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Features

[APRIL 25, 2002]  Students at Lincoln Junior High recently participated in a school-sponsored week of activities that provided education and support against drug use. The students partook in contests, games, tests and wore red ribbons.

[Tim Wiser.  Click picture for full size.]

[Moses Hernandez.  Click picture for full size.]

[Lincoln Police Department DARE Sgt. Ken Greenslate presented jackets to Tim Wiser (seventh grade) and Moses Hernandez (eighth grade) for their winning posters. Seventh-grade teacher Mrs. Sparrow helped coordinate activities.]

Impromptu assembly gets students’ attention

[APRIL 8, 2002]  After years of skirting the issue, someone has finally decided that it’s time to talk about it. Kids have been ready for years. They know all about it, or at least they know what they can learn about it from television and movies. But they never get the truth, because parents are never ready to talk about it.

And yes, I am talking about the big "IT." I am talking about sex. And so was Scott Phelps when he spoke to Lincoln Junior High School students last Friday in an impromptu assembly.

Scott Phelps is one of the writers of the abstinence program for teens called "A.C. Green’s Game Plan." The program, administered by Project Reality, was written using NBA star A.C. Green’s testimony on his life of abstinence, in combination with a sports theme. It gives a "Game Plan" for students to use to remain abstinent.

[Photo provided by Project Reality]
[Scott Phelps]

Phelps was in Springfield last week trying to raise funding for the program and decided to stop by Lincoln on his way home. He spoke to a group of students on the importance of abstinence and the dangers of being sexually active.

His manner of speaking connected with the students. His style was in-your-face, no-nonsense and all those other hyphenated adjectives. Instead of skirting issues and talking in vague terms that only create curiosity in students that age, as many adults do, he said what he had to. "Sex sells." "Sex is good. It’s so good, you should save it up!"

He used many illustrations that were just graphic enough to communicate to the students. In talking about how media uses sex to sell products, he laid out the following situation for them:  What would you say if I told you I like to go into people’s houses and watch them having sex? Almost in unison, the students responded, "Pervert!" Then he made the connection between that and watching a sex scene in a movie. He pointed out the hypocrisy in this, asking them if it is perverted in real life, why is it not perverted on television.

He used students to perform three illustrations:

1. He had four students stand across the gym floor to represent a timeline. The first student represented birth. About three feet beyond her, another student represented 13-15 years old. About two feet farther on, the next student represented age 25, an approximate age for marriage. And lastly, about 15 feet beyond that, the last student represented death, about age 80-90. The students saw how a very short time in their lives (their teen years) can affect the rest of their lives, which is much longer. It helped to illustrate the "big picture" that the Game Plan program focuses on.

[Photos by Gina Sennett]

2. A boy and a girl were chosen to represent the fictitious couple "Jack" and "Jill." Jack and Jill are high school seniors who had remained abstinent until they graduated. One night Jack pressures Jill into having sex. Shortly after that, the relationship begins to change and Jack feels pressured. So he leaves Jill but gives her a gift before he goes. The boy had a box which he handed to the girl, and then he sat down. Jill opened the box, which contained a slip of paper that said "herpes."

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3. Nine individuals were chosen at random, both boys and girls. Each individual was given a Jolly Rancher candy and told to suck on it but not to chew or swallow it. While they did this, Phelps continued his talk. After a few minutes, each student was told to wrap his or her candy back in the wrapper and drop it in a plastic bag. Then a few uneaten candies were dropped in the bag as well. A 10th person was chosen and told to choose one candy from the bag without looking or feeling around and eat it. Completely disgusted, she chose one of the eaten and rewrapped candies. She vehemently refused to eat it. Phelps gave her a fresh candy, and she ate it. This illustrated the chance taken when choosing to have sex with an individual, the chance of getting an STD from that person.

Phelps provided the students with an even mixture of positive and negative images. Before he scared them with personal stories and disgusting illustrations, he reassured them: "Sex is good," but also, "Sex is private." He contrasted today’s movies and television with those of the 1950s. He explained that the separate twin beds shown in the bedrooms of married couples did not mean that sex was bad, just that it was a private affair not meant for the rest of the world to know about.

