Everyone invited to local
seminar on domestic violence

[JULY 19, 2000]  On Thursday, July 20, the Lincoln Police Department, in conjunction with the Healthy Communities Partnership, is sponsoring a free seminar, "Domestic Violence in Our Community." The seminar will begin at 7 p.m. in the Johnston Center for Performing Arts on the Lincoln College campus.

Speakers will include Tina Merchant, a survivor of domestic violence. She will relate her story of domestic violence and how it began and ended, in particular the evening of Feb. 14, 1999, when she was attacked and severely beaten by her ex-boyfriend. Officer Tim Butterfield will tell about the police response the night of the beating.
    Paramedic John Short will explain paramedic response to domestic violence calls. Sgt. Tom Rowland will speak about laws related to domestic violence and about Lincoln Police Department policy in such cases. Assistant Attorney General Rita McPheron will speak about the role of the state’s attorney’s office in domestic violence.

 

 

 

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    Allison Gazda will speak about the effects of domestic violence on families, friends, victims, batterers and the community in general.

 

 

Prayer will be offered by the Rev. Glenn Shelton, a Lincoln alderman, and Mayor Joan Ritter will say a few words if time permits.

Everyone is welcome to attend this free seminar.

 


Looking for Lincoln forges ahead

Meeting tonight

[JULY 19, 2000]  County officials and interested citizens will meet at 7 p.m., Wednesday, July 19, in the Union Planters Bank conference room to continue making plans to implement the Looking for Lincoln project. The purpose of the project is to draw tourists to Lincoln and Logan County by creating a historic destination package based on Abraham Lincoln.

At the last meeting, research historian Bryon Andreasen said that to ensure that Looking for Lincoln is a success, it will require a coordinated effort of the county’s residents. And, Wendy Bell, who serves in an ex-officio role to help community members steer the process, agrees, and adds: "We need to think big. There are a lot of possibilities."

The project’s structure for Lincoln includes a Looking for Lincoln Master Plan Committee from which several additional committees will form: the Postville Cluster Committee, Downtown Cluster Committee, Lincoln College Cluster Committee, Finance Committee, and Publicity Committee.

 

 

The committees have begun to take shape, with Paul Beaver serving as the chairman for the Master Plan Committee. Other members of the Master Plan Committee include Paul Gleason, historian; Beth Davis, county representative; Jan Schumacher, Main Street representative; Gillette Ransom, Logan County communities representative; and Charles Ott, tourism representative.

 

 

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Following is a list of members for the cluster committees:

Postville Cluster: Linda Churchill

Downtown Cluster: Larry Crisafulli, chairman; Larry Steffens, business representative; and Bernie DePuy, Bill Post, Perry Johnson, Marion Smith, committee members

Lincoln College: Dr. Jack Nutt, chairman; Bob Neal, liaison

Publicity: Penny Zimmerman-Wills

Finance: Ivan Ray and Shirley Bartelmay

Many more spaces are yet to be filled for the committees. Input, ideas, questions and volunteers are welcome at Wednesday’s meeting. For more information, call Main Street Lincoln, at 732-2929.

 

[Katherine Heller]

 

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Part 2

LCHS board members express
concerns about dropout rate

[JULY 19, 2000]  Even though the graduation rate at Lincoln Community High School is on the rise again, it has been an ongoing matter of concern for school board members. The rate for 1999, as computed by the State Board of Education, was 74 percent, while the rate for 2000 will be up to 82 percent.

"I understand the graduation rate is not where everyone would like to see it," said Robert Meinershagen, board president and a board member for 12 years. "When the state figures graduation rates, they look at students who come in as freshmen. If those students don’t graduate in four years, they don’t count. If the student drops out, comes back, graduates but not in four years that student doesn’t count.

 

 

 

"I think the truancy social worker at Lincoln High is making a difference. I also feel that parents need to become involved in their child’s education. Some students are self-motivated, but others need a lot of support. I think we’ve got a good administrative team and good programs to help students at Lincoln High School," he said.

 

 

Board Vice-President Judy Lumpp, who has been on the board since 1991, said, "I think it’s a community problem. I don’t think it’s just LCHS’ problem. Parents call at the end of the senior year and say, ‘My kid’s not graduating.’ They should have thought about their child’s educational goals at the beginning of the freshman year."

Lumpp believes the students themselves should take their education more seriously. "Too many kids who don’t need to work are working to support a car. They don’t want to study. Their concerns are their car, their job and the girl or boyfriend. They’re worried about their jobs today instead of thinking about their employment goals for tomorrow.

"If a student is interested in graduating there are programs at the high school that will help," she said. "I’m really proud of the staff. They do a good job."

