Make online learning easier, three useful remote learning tools

StatePoint Media

Photo by Matthew Henry from Burst

The past year has demonstrated the importance of digital learning. And thanks to a variety of tools and resources that helped make remote instruction a little less stressful on everyone, teachers, students and parents quickly adapted to the changes brought on by the pandemic.

Music

Music has been a particularly difficult subject to provide instruction for at a distance. However, educational foundations have risen to the occasion by creating a trove of resources to aid learning. For example, the Save the Music Foundation provides free activities for families, tools for educators to create their own online tutorials and more.

Mathematics

Remote learning has only added new challenges to an already difficult subject. The good news is that online tools are helping fill the gaps created by the new normal. Check out the Casio Cares education site, which is chock full of free math resources for students, parents and educators. Tools include emulator calculator software, curriculum support materials, live webinars and remotely-delivered teacher training. Plus, Casio’s free all-in-one web-based mathematics software, ClassPad.net, which is geared for K-12 and beyond, delivers an accessible, interactive and personalized approach to mathematics. Its functions include graphing, geometry, calculation, statistics and more.

In addition to online activities and video tutorials, Casio also offers a weekly educational webinar series focused on mathematics on its YouTube channel, covering such subjects as elementary and middle school math, algebra I and II, geometry, pre-calculus, calculus and statistics. All webinars are recorded and can be accessed any time.

Creative Writing

English and creative writing teachers are turning to new platforms to help build their student’s writing skills in a variety of creative genres. One example is Storybird, which features hundreds of courses and challenges. If your child’s teachers haven’t caught onto the trend, no worries, parents can also sign up for an account for their children.

Even after classrooms reopen nationwide, one thing is certain, with so many amazing resources available to help educators teach and students learn, digital learning tools are here to stay.

Rockets take on Rantoul, Spartans vs Spartans tonight

The season is winding down and their still time to watch five area sports teams tonight on the NFHS Network.

The Rockets girls basketball varsity and JV squad travel to Rantoul for an Illini Prairie Conference contest today. The Eagles (0-4) are still looking for their first win of the season, while Unity, 1-7 overall and 1-4 in conference play, would like to add yet another victory to their win column tonight.

The St. Joseph-Ogden girls teams are also on the road tonight at Olympia, who are tied for third place with Monticello as of today with a pair of conference wins and one loss. The Spartans are currently ranked #2 with victories over five IPC teams.

Here is tonight's line-up:

• St. Joseph-Ogden Girls Junior Varsity Basketball @ Olympia | 5:30 PM Central

• Unity Girls Junior Varsity Basketball @ Rantoul | 5:30 PM Central

• St. Joseph-Ogden Girls Varsity Basketball @ Olympia | 7:00 PM Central

• Unity Girls Varsity Basketball @ Rantoul | 7:00 PM Central

• Unity Boys Middle school Basketball @ Tuscola | 7:15 PM Central

If you are not already a subscriber, follow this link sign up for a monthly or annual subscription to watch SJO or Unity sports via live stream or archived by the NFHS Network. Monthly passes are just $10.99 each or save 47% and purchase an annual subscription at $69.99.

Did you miss the last Unity or SJO basketball game. One of coolest thing about the NFHS Network is the ability to go back and watch games over and over again as long as you are a member. You can view this season's SJO basketball games here and all the Unity Rocket basketball games streamed so far here.

Therapeutic recreation and healing, a path to personal growth

by Roscrance Recovery News

A group of canoes sliced through the water on a warm summer afternoon, laughter filling the air as Rosecrance staff and clients relaxed in nature’s beauty. With a sudden burst of energy, one client sped up to leaders and, with a wide grin, exclaimed, "I think I’ve found my passion!"

After several weeks of working through a variety of therapy modalities, the getaway connected with the client in a way that nothing else had. This activity showed the client how the skills they learned made a difference in everyday life and could give them positive interests to pursue long after leaving treatment.

Photo by Sarah Pflug/Burst

"The look of hope is a beautiful thing," said therapeutic recreation specialist Matt Larson. "It is awe-inspiring when clients find new ways to connect with themselves, and realize that if they can do this one challenge we give them, then there are so many other things they can do."