In one of the "scarier" portions of the assembly, Phelps gave the students a straightforward overview of sexually transmitted diseases. There are two types of STDs: viral and bacterial. Bacterial STDs can be cured. Viral STDs are permanent; they can be treated but not cured. Approximately one in four people has a viral STD. There are four viral STDs: HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, herpes, and the human papillomavirus (HPV). HIV is the least common STD, even though it is the one most heard about. HPV is the most common and is the least heard about. This was possibly the most sobering part of his discussion.

In the last few minutes, he gave two final illustrations that he wanted to leave the students with. The first was his own personal story, which in the program workbook is listed as the story of "Steve and Tina."

Steve and Tina had been dating for about six months and had just graduated from high school. As their relationship developed and they were preparing to go to college, Tina began to pressure Steve for sex. He had been abstinent and was planning to save sex for marriage. One night when they were alone, she told him that if he truly loved her he would prove his love to her by having sex with her. He refused and left the house. Their relationship ended shortly afterward.

Two months later Steve learned that Tina was already pregnant on that night when she was trying to get him to have sex with her. Tina became a single mother at age 18.

The last illustration was of three roses. The first represented a person who has sex with this person and that person, giving a part of himself to each person. Petals fell to the floor. Finally when that person met someone he wanted to marry, all that was left to give was a dead stem. The second rose was a person who saves himself. To his wife, he has a full, beautiful rose to give. The final rose was someone who gave himself to many people, but then decided to stop and become abstinent. He did not have a full rose, but most of the rose was left, and there was still a beautiful flower to give to his wife. Phelps wanted to make sure that the students understood that "abstinence is not just for kids who have not been sexually active. …Yesterday is gone, but you can choose it now."

[Gina Sennett]

Honors & Awards

Announcements

[APRIL 27, 2002]  Lincoln College will host its annual alumni reunion dinner on Saturday, May 4, in the Davidson-Sheffer Gymnasium on campus. This year, being called "The Year of the Alumni," honors the classes of 1932, 1937, 1942, 1947, 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992 and 1997.

An opening reception for Lincoln College alumni and friends will start at 5 p.m., and a buffet dinner is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. A program to honor alumni achievement, corporate partners and the classes of 1952 (50 years, golden anniversary) and 1977 (25 years, silver anniversary) will immediately follow the dinner. Music provided by a DJ will start at 9 p.m. and play until midnight.

The cost for the dinner and program is $25 per person. Advance reservations are requested, and the number to call is (217) 732-3155, Ext. 217. Deadline for reservations along with payment is April 26.

For additional information please contact Debbie Ackerman, Lincoln College alumni relations director, at the above number or e-mail dackerman@lincolncollege.com.

[Lincoln College news release]

[APRIL 17, 2002]  NORMAL — The Bloomington Rotary Club is offering three scholarships to District 540 residents attending Heartland Community College during the fall 2002 semester that begins Aug. 15.

Two $750 scholarships are available to full-time students (12-18 credit hours). One $500 scholarship is available to a part-time student (less than 12 credit hours). Scholarships are renewable for one semester based on satisfactory academic performance.

The scholarships will be awarded based on financial need, evidence of community service and involvement, and satisfactory high school or college performance.

For consideration, students must complete the Heartland Community College scholarship application and address the scholarship criteria. Those interested can obtain an application from HCC’s financial aid office or at www.bccfoundation.org.

[HCC press release]

[APRIL 16, 2002]  Junior high school and high school students have an opportunity to attend summer camp offered by the Touch of Nature Environmental Center at SIU-Carbondale.

These camps combine adventure skills such as canoeing, caving, camping and hiking with a challenge to both physically and mentally develop an awareness and respect for our environment. Through a series of activities, campfire discussions and presentations, students are involved in current environmental issues, which will help them become problem-solvers of the future. This appears to be an excellent opportunity for any student interested in the field of conservation.

