Illinois ReporterA publication of the Eastern Illinois University/Illinois Press Foundation Summer Journalism Workshop • illinoisreporter.wordpress.com • Friday, June 28, 2013

By Michaela Daly and Sara Dust

Seventeen young journalists. Two weeks. One dance battle. A plethora of stories. A wealth of knowledge shared.Many, many laughs.One unforgettable experience.Throughout the course of two weeks, we formed a family dur-

ing the Illinois Press Foundation/Eastern Illinois University Jour-nalism Workshop in Charleston.

It would be difficult to tell that the 17 teenagers that came were from opposite parts of Illinois – and even New York City.

“It’s interesting how we all came from different communi-ties, but instantly became close,” said Kaylee Georgeoff, a student from Bethalto.

It was a common assumption between most of us that the workshop would be an educational and informative workshop, but it would end at that. It was a pleasant surprise to many that it has been not only informative, but also a good time. Unexpect-ed friendships have emerged during the short breaks from the lec-tures, through group interviews, and by working with one anoth-er on stories.

“The one thing I have enjoyed most about the IPF camp was

meeting all the amazing people,” said Melissa Svec, a student from Mother McAuley High School in Chicago. “The other at-tendees really made it worth my while and kept me going. I know these friendships I’ve made these past two weeks are friendships that will last a lifetime.”

In addition to long days in the newsroom and a three-day in-ternship, the evenings and a weekend away from campus were spent together on more leisurely activities. More than two-dozen meals were spent with each other. A trip to Turkey Run State Park ended with fellow camper Robert He petting a snake and a group of campers wading across a river and trekking through the woods.

“The state park was something I’ve never experienced before,” said New York City native, Robert He. “I loved being immersed in nature with my friends.”

The most memorable event for campers and counselors alike was the epic dance battle that escalated from simple dancing be-tween opposite vans to a stand off in the dorm lobby. There were even judges - the two on duty RA’s at the front desk.

“I never thought I’d make to a final round of a dance battle and win, especially not at journalism camp!” said Svec.

Although the laughs and fun times were a great plus to the workshop experience, the main goal of the workshop is to expose high school students to careers in journalism.

“This camp helped me realize my future as a journalist,” said Anna Konstant, a student from Hinsdale Illinois.

One participant, McKayla Braid of Romeoville, is preparing to work for MASH, a teen publication run by the Chicago Tribune. She is relishing every experience from this workshop.

“I think this camp has been very beneficial,” said Braid. “We got a lot of real world experience. I got to meet a lot of really great people and created friendships, which is great because I thought everyone here was going to be crazy.”

Braid is looking forward to her future endeavors at MASH. “I’m excited to work at the MASH because I’m getting paid to

do what I love. Who could ask for more?” Braid said with a smile. More than 30 professional journalists and editors from

throughout the country came to the workshop to advise and help us high school students with our writing and reporting.

“You can see the improvement in my writing thanks to the professionals that came and edited,” said Michaela Rutledge, an-other Mother McAuley student. “It renewed my excitement to go back to school and work on my school’s paper.”

Whether the students that attended the workshop go on to be journalists or not, the camp has been a good experience for every-one involved.

“I really enjoyed the idea of the camp,” said Kevin McLurkin from Urban Prep Charter Academy. “It was educational and a great learning experience for me.”

The IPF/EIU Journalism Workshop is expected to continue to benefit young journalists for many more years.

Insidethisissue:

Reporting for duty

Students gain experience at EIU/IPF journalism workshop

Aspiring journalists from the IPF Workshop: In front from left, Pierre McCauley, McKayla Braid, Melissa Svec, Emily Scott, Michaela Rutledge, Anna Konstant, Michaela Daly, Paulina Martinez, Serah Welborn. In back from left, Sydney Edwards, Kaylee Georgeoff, Sara Dust, Robert He, Kevin McLurkin, Eduardo Martinez, Albert Henderson, Erika Meza.

Profiles on all 17 campers

Stories from internships Students’ tweets from the workshop

Page a2 • Friday, June 28, 2013 illinois rePorter

By Anna Konstant Hinsdale Central High School

Behind the counter of Bill’s Toasty Shop employees grill their famous hamburgers, make milkshakes and place or-ders from customers. Teenag-ers, adults, children and elders sit among the red stools social-izing while eating.

Bill’s Toasty is located on 111 N. Main St. in downtown Taylorville and opened approx-imately 80 years ago.

Toasty’s is described as a place where teenagers went on their first dates and now many of them return to commemo-rate the past. “It’s kind of like a right of passage that the locals go through as they go through high school. You step into that world of being able to stay out late,” said Mayor Greg Broth-erton.

Cindy, daughter of own-er Calvin Scallions, said, “All kinds of people come in, young to old.”

When people get togeth-er for class reunions they go to Bill’s because it is spot that was important for them throughout their high school career.

“People come home after not being here for 20 years and they want to hit Bill’s up,” said Chris Biondolino, owner of Bailey’s Pub next door to the infamous diner. “There’s not a lot of small businesses that have been around to get that kind of nostalgia of home.”

Robert Bass, a regular at Bill’s, loves to order a hamburg-er and coffee.

“Toasty’s is tradition,” said Bass who has eaten there for the past 30 or 40 years.

Bass worked for the fire de-partment many years ago and described how after a fire, a group of volunteers would eat at Toasty’s.

Locals continue to return to Toasty’s because of the atmo-sphere, food and the social en-vironment.

“It just reminds you of an old time diner,” said Scallions.

Consistency is another rea-son why people return to Bill’s. Biondolino has been a custom-er at Bill’s ever since he can re-member and usually orders a hamburger and a shake.

“They give a consistently good product year after year. It’s the same stuff. They don’t change it a lot. They add some stuff here or there, but you’re basically still going in there for a horseshoe or a double cheese-burger,” Biondolino said.

Biondolino says there have been many restaurants and pubs that have come in and out of Taylorville over the last five years. However, Bill’s has stayed.

Mayor Brotherton agrees that Bill’s has been able to thrive over the years. “Bill’s Toasty has found the mag-ic formula to stay in business,” Brotherton said.

According to Brotherton, Bill’s encourages financial sta-bility in a small town,“If we’re going to have any kind of eco-nomic growth, it has to come from small businesses.”

Besides other small business-es, Bill’s has to compete with franchises like McDonald’s and Wendy’s.

Pub owner Biondolino finds little competition between Bill’s and its neighbor Bailey’s Pub.

In fact, both businesses actu-ally help each other out.

“We compliment each other really well. I mean, I’m a pub without food and they’re kind of a greasy spoon,” Biondoli-no said.

Bar patrons are just one of many types of customers that frequent Bill’s.

People from Japan, Kansas, California, Hawaii, New York, Oklahoma and overseas come to Taylorville to dine at Bill’s Toasty Shop shown by the wall of gratitude, a prominent fea-ture of the small restaurant.

Customers show their ap-preciation for the restaurant by writing compliments and thank you notes and posting them along the wall.

“James fixed a perfect burg-er. Edges were crispy and rath-er thin.” and “Most definitely the best burgers in Taylorville,” are some of the notes people have left.

One customer even returns to Bill’s Toasty Shop to eat af-ter moving to California to work as part of the film crew for the hit TV show the “Dead-liest Catch.”

“It’s a common experience that so many people here in town have and I think that’s what pulls them together and what’s made Bill’s famous,” Brotherton said.

Over the years, going to Bill’s is tradition for many fam-ilies. From generation to gen-eration Brotherton’s family is an example of a long line of diners.

Not only is Bill’s Toasty a legacy among families, “It’s one of those landmarks in Tay-lorville,” Brotherton said.

“When you think of Tay-lorville,” Biondolino explained, “you think of a couple things and Bill’s is one of them.”

The Illinois Reporter is produced by students attending the Il-linois Press Foundation/Eastern Illinois High School Journalism Workshop. Funding is provided by the Illinois Press Foundation, the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, the Robert McCormick Foundation, EIU’s Student Publications and department of journalism.

StudentsMcKayla Braid, RomeovilleMichaela Daly, BuckinghamSara Dust, ChicagoSydney Edwards, MattoonKaylee Georgeoff, BethaltoRobert He, Brooklyn, N.Y.Albert Henderson, MattoonAnna Konstant, HinsdaleEduardo Martinez, Blue IslandPaulina Martinez, Alsip

Pierre McCauley, CarbondaleKevin McLurkin, ChicagoErika Meza, Blue IslandMichaela Rutledge, Oak LawnEmily Scott, BethanyMelissa Svec, ChicagoSerah Welborn, LeRoy

StaffJoe Gisondi, directorLisa Green, associate directorBeth Kastl, assistant directorBryan Murley, online adviserDwayne Kennedy, counselorJaida Moore, counselor

Journalism FacultyThanks to the following journal-ists who volunteered their time during the 13-day workshopBob Best, News-Progress (Sullivan)Greg Bilbrey, Daily News

(Robinson)Chris Boghossian, Chicago TribuneEric Cravey, Clay (Fla.) TodayMatt Daniels, News-Gazette (Champaign)Paul Davis, Illinois News Broad-casters Assoc.Jeff Egbert, Pinckneyville Press Dan Friedell, ESPN/Fast CompanyJay Grabiece, Eastern Illinois UniversityLisa Green, Journal Gazette (Ft. Wayne, Ind.)Ted Gregory, Chicago TribuneDan Hagen, Eastern Illinois UniversityNora Maberry-Daniels, St. Joseph LeaderColin McAuliffe, free-lance journalistDave McKinney, Chicago

Sun-TimesHerb Meeker, Effingham NewsOdell Mitchell, free-lance journalistDavid Porter, Illinois Press As-sociationKristina Peters, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake)Chet Piotrowski, Piotrowski PhotosDavid Porter, Illinois Press As-sociationBrian Poulter, Eastern Illinois UniversityJohn Ryan, Eastern Illinois UniversityKathy Rynearson, Peoria Journal-StarMarco Santana, Des Moines RegisterJennifer Shapira, DC.govKeith Stewart, News-Progress (Sullivan)

Katie Anderson-Tedder, free-lance journalistAdam Testa, The Southern (Carbondale)Stan Zoller, Buffalo Grove

Professional internship staffChampaign News-Gazette – Dan Corkery, Bob Brown, Matt Daniels, George Dobrik, Steve Hall, Debra Pressey, Mary Schenk, Julie Wurth. Corty Hatfield, Convention of Visitors Bureau, University of Illinois football staff, Carle Foundation Hospital.Decatur Herald & Review – Dave Dawson, Tim Cain, Theresa Churchill, Huey Free-man, Nicole Harbour, Austin Hourigan, Allison Petty, Scott Perry, Jim Vorel, Ryan Volves, Jean Zerfowski.

Effingham Daily News – Cathy Griffith, Nicole Dominique, Cassie Porter, Alexa Rogals.Mattoon Journal-Gazette & Charleston Times-Courier – Pen-ny Weaver, Dawn Schabbing, Rob Stroud, Dave Fopay, Cal Walworth, Samantha Bilharz, Kayleigh Zyskowski.Robinson Daily News – Greg Bilbrey, Graham Milldrum, Tom ComptonTaylorville Breeze-Courier – Laura Wolfe, Marylee Rasar, Andy Lasswell, Derek Parris

By Michaela Rutledge Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School

When McKayla Braid was in elementary school, she did not always excel.

“They had to pull me out of class because I had trou-ble reading and writing,” Braid said.

Imagine Braid’s shock when her sophomore English teacher at Plainfield East High School encouraged her to try journal-ism.

At first, Braid was not sure journalism was for her, but she soon found herself sneaking out of lunch and study hall and into the newspaper classroom to help the older students write for the paper. This fall, she will start work as a student reporter for Chicago’s largest daily news-paper.

