Wednesday’s Varsity Results
Give-A-Thon Classroom Leader Info Meeting Next Week
Students who have been identified as Give-A-Thon classroom leaders are invited to an information meeting during their lunch period on Thursday, Oct. 24 (a late arrival day) in Room 2104. Students should bring their lunch when attending the meeting.
Theatre Department Costume Sale Today and Friday
Need an idea for a Halloween costume? Looking for something to add to your wardrobe? Stop by the Halloween and Fall Fashion Sale, a fundraiser for SHS Thespians, during all lunch periods today and Friday in front of the Performing Arts Center. In addition to costumes, there will be designer jeans, fashion boots, and other items. The sale is open to all students, cash only. Prices range from $2 to $20.
COLLEGE NEWS
Seniors can win scholarship prizes through the annual Voice of Democracy audio essay competition sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Libertyville Post 8741 awards cash prizes to the first-, second- and third-place local winners. Local winners have the opportunity to earn scholarship prizes at the district, state and national level up to $30,000. This year’s theme is “What Makes America Great.” Interested students must complete the application and send it, along with a voice file of them reading their essay and a Word file of the essay, to Sue Fujiu at SFUJIU@aol.com. Questions can be directed to the same email address. The entry deadline is Friday, Oct. 25.
ATHLETICS
Freshman boys interested in trying out for basketball are invited to attend an informational meeting at 8 a.m. Monday in Room 8048. The meeting will provide information and expectations for tryouts, and for the upcoming season. Contact Coach Gimre at kgimre@d125.org if you are unable to attend, or with questions.
ILLINOIS EDUCATION NEWS
For the second time in seven years, Chicago Public Schools teachers are on strike. Their walkout begins today. Altogether, more than 30,000 workers will be on the picket lines. This includes 7,500 teacher aides, custodians and security guards who are members of SEIU Local 73. SEIU said Wednesday evening it had rejected CPS’ contract offer and planned to strike on Thursday along with the Chicago Teachers Union.
Rich East High School will be closed at the end of the 2019-20 school year due to operating costs and declining enrollment. The District 227 Board of Education voted 4-3 Tuesday night to close the school, which serves parts of eight south suburban communities. Students who would attend Rich East instead will be shifted to the one of the district’s other two high schools, Rich Central in Olympia Fields or Rich South in Richton Park. The district is considering spending up to $105 million to repair, renovate and expand the two remaining schools.
Illinois’ revised school funding formula is helping achieve greater equity among school districts, according to a new evaluation of the state’s education system. However, the report by Advance Illinois determined more work needs to be done in early childhood education, improving achievement for black and low-income students and boosting enrollment in Illinois colleges.
Teachers in Addison Elementary District 4 filed a 10-day intent to strike notice Wednesday that could lead to the cancellation of classes for more than 4,000 students as early as Oct. 24. The school board has declared an impasse, saying the teachers union rejected its “last best offer” that guaranteed 3% annual pay increases for each of the next five years.
NATIONAL EDUCATION NEWS
Lavish perks are now common at major colleges, part of a national “arms race” in amenities from fancier dorms to gourmet food to rec centers that resemble water parks. Economists say it’s all evidence of a broken system. As states have cut funding for higher education, few universities have cut their ambition. Instead they’re competing to expand enrollment and recruit more out-of-state and international students, who typically pay much more for the same education.
A Georgia school district has reversed its transgender-friendly bathroom policy after board members, staff and students were threatened. The Pickens County School Board changed its policy this week, citing “death threats, student harassment and vandalism of school property.” The policy had allowed transgender students to use restrooms that aligned with their gender identity instead of a single-stall, gender-neutral bathroom.
Starting early last year, the nation’s most powerful consumer protection agency sent examiners into companies that run student loan call centers to try to fix a troubled loan forgiveness program. But the Department of Education blocked the bureau from getting the information it needed, according to National Public Radio.
Stevenson Daily Digest 