CENTRAL ILLINOIS

ICC awarded grant to guide GED grads to better jobs  

GED graduates often end up in low-paying jobs. Illinois Central College has received a grant which aims to improve the future of these graduates. The Illinois Community College Board recently awarded ICC more than $200,000 for the Success After the GED College Bridge Program to provide pathways to college success for GED graduates and increase their opportunities to find jobs with family-sustaining wages. The program begins this August.

Participants will receive career exploration assistance, as well as life skills and industry/occupational skills development. The goal is to enroll each of the GED graduates into college-level coursework and continue on a path to obtain a credential beyond the GED. Career development will focus on the high-demand, middle- and high-skilled occupations of health careers, information technology, manufacturing and education.

Sixty GED graduates, are expected to be served over the initial one-year project period. They will receive 100 hours of training over a five-week period, which will include an assessment of the participant’s college readiness; identification of career pathways that align with interests and aptitude, customized instruction, coaching and planning; partnering with local practitioners for job shadowing, observations, and hands-on learning opportunities; and enrollment in college credit coursework.

High Voltage Overload members (from left) Ashley Rambeck, Shaelyn Barker, Noah Rambeck, Ben Boehne, Luke Reutter, Natalie Barker, Cecelia Olsen, Katie Olson, placed fourth in the level 2 division of the Illinois 4-H State Robotics Contest.

EUREKA

4-H robotics teams win state contest

Members of the High Voltage AA 4-H robotics team were named Grand Champion team in the rookie division at the Illinois 4-H State Robotics Contest held recently at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

In addition, High Voltage’s other team, Overload, placed fourth in the level 2 division.

Team High Voltage is a Woodford County 4-H SPIN (SPecial INterest) club that uses Lego Mindstorm EV3 robotics kits to complete a number of tasks during a 3-minute run period. The theme for this year’s competition was Envirobot. Teams were tasked with completing environmentally based challenges, such as pollution cleanup, disaster preparedness and enjoying nature for their challenges. All had to be completed on a 4-foot-by-8-foot surface using robots, and the mission had to be designed and built completely by team members.

High Voltage AA members (from left) Ryne Long, Eli Olsen, Eli Reutter, Emma Offerman, Lydia Boehne pose with their trophy after being named the Grand Champion team in the rookie division at the Illinois 4-H State Robotics Contest. Noah Barker is also a member of the team.

In addition to the timed runs, teams were evaluated on technical knowledge, programming skill and public speaking during project presentation judging rounds. Team High Voltage is coached by Eric and Michelle Reutter.

There were 52 teams in the rookie, level 1 and level 2 divisions.  

College to host Reagan memorial ceremony

 The Ronald W. Reagan Society of Eureka College will recognize the 14th anniversary of former president’s death at the annual Ronald Reagan Memorial ceremony at 9 a.m. June 5, at the Reagan Peace Garden on the campus of Eureka College. Reagan author and historian Gene Kopelson will be the keynote speaker.

Kopelson is the president of the New England chapter, and trustee, of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, a published historian, an active Churchillian, and a Holocaust educator. He is the author of “Reagan’s 1968 Dress Rehearsal: Ike, RFK, and Reagan’s Emergence as a World Statesman.” The book tells the never-before-told history of Ronald Reagan’s first quest for the presidency in the late 1960s. Kopelson’s book has received rave reviews from Reagan’s Secretary of State George Shultz and Attorney General Edwin Meese, numerous Reagan and Eisenhower historians and newspapers and news outlets such as The Washington Times, The Weekly Standard, The New York Post and The Daily Caller.

The ceremony is free. Attendees are encouraged to RSVP by calling 309-467-6319 or emailing reagan@eureka.edu. A complimentary breakfast will follow the ceremony on the lawn near the Peace Garden.

WASHINGTON

Carroll Herman Golf Classic registration is open

The 9th annual ICC Carroll Herman Golf Classic will be held July 20, at Pine Lakes Golf Course in Washington. Registration begins at noon that day, and the scramble follows with a shotgun start at 1 pm. Dinner and door prize drawings to begin around 5 p.m. Green fees, cart rentals, dinner and door prizes are included with the registration fee of $400 for foursomes and $100 for singles.

Sponsorship opportunities are available with all proceeds going to support Illinois Central College Athletics. For more information, contact Tony Wysinger at 309-453-6092 or 309-694-5494.

–Woodford County News Briefs–