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Teacher Appreciation Week: Gina Schmidt Inspired by Student Success

2 weeks 5 days ago
BETHALTO - Gina Schmidt has found her way home. Schmidt is a special education teacher for kindergarten and first grade students at Bethalto East Primary School in the Bethalto Community Unit School District #8. This Teacher Appreciation Week, she’s reflecting on the journey that brought her back to Bethalto, where she grew up, and led to her dream job. “My favorite part of teaching is the students,” she shared. “I love seeing the smiles on their faces, hearing th

Teacher Appreciation Week: Sarah Jones Supports Kids as Special Ed Teacher

2 weeks 6 days ago
ALTON - Sarah Jones loves to celebrate her students. Jones is a special education teacher for the fifth grade at East Elementary School in the Alton Community Unit School District #11. This Teacher Appreciation Week, the district is taking a moment to turn the tables and celebrate her for the difference she makes in kids’ lives every day. “I decided to become a special education teacher because I wanted to make a meaningful difference for students who learn differently,”

Teacher Appreciation Week: Sarah Boyd Loves Working With Young Kids

2 weeks 6 days ago
ALTON - Sarah Boyd has always loved working with kids, so education was a natural pathway for her. Boyd teaches at North Elementary School in the Alton Community Unit School District #11. This Teacher Appreciation Week, she is thankful for the opportunity to engage with students and help them grow. “I love watching kids learn!” she said. “There is something rewarding about knowing that, as a teacher, you touch kids’ lives in ways beyond what you teach in class. I lov

St. Paul Catholic School Hosts Annual Baseball Day

2 weeks 6 days ago
HIGHLAND - St. Paul Catholic School in Highland recently hosted their annual Baseball Day to build the school’s sense of community. Abbey McGinley, a kindergarten teacher, explained that she did a Baseball Day at her previous school and decided to bring the tradition to St. Paul. The eighth grade students played baseball against the teachers while younger students provided entertainment between innings. “What kid doesn't love the Cardinals?” McGinley said. “It’s

Why Festivals Feel So Powerful, From Shared Identity to the Need for Meaning

2 weeks 6 days ago
A festival can make strangers hug, sing in the street, and spend money on things they would never buy on a normal Tuesday. That’s a strange power for something that often boils down to food, music, lights, and a shared calendar date. Festivals aren’t just “fun events.” They scratch several deep human itches at once: the need to belong, the need for meaning, the need for a break, and the need to feel something together. When you look closely, it becomes easier to see wh

May 6 in History: From Early Networked Computing to the Hindenburg Disaster

2 weeks 6 days ago
On May 6, 1954, a simple but powerful message traveled between two computers, helping to prove that machines could “talk” to each other over a shared network. That day, researchers successfully demonstrated packet switching in a way that pointed toward a new kind of communication system—one built to move information efficiently, even when lines were busy or parts of the network failed. At the time, this mattered because governments, universities, and laboratories were looking