Board member Melissa Frioli also thinks low graduation rates are "a society problem that we are not going to solve easily. Government can’t solve all our problems, and schools can’t solve all our problems. It’s an issue of responsibility and it starts well before the kids get to high school," she said.

"The attitude today is that we are always looking to blame somebody. We have to stop shifting the blame all over the place and take responsibility for our own lives and our own actions.

 

 

"We offer every kind of help you can possibly think of. We have summer classes and night classes. National Honor Society students offer free tutoring. Teachers give extra help. All the kids have to do is ask. But the school and administration can only do so much. Ultimately the parents have to take responsibility for getting the kids to school and the kids have to take responsibility for doing their schoolwork."

Board member Chuck Bennett, who has served almost 12 years on the board, wishes the community would become more involved with the school system. "Parents should at least be attending school board meetings and coming to activities at the school. Parents and the community should know the people who are responsible for their children’s education.

"Students need motivation and encouragement from their parents. Many times kids are disappointed to find they lack a credit and can’t graduate. The school has a responsibility to help them, and their parents or guardians even some of their peers need to encourage these students to finish," he said.

He believes the school is having more success with these students now. "Miss Hubbard and the staff, with their attitude of reaching out to the students to encourage them to get into the after-school and summer programs, are helping."

 

(To top of second column in this section)

 

Bennett believes an important factor at LCHS is the ability of the board and administration to work together. "There is a tremendous amount of open communication between the school board and the administration and between the board and the teachers.

"About two years ago we put in place a program in which department heads come to board meetings to make presentations. They talk about their concerns and their successes. Better lines of communication help us work together," he said.

"In spite of our problems, there are far more positive things taking place at LCHS than negative things," he concluded.

Larry Gleason, who has served on elementary school boards as well as the high school board, said he believes programs to help youngsters stay in school need to start much earlier.

"If kids are not getting support at home there is very little we can do at ages 14, 15 and 16 years. They have been lost before they get to the high school level. We’re shutting the barn door after the horse has already gotten out.

"I’ve been on school boards for a long time, implemented different programs, hired people, written grants. Our graduation rate isn’t any better than it was five or six years ago. If we are spending all this money and still just treading water, maybe we need to start spending earlier. I believe we would get more bang for the buck if we started working with troubled kids in the lower grades.

"I’ve seen a solid effort from our administration," he continued. "I’ve seen our staff, both administrators and teachers, bend over backwards to help these kids. If I could think of better things to do, I would do them. If other people think of things to do, I wish they would come forward."

 

 

Bridget Schneider, who was appointed to the board two years ago, says she still has much to learn, but she believes the programs in place are good ones.

"I have wondered why the dropout rate began to go up. The school saw the decline before I came on.

"Perhaps we are seeing the effects of what has happened economically in our community, with several big employers leaving. I do believe that has an impact on families. Also the changing family unit over the long haul to single-parent families may give the student less support at home and more financial need."

She believes the truancy program helps a lot. "It adds another level of support. It is keeping in touch with the kids, keeping them motivated and keeping their eye on the goal," she said.

"Also I am very pleased with the administration and staff we have now. I have seen no negativity or bickering. We are very fortunate to have a team that works so well together."

Superintendent Plesé said he would like to see the graduation rate higher, because that would indicate "we have fewer students who have problems." But, he says, education is a very complex process.

"Education has to do with the development of the human mind. What motivates one child will not interest another," he said.

 

 

"Regardless of their differences, I want to see all of our students get those diplomas. I am not ashamed of a school that helps them to do it in six years if that is what they need."

 

[Joan Crabb]

 


Part 1

LCHS graduation rate on the rise again

[JULY 18, 2000]  After a two-year dip, the graduation rate at Lincoln Community High School is on the rise again. Computed by a complex state system, the LCHS numbers show a definite improvement in the year 2000 over the figures of the two previous years.

Although some board members and administrators describe the statistics used by the State Board of Education to compute graduation rates as "skewed toward the low side" and "inappropriate," they do agree that a rise in the graduation rate means more students are succeeding in getting their diplomas in a four-year period.

In 1999 the state board’s "School Report Card" showed that only 74 percent of LCHS seniors graduated. However, the figures for the year 2000, which have not yet been officially announced by the state, will be 82 percent, an eight percent increase, according to LCHS Principal Joyce Hubbard. In 1998 the graduation rate was at 79.3 percent, down from a high in 1996 of 85.5 percent. In both 1998 and 1999, LCHS fell below the state averages of 81.8 percent and 81.9 percent.

 

 

However, in the previous three years (1995, 1996 and 1997) the LCHS graduation rate was as much as five percent above the state average, running 82.7 percent in 1995, 85.5 percent in 1996 and 85.3 percent in 1997. In the same years, the state average was 80.7 percent, 80.5 percent and 81.6 percent.