Therapeutic recreation is one important way residential clients find healing at Rosecrance. It is woven into the fabric of treatment program at all sites because it possesses a power to connect with clients in unique ways. Based in experience or action, what may seem like fun and games actually is a critical technique that teaches clients how to navigate life using what they learned on the basketball court, a canoe trip, in a greenhouse, and in other experiential learning settings. Data show that this improves stress, anxiety, emotional regulation, engagement with others, and knowledge of life skills.

Therapies are designed to give clients opportunities to grow in safe stress situations. By working through issues while completing a painting or doing a teambuilding exercise, clients discover that they can manage everyday life using what they learned in these settings.

"We create safe spaces where they can take risks and show vulnerabilities," said Therapeutic Recreation Coordinator Abby Nelson. "Therapeutic recreation can’t live in treatment. They have to take it home with them. It’s huge when they the can verbalize what they are going to do when they leave Rosecrance."

Rosecrance offers clients a multi-faceted range of activities such as art, horticulture, fitness, sports, yoga, meditation and mindfulness, labyrinth and sensory room, team building exercises, and more. Seasonal events add to the variety with events such as hiking, canoeing, the Heart Art show in February, and Haunted Woods in October.

"We know everyone has a different passion, and that is why we incorporate so many therapies into our treatment," said therapeutic recreation specialist Paul Fasano. "For some, that may be yoga, and others may be drawn to something like art or outdoors activities. Whatever it is, it’s always satisfying to see clients find their niche."

Staff help create a healing environment by participating in activities with clients to show what is possible. They are side-by-side lifting weights, meditating, and painting to model what is possible in life. It also gives therapeutic recreation staff opportunities to continuously grow through challenges such as training for half-marathons together.

"It’s important that we demonstrate skills ourselves, whether we’re at work or at home," said therapeutic recreation specialist Alyssa Newton. "That makes things that might seem intimidating at first a lot more accessible. We can point out our progress and highlight when we see clients taking big steps forward."

Photo of the Day - March 3, 2021

Point - Spartans!

(Left to right) St. Joseph-Ogden's Anna Wentzloff, Alex Frerichs, Hannah Umbarger and Shayne Immke celebrate a point for the Spartans with head coach Abby McDonald during game three of their Class 2A supersectional match against Chicago Christian. After dropping the first set, SJO came back to take the match 2-1 on November 8, 2019. McDonald and the Spartans went on to finish third in the state during the 2019-20 season. After a nearly a eight month delay for their season, McDonald and the Spartans can begin practicing for the 2021 spring season on Monday. This academic year the IHSA volleyball season will run March 15, or seven days after the team's first practice after that date, until April 24.

(Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Area varsity boys teams drop conference games

Unity 48 - St. Thomas More 50

Blake Kimball led the Rockets with a game-high 20 points and Nate Drennen added another 16 in their team's overtime road loss to St. Thomas More. Austin Langendorf, Henry Thomas and Damian Knoll combined their effort for 12 more points for UHS.

Unity's next game is at home against Rantoul this Friday.

Spartans suffer biggest loss of the season

Illinois Valley Central's Mac Parmelee had a banner day against SJO. The 6-foot-3 senior used his size to score 20 points in the paint on his way to a game-high 35 finish for the Grey Ghost in their 77-52 win over St.Joseph-Ogden.

SJO got 27 points from Ty Pence, who notched another double-double with 10 boards on his home court. Evan Ingram contributed eight more points and Jackson Rydell rounded out the top three scorers with seven points.

The Spartans' JV squad defeated IVC's squad, 58-48.

Rydell and the Spartans host Olympia on Friday for another Illini Prairie matchup.

Family Caregivers, Routinely Left Off Vaccine Lists, Worry What Would Happen ‘If I Get Sick’

by Judith Graham
Kaiser Health News

Before her stretched a line of people waiting to get covid-19 vaccines. “It was agonizing to know that I couldn’t get in that line,” said Davidson, 50, who is devoted to her father and usually cares for him full time. “If I get sick, what would happen to him?”