This year’s programs include Ozark canoeing expeditions for high school students and an Ozark Riverways canoe trip for sixth- to eighth-grade students. Program information has been sent to all high school and junior high schools in Logan County.

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The Logan County Soil and Water Conservation District will be sponsoring one full scholarship or two partial scholarships, depending on the number of applications received. Students interested in information concerning scholarship applications and funding should contact the district office, 1650 Fifth Street Road, Lincoln; (217) 732-2010, Ext. 3.

Students will need to submit a short description of their interests and why they would like to attend one of the workshops.

[SWCD news release]

Menus

• Lincoln Elementary Schools

• New Holland-Middletown Elementary District 88

• West Lincoln-Broadwell Elementary School District 92

(Milk served with every meal.)

Tuesday, April 30 — Apple slices with peanut butter, toast

Wednesday, May 1 — Cereal, toast with jelly, juice

Thursday, May 2 — Silver dollar pancakes with syrup, fruit

Friday, May 3 — Cereal, toast, juice

Monday, May 6 — Cereal, cinnamon toast, juice

Tuesday, May 7 — Oatmeal, toast, fruit

Wednesday, May 8 — Cereal, toast with apple butter, juice

Thursday, May 9 — Biscuit with egg and ham, fruit

Friday, May 10 — Cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, juice

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(Milk served with every meal.)

Tuesday, April 30 — Barbecued chicken pita pocket, french fries, peas, rice krispy treat

Wednesday, May 1 — Sausage pizza, corn, pudding, peaches

Thursday, May 2 — Hot dog on bun, pork and beans, carrot sticks, strawberry applesauce

Friday, May 3 — Homemade vegetable-beef soup, celery sticks, crackers, Trix yogurt, fruit cocktail, pumpkin bars

Monday, May 6 — Max cheese sticks with sauce, green beans, brownie, fruit cocktail

Tuesday, May 7 — Deli turkey sandwich on bun, baked beans, peaches, orange or cranberry juice

Wednesday, May 8 — Chicken and biscuit, peas, carrot sticks, pears

Thursday, May 9 — Sloppy Joes, french fries, cole slaw, jello with whipped cream

Friday, May 10 — French toast sticks with syrup, sausage patty, hash brown, pineapple-orange cup

Two percent white or chocolate milk, bread, butter and peanut butter served daily.

Menu may be subject to change.

Wednesday, May 1 — Hamburger, CB, bun, french fries, pineapple, oatmeal chocolate chip cookie

Thursday, May 2 — Chicken noodle soup, carrot sticks, dip, fruit cocktail, peanut butter fingers

Friday, May 3 — Macaroni and cheese, peas, pears, O’Henry bars

Monday, May 6 — Ravioli, green beans, applesauce, sugar cookie

Tuesday, May 7 — Dismissal before lunch

Wednesday, May 8 — Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, peaches, "go-gurt"

Thursday, May 9 — Chicken patty, bun, cheese potatoes, pineapple, vanilla pudding

Friday, May 10 — Cheese pizza, lettuce salad, apple slices, no-bake cookie

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Monday, May 13 — Hot dog, bun, corn, mandarin oranges, pumpkin bars

Tuesday, May 14 — Turkey and cheese sandwich, corn, peaches, Texas cake

Wednesday, May 15 — Sloppy Joe, bun, green beans, strawberries, chocolate pudding

Thursday, May 16 — Macaroni and cheese, peas, pineapple, chocolate chip cookie

Friday, May 17 — Nachos, lettuce salad, pears, sugar cookie

Monday, May 20 — Hamburger, CB, bun, french fries, applesauce, brownies

Tuesday, May 21 — Pig in a blanket, peas, peaches, ice cream treat

Wednesday, May 22 — Pork tenderloin, bun, cheese mashed potatoes, strawberries, Texas cake

Thursday, May 23 — Soft shell taco, corn, applesauce, no-bake cookie

Friday, May 24 — Ravioli, green beans, pears, gushers

Monday, May 27 — No school

Tuesday, May 28 — Corn dogs, carrot sticks, dip, peaches, vanilla pudding

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