained.

Technology has helped, Luginbuhl said. He recently asked students to record themselves singing using a computer and uploading the finished work to him. He said being able to review and grade students’ work in this fashion takes less time than it did years ago.

For Luginbuhl’s superior, NCHS Principal Trevor Chapman, “Ben is someone who goes, in my opinion, way above and beyond as a classroom teacher. He goes out of his way to get to know kids, to get to know their families, to meet kids where they are and really challenge them in his classes.”

“As a choir director, he has large classes, but he finds a way to get to know all his kids,” Chapman added. “His classroom is a family. He has a concern for kids.

“If you ever come to a performance, the kids under him sound excited to perform,” Chapman said. “He has a ton of energy and he exudes that energy every day.”

And just as he wants his students to take ownership of their choir performances and music studies, it sounds like Ben Luginbuhl has taken ownership of how such lessons should be taught, and those students have to be grateful for that.

NORMAL – The playoffs have arrived, prior to selections being announced Saturday, hopes of success and curiosity about who local teams would no doubt filled the minds of players, coaches, and fans alike.

In Class 6A, Normal Community West High and Bloomington High School are in, with Normal West seeded 4th trying to advance their 8-1 record by hosting 6-3 Peoria Notre Dame. Bloomington High School is seeded 6th in this class and will defend its 7-2 season record by hosting 11th seed Crete-Monee, who finished at 6-3. Cary-Grove is top seeded in this class with a 9-0 mark.

Fans of Normal Community High School might not like the sound of it, but the Ironmen are seeded 11th in Class 7A and will defend their 8-1 record against 22nd seed St. Charles North who enter with a record of 6-3. With a perfect 9-0 record to defend, Chicago Simeon is top seed in Class 7A.

Class 1A – LeRoy Visits Chicago Orr: In Class 1A, LeRoy will be the only county team to make it to the playoffs, finishing with a 5-4 mark and have been seeded 12th and will face 5th seed Chicago Orr. While that doesn’t sound positive to those looking at just the facts, head coach B. J. Zeleznik’s Panthers had a better road record this season than at home going 3-1 on the road while winning just 2-of-5 home games this season. At 9-0, Princeville is this Class’ number one seed.

Class 2A – Downs Tri-Valley Visits Nashville: Head Coach Josh Roop’s Vikings finished at 5-4 this season and have been seeded 12th and will travel to 5th seed Nashville who finished the season at 8-1. Kickoff is slated for 1p.m. With a perfect 9-0 mark, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley is Class 2A’s top seed

NORMAL – When they came to Ironmen Field for their last game of the regular season, Big 12 Conference opponent Peoria High knew defeating Normal Community would give them an assurance of getting into the Class 7A Playoffs. Losing to Normal , however, would put the Lions at 4-5 for the season having lost two games their coach said he didn’t anticipate losing, and would send them home for the season.

NCHS proved to be too much for PHS, however, when the two sides met, with the Ironmen caging the Lions, 61-14 before roughly 700 fans.

As a result of Friday’s victory, NCHS finished 8-1 on the regular season, and Illinois High School Association seeded first season head coach Jason Drengwitz’s team 11th. They will host 22nd seed St. Charles North.

Junior wide receiver Aidan Oliver’s catch of a 4 yard pass from senior quarterback Daylen Boddie at 8:26 in the opening quarter capped a 4 play, 10 yard drive for NCHS’ opening score, followed by an extra point by Oliver, putting NCHS up, 7-0. The Ironmen got inside the red zone thanks to an interception of Peoria senior quarterback Gabe Hernandez by senior defensive back Ke’Juan Pleasant who ran 34 yards to achieve the field position for the score.

Later in the quarter, after a turnover on downs by Peoria gave Normal the ball at their own 48, Boddie’s rushing touchdown from 26 yards out, followed by Oliver’s next extra point, increased NCHS’ lead, 14-0, with 3:30 left in the contest, capping a 6 play drive.