Tens of thousands of middle-aged sons and daughters caring for older relatives with serious ailments but too young to qualify for a vaccine themselves are similarly terrified of becoming ill and wondering when they can get protected against the coronavirus.

Like aides and other workers in nursing homes, these family caregivers routinely administer medications, monitor blood pressure, cook, clean and help relatives wash, get dressed and use the toilet, among many other responsibilities. But they do so in apartments and houses, not in long-term care institutions — and they’re not paid.

“In all but name, they’re essential health care workers, taking care of patients who are very sick, many of whom are completely reliant upon them, some of whom are dying,” said Katherine Ornstein, a caregiving expert and associate professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at Mount Sinai’s medical school in New York City. “Yet, we don’t recognize or support them as such, and that’s a tragedy.”

The distinction is critically important because health care workers have been prioritized to get covid vaccines, along with vulnerable older adults in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. But family members caring for equally vulnerable seniors living in the community are grouped with the general population in most states and may not get vaccines for months.

The exception: Older caregivers can qualify for vaccines by virtue of their age as states approve vaccines for adults ages 65, 70 or 75 and above. A few states have moved family caregivers into phase 1a of their vaccine rollouts, the top priority tier. Notably, South Carolina has done so for families caring for medically fragile children, and Illinois has given that designation to families caring for relatives of all ages with significant disabilities.

Arizona is also trying to accommodate caregivers who accompany older residents to vaccination sites, Dr. Cara Christ, director of the state’s Department of Health Services, said Monday during a Zoom briefing for President Joe Biden. Comprehensive data about which states are granting priority status to family caregivers is not available.

Meanwhile, the Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced plans to offer vaccines to people participating in its Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers. That initiative gives financial stipends to family members caring for veterans with serious injuries; 21,612 veterans are enrolled, including 2,310 age 65 or older, according to the VA. Family members can be vaccinated when the veterans they look after become eligible, a spokesperson said.

“The current pandemic has amplified the importance of our caregivers whom we recognize as valuable members of Veterans’ health care teams,” Dr. Richard Stone, VA acting undersecretary for health, said in the announcement.

An estimated 53 million Americans are caregivers, according to a 2020 report. Nearly one-third spend 21 hours or more each week helping older adults and people with disabilities with personal care, household tasks and nursing-style care (giving injections, tending wounds, administering oxygen and more). An estimated 40% are providing high-intensity care, a measure of complicated, time-consuming caregiving demands.

This is the group that should be getting vaccines, not caregivers who live at a distance or who don’t provide direct, hands-on care, said Carol Levine, a senior fellow and former director of the Families and Health Care Project at the United Hospital Fund in New York City.

Rosanne Corcoran, 53, is among them. Her 92-year-old mother, Rose, who has advanced dementia, lives with Corcoran and her family in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, on the second floor of their house. She hasn’t come down the stairs in three years.

“I wouldn’t be able to take her somewhere to get the vaccine. She doesn’t have any stamina,” said Corcoran, who arranges for doctors to make house calls when her mother needs attention. When she called their medical practice recently, an administrator said they didn’t have access to the vaccines.

Corcoran said she “does everything for her mother,” including bathing her, dressing her, feeding her, giving her medications, monitoring her medical needs and responding to her emotional needs. Before the pandemic, a companion came for five hours a day, offering some relief. But last March, Corcoran let the companion go and took on all her mother’s care herself.

Corcoran wishes she could get a vaccination sooner, rather than later. “If I got sick, God forbid, my mother would wind up in a nursing home,” she said. “The thought of my mother having to leave here, where she knows she’s safe and loved, and go to a place like that makes me sick to my stomach.”

Although covid cases are dropping in nursing homes and assisted living facilities as residents and staff members receive vaccines, 36% of deaths during the pandemic have occurred in these settings.

Maggie Ornstein, 42, a caregiving expert who teaches at Sarah Lawrence College, has provided intensive care to her mother, Janet, since Janet experienced a devastating brain aneurism at age 49. For the past 20 years, her mother has lived with Ornstein and her family in Queens, New York.