When Braid was a junior, Plainfield East cut its journal-

ism class, and all but one of the returning seniors deserted the paper, which left Braid and the senior as the only students with newspaper experience.

Braid, now a 16-year-old se-nior at the southwest suburban Chicago school, used her pas-sion for journalism and pho-tography to help restart her school’s student newspaper as an extracurricular activity. She will be the chief editor next year.

Braid, of Romeoville, isn’t afraid to take on challenges and says she takes pride in the fact that she “made it this far.”

Although she loves John Green books and roman-tic comedies, and can talk for hours about “Teen Wolf,” Braid’s real love is still journal-ism.

To take her journalism skills to the next level, Braid would like to attend Eastern Illinois University or a university in Chicago. She would like to ma-jor in journalism and minor in

photography, but also is inter-ested in studying psychology.

Although she has high aca-demic goals for herself, Braid admits her biggest goal is just to be “happy and healthy” and doing what she loves.

“As long as I have money to pay for water and electricity, I’ll be happy,” she said.

Her positive attitude also ap-plies to failure. Braid believes you only truly fail if you re-fuse to try. “It is when oppor-tunity comes knocking and you deny it,” Braid said while smil-ing, noting she is not the type of person to deny opportunity.

As a kickstart to her career, Braid has joined the reporting staff of MASH, a teen news-paper run by the Chicago Tri-bune.

“I’m very, very excited! I will be getting paid for doing something that I love, and what could be better?” Braid says.

Braid strongly believes “every day is a gift,” and she doesn’t intend to waste any.

By McKayla Braid Plainfield East High School

As the college school year be-gins some students contemplate joining a sorority or fraternity, in which they might be illegal-ly hazed.

Hazing is essentially any physical, psychological, or mental harassment that comes with the initiation to a club, so-rority or fraternity.

Despite the efforts to in-form, prevent, and even make it illegal hazing is still an ongo-ing problem. College students

are still being humiliated, in-jured and in some cases even dying.

“Hazing is a national issue that every-one deals with on college campuses,” Brandon Common, director for Frater-nity and Sorority affairs at Uni-versity of Illinois said.

Although the U of I has not encountered many prob-lems with it, hazing in gener-al is a major issue. “Because its gaining momentum in the me-dia Universities are becoming more conscious of the problem” Common said.

Because students grow up seeing and hearing about haz-

ing, they become de-sensi-tized to it “it’s something that is what it is as opposed to be-ing something that is wrong and does not need to happen,” Common said.

In response to the increase in media attention Common, along with teachers from dif-ferent parts of the Universi-ty formed a hazing prevention group in fall of this previous school year. “It’s not about be-ing reactive, but being proac-tive,” Common said.

“If you say hazing the first thing people think of are fra-ternity’s and sorority’s,” Com-mon said.

Hazing is not just a problem in the Greek community. “The Greek community just gets more publicity for it,” Com-mon said.

The issue is also difficult to solve because, “the typical stu-dent doesn’t know what hazing is,” Common said. “Say you’re trying to get into chess club, and they say every Tuesday you have to bring them a number one from McDonalds, and you think ‘its not that bad’, but its still hazing.”

Although the issue of hazing is unresolved, the consequenc-es are not, “college kids have gotten prison time for hazing,”

Common said.“If one of the sorority’s or

fraternity’s were brought up on allegations of hazing they will have a lot of people to answer to,” Common said.

The allegation is sent to the office of conflict resolution board. The severity of the pun-ishment depends on how many rules were said to be broken. The alleged sorority or fraterni-ty would also have to face the University, state laws, nation-al laws, and national organiza-tions Common said.

“In a perfect world you could eradicate it, but I don’t know if that is possible, be-

cause you will always have peo-ple who do what they want to do” Common said.

Although we do not live in a perfect world, the hazing pre-vention group is trying for the next best thing, “Create an environment where students don’t feel like they have to go through that in order to get into a fraternity, sorority, chess club, intramural sports or any-thing at the university,” Com-mon said.

The U of I does its best to prevent hazing, but if there are students being hazed they can call the Dean’s Student office at 217- 333-0050.

Braid: A shining star

Colleges in Illinois grapple with hazing issue

Bill’s Toasty tradition lives on Photo by

Michaela Rutledge

McKayla Braid

By Kaylee Georgeoff Civic Memorial High School

Anna Konstant, 17, of Hin-sdale, is at a pivotal part of her life where most teenagers are unsure of their career path.

This is not the case with Konstant. Her problem is choosing between three com-pletely different careers; jour-nalism, engineering and mete-orology. Konstant aspires to go to college in the Midwest. She is trying to decide between a career in journalism, meteorol-ogy and civil/industrial engi-neering.

Konstant said, “It’s hard, be-cause there are so many things I can see myself as.”

Konstant’s interest in civil and industrial engineering has

progressed over time. She recently attended the

Explore Engineering Summer Program at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville that al-lowed her to uncover her inter-ests further. She mentions if she entered industrial engineering she would like to be a CEO of a company in the Chicago area.

K o n s t a n t ’s f r e s h m a n high school teacher intro-duced her to journal i sm and she thinks that broad-cast journalism would be the path she would take. The idea of being in the spot-light and dazzling people on TV sounds appealing to her.

Meteorology was alongside the idea with wanting to be on TV. Broadcast journalism and meteorology go hand in hand with the desire and aspiration to be on TV. Konstant says, “I

always wanted to be the weath-er girl.”

Kindergarten was the first time Konstant got a taste of something she knew she want-

ed to do in the future. She dis-covered her love for the game of soccer. Konstant has been playing as a forward/midfield since and plans to play casual-

ly throughout college. Although Konstant is busy

determining what her fu-ture holds she still makes time to volunteer within her com-munity and have some fun. Konstant has volunteered at the Hinsdale Police Sta-tion and helped by grading Drug Abuse Resistance Edu-cation program (DARE) pa-pers, putting away storage, and giving tours of the station to Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. Konstant participated in many things a long with several oth-ers including water and winter skiing, going to the mall and pool, diving, bowling and or-ganizing her own dance camp.

“It’s important to me to stay on top of my school work and extra activities come sec-ond,” Konstant said, “I’m nev-er bored.”

By Michaela Daly Herscher High School

For the 11th year in a row, wine, live music, food and art will pack Main Street in Pales-tine, Ill., on the first weekend of October.

Fourteen wineries from throughout Illinois will be in Palestine on Oct. 5 and 6 for the 11th annual Wine and Art Festival.

More than 2,500 people are expected to attend this year’s festival, according to Jim Ellis and Susan Goodwine, mem-bers of the committee that plans the festival. It is planned to be the largest festival yet, with more wineries and ven-dors than past years.

“It [the festival] grows ev-ery year,” said Ellis, who owns a framing store in downtown Pal-estine.

The newest addition to the winery selection is Sleepy Creek Vineyard from Fairmount. Many of the wineries that are on board for this year are from the southern Illinois area and also travel to other, larger wine tasting festivals. However, de-spite Palestine’s secluded area, many of the wineries make just as much money at the Wine and Arts Festival as they do at others.

“Several of the wineries that come here also go to Starved Rock which is a huge festival because of where it’s located,” Ellis said.

The goal of the festival is to bring people to Palestine to help promote the town and bring in extra business to local shops and stores.

“It’s a different group of people that we’re exposing to our community in hopes that they’ll come back,” Goodwine said.

Most of the profit from the festival is put toward commu-nity projects such as Fort La-Motte, local art buildings and parks. This year’s profit is ex-pected to be put toward new playground equipment for the

Palestine park. Another small portion of the profit is used to put on next year’s festival.

The atmosphere of the Wine and Arts Festival is described as casual and comfortable. People in the past have spent the en-tire day wine tasting, shopping and eating from both local and out of town food vendors. Al-though wine tasting is the big-gest attraction to the festival, food and art vendors also thrive at the festival.

“The larger the crowd gets, the better the vendors do,” El-lis said.

The art that is sold at the festival is limited to ‘fine arts, fine crafts.’ Most everything is handmade and ranges from homemade soap to paintings to baskets and jewelry. Every year, the arts and craft vendor num-bers seem to increase.

“We must be doing some-thing right because I’ve gotten four requests this year from art vendors that have never been here before, asking if they can come to the festival,” Good-wine said.

As well as arts, food is also kept at a higher scale. Things like hot dogs are not prohibit-ed, but are discouraged.

“We try to get people to do things that are a little unusual,” Ellis said of the food. “If our community garden does well this year we may have a salsa and chip booth.”

Live music is also being lined

up to play during the festivities. Although one of the former bands has disbanded, a favorite from last year, Three, is expect-ed to return.

Another unique aspect to the festival in comparison to other wine tasting festivals is the tick-et style. Instead of selling tick-ets for a limited amount of tast-ings, one ticket allows a person unlimited tasting for the whole day.

“They [the customers] prob-ably spend more money at the food vendors and wineries and that sort of thing, because aren’t spending it all on the tickets,” Ellis said.

The unique system of ticket-ing works well for the wineries and other businesses, and is not expected to be changed for fu-ture years. General admission to the festival is free, and tast-ing tickets can be purchased in advance or at the gates on the day of the festival. Advanced tickets are $11.50 online and tickets at the gate are $15. One ticket allows tasting for the en-tire day as well as a commem-orative tasting glass, which can be used to taste the different wines during the festival.

The Wine and Arts Festi-val is considered an adult event due to the presence of alcohol. However, children are neither encouraged nor discouraged to attend. The Palestine Develop-ment Association, a non-profit organization, sponsors it.

IllInoIs RepoRteR FRIday, June 28, 2013 • page a3

Konstant-ly Anna

By Melissa Svec Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School

Michaela Daly gladly took one for the team.

The Herscher native has played forward for most of her youth soccer career.

Right before her freshman soccer season, she was asked to play sweeper.

The sweeper is the last line of defense before the goalie.

That same season, her team made it to the state championship match and took second place.

Since then she has stayed at the position — and flour-ished.

“I like it because I get to slide-tackle people,” Daly said with a laugh.

Daly has four older broth-ers: Patrick, Sean, Tyler and Matt.

She has two younger sib-lings, a brother, Noah, and a sister, Delaney.

Being one of the middle children, Michaela never let the “middle-child” stereo-type define her.

A natural leader, Daly, 17, continuously exhibits her sense of leadership through guidance, advice and some tough love.

Surrounded by a small group of tight-knit friends, Daly emerged as the “moth-er” figure of the group.

Not one for parties, Daly willingly drives her friends to social events, and keeps an eye on everyone she cares for, just like her role model. Kathy Nowacyk. Nowacyk is a New Jersey native and her mother’s best friend and the type of woman who tells it like it is. From the soccer field to just a casual night in her friend’s basement, Da-ly’s uplifting spirit is easily spotted despite her personal struggles.

Daly has a history of de-pression in her family, and she battled it as a freshman.

She doesn’t specifical-ly put the blame on any-

one, but she did say an ex-boyfriend and a few friends didn’t exactly treat her the way she wanted.

Like a leader should, Daly overcame her personal strug-gles.

In her free time, Daly writes for her school news-paper, pens short stories and reads a variety of books. Her favorite book is “The Fault in Our Stars.”

She plans on continuing her journalistic career and hopes eventually to have one of her books published. She believes that is a reachable goal based on the dedication she puts into everything she does.

Daly is a big and little sis-ter, the rookie sweeper on her state-qualifying soc-cer team and the motherly figure to friends who need some structure.

She has overcome per-sonal struggles many her age have not experienced, and this natural born leader said she has no plans to back down anytime soon.

