Education Matters: Metro-east students kicked their way onto winner’s podium at karate championship

Several area students attended and placed at the Shitokai Pan-American Karate Championships in Miami held last month. They joined karate enthusiasts from around the world, including Venezuela and Canada.

▪  From Belleville East, sophomores Mackenzy Fields, earned a gold medal in her division; Gabriel Hall earned a bronze in his and Garrett Stone placed in the top eight in his. Junior Elyse Bedard placed in the top five in her division.

▪  Belleville West students Nico Perry and January Probst placed in the top eight.

▪  Thoren Bedard and Emma Fetters placed third in their divisions; Nick Fetters placed second in his. They are all from Wolf Branch Elementary in Swansea.

▪  Daniel Mortensen, of Belle Valley Middle School, placed in the top four.

▪  Bella Medley and Timothy Potts, both of Governor French Academy in Belleville, placed third and first in their divisions.

▪  Elijah Hahl, of Henry Raab Elementary in Belleville, placed third in his division.

▪  Mackenzy Fields, a black belt, also won a Gold Medal Champion, as did Timothy Potts in the beginners division.

Funderwear game brings out Whitey Tighty Trophy

While the basketball teams of Immaculate Conception School, of Columbia, and Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School, of Waterloo, faced off on Dec. 4 at Gibault High School over the Whitey Tighty Trophy, the rest of the students were competing for charity.

The seventh annual Funderwear competition was to see which school could collect the most underwear, socks, gloves and hats for the Daystar organization in Cairo. ICS won the basketball game and the charitable trophy as well. The schools collected more than 6,000 items.

Eighth-graders lead food drive

The eighth-grade class at Signal Hill School is running a food drive, part of the project the students are doing for a Leadership segment. Teacher Katie Nowell said it’s the first time the class has done a food drive, and it will run from Wednesday through Dec. 16. The class is taking a field trip on Dec. 17 to deliver the food to the Community Interfaith Food Pantry in Belleville.

Nominate a military child

Six children, one each from Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and National Guard families, will win $10,000, a laptop and a free trip to Washington, D.C.

The award is for “outstanding” children ages 8 to 18 who are selected for the Operation Homefront Military Child of the Year. Previous winners have had at least one parent deploy for at least 18 months and have relocated at least five times due to a parent’s assignments.

Applications are due by Friday. Operation Homefront is a national nonprofit group dedicated to building strong and stable military families. Anyone may nominate a child by going online to MilitaryChildofTheYear.org. Learn more about the organization and how it supports military families at www.OperationHomefront.net.

Elementary opens doors for morning walks

Red Bud Elementary will be open from 6:45 to 7:30 a.m. for those who wish to have a warm place to walk on winter mornings. Red Bud Community School District 132 says it’s part of the district’s plan to improve communication with the area’s residents. Walkers are encouraged to look at student work displayed as well as read the teacher newsletters posted by the classrooms. Call Assistant Principal George Wilkerson at 618-282-3858 with any questions.

Illinois State Scholars named

More than 40 Collinsville High School seniors have been named 2016-17 State Scholar finalists by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. There is no monetary award, selection is made based on a formula that combines the student’s ACT or SAT scores, high school grades and class rank; about the top 10 percent of graduates are named as State Scholars each year.

Students from Collinsville High School are: Sophie Akin, Tory Appel, Abigail Auer, Alexander Bell, Mia Blankenship, Sidney Bost, Ashley Burgess, Avery Cleland, John Collins, Kaia Cosgriff, Sean Dawson, James Dellamano, Skylar Durante, Benjamin Frey, Michael Harding, Connor Highlander, Alexis Horras, Nathaniel Jackstadt, Christina Juenger, Tatiana Kokotovich, Joshua Kovach, Courtney Kutey, Hanna Liljegren, Caitlin Martin, Patricia McCain, Brett Metzger, Jarred Miller, Emily Nelson, Ashley Niebruegge, Logan Pelo, Jace Plute, Austin Reiniger, Chayse Richardson, Robert Riley, Jose Romo, Jake Scheiter, Jose Schmidlkofer, Madison Schmidt, Daniel Schultz, Alyssa Simpson, Kassidy Smith, Cameron Tanzyus, Andrew Tayloe and Blake Trucano.

Scholarship winners announced

Julian Johnson of Mascoutah has received the Regents’ Scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State University. She is a senior at Mascoutah Community High School.

Jennifer Vance of O’Fallon, has received the University Scholarship and Midwest Achievement Award. She is a senior at O’Fallon Township High School.

Teachers can take a STEM class

The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Research, Education and Outreach is hosting an engineering workshop on Saturday for teachers in grades kindergarten through 12th. Registration is available at stemideas.org.

“Engineering design is featured prominently in the new Illinois science standards and Next Generation Science Standards,” said Sharon Locke, director of the SIUE STEM Center. “This workshop will give educators ideas for integrating engineering into their teaching.”

The customized workshop is part of the SIUE STEM Center’s Teacher Academy series and includes hands-on opportunities that highlight engineering design. The workshop costs $20 and lasts six hours, including a lunch hour. It will focus on middle and high school education, both formal and informal situations. Participating educators can receive continuing professional development units as part of the experience. For more information, contact the STEM Center at 618-650-3065 or email stemcenter@siue.edu.

Longtime employee retires

Gerry Thompson retired as a custodian at Red Bud High School in November. Teachers took their advisory classes to the parking lot near the maintenance area to give Thompson a surprise sendoff on her last day Nov. 19 after 36 years working for the district.

This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 10:20 AM with the headline "Education Matters: Metro-east students kicked their way onto winner’s podium at karate championship."