Hubbard says she believes this year’s LCHS rate will be just about at the state average. "When our rate is 82 percent, I’m guessing the state rate will be right around that figure as well."

LCHS Superintendent Frederick Plesé said the graduation rate as computed by the State Board of Education is based only on students who start at LCHS and graduate in four years. "It’s not an appropriate figure because it’s not telling the full story," he explained. "Students who take night courses or correspondence courses and finish don’t get counted in the graduation statistic. It does not take into consideration students who drop out and return to school later or students who for some reason need more than four years to graduate," he said.

This year, for example, 33 students did not graduate with their class. According to Hubbard, 11 of those 33 will finish their requirements and graduate within the coming year, but they will not be counted in the graduation statistics.

"Every year, some come back and graduate as fifth-year students," she explained. "We typically have three, four or five who will get that diploma after summer school. Maybe they failed something required, like American history or civics. There are a variety of reasons we can’t pigeonhole what they need." Others will get diplomas after first or even second semester next year.

 

 

Hubbard estimates that another 11 of those 33 students will eventually realize they need a diploma and take the GED. They will not be counted in the graduation rate, either.

But even though they are not satisfied with the state’s method of computing graduation rates, when administrators and board members saw the figure starting to go down, they determined to do something about it. "We saw a trend and started putting programs in place to reverse it," Hubbard said.

"With some students, there is an attendance problem. Two years ago we got a state grant to employ a truancy social worker, Janet Hudleson. She works closely with the dean of students. She is also working with the families to encourage them to get their children back in school," Hubbard said.

 

 

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Hudleson works with Dean of Students Lorie Lundin in part because that office handles all attendance records. "We decided that we had to get to kids fast when they are not coming to school," Lundin said. "At the first unexcused absence, we call parents and let them know the child has left school. At the second, we call in the truancy officer. At the fifth unexcused absence, we set up a meeting with the parents."

Another step the school took was to ask for more help from Logan-Mason Mental Health. That organization has provided counseling services for LCHS students for the past 10 years, but during the 1999-2000 year a counselor was available at the school four days a week. "This counselor can help the students who are having personal problems that are getting in the way of their education," Hubbard said. "This gives us one more helping hand."

Last year LCHS also started an after-school program for students who needed to make up classes. An evening program and summer remedial programs were already in place, but the new program gave students one more option.

"If they fail a class the first semester, they can make it up in an after-school program during the second semester. Then they don’t get so far behind and get discouraged," Plesé said.

Most students who fall behind do so in the first two years, he said, and tend to drop out at age16. "They look at their record and see that they haven’t passed very many classes. We are trying to help them stay on track. They are less likely to give up on themselves if they see we don’t give up on them."

LCHS also has a tutor who works three days a week. The tutor’s emphasis is working with freshman and sophomore students to keep them on that graduation track, Hubbard said. She also noted that teachers are more than willing to come in early and stay late to work with students.

 

 

Hubbard has inaugurated still another program to help new students feel comfortable at LCHS. Before the school year begins, she will visit all incoming freshmen who have indicated they would like to have a home visit. "We are trying to bridge the gap from junior high school to high school," she explained.

Yet another option for students who don’t function well in the ordinary academic environment is Salt Creek Academy, an alternative education program housed in a former elementary school in the Athens school district. This school has a small setting, a self-paced program, less stimulus and more focus, Hubbard said, and serves students in the counties of Logan, Mason and Menard. Students can stay from one to four years in Salt Creek Academy and can elect to come back to the home school whenever they are ready. Lincoln area Salt Creek students do get diplomas from LCHS and are counted in the graduation rate statistics.

"We do have some students with real hardships, drug problems, family problems, financial problems," Superintendent Plesé said. "We are dealing with the full spectrum of problems facing young people today. Attendance rate is as low as it’s been in 10 years. Six to seven percent of kids just drop out of school.

"We are trying to help our community’s children obtain their high school diplomas. It may not be the best way to raise the graduation rate statistics as the state computes them, but we don’t regulate what we’re doing based on state statistics."

 

[Joan Crabb]

 

[Note: The second installment of this article includes reactions from LCHS board members.]


Public library receives donation for large-print books

[JULY 17, 2000]  At its July 12 meeting, the Eagles Auxiliary #2708 of Lincoln presented a $500 check to Richard Sumrall of the Lincoln Public Library for the purchase of large-print books. The donation represents the Eagle Auxiliary’s continued commitment to providing funds for books to aid vision-impaired readers. Since 1991 the Eagles Auxiliary #2708 has contributed over $4,500 to the library’s large-print program. For more information on the library’s large-print books, call 732-8878 or visit the library at 725 Pekin St.