Photo by K aylee GeorGeoffMichaela Daly

Daly inspirationHerscher native has compelling story to share

robinson Daily ne ws Photo by tom ComPtonA group of wine aficionados gets a taste of one of the booths offered at the 11th annual Wine and Art festival in Palestine.

Palestine fest filled with wine and art

Photo by K aylee GeorGeoffAnna Konstant

“It’s important to me to stay on top of my school work and extra activities come second,” Konstant said.

Hinsdale student finds her love for multiple interests

Photo by Paulina Martinez

Sydney Edwards, 15, of Mattoon, has an amaxing sense of family and hopes to make the world a better place.

Mattoon teen has so much to say, she yodels in her sleep

By Sara Dust Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School

Journalism, family, drama club and community are amongst the top priorities of Sydney Edwards.

The 15-year-old contributed to the Mattoon school news publication, the MHS Mirror, during her fresh-man year.

Even though she was the only freshman, she proved her worth by her hard work. She is proud of her journalistic work.

A gratifying moment happened when she covered the school’s talent show.

She was less than excited, initially, for the assignment, but she produced

some of her best work.The event showed her journalism

is something that she wants to pur-sue.

Edwards has an incredible sense of family.

Her great-grandmother, Mary Lou, is her biggest role model.

Her great-grandmother stayed at home and raised a family of four.

“She shows you how to be a lady and stay true to your morals,” Ed-wards said.

Besides her grandmother and mother, Edwards has a close relation-ship with her father.

Edwards also has a strong relation-ship with her step-dad, who adopted her after her dad died.

She has a 12-year-old brother, Ian French.

They, like basically every pair of siblings, alternate from worst enemies to best friends within a split second.

They are, however, a little closer than some siblings due to summers

apart. Time apart makes the time they

have together even more special.Like every person, Edwards has her

quirks, which makes her who she is. She describes herself as extremely

dramatic, and a bit of a delayed re-actor, such as when a door slammed shut recently.

It would appear she was unfazed until she suddenly gasped long after the door was loudly shut.

She talks in her sleep, and some-times even yodels in her sleep loud-ly enough to wake her grandmother through a separating wall.

Once you experience the inter-esting quirks and characteristics of Edwards you open the doors to her views on changing the world.

“I want to be one of those people who changes the way things are so when my children and my grandchil-dren come into the world they feel safe and it is a place they want to be and love to be in,” Edwards says.

daily eastern ne ws file PhotosABOVE: Justin Moore performs during the 2010 Red, White and Blue Days celebration. LEFT: A parade participant car-ries the American flag while riding a horse during the 2010 Red, White and Blue Days parade. BELOW: Toby Lucas and Dallas Corbin were named Little Mr. and Miss Firecracker at the 2010 Red, White and Blue Days.

‘Only in America’Red, White and Blue Days quickly approach

BY SYDNEY EDWARDS Mattoon High School

The annual Red, White & Blue Days is celebrating its 23rd anniversary this year by keeping the tradition of free concerts in Morton Park.

The main stage concert this year fea-tures Tate Stevens, the 2012 X-Factor win-ner, who is scheduled to perform at 8 p.m. on July 3.

The free Red, White & Blue Days con-certs began 23 years ago and have attracted a variety of musicians over the years.

“We have had Jake Owen, Trace Ad-kins, Heidi Newfield, Tracy Byrd and Ron-nie Milsap performed over the past years, ” said Betty Coffrin, one of the first commit-tee members for Red, White & Blue Days.

As national stars have arrived to per-form at RWB Days, they have brought fans from outside of Coles County.

“When Jake Owen came, I had calls from people asking about the concert and I had to convince them that it was free,” Coffrin said.

The theme for this year’s event is “Only in America.”

“Only in this country can you go on a show and win and then you’re a mega star,” Coffrin said, referring to Stevens.

During RWB Days events, Mayor Lar-ry Rennels said, Charleston economically improves.

“Through the hotel and motel packs, the added sales taxes benefit the communi-ty,” Rennels said. 

According to Rennels, he started attend-ing the RWB Days festivities when it first started. Through his attendance, he has

seen an increase in activities for the event. “It is a patriotic celebration that has

grown into a festival with a parade, games for kids and local vendors, ” Rennels said.

At RWB Days, local organizations even offer entertainment for every age.

“The fire department has a swimming pool full of foam,” Coffrin said. “Usually, the kids go crazy for it.”

The Independence Day celebration also offers children a way to be patriotic artists.

“The Great Chalk-In is held by the Coles County Arts Council,” Coffrin said. “They give kids a square and all the colors of chalk they want.”

The RWB Days festivities are set to kick off from 2-5 p.m. Sunday at Morton Park with bingo, where community members can play to win cash and prizes. The Red, White & Blue Days events resume July 3 and then continue through July 4.

According to Coffrin, at Morton Park, event organizers ask all organizations to be non-profit.

Members of the Knights of Columbus will be a primary vender and plan to sell hamburgers and lemon shake-ups.

For $2, the Red, White & Blue Days committee is offering the traditional of all-you-can-eat ice cream on the Fourth. All venders open at 3 p.m. July 3 and will be open all day on July 4.

“I tell people to come out and sup-port the vendors because the money they get goes right back into the community, ” Coffrin said.

Events next week also include the 4 on the 4th run/walk for Habitat for Human-ity; registration starts at 6:30 a.m and the run is at 7:30 a.m.

On July 3, the Farmer of the Year award will be announced, in addition to the crowning of Little Mr. and Miss Firecracker follow-ing the 6:30 p.m. main stage per-formance by the Lemon Brothers Band.

At 2:15 p.m. on July 4, there will be a bell-ringing ceremony for the late John Morrisey, one of the first Red, White & Blue Days committee members, and in honor of the late John Daum, founding director of the Charleston Com-

munity Band.“Red, White & Blue Days is

just a fun event, it’s free and I hear from people that they plan their Fourth of July celebration around it — that’s our motivation to keep it going,” Coffrin said.

Family-oriented Edwards makes the most of her quirk

IllInoIs RepoRteR FRIday, June 28, 2013 • page a5

Triple Threat: Athlete, journalist, friend

By Sydney Edwards Mattoon High School

As a lacrosse player, Sara Dust has scored five goals in a single game.

That spectacular feat isn’t her most memorable moment playing a game.

That is only part of who she is.The Chicago native and co-captain

of her high school lacrosse team re-members how a little luck can score a goal even if you don’t expect it.

“I was trying to pass the ball to a teammate, and it went over her head. It did a super-weird bounce and went into the goal,” Dust said, smiling, as she recalled her top moment on the lacrosse field. “It was one of those moments when everybody asked themselves, ‘What just happened?’”

Dust started playing lacrosse her freshman year, where she served as co-captain for the team, and she said she is proud of the accomplishments she has earned over the past two years.

“I basically start every game. My highest amount of goals I have scored is around five goals in a game,” Dust said.

Before Dust started playing la-crosse, she had planned to be on the basketball team, but her mom sug-gested lacrosse and thought that she’d

do well in it.“Both tryouts were on the same

day, so I had to make a decision. I lis-tened to my mom and it was a great decision,” Dust said.

Dust developed a passion for the sport because it’s a challenge.

“It takes a lot of practice to catch and throw a ball from a stick. It’s just another object to learn how to con-trol,” Dust said. “I am very energetic so running gets my energy out.”

But her on-the-field accomplish-ments at Mother McAuley High School on the city’s south side give only a partial glimpse of what sets Dust apart from her peers. She tries not to take her family for granted and enjoys spending time on and off the field with her friends.

“I have a lot of interests, like sports and journalism. I can be girly, but then I’m not,” she said. “My friends would say I’m an introvert, and I am. But, when I get uncomfortable, I can be quiet and shy. Overall, my friends would just flat out call me crazy.”

On weekends, she likes hanging out with her best friends on the la-crosse team, Brenna and Maggie, do-ing typical teenage stuff like going to a movie, having a sleepover or even sharing thoughts on what they’re

reading together.“My good friend, Brenna, and I

had three classes together my fresh-man year, and we never talked. But, one day her and Maggie were talk-ing about a book I really wanted to read, and we basically bonded over the book,” she said, describing what brought her best friends together.

When Dust is not on the lacrosse field, she is reading and writing for Inscape, her high school newspaper and yearbook.

“I love to read, so I like to write. When you read, you listen to stories. So when I write, I want to be the one telling the stories,” said Dust.

Dust became fond of writing after her seventh- and eighth-grade teach-er, Daniel Gargano, taught her writ-ing could be fun.

“He’s phenomenal teacher,” she said. “He used to have poetry slams.”

Dust looked up to Gargano as a role model, but she said her mom and brother, Patrick, are others whom she admires.

“My mom is a major role mod-el. She works hard; I really don’t tell her enough that I love her,” Dust said. “She worked hard to put me and my three brothers through Catholic school.”

Sara DustPhoto by Melissa svec

By Sara Dust Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School

Steve Meadows started his artistic career carving wood sculptures, but over the course of the past 10 years he has moved onto a new chapter of his life creating eclectic folk art.

For 25 years, Meadows crafted woodcarvings, which he sold whole-sale. About 10 years ago the econo-my was changing and the “country of cutesy stuff was going out,” Meadows said. He always played with the “junk art” and always enjoyed it, so he de-cided to do it full time. Now he has a workshop/gallery filled with one-of-a-kind folk art pieces made of very unique mediums, such as old wag-ons, spoons and bottle caps. All of his items are available for sale.

Meadows gets his inspiration from God.

“God shows me everything,” he said, “I’m just a dumb old farm boy who was gifted with a talent.”

He prays every night to thank him for talents and the visions that he does have. On most of Meadows’ woodcarvings he has a branding on them, which states “created by God through the hands of S.D. Meadows.”

Other than God, Pablo Picasso in-spires Meadows. When Meadows was 12 years old he had a dream that he walked on the beach with Picasso, who is his favorite artist. When he was young he thought an artist was someone who was “dead and gone,” but Picasso showed him otherwise.

Meadows always wanted to be an artist, but classes were never available to him throughout grade school and high school. He attended four years of junior college, double the usual two years. He was staying in college to avoid fighting in the Vietnam War. Meadows was a bit of a “hippie,” he

said. Alas, the draft was changed to a lottery and he was forced to pick up arms in the Marine Corps.

After he served, he went to East-ern Illinois University for a year where he took five studio classes at the same time, something he would not recom-

mend to anyone. “I turned out with three A’s, two

B’s, and a son,” he said.He left his schooling to provide for

his family. This was his only formal training. He is, for the most part, self-taught, which he looks at as a good thing.

He does not think he would be where he is today if he had more for-mal schooling.

Instead of being a stereotypical re-tiree, Meadows is far from throwing in the towel. His new chapter of his life is slowing down a little bit.

“What makes it good is I can actu-ally slow my life down now and trav-el,” Meadows said

He is working on new ideas and projects, such as his project to make pieces for Palestine’s Main Street. He has a shop on Main Street, and places his work along different points of the street. He likes that this allows peo-ple of all ages and incomes to enjoy

his work. His name in the folk art communi-

ty is still continuing to grow, and he is producing piece after piece after piece of incredible artwork. This is all de-spite the unfortunate passing of his wife, along with a semi-unsupport-ive community. Some people in the community have complained about the one piece of artwork already along Main Street.

His day-to-day life has changed a lot since his wife died. He wakes up every morning without an alarm clock. He works all day and has din-ner at 5 p.m., and then he takes his dog for a walk.

His night shift ends at around 9 p.m. He enjoys logging on to Face-book in his free time.

Meadows is far from the end of his career. He’s getting ready to change things in his life again and God is showing him things “I’m here because he put me here.”

