Nancy Bullard, a Black Partridge member; Sierra Bullard, her granddaughter; and Angie Bullard, Sierra’s mother, pose with Sierra’s award-winning poster.

STATE

Pilot program will allow parents to bring infants to work

Mothers, fathers and legal guardians who work for the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to be able to bring their infants to work in the early months of parenthood, under a new pilot program. Called Infant at Work, the idea is based on the long-term health value of breastfeeding newborns and infant-parent bonding.

The Infant at Work program is expected to provide numerous benefits for participants, including healthy infant brain development, parental well-being and critical bonding.

The program, which has been successful in other states around the country, was developed with input from the IDPH Office of Women’s Health and Family Services as well as parents with infants, is designed to lower daycare costs, increase family supports, provide more breastfeeding opportunities for mothers, and give fathers the ability to be more involved with their babies. Moreover, the Infant at Work program is expected to reduce the amount of time parents are away from work, help new parents manage the difficult transition back to the workplace, and ultimately improve morale at the agency.  

Parents with infants between four weeks and six months of age are eligible to participate, depending on their job duties and location. After 24 months, the program will be evaluated to determine if it is suitable for other state agencies. 

Noah, Olivia big names for babies

Do you have a newborn named Noah or Olivia? If so, you helped make these the top names for babies born in Illinois during 2017, according to the Social Security Administration’s recent announcement.

The second-most-popular names in Illinois — Liam and Emma — were the most popular names nationwide during the same year.

Rounding out the list for boys’ names in Illinois were, in declining order of popularity, Benjamin, Logan and Alexander.

For girls, the remaining ones in the top five were Ava, Sophia and Isabella.

EUREKA

Class will show how to cut food waste

University of Illinois Extension and the Eureka Public Library invite the public to join them for Food Rescue at Home, a free program will be held at 6:30 p.m. May 31, at the Eureka Public Library, 202 S. Main St., Eureka. 

The amount of food that Americans throw away in the trash is astounding, and yet a large percent of the population struggles to put food on the table. This seminar will show to do your part by understanding expiration dates, planning meals to use what’s on hand and knowing how to safely and effectively store food. Jenna Smith, University of Illinois Extension nutrition and wellness educator and registered dietitian, will teach the program. She will give creative ideas for using food scraps and demonstrate how to make a coffee-sugar body scrub at home.  

To reserve a seat, call the library at 309-467-2922.  For more information, contact Smith at 309-663-8306 or jesmith6@illinois.edu. To check out some of Jenna’s favorite dishes and nutrition topics, subscribe to her blog at go.illinois.edu/SimplyNQD.

WASHINGTON

DAR honors local winner of poster contest

The Black Partridge Daughters of American Revolution recently honored Sierra Bullard of Washington for placing first in three levels of the Junior American Citizen (JAC) poster contest. Sierra earned a first place for fourth graders at the state level, North Central Division level and national level.  She is the daughter of Jim and Angie Bullard. The theme this year was 100th Anniversary of World War I-Service on the Homefront.  

Thirty JAC groups were sponsored by the Illinois DAR chapters. From those chapters, 544 children participated in the art contest by creating a stamp, banner, poster or photo. A total of 83 children participated in the Creative Expression contest, by writing a poem or short story, and 92 children participated in the Community Service contest. Illinois had 136 first-place state winners this year, and each student was presented a certificate and a JAC pin. Illinois had 127 North Central winners, and each was presented with a certificate. Illinois had 123 national winners, which included five honorable mentions, seven third-place finishes, five second-place, and 106 first-place. The national winners were presented with medallions and certificates.

Kenda Bond, the state JAC chairman, presented Sierra with her awards.

–Woodford County News Briefs–