CHAMPAIGN – The next superintendent of Champaign Unit 4 Schools is moving from Springfield. On Thursday night, the Board of Education announced its selection of Shelia Boozer. Boozer is 23-year veteran of education. She is currently the Director of Teaching and Learning and Technology in Springfield District 186. Boozer earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from…
WASHINGTON – Federal financial aid to people in prison was quietly restored as part of a COVID-19 stimulus bill passed by Congress last month. The U.S. Department of Education has until 2023 to reinstate Pell Grant access to people in prison — which was previously banned under the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement…
URBANA – As University of Illinois students return to the Urbana campus this month, administrators urge them to remain vigilant as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. Campus leaders said during a virtual COVID-19 briefing yesterday that many of the same precautions that were enacted in the fall semester will remain in place during the spring,…
URBANA – At least 1,300 students plan to return to Urbana classrooms later this month, according to data shared during an Urbana District 116 Board of Education study session Tuesday night. School officials say their safety plans will be bolstered by access to a rapid COVID antigen test — known as the BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag…
In her virtual classroom last fall, Erika Jimenez struggled to teach her third graders how to read an analog clock in English. In person, the lesson would have been challenging for the predominantly Spanish-speaking class. Over Zoom, the students were visibly frustrated. Some even cried. But those were just the students paying attention. Jimenez knows…
Editor’s Note: our original story incorrectly reported Carruthers earned his Bachelor of Science, Masters of Science and doctorate degrees in Aeronautical Engineering. His his MS degree was from the Department of Nuclear Engineering. We’ve updated the story. URBANA – Many are remembering an astrophysicist from Illinois who developed technology critical to America’s space program, including…
CHAMPAIGN – A rainbow flag, Black Lives Matter pins and a roll of toilet paper are among items Parkland College students recently ‘laid to rest’ in a time capsule featuring the events of 2020. Phi Theta Kappa, the Honors Society chapter at Parkland created the time capsule. The students buried the capsuled during a physically…
GREENVILLE – About 10% of undergraduates at Greenville University in southern Illinois contracted COVID-19 this semester, according to data from the campus. The small private Christian college located about 50 miles east of St. Louis used the University of Illinois COVID-19 Shield program during the fall semester. President of Greenville University, Suzanne Davis, says thanks…
SPRINGFIELD – The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign still does not have emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its saliva COVID-19 test — and that’s causing delays in expanding it to the rest of the state’s public universities and K-12 schools. University officials discussed the matter at a hearing hosted…
URBANA – Undergraduate students comprised the vast majority of COVID-19 cases at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the fall semester, with the highest infection rates occurring among students living in fraternities, sororities and other private, campus-certified housing. U of I data provided to Illinois Newsroom show that 3,226 undergrads tested positive for the…
SPRINGFIELD – The COVID-19 pandemic will likely worsen Illinois’ teacher shortage. Educators who were already in short supply in the state face increased challenges on the job, according to a new report from the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs. Meghan A. Kessler, who authored the report and is an assistant professor…
A plan for addressing issues related to the University of Illinois’ use of Chief Illiniwek as a mascot includes formation of a student council to look at the development of new traditions for the Urbana campus. Chancellor Robert Jones released the implementation plan on Friday. The plan draws from input from a series of community-wide…
URBANA — Coronavirus testing sites at the University of Illinois’ Chicago and Springfield campuses will not be available to students who are enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, according to U of I spokeswoman Robin Kaler. Recent social media posts from U of I students suggest that some were under the impression that…
URBANA — To get into University of Illinois buildings, students and employees are supposed to show an app saying that they’ve had a recent, clean COVID-19 test. Nearly one-third of the time, however, there’s no one at the door to check their status. This is the finding of a group of University of Illinois student…
CHAMPAIGN – During a typical school year, Laura Dees says families in need rely on food drives held at school buildings in the Champaign Unit 4 School District. Dees, director of food services for Unit 4, says that wasn’t a possibility this year because schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Dees…