“God shows me everything,” he said, “I’m just a dumb old farm boy who was gifted with a talent.”

Photo by toM coMPtonSteve Meadows sits in the shop above his home while being surrounded by his art work. Meadows has been an artist since his college days.

Sara Dust is a lacrosse star, reporter for her school paper and a flat out crazy friend

Palestine artist looks to God for inspiration

By Robert He Stuyvesant High School

Erika Meza from Blue Island has made friendships on a global scale.

Meza is a senior at Eisenhow-er High School and has connected and kept in touch with pen pals from around the world.

“I heard my friend had a pen pal from England and I wanted to meet someone that I could talk to about their culture,” she said.

Two years ago, Meza asked her Spanish teacher and mentor, Ms. Michelle Alfano, about connect-ing with a pen pal. Her teacher con-nected Meza with her own pen pal’s family. Alfano had traveled around the world and made many connec-tions with people from different countries.

Meza’s first pen pal was a girl from Greece named Sophia.

“It didn’t really work out because there was a language barrier,” she said. “She only spoke a little bit of Eng-lish.”

Alfano continued connecting Meza with her other pen pals’ children, with whom language is less of a prob-lem.

Since her first pen pal, Meza has gotten into contact with people from various countries.

“I have eight pen pals that I met through my Spanish teacher. I have one from Ireland, a girl from India, two from Russia, one from Jamaica, France, California and Argentina,” she explained.

She keeps in touch with them dai-ly through email and Skype, an online chatting service.

“We talk about the differences in the customs in our countries,” she said. “For example, we talk about the differences in use of words, food, tra-ditions, family life and so on.”

Meza has also made pen pals with-out the help of her teacher. When she was in Chicago, she met a boy who

was touring downtown Chicago. “I noticed that he seemed unfa-

miliar with the area, and I went up to him and I asked if he needed help.

It was pretty interesting because he didn’t speak English; he just spoke French and Spanish. So being bilin-gual, speaking English and Spanish,

helped,” she said. After that, they exchanged con-

tact information and still talk to-day. This boy is also the only pen pal Meza has met in person.

All of Meza’s pen pals are older than she is, and she has recently start-ed discussing the college admissions process with them. But the pen pals also occasionally have some tips for Meza.

“I’m going to be graduating in one

year and they give me valuable ad-vice,” she said. “Basically they tell me to be open to anything because you never know what you’re going to learn from new experiences.”

Meza hopes to maintain her con-nections with her pen pals and to meet more in the future.

“It’s always good to know that there are other things going on in the world — they offer a fresh perspec-tive,” she said.

Page a6 • Friday, June 28, 2013 illinois rePorter

Meza creates global network

This year the University of Illi-nois at Urbana-Champaign will be welcoming 7,200 to 7,300 freshmen this fall, 900 of which will be inter-national students.

The university is well known for its vast amount of international stud ents with 8,000 international under-grads.

The school offers help that focus-es on making sure all students feel comfortable using the programs and participating in activities.

As freshmen, it is natural to fear the unknown. Therefore, the school encourages students to visit before the school year begins to get a real feel of the new environment.

The U of I offers more than 100

enrichment programs to the in-coming freshmen, some in the summer which are optional, and one in the fall, which all freshmen attend.

During the summer, families can visit and the university even has pro-grams for the parents which helps them understand the transition for their child to a college life.

The fall orientations focus on

what it means to be a student at U of I.

Often new students will come in and “they think they have it all fig-ured out,” said Gina Lee-Olukoya, Assistant Dean of Students.

The university’s main goal is to ease the anxieties and help their stu-dents find a niche. “There are a lot of opportunities to engage,” said Lee-Olukoya.

Students are introduced to universal programs with about 1,000 organiza-tions and 96 fraternities and sororities.

Students can also suggest new clubs and activities.

With 7,100 students in either fraternities or sororities, the Haz-ing Prevention Team and the U of I make sure students are well in-formed about their rights at the school. The Fraternity and Sorori-ty department started the HPT last fall; it collaborates with the fraterni-ty/sorority and the athletic depart-ments, and the community to pre-vent any hazing.

“The typical student doesn’t know about hazing,” said Brandon Com-mon, Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.

The Illinois Leadership Center at U of I has programs mostly creat-ed by the student population which train students to be leaders in their communities.

On July 27, ILC sponsors a one-day summer program known as In-tersect — directed by student leaders and staff — for freshmen. The pro-gram uses games and other activities to help the students understand their

listening styles, teamwork strategies, and interpersonal bonding with oth-er students. The program runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

All students can participate in the i-Programs, which are leadership developmental programs directed by ILC. The student staff must be juniors and seniors, go through an application process, be involved in the community and finally inter-viewed.

Ten students are currently work-ing in the ILC office and four are in-terns.

Nina Youssefnia, Graf Intern, says ILC has a great community atmo-sphere where staff and peers are en-couraging students to become bet-ter people, and work to better their communities.

Another student, Annie Lin, a multimedia/graphic designer intern, said, “I like the work experience, the inspiring staff, and we explore our skills.”

Both agree they have learned a lot from the program.

u of i welcomes diverse freshman class“I like the work experience, the inspiring staff, and we explore our skills.”

— Annie Lin, Multimedia/Graphic Design intern

New worlds open through friendship

Programs seek to engage international students on campus

“It’s always good to know that there are other things going on in the world — they offer a fresh perspective.”

— Erika Meza

Erika Meza hopes to maintain connections with her pen pals and meet more in the future. “Basically they tell me to be open to anything, because you never know what you’re going to learn from new experiences,” she said.

Photo by RobeRt he

By Erika Meza Eisenhower High School

A rhetoric class on the UI Quad.RobeRt K. o’Daniell/ the ne ws-Gazet te

IllInoIs RepoRteR FRIday, June 28, 2013 • page a7

As thoughts of summer come to mind, many kids focus on lounging poolside, getting sand between their toes and eating delicious ice cream.

But for some Crawford County children, summer doesn’t mean it’s time to break from education.

The Teen REACH “Summer Suc-cess” program in Robinson was de-signed to educate children from Hud-sonville, Palestine, Robinson, and Oblong on the importance of remain-ing knowledgeable on social and ac-ademic issues occurring within their communities.

“Some are desperately behind in math and they choose to work on basic skills,” Program Director Jolie Finkbiner said. “Then we have a cou-ple who are super into writing, that blow us away with their creativity.”

Providing equal opportunities to expand students envision of their life is one of the main goals of the “Sum-mer Success” program.

The program finds ways to avoid negative risk taking behaviors, ex-panding their range of opportunities/life options and creating a sense of be-longing with each participant.

“We are a holistic prevention pro-gram for children and youth,” Fink-biner said.

The Teen REACH “Summer Suc-cess” program was originally created for kids under the age of 18.

Due to relocation, space issues and funding issues the program age groups have been narrowed to those most at risk for experimentation with drugs, alcohol and sexual activities.

The program is now open for chil-dren ages 8-17 but is specifically tar-geted for ages 11-17.

“Summer Success” focuses on basic concepts such as living a healthy life-style, having good nutrition, saying no to peer pressure while keeping your friends, bullying problems, coping with anger and dealing with precon-ceptions of turf and territorial issues.

The program also covers more in depth subjects such as substance abuse, cultural diversity, poverty, in-carceration issues and gender con-

flicts.The Teen REACH “Summer Suc-

cess” program deals with many chil-dren who are behind academical-ly in comparison with school stan-dards. They use the Summer Bridge to Success curriculum program, which bridges learning gaps between two grades.

“We might have a sixth grader that needs third to fourth grade level [courses] and we can assess their needs easily,” said Finkbiner.

This curriculum focuses on the ba-sics of English, mathematics, science, technology, engineering, history, and reading.

Every class has an instructor and assistant that specializes in the stu-dent’s individual needs.

“We view every staff person as a teacher and every student is a teach-er as well. A lot of peer teaching goes on and the students teach us a lot too. Everybody teaches one another and it’s all about life,” Finkbiner said.

To conduct a program such as the Teen Reach “Summer Success” they must have full support from their do-nors, community, volunteers and state legislators, Finkbiner said.

The Teen Reach organization is the prime source of their funding; how-ever, they are supported by a network of Illinois after school organizations, United Way and their community.

“The community has been fantas-tic as far as jumping in [to help]. There are people in this community that have supported us since the moment we opened our doors, 20 years ago, and they haven’t stopped,” Finkbiner said. “It’s from one little old lady who sends me $10 each year to much more than that. We are just really, super grateful to those people. They have no idea what one little old lady’s $10 really does.”

Their limitation of funds can affect the number of kids they can serve, staff members, individual tutors and teachers that can assist with special needs students.

While funding is important, Finkbin-er said, “Volunteers that give their time, is the same as money, if you ask me.”

This year the program averaged its staff members at about 12 and they are continuing to encourage partici-

pants that will be turning 18 to come back as helpers.

Finkbiner believes graduation rates and teen employment rates have in-creased because of their program.

In addition, she also believes teen pregnancy rates, general justice sys-tem use, child abuse and child neglect rates have decreased due to their ef-forts.

Finkbiner and her colleagues are starting to believe legislators are be-ginning to understand the impact they are having on these children.

Finkbiner also said this is approx-imately the first year in 10 that the program has not been at risk for bud-get cuts or threatened for closure.

Finkbiner is unaware if the gover-

nor has officially approved the bud-get, but said, “There is talk of bright-er days ahead.”

While the “Summer Success” pro-gram positively contribute to children learning capabilities, throughout the summer they primarily focus on enrich-ment possibilities. These include mak-ing and keeping friends, fine arts oppor-tunities, sports opportunities and pro-viding them with easy access to explora-tion in a variety of areas of passion.

For the participants who are 16 years of age and older, a job skill training program is available. This al-lows teens to learn how to be a part of a team, handle stressful situations, function on the job, and provide a larger means of income.

After eight years of playing the clarinet, Kay-lee Georgeoff, 17, is about to switch instru-ments.

Georgeoff will learn the alto saxophone be-cause her school has decided to cut the wind in-struments section, a decision driven by lack of participation, she said.

Georgeoff is nervous about learning the alto saxophone even though it is similar to the clari-net. She knows there will be challenges through-out the year. Besides playing a new instrument, Georgeoff will be learning to play in the brass section with new people and different methods.

As she starts her senior year this fall, Geor-geoff is looking forward to playing jazz music. Her goal is to remain positive despite the obsta-cle of the wind section switching instruments.

Georgeoff started playing in fourth grade and each year has progressed in her skills and talents. She currently attends Civic Memorial High School in Bethalto, where she participates in marching band. During the school year, her

band plays for the football games. This year Georgeoff’s band had an opportu-

nity to play in Disney World during a parade. To prepare for Disney World the band practiced its fall routine and eventually sent in a video of the band. The band was accepted and jumped at the chance to participate in something new.

When Georgeoff was in seventh grade, her family moved to Missouri. She had to meet new people and adapt to new situations. Over-all, though, the move helped her develop tough-er skin.

“When I moved, the kids there had just start-ed band and I was more ahead with clarinet and that was an advantage and disadvantage,” Geor-geoff said. She originally thought she could coast by on her skills, but discovered she needed to practice in order to improve.

She hopes to continue band throughout col-lege by participating in the pep band.

Georgeoff currently doesn’t know what she wants to pursue in college, but she knows band will continue to be part of her life. Georgeoff believes a person’s “biggest success is suppose to come later in life.”

Reaching for a better future: Robinson programs work to instill educational values and skills

Bethalto’s Kaylee georgeoff changes her tune

Kaylee Georgeoff Photo by AnnA KonstAnt

Zach Shipman and Joe Stambaugh, Summer Success volunteers, prepare for the next day’s work.