Junior defensive end Quyncee Hunter’s interception of a Hernandez pass allowed him to dodge defenders for Normal’s next score, going 41 yards into the end zone, followed by senior kicker Camron Hinman’s extra point, giving NCHS a 21-0 lead going into the second quarter.

Peoria’s ensuing possession ended in a turnover on downs at their own 28 yard line. Three plays later, Boddie scored from 8 yards out, followed by Hinman’s extra point, putting NCHS up, 28-0, at the quarter’s 10:06 mark.

An interception by senior outside linebacker Hayden Wiese stopped Peoria’s ensuing drive as he dashed 35 yards for a touchdown followed by Hinman’s point after, putting NCHS up, 35-0 at 9:26 until halftime.

The ensuing possession for Peoria (4-5 overall and Big 12) got the Lions to Normal’s 40 yard line, but a second interception by Pleasant followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct call against the Lions allowed NCHS a shorter field from which junior running back Jake Hileman emerged with a 6 yard touchdown, capping 3 play drive followed by another Hinman extra point, putting NCHS up, 42-0, with 6:29 until halftime.

At that point, game officials employed IHSA’s “Mercy Rule,” – as a result of the 40-point difference in the game score, game officials used a continuously running clock, stopping it for only timeouts taken by a team or because of an injury. The running clock began as the third quarter opened.

Peoria’s next possession ended in the Lions beginning at their own 20 following the ensuing kickoff but only gaining three yards before needing to punt on fourth down. That play ended in a blocked punt by junior defensive lineman Brock Griffin who picked up the ball and got to the Peoria 7 yard line, where NCHS’ next possession started and ended in a touchdown pass one play later when Boddie connected with senior tight end Daniel Horton followed by Hinman’s extra point, sending NCHS into halftime up, 49-0.

Although Peoria received the ball to start the second half, they would up giving it right back to NCHS with an interception by senior defensive back Caleb Zbrozek who gave NCHS the ball to begin at the Peoria 15. Three plays later, with 5:51 left in the quarter, sophomore running back Justin Potts scored from 11 yards out, putting the Ironmen up, 55-0, after Hinman missed the extra point.

Senior running back JVon Vinson’s 2 yard dash into the end zone gave Peoria their first score, but the Lions’ 2-point conversion try failed, cutting NCHS’ lead, 55-6 with 6:33 in the fourth quarter. A 28 yard running score by junior Camron Jackson followed by a missed extra point by Hinman pushed that lead to 61-6 with 2:20 left.

What turned out to be Peoria’s last score of the season came courtesy of a 73 yard pass from sophomore quarterback Cam Ford to senior wide receiver Kyric Evans followed by a successful 2-point conversion from Ford to senior wide receiver Kenta Horton, resulting in the final score.

“Offensively, we capitalized on a lot of short fields,” explained NCHS head coach Jason Drengwitz, adding, “we have so much for their program and how well-coached they are.” Because he knew the Lions were known for having an explosive offense, Drengwitz relayed, “I never felt comfortable with a lead because they are so explosive. It was probably just the best overall game we played all year in a game’s three phases.”

Regarding the interceptions made by his team, Drengwitz added, “We’ve been challenging our guys to come big and they’ve made a lot of plays. Peoria had to go to the air because we were doing a good job controlling the line of scrimmage, and we made tough, contested plays which is something you have to do to beat good teams. It’s also something you have to do to win in the playoffs.

“I feel like the guys in our secondary stepped up and made a lot of plays tonight,” Drengwitz said, singling out senior defensive back Ke’Juan Pleasant, Hunter, and his defensive line players.

“I knew they were a good team, and I thought we’d do a little better up front against NCHS,” admitted Peoria High head coach Tim Thornton. “Their defensive line was really fantastic tonight and they beat up our offensive line. Anytime that happens, it really restricts what you can do on offense.