In a recent opinion piece, Ornstein urged New York officials to recognize family caregivers’ contributions and reclassify them as essential workers. “We’re used to being abandoned by a system that should be helping us and our loved ones,” she told me in a phone conversation. “But the utter neglect of us during this pandemic — it’s shocking.”

Ornstein estimated that if even a quarter of New York’s 2.5 million family caregivers became ill with covid and unable to carry on, the state’s nursing homes would be overwhelmed by applications from desperate families. “We don’t have the infrastructure for this, and yet we’re pretending this problem just doesn’t exist,” she said.

In Tomball, Texas, Robin Davidson’s father was independent before the pandemic, but he began declining as he stopped going out and became more sedentary. For almost a year, Davidson has driven every day to his 11-acre ranch, 5 miles from where she lives, and spent hours tending to him and the property’s upkeep.

“Every day, when I would come in, I would wonder, was I careful enough [to avoid the virus]? Could I have picked something up at the store or getting gas? Am I going to be the reason that he dies? My constant proximity to him and my care for him is terrifying,” she said.

Since her father’s hospitalization, Davidson’s goal is to stabilize him so he can enroll in a clinical trial for congestive heart failure. Medications for that condition no longer work for him, and fluid retention has become a major issue. He’s now home on the ranch after spending more than a week in the hospital and he’s gotten two doses of vaccine — “an indescribable relief,” Davidson said.

Out of the blue, she got a text from the Harris County health department earlier this month, after putting herself on a vaccine waitlist. Vaccines were available, it read, and she quickly signed up and got a shot. Davidson ended up being eligible because she has two chronic medical conditions that raise her risk of covid; Harris County doesn’t officially recognize family caregivers in its vaccine allocation plan, a spokesperson said.

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Guest Commentary: What the Biden Administration should do in Taliban peace talks

by Ahmad Shah Mohibi

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After weeks of increased violence, uncertainty, and a stalemate between the negotiating parties, talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban resumed earlier this week in Doha, amid a looming deadline for US troops to fully withdraw from the country by May of this year. Despite the flurry of historic developments that have taken place in Afghanistan over the past year, the next couple of months will be a critical test for both the momentum of the peace process and the patience of the major players involved.

For the Biden Administration, the outcome of the dialogue in Doha will be the first major foreign policy challenge, one that will either culminate in a historic agreement or continued entrenchment for what has already been America’s longest war. Public opinion polls conducted amongst a diverse group of American voters suggest that while most have experienced fatigue with the conflict, very few support a complete withdrawal of US troops, even when accounting for partisan differences.

Nevertheless, a full drawdown would likely strengthen the Taliban’s position, and encourage a repeat of the chaos that ensued in the aftermath of the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, and the cessation of Soviet foreign aid in 1991, which quickly brought down the government of Mohammad Najibullah a year later.

The Taliban’s current fighting force (estimated between 40,000-60,000 fighters) would take complete control of Afghan territory, highly unlikely. However, a potential breakdown of the current unity government, buttressed by the Taliban’s enduring connection to both Al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan Province (ISIL-Khorasan), would whet the Taliban’s risk appetite for sustained engagement with the Afghan armed forces as seen in the past months.

Given the fragility of the Ghani government, and waning enthusiasm from the American side, the Biden Administration’s best option is to pursue a compromise that would postpone their scheduled withdrawal in May and buy more time for the negotiators. The US exit from Afghanistan should be condition-based on peace in Afghanistan. The Americans should make it clear to the Taliban that if they don’t want peace, they will stay in Afghanistan.

The most important country for the Taliban in Pakistan, and when Pakistan is under American pressure, it will help the peace process.

At present, US policy toward Afghanistan remains vague, and although President Biden’s approach is expected to be a marked departure from that of his predecessor, it appears unlikely that he will undo either of two signature moves made by the Trump Administration, including the existing withdrawal agreement, and the recent drawdown of American troop levels to their present level of 2,500. Key personnel tied to the current deliberations, most notably US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, are also expected to be retained in the Biden Administration’s foreign policy team.