What: teen REACh “summer success” program

Who: Crawford Coun-ty students ages 8-17

Where: Lincoln trail College north Campus

Info: Contact Jolie Finkbiner at (618)562-0521

Photo by K AyLEE GEoRGEoFF

Kaylee Georgeoff Civic Memorial High School

Anna Konstant Hinsdale Central High School

Page a8 • Friday, June 28, 2013 illinois rePorter

illinoisreporter.wordpress.com

Check out the eiu/iPF journalism workshop on the Web to see more stories and photos from the camp, including features on Mattoon’s Book nook used bookstore, an old-fashioned barber shop and a woman whose experience in a coffee shop is leading to an international ministry. look below for just one example of the students’ online work:

The Book Nook lives up to its name.

It has books. Plenty and plenty of books.

On shelves. On top of shelves.

Rows upon rows of books greet cus-tomers to the shop Diana Sulli-van owns at 1821 Broadway Ave., in downtown Mattoon.

The war of paper against electronic has affected Sullivan’s store.

Sullivan is anti-electronic.“Ninety percent of the reason I

read is to relax,” she said. Reading via electronic devices sim-

ply doesn’t allow the same relaxation. She admits she has lost some busi-

ness to the online world, but she has gained some readers who like the feel of having a book in their hands since

she is one of the non-electronic sourc-es of books in the area.

Sullivan, who opened the business in 1989, has maintained a solid customer base throughout the years. She has girls who started coming to the store when they were children who now take their children to the Book Nook.

The store has a wide variety of books from classical to science fiction. Books range from the 19th century, long before International Standard Book Number (ISBN) was in place, to recent releases.

A reader would have a difficult time

not finding books there for them, es-pecially with the guidance of Sullivan.

Sullivan has read since a young age. As a young child, she would check out seven books, the maximum number al-lowed at the local library, and have them finished by the middle of the week.

She reached a point where she had read every book she could and was not allowed to go up to the teen sec-tion yet. The librarians eventually had to cave and let her explore the un-chartered area.

Her favorite book is Jane Hamil-ton’s “The Guardian.”

Sullivan started her own business, Brown’s Home Supply Store, in 1980. She had a small nook for books in the store, which sold furniture and appliances, so she kept the name Book Nook when she focused the business just on books.

The Book Nook contains a collec-tion of nearly a million books “give or take a few,” Sullivan said, and all are used books.

Sullivan has tried to dive into the world of selling new books before, but was not seeing the profit and decid-ed the extra work was not worth her while.

Finding a book in the Nooksullivan fills up stacks with massive collection of used books

PHOTO BY SAR A DUSTDiana Sullivan has lost some of her bookstore’s business to online competition, but her Mattoon shelves still attract local browsers.

By Sara Dust Mother McAuley High School

By Paulina Martinez Eisenhower High School

Pierre McCauley is only 18 years old, but he’s about to from making amateur pixel animations to the webisode phenomenon “Death Battle!”

The webisode pits two fictional characters in battle and, based on their strengths and statis-tics, a winner is chosen.

McCauley embarks on his move from small community high school to big-time universi-ty in hopes of becoming one of the world’s best computer engineers.

This Carbondale native was intensely in-volved in high school, with a long resume that includes Key Club, Student Council and trea-surer of The Future Business Leaders of Amer-ica.

While keeping up with various activities, he also made high honor roll.

McCauley’s path to helping with “Death Bat-tle!” started with his love for Anime-Japanese movie animation and math, which eventually grew to his interest in designing.

“I’m a very logical person and that’s why I love math,” McCauley said. “In math, there is only one answer.”

Mixing statistics and his love for video games, McCauley got hooked on “Death Battle!” about a year ago. Since 2009, McCauley has devoted his time to creating Sprites-pixel animations. McCauley said he has been offered an anima-tion position at “Death Battle!” by the animator of the series and he intends on accepting.

That opportunity won’t interfere with his ed-ucation, though. His hard work has earned him a full ride to the University of Illinois in Cham-paign, where he will be attending starting this fall.

With his determination, McCauley is opti-mistic about the future. “I am going to change society,” McCauley said. “ I am going to change the technological race.”

“I am going

to change

society ... I

am going to

change the

technological

race.”

Photo by Erik a mEz aPierre McCauley

Animated teen programs future

By Pierre McCauley Carbondale Community High School

Lake Land College offers children the chance to travel to the year 1870 each summer.

The college’s “Little House on the Prairie” class includes a variety of ac-tivities provided for youngsters each day, such as quilt making, churning butter and learning how to yarn dolls.

Riddle Elementary School second-grader Emmalyn Whalin, 7, of Mat-toon said she enjoys every moment of the class. Her favorite thing to do is learning how to sew a nine-patch quilt.

Sullivan Elementary School third-grader Elizabeth Owens, 8, said she finds churning butter the most inter-esting thing about the class.

The class is part of Lake Land Summer College’s youth program. Classes run from 9 to 11 a.m. June 24-27 at the Mattoon Adult Area Ed-ucation Center. It is open to children ages 6 to 12.

The goal is to help kids understand 19th century America.

Instructor Cheryl Stolz of Effing-ham loves teaching the children the

lifestyle portrayed in the 1800s, she said. She always had the intention of teaching children, including her own, how people lived in that time.

Stolz inspired by the 1935 novel “Little House on the Prairie” by Lau-ra Ingalls Wilder. In that story, Wild-er talks about her personal experienc-es living on the Kansas prairie.

The “Little House” series was criti-cally acclaimed and later transformed into a television series in 1974. “Little House” is one of Stolz’s favorite book series, and it impacted her perspective on learning about culture, she said. She started teaching the class in 2001.

“It’s important to know about the core of a family,” Stolz said. She be-lieves such a self-sufficient lifestyle is a good example for kids and teach-es them the value of America’s histo-ry, culture and how families support-ed each other in the past.

Stolz tries to keep everything in the class historically accurate; for in-stance, making churned butter with milk that comes from cows instead of using processed milk.

Even though the kids aren’t receiv-ing a two-hour lecture about culture in the 1800s, Stolz hopes that the children will gain insight on the big-ger picture, which is gaining invalu-

able knowledge and applying it to their everyday lives.

Photo by JENNiFEr ForENEriS Lane Richardson from Sullivan learns how to make butter from cream and sew a nine-patch quilt at Lake Land College’s Summer College for Youth Class.

Blast from the past

Section b Friday, June 28, 2013

By Pierre McCauley Carbondale Community High School

Albert Henderson is not a stereo-typical gamer.

The 16-year-old Mattoon High School junior doesn’t isolate him-self from the world. He’s a bold gen-tleman, willing to approach any new person he wants to meet.

This serves him well while writing for the Mattoon High School news-paper. He loves covering entertain-ment and writing video game reviews. One of his reviews was even honored by “National Edition,” an online ar-chive highlighting the best of student journalism.

“That’s something that I am most proud of,” said Henderson, who also recently wrote a review about “Fire Emblem: Awakening” for the Ninten-do 3DS.

Even though Henderson has an in-terest in journalism, he doesn’t see it as his career; he really wants to make video games.

He has had this desire since age 12, when he played “Metal Gear Solid” for the first time.

That game sparked his inspiration to develop games.

“‘Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots’ is my favorite game,” said Henderson, whose role model is Hideo Kojima, director of the “Metal Gear” video game series.

He’s been exposed to Japanese cul-ture through manga and anime, and he wants to go there one day.

“I would want to go to Japan once I’ve established my game development career,” Henderson said. “I want to visit Nintendo and meet people there. I want to actually bring Sega back to

its prime.”Other than his dream of being a

game developer, he also plans on mak-ing a YouTube channel with some of his friends. His channel will feature videos containing walkthroughs of video games for novice gamers. As a new gamer, obstacles can be frustrat-ing to overcome and may take multi-ple attempts to succeed.

Henderson understands giving out tips will help newcomers in the

long run. He has been in their posi-tion, struggling to find ways to clear the next level or become an expert at a game.

Also, he figures it would be a great way to get his name out before get-ting serious in his developing career. YouTube, for him, is more than a vid-eo-posting site. He believes it can be-come a business if he can get a part-nership for his channel.

The Daily Eastern News’

Henderson aspires to design By Albert Henderson Mattoon High School

The staff at the Scovill Zoo in Decatur strives to do its best to ed-ucate and entertain the public with several animals, including the Red Pandas.

They were found 50 years before the Giant Panda. Despite sharing the name, they aren’t even related.

Red Pandas eat mostly bamboo and fruit like their widely known giant counter-parts, and live in the same area as well.

The Red Pandas are more closely related to raccoons, while the Giant Panda is related to the bear family.

Like raccoons, the Red Panda has a distinct “mask” over its eyes. The mask on the Red Panda is white.

The zoo opened to the public in 1967, and currently holds over 400 animals, including the two incred-ibly famous Red Pandas, Clay and Kaydee.

The pandas are the most recent additions to the zoo. Clay has been there for four years, and Kaydee since April.

They received Kaydee as a part-

ner for Clay because, according to the Scovill Zoo website, less than 2500 adult Red Pandas are left in the wild.

Assistant Director Ken Frye said that the pandas are very popular, and that they are one of the cutest animals at the zoo.

Allison Petty, reporter for the De-catur Herald & Review, agrees with Frye, and says they are her favorite animals at the zoo largely because of how cute they are.

Being cute isn’t the only reason people like the pandas, some are just amazed they even exist, and are just happy to see them for the first time.

“I’d never seen a Red Pan-da before Clay, and I was instantly charmed by his mannerisms,” Pet-ty said.

Some people are amazed on how different they are from the Giant Panda.

“They are a little like cats,” Petty said. “They are very curious, but not exactly cuddly,”

Visiting hours for the zoo are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Entry fees are as follows: $5.50 for adults, 3.50 for

Writing her own story

By Emily Scott Okaw Valley High School

Visitors to the Decatur Scovill Zoo will soon be able to enter the world of a Humboldt penguin through an inventive new exhibit due to be completed this fall.

According to the zoo’s Assistant Director Ken Frye, plans for the new $1.5 million exhibit, as well as fundraising, began two years ago. The Decatur Park District held a fundraiser, and other funds have been raised through donations and bond issue.

Construction began in December 2012 and is on track to be completed by September 1. The exhibit will house 10 Humboldt penguins from six different zoos across the country.

Features of the new construction will include an indoor holding area for the penguins, as well as an outdoor exhibit for the public. The outdoor portion will consist of a 5,000-gallon pool along with land area around it.

There will also be the option to get even closer to the penguins through the exhibit’s most innovative feature, an acrylic dome inside the pool that can be ac-cessed by crawling through a small tunnel. Inside the dome, visitors will be able to view the penguins closer than ever before.

“This is the zoo’s most ambitious exhibit yet,” Frye said. The incoming Humboldt penguins are warm-weather penguins that origi-

nate on the Pacific coast of South America. The Humboldt penguin is currently endangered due to commercial fishing and the harvesting of guano.

Commercial fishing in the Humboldt penguin’s habitat reduces its food sup-ply significantly. Guano, which consists mostly of the penguin’s excrement for use of burrowing in their breeding habitat, is being harvested for fertilizer and leaves the penguins with no place for burrowing.

Many Humboldt penguins are now in protective areas like the ones coming to Scovill Zoo. The construction process is 75% complete. “There have been some small delays with design, construction and weather,” said Frye, but other than that, construction has mostly been on track.

After construction is completed at the end of the August, arrangements will be made to start receiving the penguins in October.

“I think the exhibit will be very popular,” said Frye. “People are really excit-ed about it. I hope they come out to see the penguins and then come back and see them again.”

