NORMAL – The current school year isn’t quite three-quarters done and members of Normal-based Unit 5 School Board got a sneak peek at the school year calendar for the next school year during their regularly-scheduled meeting Feb. 14 at district headquarters.
For openers, the next school year is tentatively scheduled to begin with a full day of classes on Thursday, Aug. 16. Before their students arrive for that first day, the teachers will spend the two days prior in Teacher Institute sessions.
Thanksgiving break for students and staff will be Wednesday through Friday, Nov. 21-23. The last day before Christmas Break will be Friday, Dec. 21, with the break running from Monday, Dec. 24 through Friday, Jan. 4, 2019. After a teacher institute day set for Monday, Jan. 7, students return to class Tuesday, Jan. 8 to start the spring semester.
Ray Epperson, deputy superintendent, and Dr. James Hardin, executive director of human resources and student services for the district, jointly chaired the committee which put the calendar together. Epperson told Board members the coming year’s calendar “most closely mirrors†the calendar used to put assemble the schedule Unit 5 used this school year.
Epperson explained that the district took a survey of teachers and staff finding that two-thirds of those polled wanted to have a full-day of teacher conferences in November without having to also have classes on the same day. That will take place on Oct. 19. Epperson said doing conferences in that matter, according to teacher responses, “helps with concerns needing to be addressed sooner rather than later.â€
Board member David W. Fortner asked administrators if the district could look into trying to have Unit 5 align its yearly calendar with other school districts in the area. Fortner said that was a request he has been asked about by constituents. Epperson said that can be put forth in the form of a resolution which the Board would need to vote on at a future meeting.
Valentine’s Day Bus-Car Crash Injures 3 Students: Three students and the drivers of a McLean County Unit 5 school bus and a car were injured when a bus collided with a car and overturned the afternoon of Feb. 14 on U.S. 150 at Abraham Road between Bloomington and Downs. Published reports indicated Unit 5 school bus carrying 47 students from Evans Junior High School collided with the car about 4 p.m. traveling in thick fog. The bus rolled on its side as a result of the collision. Three students and the bus driver were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Dr. Mark Daniel, district superintendent, told reporters following the meeting students who were uninjured in the crash were transported by a second bus back to EJHS where their parents were requested to pick them up.
Published reports indicated the driver of the car also was injured, according to initial reports from police at the scene, but additional information was not available.
State police handled the accident because it happened on a U.S. highway, and was under investigation as of that night.
Published reports also indicated Unit 5 officials said their initial report of the crash indicated the bus driver was not at fault.
As a matter of procedure, Daniel said, both Unit 5 and First Student Bus Co., the district’s busing provider, send administrators to the scene to conduct a formal investigation. Police officials are asked to help the district and First Student do their research into the accident, as well.
Lamboley Tapped To Become Director of Secondary Education: Daniel announced that Dan Lamboley, Principal at Parkside Junior High School, will be moving into the administration office as director of secondary education. Lamboley succeeds Laura O’Donnell, who is leaving Unit 5 to take a position in the administration of the Olympia School District in Stanford.
Kingsley And Parkside Junior High Have Three Students With “Good Newsâ€: Three PJHS students qualified for All-State Music. These students auditioned and were selected as the top musicians in the State. A total 82 students in the entire state were selected for this honor. This is the highest honor that junior high musicians can achieve. Auditions were open to anyone in the state of Illinois, and they were selected based upon their own individual talent, not as part of the larger band talent. Four of them from Unit 5, with three from PJHS and one from KJHS. They were the only musicians to be selected from the Twin Cities.
The three students from PJHS are Ernst Kangu, Anna Poncin, and Jonah Techmanski. The KJHS student who qualified is Froylan Racey.
Normal Community West High’s “Good Newsâ€: While at Normal Community West High School, Xavier Higgins has volunteered with the Best Buddies Program, working his way to serving on the group’s Board. According to the group’s website, the organization was founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver which has grown from one original chapter at Georgetown University to more than 2,300 chapters worldwide, positively impacting the lives of over 1.1 million people with and without intellectual disabilities. Higgins works with other students involved in the program to help foster meaningful friendships between students and assist students who have physical and intellectual disabilities.
In doing so, the program helps those students Best Buddies benefit from by being able to develop life skills. As a leader within the program, Higgins has dedicated himself to increasing student participation and volunteerism in the program among the students at Normal West. Higgins was recognized by Board members for his efforts at the meeting in another “good news†presentation.
Eugene Field School’s “Good Newsâ€: Jane M. Collins, administrator for Eugene Field School, which currently services students with, among other things, vocational training, presented a report about how a team of parents have worked together to create a sensory room which helps students afflicted with Aspurger’s Syndrome maintain calm and concentration. Aspurger’s Syndrome is a form of Autism.
A Unit 5 student named Jon Miskulin was the inspiration for the creation of a local support and advocacy group for parents of Aspurger’s Syndrome. Miskulin’s maternal grandparents, Richard and Bernadine Ploch, founded HEAL Foundation, Inc. to honor their grandson. HEAL is an acronym for Heroes Embracing Autistic Lives.
In her memo to Board members and Dr. Mark Daniel, district superintendent, Collins explained a team effort has been employed to turn the former storage room into the space where students can feel calm.
Among the efforts put into the project, Collins explained in her memo, were Valerie Leichtenberg and her brother, Eric Leichtenberg came in during the evenings and weekends last spring “to paint the former storage room with beautiful pastel colors of blue and green.†As an added bonus, additional shelving for the room has been provided.
One of the school’s teachers, Kacy Stark, shopped with her students and donated several items of her own for the room such as lighting, pillows, mirrors, toys and various fidget spinners. Collins said Angie Mier donated several stress balls which come in handy throughout the day. Collins pointed out Jennifer Pearl, the school’s Health Care Provider and her husband, Loren Pearl, donated and installed carpet squares during after school hours. Jennifer Pearl, Collins wrote in her memo to the superintendent, has also donated additional furniture and paint touch-ups for the room.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 14th, 2018 at 10:38 pm and is filed under The Normalite, Unit 5. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.