Presently, Taliban have the upper hand at negotiations, not because of the US-Taliban deal, but because they can simply walk away from the talks and go back fighting. The Doha agreement has defined the US troops withdrawal condition-based so there is no pressure on Taliban at the moment.

The Taliban has also benefited from the successful release of imprisoned fighters, and the international legitimacy that the US peace deal conferred to its organization and its external relations with foreign powers. The recent recess in peace talks saw the Taliban appeal to Iran, Russia, and Turkey in a bid to cultivate support and obstruct US efforts to put pressure on regional actors.

In the event that calls for an interim government (one that would presumably replace Ghani) go unheeded, the opportunity would be ripe for the Taliban to exploit factionalism between Ghani’s supporters and political rivals.

In order to reach the ideal scenario of a postponed withdrawal, the United States will likely have to lean on its existing relationship with state actors in lieu of a direct appeal to the Taliban. While generating strong buy-in from the likes of Russia, Iran, and Turkey is unlikely in the next 2 months, the Biden Administration does possess leverage over the Taliban’s main source of financial support (member-states of the Gulf Cooperation Council) and political support (Pakistan). The most important country for the Taliban in Pakistan, and when Pakistan is under American pressure, it will help the peace process. By wielding the threat of sanctions, the United States could fulfill Pakistan’s long-standing demand to be removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s “grey list”, which would provide relief for Pakistan’s access to global capital markets and encourage foreign direct investment.

The economic argument for peace in Afghanistan has only grown stronger given the presence of lucrative natural resources, particularly mineral wealth, and the favorable location that could help the country generate transit fees from energy projects and improved infrastructure to facilitate trade between East and West Asia. The economic case could be compelling to win support from regional players like Russia, China, Pakistan, and Iran. Afghanistan is a rich country, but the economics only works if everyone is included. The recent commodity boom bodes well for the resources found in Afghanistan, with technology-critical elements like Lithium and Rare Earth Elements in a large abundance.

With little more than 60 days remaining before US troops are scheduled to withdraw, the next set of developments will be a harbinger for the trajectory of the peace process. Sustaining the momentum of the milestones achieved in the past year will require difficult political compromises from a long list of state and non-state actors.

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Ahmad Shah Mohibi is the founder of Rise to Peace and also serves as the director of Counter-Terrorism programs. In this role, he conducts research and analyzes policy issues related to terrorism, violent extremism, international security, and peace peacebuilding efforts to help inform the policy practitioners, analysts, the private sector, international and non-governmental organizations. Prior to that, he served as an Advisor to the Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) in Afghanistan, where he helped coordinate, implement, and monitor interconnected projects, including the $10 million initiative to build the Justice Center in Parwan.

Southern Illinois farmer to run for the Governor's seat

Southern Illinois farmer and State Senator Darren Bailey, who has been outspoken about Governor J.B. Pritzker's handling of the state's pandemic policies, announced last Monday that he will seek the state's Republican nomination for Governor.

Bailey, who is a third-generation farmer and with his sons, owns and operates Bailey Family Farm. The Republican lawmaker from Xenia, was born and raised in Louisville. He has an A.A.S. in Agricultural Production from Lake Land College in Mattoon.

In a press release he said he "has always lived by the motto of faith, family, and farming."

The 54-year-old's hat is now in a ring along side that of Republican and former Senator Paul Schimpf who announced his candidacy for early last month.

In front of a crowd of hundreds of supporters at the Thelma Keller Convention Center in Effingham, he said that Governor Pritzker and Illinois Democrats have failed the people of Illinois and it was time for it to stop.

"There’s nothing that’s wrong with Illinois that can’t be fixed by some conservative common sense. I’ll fight for the working people, not the political elites. Today, there is a political class that is ignoring our values and harming American families. Illinois needs a leader that is one of us," said Bailey, confident that his conservative approach to governing will cure the state's ills.

Bailey is known as a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment conservative, his campaign announcement highlights his previous fight against tax hikes, reckless spending, abortion access expansion, and sanctuary state legislation. Elected to the state legislature in 2018, he is making the reopening of Illinois' economy and schools among his top priorities.