By Serah Welborn Le Roy High School

Early in her career as an amateur reporter, Emily Scott considers herself a success for getting paid while doing what she loves.

The 17-year-old from Bethany has worked at her local newspaper, The Sullivan News-Progress, for a year.

Scott receives an average of $20 per story. Her interest in writing goes hand-in-hand with her love for soft-ball, and she often writes pieces about her own games and other activities.

“I’m very grateful that I get the ex-perience at my age,” Scott said.

Scott applied for the job in re-sponse to an ad in the paper. She submitted her interests and person-al details to Keith Stewart, the paper’s managing editor, who had been in-volved in the coverage of her school’s activities in the past.

They started an email correspon-dence, and she has been a valuable employee ever since.

In addition to her writing, Scott works hard to balance her roles as an athlete, sister and student.

Her journalistic background has interested her in travel, formal train-ing in writing and excelling in school. Scott shares her ambitions through her devotion to her community in Bethany and dreams of attending the University of Illinois. There, she hopes to follow the example of her moth-er and pursue a degree in the face of whatever life may throw her way.

Her successes can be partly attrib-uted to Ann Wilson, a business teach-er who taught her in middle school and in high school.

Wilson has encouraged her to do her best in everything, including the

local keyboarding competitions at Lake Land College in Mattoon. After five consecutive wins within six years, Scott earned free dual-credit courses from the college. Her last record was set at 97 words per minute.

Scott plans on spending her senior year at Okaw Valley High School in-volved in as many classes and activi-ties as possible.

This includes a journalism course that is exclusive to seniors. The class helps produce its own newspaper ev-ery few months.

She looks forward to finally having the chance to pursue journalism on a daily basis.

“I hope to keep up my academics and become my class’s valedictorian,” Scott said. “Ever since I was in mid-

Photo by Paulina Martinez Albert Henderson

Penguins coming to Scovill Zoo

Photo by Paulina Martinez Emily Scott

Zoo focuses on education

Photo Provided by dec atur Park distric t These are the concept plans for new exhibits at Scovill Zoo in Decatur.

Page B2 • Friday, June 28, 2013 illinois rePorter

By Albert Henderson Mattoon High School

Speak now or forever hold your peace.

Eisenhower High School Senior Paulina Martinez from Alsip brings the old saying to life, as she has ded-icated herself to developing her tal-ent for speech, but it hasn’t always been that way.

“I was a really awkward person,” she said. “If you asked me to talk in front of a class I would cry in a cor-ner.”

She realized she would eventually have to do something about her re-luctance for public speaking.

“I figured I had to do it in college, so why not now?” she said. After that epiphany, she joined Eisenhower High School’s Speech Team. “People think it’s debate, but its not.” Martinez said. “It’s like storytelling. I love it,” Martinez

said.Martinez also enjoys what she sees as the inconsistency of it all. “I have random moments where I will speak in different accents (such as British and French),”

she said. “One time I got to be Celia Foote from ‘The Help.’”Her love of speech is more than just a hobby; it’s also her source of inspiration as a career. “I know I want to be a writer, something like science fiction,” said MartinezTo achieve these goals, she plans to go to college, and she already some options in mind, includ-

ing Eastern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University and Marymount University. She picked each for very specific reasons, from having a teacher who attended the college (EIU)

to the “surreal” experience of an urban university, like Marymount in New York. But before even that, she has something else to do, and right now that is to maintain a job. “I work at a country club, and I like to think my title is “Woman” because I make sandwich-

es,” she said.All of this — from the speech experience to the job experience — has prepared her to answer the

question, “what happens after college?” Martinez has a very simple answer for this age-old question.“Hopefully I can get a job,” she said. “Isn’t that what we all aspire to?”

By Paulina Martinez Eisenhower High School

Before “Beatlemania” even reached the States, George Harrison walked through the streets of Benton, becom-ing the first Beatle in America. The city of Benton plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his visit by unveil-ing a historical marker this Septem-ber.

The city of Benton plans to unveil a historical marker commemorating the 50th anniversary of George Har-rison’s first visit to America this Sep-tember.

“In the late summer of 1963 four musicians from Liverpool, England — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — collectively known as the Beatles, were poised to conquer pop culture and music history. With three hit sin-gles in England, the band anticipat-ed their first number one record in America by taking separate holidays. Lennon to France, McCartney and

Starr to Greece and Harrison to Amer-ica,” states the his-torical marker for George Harrison in Benton.

“Twenty-five years ago, it wasn’t a story,” said Wil-liam Furry, head of the project and ex-ecutive director of the Illinois State Historical Society. “People didn’t know George Harrison had spent time in Illinois.”

The h i s to r i ca l marker will commemorate the mem-ories and legacy George Harrison left behind in Illinois.

Harrison led the Beatles’ Brit-ish invasion into America when he came to visit his sister, Louise Harri-son Caldwell in Benton. Long before the Beatles hit big in America, Harri-son strolled throughout the streets of Benton, jamming out with local mu-sicians, purchasing records and having his first American interview on the ra-dio.

“In retrospect looking at his life from the time he became a Beatle, those couple of weeks in Benton were probably the last chance he had at be-ing normal,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell, who currently lives in Branson, Mo., lived in Benton when brothers George and Peter came to stay with her. Caldwell says she re-members her brother as someone with a good work ethic, someone who was very keen on being as good of a guitar player as possible.

“[George] was very, very vibrant,

full of life, full of fun, intelligent and was very interested in doing and learning.” Caldwell said. “He worked very hard to become good at what he was doing.”

Caldwell said the misconception of her brother’s timidity began when the Beatles arrived to New York in Febru-ary of ’64. Harrison arrived from Par-is with a 104 degree fever and a bad case of strep throat, when a doctor at the Plaza Hotel suggested he should be taken to the hospital.

The Beatles’ manager, Brian Ep-stein, didn’t want anyone to know there was something wrong, Caldwell said. “I was roped into looking af-ter him, and the doctor gave him all kinds of meds and ordered him to stay quiet and peaceful.”

Interviews followed after the arriv-al of the band, and Harrison was or-dered to speak as little as possible.

“He had a lot of fun with that be-cause when he was being questioned by people asking him stupid ques-tions, he would just say ‘I don’t know, I’m the quiet one!’” Caldwell said.

Caldwell said her brother’s goal was to play guitar to the best of his abili-ty, and that is partly attributed to the way their parents raised them. “Our parents raised us in a way that they encouraged us to do whatever our hearts led us to…” said Caldwell. “To be honest and compassionate. Wher-ever our talent or ability led us, be the best that you can be.”

In his two-week stay, Harrison per-formed his first American perfor-mance with a group called “The Four Vests.” According to Furry, he pur-chased a red, 425 Rickenbacker guitar in Mt. Vernon and went on to play with it in the early years of the Bea-tles.

The planned marker will state that Harrison returned to England and came back to America with the Bea-tles the following February after “I Want to Hold Your Hand” rose to number one in the U.S. charts. Harri-son went on to write such classic Bea-tles songs as “Taxman,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Some-thing.” He died in 2001.

The unveiling of the marker will also be known as “George Harri-son Day” in the city of Benton. Fur-ry plans on having a celebration along with the unveiling and says the mark-er will be located within a block of Main Street. The date for the unveil-ing is yet to be set.

The historical marker will be sponsored by the Franklin Coun-ty Historic Preservation, the Il-l i n o i s St a t e Hi s t o r i c a l So c i -ety and Beatles fans everywhere.

U.S. Beatlemania began in BentonCity celebrates 50th anniversary of George Harrison’s early trip

Martinez the new name in journalism‘If you asked me to talk in front of a class I would cry in a corner’

Hard work counts even if this lifeguard and runner doesn’t

By Kevin McLurkin Urban Prep Charter Academy

Eduardo Martinez hates math.16-year-old Eduardo Martinez is a high school student who hates math so much that he is senior

editor of an online publication. The publication is called the lion review (thelionreview.com), and it’s about multiple topics, but it is mainly centered on community affairs. Will this website succeed? Maybe it will, because Martinez is a strong advocate for hard work.

Martinez is a senior at Eisenhower High School and resides in Blue Island. Martinez’s role models are his parents because they are the most hardworking individuals he ever met. When asked about his view of hard work he said, “ I think hard work is important be-cause coming from a family of im-migrants you have to work hard,” he said, “Since I know people sac-rificed so that I can have a better life, there is no time for excuses.”

Martinez knows that success is a result of hard work

He is a practicing lifeguard, and the captain of the cross-coun-try team for Eisenhower. He be-lieves that success comes from hard work and he is living proof.

He started cross-country his freshman year as the slowest member of the team, and through hard work and dedication became the fastest and the captain.

When asked about his political views he said he’s really not political; he is all for helping people in need.

This all ties into thelionreview.com because he is currently contributing to a book, dealing with media, minorities and urban voice in oppression. He gets his philosophies from figures like Mal-colm X and Friedrich Nietzsche.

Martinez is an advocate for equal rights and a kid on the first step of greatness. In the future, he wants to become a professor of some sort and he is paving the way with his hard

work and a sense of urgency.

IllInoIs RepoRteR FRIday, June 28, 2013 • page B3

Photo by William Furry Picture of 113 McCann Street, former home of Louise Harrison Caldwell, where George Harrison stayed at in his first visit to America. INSET: Stock photo of George Harrison.

Pierre mcc auleyEduardo Martinez

emily Scot tPaulina Martinez

Taylorville hosts obscure JFK statueBy Eduardo Martinez Eisenhower High School

As the 50th anniversary of the assassina-tion of one of the United States’ most sig-nificant presidents, John F. Kennedy, ap-proaches, people may be surprised to find that Oak Hill Cemetery in Taylorville houses a large and highly detailed statue of JFK.

The Statue is lo-cated on the far east side of the c e m e t e r y. T h e eight foot, white c a r r a r a marb l e statue stands tall beside shrubbery and an array of gravestones. Ap-proaching the stat-ue’s frontside re-veals an engraving with the late pres-ident’s name. The elevating steps on the statue secludes the memorial from the others around the site. The seriousness in JFK’s facial expression gives a meditative and thought provoking atmosphere.

Citizens, City officials and historians re-call what little is known about the myste-rious origin of the statute, which traveled from Italy to Kansas before arriving at Oak Hill.

Extensive attempts to contact the Chris-tian County Historical Society were made, but the society has yet to contact back. Many people in the Taylorville area were interviewed, but very few knew much about it.

William Newberry, Superintendent of Oak Hill Cemetery, said he knew little about the origin of the statue, only that the memorial was commissioned in 1963.

Wilda Cooper, a local genealogist, add-ed that the funds used to commission the

memorial were from citizens in the Tay-lorville area.

Cooper, who attended the erection of the memorial, said it was “quite an affair” with the presence of dignitaries.

While locals may not have much in-formation on the statue, an article from a 1964 edition of the Fort Scott Tribune ex-plains that the memorial was sculpted by

the Bruno Tava-relli Marble Co. of Carrara, Italy af-ter being forward-ed a request from Bruce Marble and Granite Works in Fort Scott, Kan-sas. According to Taylorville City Council minutes, an account for the statue was cre-ated shortly pri-or to a January 6, 1964 meeting. A December 21 ac-count states that final payment to

the Fort Scott company was made out of donated funds. Breeze-Courier archives from 1964 show that Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedy’s brother, played a role in the commission of the statue. Robert sent a letter to the City of Taylorville requesting that a particular picture be used as a pat-tern in the making of the face on the me-morial statue; accompanying the letter was the photograph chosen. While this me-morial largely remains a mystery to people in the Taylorville area, it is still a remem-brance of a president who many people ad-mired. According to William Newberry, the impact of the memorial is seen by the graves around it.

