14 OUTLOOK
SUNDAY, MARCH 28, 2010
www.herald-review.com
DECATUR, ILLINOIS
Reading the news online Meridian students restart newspaper, but this time on Web By ANNIE GETSINGER H&R Staff Writer
MACON — For the first time in five years, students at Meridian High School have a newspaper, but Meridian’s journalism class has taken its innovative news outlet one step ahead of most local schools by ditching the hard copies and opting to produce The Hawk’s Eye, an online-only news Web site. The paper, which went live at www.thehawkseye.net, features
stories, multimedia content, photos, an advice column and other content generated by the school’s journalism students. Jackson Riggen, 18, a senior at the school and a staff reporter for the paper, said a guidance counselor told him and several other students that a journalism class would be offered. Seniors Riggen, Miranda Curry, 17, Renee Boyd, 18, Sarah Gandy, 17, and others made up the newspaper’s first staff. “The big challenge was we didn’t really know what to do, like we didn’t know what direction to go with the paper,” Riggen said of the print versus online dilemma the class faced. “We had to basically start
the whole entire process up fresh,” said Boyd, who served as the paper’s first editor-inchief. “We chose the Web because it was cheaper.” “We didn’t want people to just throw it away and find all our hard work lying in the hallways,” Curry said. The students said some advantages of the Web format include the abilities to monitor readership, add content every day, receive immediate feedback and produce stories with a variety of multimedia components. Since the site’s launch, readership has increased, Riggen said.
NEWS/PAGE 16
For the Herald & Review/Katy Hunt
Elizebeth Gille and Tyler Henderson produce an ad for a local business for the school’s Webbased newspaper, as part of Meridian’s journalism class taught by Shelia Moore.
Moving the classes closer to the students
The Road Ahead
Lake Land quadruples space at Pana facility
Only God really knows what the future holds for any of us. For those who choose to believe in Jesus Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary and chose to die on the cross for our sins then rose again on the third day so that we who are so undeserving could ask for forgiveness and receive salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ; I know there is eternity in heaven with our loving father God because he tells us this in his holy word, the Bible. Over the past 51 years, I have come to find that God’s word is truth, and the truth sets us free. I have tried living my life for self and the ways of this world, and I have tried living for God, but in spite of becoming “saved” 25 years ago, I must admit that I have struggled in my “walk with God” at times and living my life as a Christian due to feelings of insecurity, inadequacy and unworthiness, too. I still saw myself as the person I was “before Christ,” therefore, I could not truly believe I was now who God says I am “in Christ” ... a new creation, holy, loved, redeemed, forgiven and set free from sin. I have learned that it is a choice though, so now I choose to believe God and his truth of who I am and that the future holds is eternity in heaven for me with my loving heavenly Father. I hope to see you there as well! Bev Damery Macon
By TONY REID H&R Staff Writer
PANA — The patient wasn’t dead, but he wasn’t well, either. Lying there with his mouth open, lips pulled back from pristine white teeth, he first sounded like he was throwing up and then switched to labored breathing from frothcorrupted lungs. “He also coughs, he moans and he screams, too, although the screaming is not too loud,” said instructor and registered nurse Maria Nohren. MORE “And he INFO does have nice To find out teeth.” more about the The Western Region sophistiCenter and Lake cated elecLand College, call tronic 562-5000 or go to dummy, all lakeland.cc.il.us tucked up in a regulation hospital bed, is one of the many teaching aids at Lake Land College’s Western Region Center in Pana. The center brings college courses within reach of people who live far from Lake Land’s Mattoon home base, and the licensed practical nurse course is one of the center’s most popular offerings. Some 14 students in this particular Pana class are about halfway through their yearlong studies and get to ply their growing skills on the ever-ill dummy along with plenty of hands-on education in real-life hospital wards and nursing homes. “Perhaps the hardest thing to teach is critical thinking,” said Nohren, a nurse for 11 years who works in a hospital and surgery center. “Students have to learn how to think critical-think, to apply their knowledge and use it.” First, however, they have to get the knowledge, and that is a lot easier when the learning center isn’t a wearying drive from home. Nursing student Lisa Young, 39, lives in Shelbyville and said she can reach Pana in 20 minutes, a big plus during Central Illinois winters and times of rising gas prices. “Economically, coming here really benefits me,” said Young, 39. She’s also finding her short drive in pursuit of education after raising children ages 20 and 17 is making her something of a family role model. “I think it’s been an inspiration to my kids to see me do this,” she said. “Just the fact that I am willing to put forth the effort to do something I have always wanted to do.” The Pana community had long wanted the Western Region Center and gone to extraordinary lengths to secure it. College classes were first held in Pana High School but moved to the original
Herald & Review photos/Kelly J. Huff
Maria Nohren, Lake Land College Western Region Center nursing instructor and registered nurse, works with student Sarah Rardin on her RN curriculum at the center in Pana.
d Gran ! ning e p O
We sell everything needed to make teaching and learning a fun experience! Mark Denton, who is studying network administration, decided to pursue a new career, and the Pana class site offered him an opportunity to learn in his hometown. Western Region Center in 2006 when it opened inside a former Casey’s store building that was donated to the community by the company. A major redevelopment and expansion, completed in the fall, was spearheaded by the Pana School District with First National Bank of Pana contributing $100,000 to the project. The expansion quadrupled the space to seven classrooms and 8,000 square feet, and the school district now rents the expanded building to Lake Land, which offers courses in everything from history to computing, math, psychology and various
Nohren sets vital signs on a teaching manikin as Doreen Aidoo, Tonya Sarvar and Lisa Young practice for certification.
career and technical studies. Cindy Emerick, coordinator of the Western Region Center, said there are even high school students who hit the books at the facility during the summer to get a jumpstart on college courses. In a typical academic year, some 600 students use the classrooms in some way, and classes start at 8 a.m. and continue until 9:45 p.m. four hectic days a week. “The Pana community wanted this place really bad,” said Emerick. “They wanted it really bad, and they want more: They are looking forward to the day, and so is the school district, when they can build an even bigger building. The demand is definitely out there.” A lot of it is fueled by students such as Pana’s 48-yearold Mark Denton. After rising to middle management in a manufacturing company only to get laid off, he’s gone back to school to study network administration as he charts a new course to a career that will most likely involve computer programming. Ironically, he had started taking computer courses 30 years ago when he graduated high school but left to take one of the then plentiful manufacturing jobs. “I could kick myself today for having done that,” he said. But now he’s rebooting his life in a convenient classroom situated three blocks from his
home and is determined to download a new future for himself. “You’ve got to have a marketable skill,” he explained. “I’ve learned that much.” treid@herald-review.com|421-7977
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