"Illinois is in trouble. We have a massive deficit, some of the highest tax burdens in the entire nation, and skyrocketing unemployment. Add to that career politicians who have used a pandemic to destroy our local economy," he said. "The same people on both sides of the aisle have failed us for decades. They are the elites—the rich and powerful—who have put their interests in front of us; the farmers from downstate, the mechanics from the south side, the hard-working families that have built this state. We can do better."

Endorsed by Republican U.S. Rep. Mary Miller - who was in the political hot seat and forced to issue a public apology after telling the audience at a rally supporting now ex-president Donald Trump that "Hitler was right on one thing — that whoever has the youth has the future", Bailey is being strategically positioned as the Downstate Messiah. Sworn in as state senator in January, he previously served as a state representative from 2019 to early 2021.

Meanwhile Miller's husband, Republican state Rep. Chris Miller, told the crowd at the rally, "If Darren Bailey is governor of Illinois, then there is a God in Heaven."

Bailey's name became known nationally while challenging Governor Pritzker’s statewide stay-at-home order almost a year ago last May. With the help of a sympathetic court, Bailey won a temporary restraining order freeing himself only from the restrictions. The decision was later overturned and the case eventually dismissed by a Sangamon County judge in November after it was consolidated with several other challenges to the state's emergency management and public health directives.

The father of four and grandfather to 10 said:

For far too long, citizens of Illinois have been left without a voice. People in Illinois have been divided. We’ve been used. We’ve been mocked. We’ve been marginalized. People in Illinois have been ignored based on their race. They’ve been ignored based on their class. Their ZIP Code. Or by special interests. All while a political class has done absolutely nothing but enrich themselves, while destroying our state and robbing our children and our grandchildren of our future. Friends, this has got to change. And it has got to change today.

The Republican primary election for Illinois Governor will be held on March 15, 2022.

Who wouldn't want their student debt eliminated?

by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator

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The average college debt among student loan borrowers in America is $32,731, according to the Federal Reserve. The majority of borrowers have between $25,000 and $50,000 outstanding in student loan debt. There is an increasing number of student loan borrowers who owe in excess of $100,000. Some, who have spent many years in graduate schools may owe closer to $200,000.

Overall, Americans owe over $1.71 trillion in student loan debt, spread out among about 44.7 million borrowers.

Senate leader Chuck Schumer of New York, along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and other Democrats have put forward a resolution calling on President Joe Biden to forgive $50,000 in student debt. The plan would cancel all of the debt for 80% of federal student loan borrowers.

President Joe Biden campaigned on a platform that included changes for higher education as well as relief for student loan borrowers. On Biden's first day in office, he extended the student loan payment pause through Sept. 30, 2021.

President Biden officials, on Jan. 8, reiterated the President's support for Congress to "immediately" cancel $10,000 of federal student loan debt per person as part of Covid-19 relief. That could wipe out debt completely for nearly 15 million borrowers who owe $10,000 or less, according to federal data. The majority of student loan borrowers (roughly 67%) have more than $10,000 in debt.

On February 19th, a group of 17 state Attorney Generals called on Biden to forgive $50,000 in federal student loans per borrower through executive action. The group asserted Biden has the authority to do so under the Higher Education Act.

Professions that pay bigger salaries are worth more the college cost and debt if necessary.

If you have federal student loan debt you are surely hopeful. Who wouldn’t want to have $10,000 to $50,000 of student debt eliminated? However, is this fair for the millions of Americans who spent many years working hard, repaying their loans? What about all the parents who helped their children through school? They worked hard. Do all of America’s graduates and parents receive checks – with interest? Is it fair to penalize the people who worked, scrapped and struggled? Essentially, we are asking the same hard working people who paid for their education to pay for everyone else's education.

The majority of Americans who paid their way through school and paid off all their debt the hard way are not sympathetic to simply waving away the same college debt for others that they worked hard to pay off.