“In that area, all the graves were sold out. Most of the people who were bur-ied there probably admired him and were Democrats,” said Newberry.

By Serah Welborn Le Roy High School

Like an oasis in a desert, Lytle Pool is a common haven to many in the community.

Mattoon resident Daniece Jones, for instance, takes her children swimming “as much as she can.” Jones describes their time in the wa-ter as a way to relax and come clos-er as a family.

“With all the stress in our lives right now, it’s nice to be able to come and let them just be kids,” she added.

Jones’ 5-year-old daughter, Katey, performed water-flips beside her and proudly displayed missing teeth. She ran off to the slide as her sister, Alex-andria Gerberding, 12, described her new diving trick.

“I’m finally not scared to do a dive,” she said. “Swimming is probably my favorite sport, besides basketball.”

Weather permitting, Jones and her children can be seen at Lytle ev-ery other day.

Experimenting with her first year of retirement, Barb Durdel is chang-ing her routine.

“This is the first time I’ve swam in Lytle Pool,” Durdel said. The visit with her five granddaughters, ages 7 through 15, was a part of her week’s schedule that will take them all over Mattoon. She calls the seven-day va-cation “Camp Grandma,” which she

hopes to hold annually with all of her 12 grandchildren.

“You get to know them a little better,” Durdel said. “(I’m enjoying it) very, very much.”

The kid-friendly environment can be attributed to Lytle’s staff.

Of the 44 lifeguards, only 13 are new recruits, mainly college students and upperclassmen from Mattoon High School. Most have been swim-ming at Lytle since childhood, so working there has become just an-other part of the community’s “fam-ily tradition.”

Their days start at 8 a.m. when they sweep the pool and clean the bath houses. They work 30-minute

rotations in ideal conditions, occa-sionally doubling that time when there are too many swimmers.

“You have to make sure that you’re fresh,” a guard said. “Even though you’re just sitting there, the water gets to you.”

The lifeguards agreed the shallow end of the pool is the most difficult to cover, as it is very popular with small children who often stumble into the drop-off where they can’t swim. About 90 percent of these res-cues happen because an adult isn’t properly supervising a child, Lytle Park Superintendent Justin Grady said.

Not all who go to Lytle coop-

erate so well. Symbols of what the lifeguards call “pool rats,” identi-cal twins Tyler and Taylor Burch of Mattoon have been giving the system problems since their early tweens.

“(We get into trouble for) run-ning, pushing people in, cussing,” said Taylor. “(We) don’t really follow the rules.”

Both brothers have been kicked out of Lytle pool multiple times in the past, once before the end of opening week.

“They travel life on the razor’s edge,” Grady said.

Now 16, Tyler was sure to men-tion that they were going for a new image.

“I do want to say ... if you go to Lytle — respect the lifeguards. If they tell you something, you should listen,” Tyler said. “You don’t want to end up in the situation that me and my brother are in.”

Because of low temperatures and bad weather, Lytle has seen fewer customers. Last summer — during the record-setting drought — there was an average of about 680 patrons per day, but this year will be differ-ent, Grady said.

“It was cool at the beginning of the (2013) season, and that meant we only had about 15 to 20 or even 30 people here some days,” Grady said. He expects attendance to rise with the temperatures.

By Emily Scott Okaw Valley High School

Even though she describes herself as shy, Serah Welborn is confident enough to don elaborate gowns and other medieval dress as a part of her high school’s musical theater troupe.

Despite being soft-spoken, this high-school senior has found ways to express herself through her musical and theatrical talents.

Born in Lawton, Okla., Welborn grew up being home-schooled. After her family moved to the small town of Leroy in 2005, she made the switch to public schooling in the sixth grade.

The transition was not easy for her, but she believes she completed it suc-cessfully because her musical and the-atrical pursuits took her outside her comfort zone.

“I’m a really self-motivated per-son,” Welborn said.

She is involved in her high school’s music and theater programs and also an event called Madrigals, a medieval-themed musical theater.

Serah says she’s shy, but there have been several circumstances in which Welborn has boldly put herself out there. She has taken lead roles in plays and been a leader in her high school’s band as the top-performing baritone player.

She has also gone the extra mile in her academics by enrolling in sociol-ogy, psychology and music apprecia-tion classes at Parkland College.

“My mom is really supportive of me and has always focused on the positive,” said Welborn, whose moth-er recently took on an even more im-portant role in her life after going through a divorce.

“I now realize and appreciate how much my mom has sacrificed,” she said.

Welborn describes her home life as a challenge but has developed a unique way to cope.

“I sit down and write a letter to God,” she said. It helps her see where she has been and appreciate where she is today.

After high school, Welborn plans to attend Dallas Baptist University in Dallas, Texas, possibly pursuing a ca-reer in communications.

While she has not decided on a ca-reer choice, she knows she wants to help people. After gaining confidence from her switch to public schooling, Welborn feels prepared to face chal-lenges that will likely come her way.

“I have a variety of skills and I plan on using all of them,” she said. “I plan to be the best I can be at whatever I do.”

Wellborn: Acting a cure for shyness

Lytle Pool provides cool reprieve for Mattoon children of all ages

Page B4 • Friday, June 28, 2013 illinois rePorter

Keith Ste wartSerah Welborn

beduardo Martinez

A highly detailed statue of President John F. Kennedy stands in Oak Hill Cemetery in Taylorville.

K ayleigh z ySKowSKiTaylor Burch dives into the deep end of the Lytle Pool in Mattoon.

The Champaign News-Gazette announces plan to charge online subscribers

Change is on its way for News-Gazette website

McLurkin for change

By Eduardo Martinez Eisenhower High School

Kevin McLurkin is a Chicago youth whose drive to help his com-munity has led him to consider be-coming the president of the United States.

Having witnessed some of the real life living situations in America, McLurkin plans to change the world.

McLurkin, who will be a senior this coming fall at Urban Prep Acade-my, located in the Chicago neighbor-hood of Englewood, said that from the experiences he has had living in a violent environment, he has thought of ways in which to help his commu-nity.

He feels that the reason for much of the violence in Chicago is the ap-athy of people with the power to help stop it. The vice president of his school’s student government as well as a member of the debate team, McLur-kin has practiced his public speaking and reasoning skills extensively.

McLurkin lives in a community much calmer than Englewood called Wrightwood, but living so close to danger, he’s seen violence just a few neighborhoods over many times.

“I used to ride public transit all the time, I once saw a man punch a lady on a train I was on and steal her phone right from her hands,” said McLurkin. “That changed my life.”

From that moment on, McLurkin sought ways to combat the violence he saw in his area.

He hit a plateau once he took an Afri-can American history class at his school. He says that with that class, he realized how daunting the task of change is.

“I feel obligated to help the hood and change the environment, but the prob-lem with looking for an answer to solving those problems is that you end up with a question: how do I help?” said McLurkin.

“People have embedded a system of con-trol that needs to be stopped.”

When asked about his political views, McLurkin identified himself as a Dem-ocrat, but expressed his belief that Presi-dent Barack Obama is a political tool for a sense of false hope, however he admits Obama has done some positive things.

His plans for the future include exper-

imenting more with politics, law and de-bate as career choices.

In the meantime, McLurkin plans on using his public speaking skills to do on-line podcasts spreading his opinion, as well as being a part of the online publi-cation, The Lion Review at thelionreview.com.

“I feel obligated to help the hood and change the environment, but the problem with looking for an answer to solving those problems is that you end up with a question: how do I help?”

The Champaign News-Gazette will start charging it’s online subscribers for access to the paper.Photo By McK ayla Br aid

Kevin McLurkin, 17, a student at Urban Prep Charter Academy, plans to change the world someday.

By Kevin McLurkin Urban Prep Charter Academy

The News-Gazette will begin us-ing a meter pay system on its web-site Monday, in an attempt to gain an increase in revenue. The New York Times pioneered the meter pay sys-tem, and other newspapers followed very quickly.

The News-Gazette’s system gives the website viewer eight free articles per month, and after that, they must purchase an online subscription. The subscription will give readers unlimit-ed access to news-gazette.com, which includes all news and sports arti-cles, blogs, columns, multimedia and much more.

“A benefit from the meter pay sys-tem could be a new revenue stream,”

said Traci Nally, vice president of hu-man resources.

Due to technological advance-ments, many newspapers have lost a large percentage of traditional ad-vertising revenue. The News-Gazette

starting this system can build online revenue that makes up for the adver-tising decrease.

A problem Nally said could oc-cur from the new system is a decrease in traffic on the website. However,

when the news of the system change was given to the public, the website gained more than 80 subscribers in less than three days.

An online subscription costs $7.99 per month and grants unlimited ac-

cess to the website. Many other pack-ages are included as well. Current stu-dent at the University of Illinois Ur-bana-Champaign can receive a dis-counted subscription for $3.99 per month. Also, subscribers to the News-Gazette print edition can get a sub-scription for $1.49 per month.

“Real news is the product they sell,” Nally said. “It’s gathered, report-ed and edited by trained and experi-enced professionals that bring decades of experience to the task of better un-derstanding the world around us.”

The News-Gazette charges for this expanded digital access so it can con-tinue to invest in the quality journal-ism the people deserve, she said.

The News-Gazette website can be found at news-gazette.com

Photo By Pierre Mcc auley

Kevin McLurkin has seen the violence of everyday life in Chicago and yearns to make it a better place to live.

IllInoIs RepoRteR FRIday, June 28, 2013 • page B5

FRIDAY | 11.9.07

North Carolina couple attempts to sell stolen property online

By Michaela Rutledge Mother McAuley High School

A North Carolina man was recent-ly arrested for stealing $9,200 worth of property from his employers, and trying to sell it online with no effort to cover his tracks.

Kirby Elkins, 27, and his girlfriend, Sarah Brody, 24, stole electrical equip-ment, a truck, and copper cable from Tate & Lyle in Mattoon. They then tried to sell $8,000 worth of the sto-len items on eBay using Paypal ac-counts in Brody’s name.

Elkins has previously been charged with four larceny misdemeanors and seven other unrelated misdemeanors. All of these charges are from North Carolina, both Brody’s and Elkins’ home state. North Carolina authori-ties still have three active warrants out for Elkins’ arrest.

Before his arrest Elkins had been employed by Tate & Lyle. When the company discovered $8,000 worth of

electrical equipment missing, Security Director Ed Smith told the Decatur Police Department that he believed Elkins was responsible. The burglary was reported to the DPD June 21.

Just three days after the initial bur-glary, Elkins returned to the plant and stole the truck and copper cable. He was arrested later that day, June 24, after the DPD found the missing truck abandoned near the CSX rail-road tracks, and some of the copper cable hidden in a nearby ditch.

They found Elkins at a storage unit that was rented in both his and Bro-dy’s name. The storage unit contained a large amount of the stolen copper cable, which was being stripped of its insulating sheathing.

Once in custody, Elkins admitted to police that Brody had helped him. Brody told police she dropped him off at a liquor store near Tate & Lyle

about 3 a.m. June 24. She told po-lice that she knew what his plan was, and that he was doing it to “get his last lick.”

The next day, June 25, Elkins ad-mitted taking the missing electrical equipment from Tate & Lyle. Charg-es were added for the theft of those items after they were recovered from Elkins’ residence.

When interviewed, Brody told po-lice although her name was used to set up the eBay and Paypal accounts, it was all Brody’s idea.

Brody did not attend her bond hearing because she said she felt ill.

Elkins is being held on $20,000 bond, and Brody is being held on $3,000 bond. Both are believed to be possible flight risks because of Elkins’ failure to appear in court in North Carolina, and because Illinois is not their home state.