“We gave our defense really short fields all night and put them in really tough situations,” Thornton added. “I think it was clear to everybody we were outmatched tonight by a better team.” He admitted his team should have made it to the playoffs again this season but that earlier losses and not their performance against the Ironmen were responsible for that.

NORMAL – Sometimes, we must all look inward to determine where we go next in our lives and careers. In determining whether to seek what would be his 9th term on the Normal Town Council, Jeff Fritzen performed that self-analysis and decided the time had come to step away. He announced through written communication to the media he will not seek re-election next April.

“I think we’d all benefit from some time of introspection about different aspects of our lives. This one just happens to be very public and is as much or more about others than it is about me, yet I’m the one having to make a decision,” he wrote in an email to The Normalite.

A Council term is four years long and can be involved at times for candidates and then Council members once elected. Fritzen said he had done some soul searching to gauge if his level of interest remained as much as it did in past election years.

Of his decision not to seek another term, he added, “I simply determined it was time to bring it to an end, then I rested on that decision for a while to see how it felt. It’s an agonizing process considering I’ve served most of my adult life, but I’m at peace with it.”

At 66, Fritzen has served Normal Town Council as a member in two separate but lengthy stints. He first ran and won in 1983. He ran for re-election three times before opting for a break prior to the next election in 1999. His hiatus from local politics lasted one election cycle and he returned to the Council after winning election again in 2003. Since then, he has run in and won re-election three more times.

Had he opted to run this time, he would have joined Kathleen Lorenz and R. C. McBride on the ballot, both of whom will be running for second terms next spring.

Fritzen, executive vice president at BOPI Print Plus, has been Mayor Pro Tem of the Council since May 2017, and the duties he has which relate to his being on Council have kept him just as busy: Member, Economic Development Council Board since 2012; Member, Unit 5 Liaison Committee from 2009-2017. In past years, he served on numerous committees and Boards including: Uptown Advisory Commission; 2015, 2020, 2025 Committees; Town/Illinois State University Liaison Committee, Community Enrichment Committee.

Fritzen called the process which got him to this point “agonizing” but he said he rested on it before coming to his eventual conclusion. Of his decision, Fritzen writes, “I simply determined it was time to bring it to an end, then I rested on that decision for a while to see how it felt. It’s an agonizing process considering I’ve served most of my adult life, but I’m at peace with it.”

NORMAL – Plans for a new five-story building which would stretch from Beaufort Ave. to College Ave. which would have mixed usage received passage from Normal Town Council members at the governing body’s regular meeting in Council Chambers on the fourth floor of Uptown Station Monday night. Council members unanimously passed an ordinance authorizing a redevelopment agreement between the Town and Miami, Fla.-based Bush Development LLC for construction of the structure.

The Town would like to construct a five-story, 220,000 sq. ft. building on the site where currently properties at 104 and 108 E. Beaufort St. currently stand. 104 E. Beaufort St. has been vacant for months, and is the location of a mural which was begun on the building in 2011. The building in-between, 106 E. Beaufort St. – is occupied by Windy City Wieners restaurant.

The total cost of the project is $29.2 million but the project would receive a Tax Increment Financing contribution of not more than $8 million over the life of the TIF which was recently extended thanks to State approval to 2026. The Town has had a Tax Increment Finance plan in progress since 2003.

The Town will incur expenses associated with the project related to electric utility relocation and electric connections for certain East Beaufort St. businesses. Funds for the project are part of the Town’s 2019-20 budget.

The proposed plan for the site consists of one building all along Constitution Blvd. from Uptown Circle on the south to College Ave. on the north. A private parking lot would be located to the east of the building.

The plan would require demolition of 104 and 108 E. Beaufort.

But passage didn’t take place until after Council members heard from citizens who addressed Council prior to the vote. Mike Kerber questioned tearing down the older building citing in his opinion that, one of the newer additions to Uptown, CVS Pharmacy, which began operations in 2009, “is as ugly as sin.” He added he wants to see the older buildings in Uptown saved from a wrecking ball.