Colleges are much of the problem. For years public Universities have financially lived way beyond their means. Auburn University, Alabama, recently fired head football coach Gus Malzahn and paid him $21.45 million in contract buyout.

Students are poorly advised by high school and college counselors. You will almost never be able to pay back a $50,000 student loan working as a cashier at a fast food restaurant. College students need to look at the earning power of their degree. Professions that pay bigger salaries are worth more the college cost and debt if necessary.

Consider going to a community college your first two years. Federal Pell grants are currently $6,495 a year and may cover almost all the cost of your first two years. You typically don’t have to pay these back. Therefore, the government is already doing a lot.

If your career pursuit pays a reasonable living then consider a going to a University that has a more reasonable tuition cost. And, don’t count on somebody else to pay your loan. However, who knows for sure, maybe Biden will.

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Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of American Issues, Every American Has An Opinion and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization.

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This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Sentinel. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.

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Your life matters

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by Gail Strange
Presbyterian News Service

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In recognition of Black History Month, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) celebrated Wednesday with a soulful online worship service.

The service began with a virtual rendition of the iconic Michael Jackson/Lionel Richie song, "We Are the World." The song was performed by members of the historic Morgan State University choir. Morgan State University is one of the 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

The theme for the service this year was adapted from Maya Angelou’s poem of liberation and survival, "Still I Rise."

In a powerful call to worship alternately led by Jewel McRae, the Rev. Carlton Johnson, the Rev. Alexandra Zareth and the Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson, (other worship leaders included the Rev. Lee Catoe, Destini Hodges and Angela Carter) worshipers were invited to participate in the service by taking part in the traditional African practice of call-and-response using the term "ase" (or às̩e̩ or ashe; pronounced ah-shay). The term is a West African philosophical concept through which the Yoruba of Nigeria conceive the power to make things happen and to effect change.

We love Jesus because he took thorns upon his head.

There were poignant readings throughout the call to worship. During this portion of the service Johnson said, "In this season the nation’s character is at stake! In Black History Month help us to realize that Black history is all our histories. May the day come when these stories are so widely taught that no month need be separately divided."

Other moving words during the call to worship included this reading by McRae: "Guided by God, we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Ours is a faith that says … you are a woman, and your life matters. You are gay or lesbian, and your life matters. You are transgender, and your life matters. You are bisexual, and your life matters."

The preacher for the morning was the Rev. Michael Moore, Associate for African American Intercultural Congregational Support in the office of Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries. The focal Scripture for his message was Psalm 27: 1-6.

"In these unprecedented times we get disoriented," Moore said. "How do we find our way back? When I think about Black history and the journey of African American people, I think it is one of the most incredible things."

"It’s this paradox, this paradigm to … the message of tremendous struggle Blacks had and at the same time, we’re able to praise," said Moore. "David’s life is emblematic of it as well. If you think about the life of David, he was a man after God’s own heart. David went through so many different trials, fractured family and being hunted down by Saul. And yet David also had this something in his life that allowed him to go through his struggles and trials and get back up."

"That’s the question I want to ask. What is the something that helps us all in the midst of our struggles, our trials, even our traumas that helps us get back up?" he asked.

Moore went on to relate stories of two significant events in his own life. He shared of a time when he was about 13 and his mother was at the time nearly 50. "I remember being on the corner of Edmondson and Monroe [in Baltimore] and tanks coming down the street. I ran into the house and I saw my mother sitting in the chair and she was watching the news of the assassination of Dr. King," he said.

"I must tell you: I don’t think I had ever seen my mother so hopeless, depressed and in despair. I’ll never forget that moment. The fact is when I actually began to start thinking about Black history and as a people, what it all means, I’m encouraged."

Forty years later, on his mother’s 90th birthday, Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States. "I remember walking to the house and prior to the election of Barack Obama, my mother declared this country will never elect a Black president. I remember walking in the house that night and when I came in, she was watching when Barack Obama and Michelle Obama walked out on stage, this Black family. People were celebrating and in tears and cheering and what a celebratory moment."