Robert He is from one of the most vibrant areas in the country: Brook-lyn, N.Y.

But for two weeks this summer, he chose to escape the busy city life and take up temporary residence in the middle of the Midwest – Charles-ton, Ill.

“Why not,” He said.It’s all part of a plan: He is follow-

ing his dream of becoming a jour-nalist by attending a camp hosted by the Illinois Press Foundation at East-ern Illinois University. After endur-ing two flights alone and arriving on a Sunday in St. Louis, Mo., he even-tually arrived in Charleston to join 16 other high school journalism proté-gés.

He has been in involved in his school’s biweekly newspaper since his freshman year. He is now a se-nior at Peter Stuyvesant High School in southern Manhattan. He contin-ues to serve as a features editor for his school paper, The Spectator.

When choosing which department to join, He thought that features would be the best fit. “It’s the perfect breed of news and opinion,” he said. “Features was the best of both worlds; you get the objectivity from news and the subjectivity from opinions.”

School and newspaper work have kept him busy between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. weekdays. He thinks his con-tributions, along with others, to the school newspaper have paid off. In March, The Spectator staff entered the Harvard Spring Journalism Con-ference and won an award for Jour-nalistic Excellence.

“It felt really good getting recog-nition over the elite private schools,” He said.

Although many students have role models, He said he does not have an idol. “I don’t believe comparing my-self to anybody else, I just focus on being the best I can be.”

Outside of school, He indulges in many of the interests other students have, including enjoying music and TV. His music tastes vary from One Republic to Taylor Swift. He also ad-mits to having a soft spot for the Brit-ish/ Irish boy band, One Direction. Fun, Imagine Dragons, and even some alternative rock can be found in his iPod.

Inspired by the movie Mean Girls, He mentions he would like to be the head “Plastic,” Regina George. This summer he plans to catch up with his favorite TV shoes including Pret-ty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, and Glee.

After senior year He hopes to at-tend college out of state to “see what the rest of the U.S is like.”

By Erika Meza Eisenhower High School

He is Robert He

Pic ture by Michaela Daly

Michaela Rutledge knows adversi-ty, but she also knows how to over-come it. She learned how to overcome obstacles from watching her parents tackle theirs.

Rutledge grew up in Oak Lawn, but her parents came here from Ire-land.

“My parents couldn’t afford shoes, so they would walk to school bare-foot, and they would eat sandwich-es with just slices of bread,” Rutledge said.

Her parents were very poor. Rut-ledge grew up being taught to appre-ciate everything she had. “No matter how bad you have it, there’s always some one who has it worse.” This is the motto Rutledge and her family live by.

Rutledge’s role models are her par-ents. She respects them for teaching her that “laziness never pays off, but hard work will,” she said.

Inspired by her mother Rutledge plays Gaelic football, which is a mix of rugby and soccer. She even plays for the same team and has the same number as her mother did.

“First year I played we did not win a single game,” Rutledge said. This year, her team, Erin’s Rovers, won the North American finals with Rut-ledge being one of the youngest finals champions.

Her passion does not end at Gaelic football. She also has a knack for act-ing. “I took an acting class freshman year and fell in love,” said Rutledge, now a rising senior.

She often lands the lead in school plays, sings in the ensemble and danc-es in musicals. She has a love for im-prov acting and acts in class in her free time.

Rutledge is also involved with her school newspaper and yearbook. “I love writing; it’s my strong suit,” she said. She prefers the printed word, but her work on the yearbook is all on the computer. “I hate technology. It hates me. We have a hate - hate re-lationship,” she said.

Rutledge is so passionate about journalism that she is considering a career in the field; she is also contem-plating careers in law and possibly in-ternational economics. Her top three colleges she would like to attend are the University of Chicago, DePaul or Seton Hall.

She wants to take all her talents passion and drive and change the world, “I want to make things better for women worldwide and help the underdog.”

By McKayla Braid Plainfield East High School

Started from the bottom; now she’s at the top

Pic ture by McK ayl a br aiD

“It felt really good getting recognition over the elite private

schools.”

Page B6 • Friday, June 28, 2013 illinois rePorter

Fourth- and fifth-graders attended the first day of a summer nature camp at Ballard Nature

Center near Altamont on Tuesday, June 25.The three-day camps, taking place from 9 a.m. to

12:30 p.m., happen throughout summer and are sep-arated into age groups.

They are separated as follows: one for kindergarten and first-graders, and separate ones for second- and third-graders, fourth- and fifth- graders, and sixth- and seventh- graders.

The only payment needed is a twenty-dollar regis-tration fee. Campers are selected on a first come-first serve basis, with a maximum of 14 to 15 campers at every camp.

The 210 acres of land that comprise the center has changed considerably since Ernie Ballard, the owner of the land that the center oversees, donated it to the public. The land at the center was all previ-ously farmland but the old habitats have since been restored.

“In 13 years, from 2000 to 2013, it’s changed so much. There are so many new habitats and so many trails,” she said.

All of this would not have been possible without the help of volunteers.

“The whole community has made it what it is,” she said.

The goal of the camps, directed by Karan Greuel and Patty Gillespie, the only employees at the na-ture center, is to educate children about nature. The campers would walk on trails, play educational games

and take part in crafts.The activities at the camps are also varied since

many of “these children will come year after year af-ter year,” Greuel said.

Though some campers are first-timers, there are others who have attended a camp since kindergarten. In addition, the center hosts programs not just in the summer but during spring and autumn.

Each day the camp focuses on a different topic. The topic on Tuesday, the first day, was mammals.

“We talked about the different animals and wheth-er they were a carnivore, herbivore or an omnivore,” Greuel said.

On the same day, campers were given a picture of a mammal and had to match the picture to the respec-tive animal’s fur and skull. The junior naturalists, as the fourth and fifth graders are called, completed the task with ease.

The topic on Wednesday was insects and Thurs-day’s was pollinators.

Aside from these summer camps, the center offers similar educational programs in the fall and spring.

In addition, the center “has a variety of family pro-grams. We don’t want to just focus on kids,” Greuel said.

The best part of the camp for Greuel is knowing that she is giving children opportunities to explore nature.

“Just seeing the excitement when we find a turtle or bug and when they squeal. That makes it all worth it,” she said.

NATURE CALLS

By Robert He Stuyvesant High School

Photo by alexa rogalsCamp co-director Karan Greuel, shows campers different animal fur Tuesday during an activity for the Junior Natu-ralists camp at Ballard Nature Center in Altamont.

By Michaela Daly Herscher High School

Melissa Svec finds it odd that she has a love for golf and public speak-ing.

A rising senior at Chicago’s Mother McAuley High School, Svec, 16, has had an eagle on the golf course and will also be editor of McAuley’s year-book.

Despite the achievements, Svec is seemingly modest.

“I shot a eagle during a tryout and it was a big deal,” Svec said.

She’s equally modest about taking the helm of the yearbook and newspa-per program, Inscape.

“Next year I’m going to be an ed-itor of the program, specifically in charge of the yearbook,” Svec said. “This past year was a big year for me because I got into the EIU journalism camp and a Balfour yearbook camp.”

Senior year will be a welcome tran-sition for Svec, but her memories of the past year are still sweet.

“Junior year was hard, but it is my favorite because I found all my really good friends and I was surrounded by a lot of great people. The people really made it,” Svec said.

Svec’s knack for writing was devel-oped in eighth grade by her English teacher, Mr. Daniel Gargano.

“He told me that I was good at public speaking and writing things. It sounds selfish, but it was nice to be appreciated for something you are good at. He taught us how to love words,” Svec said.

Svec’s goals for the future are influ-enced in part by her role model-her dad. Her father, John, has taught her and her sisters the value of money and hard work, which is why she looks up to him.

“He wants me to do better than he

has in life, so that I am able give my kids a good life and teach them the value of money too. I want to make my dad proud and exceed his expec-tations and I don’t want to be bored

with my job,” she said. When Svec graduates high school,

she hopes to combine interests to form a career. She aspires to be able to reach a big audience about being

kind to others through public speech-es or writing. Svec is looking to ma-jor in Communications at Columbia College in Chicago or Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

“I hate the words ‘popular’ and ‘weird’,” Svec said. “I don’t under-stand the idea that a person can be physically better than another. Every-one is equal.”

Teen finds inspiration through others

By Melissa Svec Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School

This summer at Ballard Nature Center, located in Altamont, direc-tors Karan Greuel and Patty Gillespie are giving children the experience of nature camps without going far from home.

The three-day camps are scattered throughout the summer season and are divided into age groups – kin-dergarten and first grade, second and third grade, fourth and fifth grade and sixth and seventh.

Campers start the day at 9 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 25, the nature center welcomed 14 fourth- and fifth-grad-ers.

Some of children have taken part in the summer camps since they were in kindergarten and some are just ex-periencing it for the first time.

The campers take part in crafts, educational games and walks on the trails.

“I think their favorite part is get-ting out on the trail and finding

tracks,” said Greuel.Each day they cover a new topic,

Tuesday was mammals, Wednesday was insects and Thursday is pollina-tors.

The educational camp gives chil-dren an opportunity to learn through the games they play.

They play “Freeze Tag,” but adapt it to mean the children are fossilized when caught. One of the kids gets to play the part of the paleontologist, who is able to come and save them.

On Tuesday, the campers were giv-en a picture of a mammal and were asked to match the picture with the pelt.

The junior naturalists , the theme of this week’s camp , had no problem finding the correct mate.

Greuel likes that the camps get children outdoors, but they offer an-other aspect that she looks forward to.

She enjoys seeing their excitement when the kids are out on the trails and are discovering new things.

The camp is in its eleventh season, with plans to keep the camp going in the coming seasons. More camps are scheduled next month. For more in-formation, visit ballardnaturecenter.org or call 618-483-6856

Ballard Nature Center holds children summer camps

Photo by AlexA RogAlsBrianna Springman, 9, of Vandalia looks at different animal fur Tuesday during Summer Na-ture study camps at Ballard Nature Center. This specififc camp is called Junior Naturalists for fourth and fifth graders. The next Junior Naturalists camp will be held July 9-11.

Photo by sAR A DustMelissa Svec

Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School senior looks up to father, teacher

IllInoIs RepoRteR FRIday, June 28, 2013 • page B7

#IPFcampAll IPF campers were asked to “tweet” about their

experiences while they were on their internship, out re-porting or spending time with other campers.

Michaela Rutledge@michaelaneilanJust won a hardcore dance battle at journalism camp#startedfromthebottom#nowwerehere#IPFcamp

Pierre McCauley@PacxBoyOperation: BE SMOOTH part 1 is a success#ipfcamp

Kevin McLerkin@Kevo_Retro#ipfcamp new building coming to EIU approved yesterday by president perry

Sara Dust@SaraDustIsolate yourself and just roll solo. #IPFCamp

Allison Petty@allison0512It was a pleasure having you, @AlbertHAwesome @journeylisem @michaelaneilan. Good luck and stay in touch! #IPFcampKaylee Georgeoff@KayleeGeorgeoffno desire to sleep. Going to die tomorrow. #seriouslyaprob #ipfcampEmily Scott@journeylisem@michaelaneilan petting a Galapagos tortoise atthe Scovill Zoo!

Melissa Svec@MelissaSvec#IPFcamp Girl’s State holds several leader reaction courses in the quad outside of Thomas Hall.

Eduardo, Albert and Pierre meet with Eastern Illinois University President Bill Perry for an interview.

Joe Gisondi@GizoJournalismGreat job HS journalists on reporting, shooting pics, and posting your first stories.#ipfcamp

Page B8 • Friday, June 28, 2013 illinois rePorter