Mentioning the One Uptown Building On The Circle still has no business tenants, Joel Studebaker, a Normal Public Library Trustee, told Council members said One Uptown was built “to improve this market and it hasn’t.”

Mike Matejka told Council members he was in favor of the plan and hoped Bush Construction would employ local laborers to participate in the construction of the new building.

“I’m in favor of development, but not this,” stated Former Normal Mayoral candidate Marc Tiritilli to Council members. He stated one-third of the cost of the project is too expensive, adding, “We’re tired of having school district monies taken from us” for such projects. To that point, both Mayor Chris Koos and Council Member R. C. McBride objected to a suggestion that such a project takes money from Normal-based Unit 5 School District in an effort to complete any project.

“Unit 5 does great work and this body is a partner in that,” McBride responded during the discussion prior to voting on the measure. “I get a little upset when we’re told we’re diverting funds from public schools.”

A piece of art is likely to be sacrificed when 104 E. Beaufort St. is torn down. A mural which was painted by numerous artists on the west wall of the building will be lost when the building is demolished. The mural was begun in 2011 when The Pod art studio opened at the location. The Pod closed in January. Numerous artists each had a section of the mural in which to express themselves.

“It was a beautiful piece of art and it’s sad it can’t be saved,” commented Council Member Chemberly Cummings during the discussion prior to the vote.

Council Approves Measures Related To Ameren Power Station: Council members passed a quartet of measures relating to a power station located at 807-809 Pine St . , operated by Ameren Illinois . Council members first passed a site plan for the property, upon which the utility sought to expand the station. They next unanimously passed an ordinance vacating an easement located on the Marquerite Subdivision at Lot #3, located at 807 Pine St .

Council members next voted unanimously to rezone the property to S-2 Public Lands and Institutions. Previous to this change, 807 Pine St. was zoned M-1 Restricted Manufacturing and 809 Pine St. was zoned M-2 General Manufacturing. The final measure Council members unanimously passed concerning this property was to approve a resolution approving the final plat of Normal Route 66 subdivision which covered the entire property.

Council Certifies, Acknowledges Support For Maxwell Park Project: Council members unanimously approved a resolution which certified and acknowledged the Town’s support of an application with Illinois Department of Natural Resources through the Open Space Land and Acquisition (OSLAD) grant. OSLAD is a matching program which provides up to 50 percent of the grant agreement shortly after the grant agreement is executed. Communities applying for the grant, which can be used for development projects solely, the community applying for the grant must demonstrate the ability the remaining cost of the project prior to receiving the funds.

Normal Parks and Recreation Department set aside $20,000 for development for fiscal year 2018-19 as part of its master plan to upgrade Maxwell Park, according to the report submitted to Council members by Doug Damery, director of parks and recreation for the Town. Hitchcock Design Group, which has offices in Chicago and the Chicago suburb of Naperville , has been working with the Town on a plan for the park, according to Damery.

Council Approves License Agreement With ISU: Council members unanimously approved a license agreement with Illinois State University for the use of the College Ave. right of way between Main and Kingsley Streets

Liquor Commission Approves Gaming License Applications: Town Council members serving in their capacity as Normal Local Liquor Commission, unanimously approved two video gaming license applications for a pair of local restaurants. Commissioners approved a gaming license for Bradford Lane Italian Foods, LLC doing business as Rosati’s Pizza of Normal, 1720 Bradford Lane . They also granted a gaming license for Min Zhou, Inc., doing business as Kochi Sushi, 1540 E. College Ave.

Omnibus Agenda Items Approved: Omnibus agenda items approved by the Council included:

• Approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of Oct. 1, 2018.

• Approval of Town of Normal expenditures for payment as of Oct. 10, 2018.

• A resolution partially and conditionally approving the final development plan for The Park at Constitution Trail Centre.

• A resolution partially and conditionally approving the final plat for The Park at Constitution Trail Centre Planned Unit Development.