Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Peer Helpers Applications for 2020-21 Now Open
Applications to be a part of Peer Helpers for the 2020-2021 school year are now open. Peer Helpers undergo extensive training that consists of leadership and communication skills, team building activities, and a variety of topics affecting SHS students. The program offers support for all students by providing peer counseling and school-wide campaigns. In addition, Peer Helpers are responsible for staffing the Student Lounge, which is a safe place where all students can go if they want to talk, relax, or just eat their lunch. Peer Helper applicants should be individuals who demonstrate good character, maturity, responsibility, leadership, empathy, a healthy lifestyle, and show a commitment to peers, school and community. The application deadline is midnight Friday, April 3. Click here to apply.

COLLEGE

The Jean Paul Ohadi Foundation is offering scholarships to seniors with evidence of academic achievement and involvement in the LGBTQ community. The application can be found at www.pflagdeerfield.org. The application and supporting materials must be postmarked by April 1.

ILLINOIS EDUCATION NEWS

Several Illinois universities are ending study-abroad programs and bringing students home amid the coronavirus outbreak. Programs in Italy and South Korea are among those affected, as the U.S. State Department now is advising people to reconsider traveling to those countries. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Loyola University and Northwestern University have told their students studying in Italy to leave, as the country faces a growing outbreak of coronavirus.

The parents of Special Education District Lake County student they say was sexually abused by a teacher’s aide filed a lawsuit Tuesday, alleging that the district created the circumstances that allowed the abuse to occur. The lawsuit alleges that the aide — who was charged in December with multiple counts of felony sexual assault and has since pleaded not guilty — abused the student “many, many times” over the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years.

A state task force is recommending that schools eliminate kings and queens for homecomings and proms, drop reliance on traditional male-female gender descriptions, and train teachers to use more inclusive language when addressing groups of students. The Illinois State Board of Education, which convened the task force, will issue guidance to schools this month for creating policies based on the task force’s recommendations.

A new bill would require Illinois schools that want to keep using Native American mascots and logos receive approval from local tribes if they want to participate in playoffs, among other requirements. There are 52 high schools in Illinois that would be would be affected. A hearing on the legislation is set for today in Springfield.

One of the top administrators for Northwest Suburban High School District 214 has abruptly resigned after nearly two decades in the district. Kurt Laakso, associate superintendent for human resources since 2012, handed in his resignation last Thursday.

Huntley School District 158 issued a statement Monday in light of a petition calling for the reinstatement of a popular Huntley High School security guard and assistant football coach. The individual resigned last week after a physical altercation with a student that was witnessed by multiple staff members and filmed by security cameras.

NATIONAL EDUCATION NEWS

So far, the coronavirus response from schools and health officials has varied depending on whether a locality has confirmed cases – and experts’ views on how much action is appropriate is rapidly evolving. But the uncertainty of how far the virus will spread has put school leaders in a difficult spot of projecting a sense of calm while also acting with an abundance of caution for student safety.

Although most college graduates say their degree was worth the money, nearly two-thirds (61%) of them would change their major if they could do it again, according to a new survey. Also, 27% of millennials, who this survey considers as those between ages 24 and 39, say their undergraduate experience didn’t teach them skills they regularly use in their current jobs.

Stanford University said it will use a $55 million commitment from a California real-estate developer to ensure some of its medical students graduate without debt. The gift will be matched through other donations and school support to create $90 million in new scholarship funding over the next decade. Students will qualify based on need.

Two neighboring school districts in western Michigan illustrate how American education remains highly segregated by race and class. Instead of bringing Americans together, public schools—and the district lines that sort kids into them—increasingly accelerate the process of pushing them apart.

California’s physical fitness test, a fixture in schools for 25 years, is set to be eliminated because it measures students’ body fat, too often inciting shame and anxiety among students, under a proposal by Gov. Gavin Newsom. But some cautioned that eliminating the test altogether might lead to less accountability and lower expectations for physical education.