Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009

Local students honor veterans

Schools throughout the metro-east are hosting a variety of events this week to celebrate Veterans Day.

Schools in Belleville School District 118, Central Elementary School in O'Fallon, Renfro Elementary School in Collinsville and Smithton Elementary School invited students' family members who are veterans to attend their Veterans Day assemblies.

Col. John Almind, of the Air Mobility Command General Office at Scott Air Force Base, spoke to students Tuesday at Jefferson School in Belleville, where students wore red, white and blue to honor veterans.

At Smithton Elementary, students watched a slideshow presentation that included photos of students and their family members who veterans or currently serving in the military.

Many of the events include musical and artistic presentations by student groups, such as songs and patriotic decorations, as well as guest speakers who are veterans or active members of the military. ...

Southwestern Illinois College will offer free GED classes this month, beginning Tuesday. SWIC will hold the classes at its Belleville Campus, 2500 Carlyle Ave., the East St. Louis Community College Center, 601 James R. Thompson Blvd. and the Cahokia Goodwill, 1040 Camp Jackson Road. For more information, call 235-2700, ext. 5525 for the Belleville and Cahokia locations and 874-8778 for the East St. Louis location. ...

Marty Kovarik, Jake Posey and Nate Pelate, graduates of Gibault Catholic High School in Waterloo, received a Governor's Home Town Award for a project on World War II veterans. They placed first in the youth involvement category. ...

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission, the state's financial aid agency, announced it still has $66 million to make low-interest, federally secured student loans available for the 2009-2010 school year through the Federal Family Education Loan Program. The commission has also launched its College Illinois! 529 Prepaid Tuition Program, which allows those who pay tuition to put a fixed amount of money toward to pay for future tuition and fees at colleges nationwide. ...

Third-graders from Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Grade School in Waterloo wore crazy, mismatched socks for the school's Sock it to Drugs event. ...

Maggie Rahmoeller, a McKendree University senior and mathematics and music performance double major, and Kary Holliday, a second-year nursing student at Lewis and Clark Community College, were named 2009 Lincoln Academy Student Laureates. ...

The Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club's annual "Break Word with the World" program will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Higher Education Center, 601 J.R. Thompson Drive, Building D.

The event is free and open to the public, and it will include poetry, dance and musical performances and an exhibit of Redmond's work. For more information, call 650-3991, or e-mail eredmon@siue.edu.