"She was sitting there. I’ll never forget that moment," Moore said, "that moment in Black history where my mother, for the first time, it’s almost as if she had adopted Barack and Michelle Obama and saw her own children. And that all the struggles of our own life were coming to this intersection and that she was watching this family walk out. She put a smile on our face, and she was so happy. She was so joyous it was almost as if she felt like perhaps there is hope."

"That’s the kind of legacy that I think about when we start looking at Black History Month," he said. "When we start thinking about all the dynamic heroes and heroines that came before us who left a foundation for us now to stand on, I realize we sometimes get discouraged and down. But when I think about the journey of so many who have gone before us, who made a road for us to be in the place that we are, I can’t be so discouraged. When you think about your fore parents, your family members, those who paved the way for you and made a sacrifice so that we can be here, I can’t be so discouraged at all," Moore said.

Moore reminded worshipers that as we’re going through this pandemic, which includes racial uprising, tension, political chaos and perhaps feelings of discouragement, there’s "still something."

"I believe the something is the age-old story," Moore said. "It’s not unlike Maya Angelou’s poem where she says, ‘Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise. Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise. I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise.’"

Moore says rising can also be found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“We don’t make the cross the center of our faith for no reason. We don’t love Jesus because he’s white or Black or this or that,” Moore said. "We love Jesus because he took thorns upon his head. We love Jesus and make the cross central to our lives. We love Jesus because he put the cross on his back and walked up to Calvary."

"We make the cross central to our faith, not because of our different cultures, not because of where we live, not even for what we think," Moore said. "We love Jesus because he took nails in his hands and nails in his feet. We love Jesus because he hung on a cross — and Jesus rose too."

Five area teams on the court tonight

Both Unity and St. Joseph-Ogden's girls basketball squads face league rivals tonight to kick off the final month of prep basketball.

The Rockets host St. Thomas in a varsity only line-up tonight at the Rocket Center. The game will be available via internet streaming on the NFHS Network. A JV game is not scheduled at this time.

With just four games in the book, the Sabers have a record of 2-2 with wins over Rantoul and Illinois Valley Central (IVC) and nursing to losses, one to St. Joseph-Ogden and the other to Bloomington Central Catholic.

Meanwhile, this week's Basketball Player of the Week Taylor Wells and the St. Joseph-Ogden varsity are on the road tonight at IVC, 1-5 in the IPC and 3-6 overall, looking to end a two-game losing streak. The JV game is slated to start at 5:30pm and the varsity game to follow at 7pm. Unfortunately, neither contest is scheduled for live streaming this evening.

In their last outing, the Spartans varsity squad fell 55-45 in a non-conference bout against Paris on Saturday. Wells, who led the team's scoring effort with nine points along with baskets from eight other players wasn't enough to push past the host Tigers.

Now carrying a record of 4 wins and 1 loss, SJO (5-3 overall) is currently #2 in the Illini Prairie Conference. Bloomington Central Catholic sits at the top with a perfect 6-0 record. The Spartans and BCC will are scheduled to cross paths on March 11.

On the boys side, the Spartan varsity team start the backstretch of this season's and the month at home against the Saints (2-3), who needed two extra sessions to squeak by St. Thomas More 84-74 for their only conference game and win so far this season.

After dropping a heartbreaking 56-54 thriller to Prairie Central on Friday, the Spartans quickly regrouped to pull off a 58-29 non-league win over Paxton-Buckley-Loda on Saturday. SJO's 3-1 IPC record is good for third place at the moment and is lined up behind Monticello (3-0) and IVC (5-1).

Here are tonight's schedule and direct links to the live streams:

St. Joseph-Ogden Boys Junior Varsity Basketball vs Central Catholic | 5:25 PM Central

St. Joseph-Ogden Boys Varsity Basketball vs Central Catholic | 6:57 PM Central

Unity Girls Varsity Basketball vs St. Thomas More | 7:00 PM Central

If you are not already a subscriber, follow this link sign up for a monthly or annual subscription to watch SJO or Unity sports via live stream or archived by the NFHS Network. Monthly passes are just $10.99 each or save 47% and purchase an annual subscription at $69.99.