BLAZER BASKETBALL: Eastside girls record first victory, MORE ON PAGE 3
TUESDAY DECEMBER 24, 2013
THE
Butler An edition of
The
Bulletin
147th YEAR — ISSUE #52 On the web at: kpcnews.com
75 cents Butler, Indiana ESTABLISHED IN 1866
Food pantry warms hearts BY JEFF JONES jjones@kpcmedia.com BUTLER — In just over two hours, it’s over, but a good amount of Christmas cheer has been spread. On this chilly Wednesday evening, after the last visitor has been served, volunteers busily wipe down and fold away tables, put away cleaning supplies and chat as they transform the large room at Butler United Methodist Church from a food pantry back into a fellowship hall. Earlier, the room didn’t seem quite so big, as volunteers and visitors, often elbow-to-elbow, milled about, restocking supplies, sacking groceries and carrying items to vehicles as the Butler Community Food Pantry held its second-largest food giveaway of the year. On this night, 155 families received a Christmas present of a meal, bag of potatoes and sack of groceries. This food pantry night — held Dec. 18 — is second only to the one before Thanksgiving each year, according to organizers
COMMUNITY EVENTS
and volunteers. The Thanksgiving food pantry served 180 families, touching more than 850 people. An official count of children and people in those 155 families wasn’t immediately known. What is known is that a number of people will be able to enjoy a fine Christmas meal, and that the people who volunteered also have the joyful feeling of being able to help others. Each month, the food pantry helps 135-145 families, said Pastor Kevin Marsh of Butler United Methodist Church. “We feel like we’re able to do something to alleviate the need in our community,” Marsh said. “This is a good way to do it. This is our major ministry right here.” The pantry, while based at Butler United Methodist Church, features involvement of several churches in the community and surrounding area, explained volunteer Mike Slentz. Local and area churches collect items for the food pantry each ➤ Pantry, Page 6
Jeff Jones
Food pantry volunteer Theresa Dickerhoff organizes bags of groceries at the Butler Community Food Pantry’s Dec. 18 giveaway. Various local churches donate food and supplies to the pantry, and volunteers organize the monthly events. The food pantry, at Butler United Methodist Church, is especially busy at Thanksgiving and Christmas, organizers said.
Senator invites pages
SUPPORTING TOWNSHIP 4-H PROGRAMS
Eastside graduate featured in holiday concert EVANSVILLE — Elizabeth Crozier, of Auburn, an Eastside graduate, and Rochelle Beckman of Kendallville recently performed in the University of Evansville’s 34th annual Holiday Pops concert. In the Evansville area, Holiday Pops will be televised on WNIN, Channel 9.1, at 7 p.m. today, Dec. 24, and at noon on Christmas Day (Central times). People outside the local viewing area may watch the concert on the University of Evansville’s YouTube page. Holiday Pops took place Dec. 10 in Downtown Evansville’s Victory Theatre. The free concert brought together university ensembles and soloists, including choirs, orchestra, and wind, brass, and jazz ensembles. This year’s Holiday Pops concert featured students and faculty members performing sacred and secular musical selections, ranging from “Greensleeves” to “Sleigh Ride” to music from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.”Crozier is majoring in creative writing. Beckman is majoring in music therapy.
Helping Hands Ministry open BUTLER — Helping Hands Ministry is an outreach ministry of Christ’s Church at Butler assisting needy families in the Butler area. Monetary contributions and donations of new or gently-used clothing and bedding items are accepted during business hours. Individuals may visit and shop for bags of items priced at $3-$5 each. Helping Hands is located at 136 W. Main St. and is open Tuesdays 4-6 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon. A food pantry is open the second Tuesday of each month from 4-6 p.m.
Submit your news BUTLER — The Butler Bulletin has a new email address for your church, club or group to share its news and photos. The new email address is jjones@ kpcmedia.com. THE
Butler Bulletin P.O. Box 39 Butler, IN 46721 PHONE: 868-5501
Jeff Jones
American Legion Post 202, represented by Greg Hook, second from left, made approximately $2,800 in donations to local 4-H chapters for the DeKalb County livestock auction earlier this year. From left, are Mike Slentz, representing Franklin Township; Hook; Brian Capp, representing Wilmington, Stafford and Troy townships and Mike Georgi, representing Concord, Newville and Spencer townships.
INDIANAPOLIS — State Sen. Sue Glick, R-LaGrange, is inviting students in grades 6-12 to serve as Senate pages during the Indiana General Assembly’s 2014 legislative session. The Indiana Senate Page Program is accepting applications for student pages, offering an up-close, behind-the-scenes look at the General Assembly. During the one-day program, each participant tours the Statehouse, meets and interacts with his or her senator and watches debates in the Senate Chamber. Glick said the page program is a hands-on approach to teaching ➤ Pages, Page 6
School leader questions tests FROM STAFF REPORTS With all the problems that plagued the spring 2013 round of ISTEP tests, DeKalb Eastern superintendent Dr. Jeff Stephens has serious doubts about the validity of the results. Riverdale Elementary School repeated its “A” rating, a mark it has maintained each year since 2010. Butler Elementary received a “C” grade after having a “B” in 2012. Eastside Junior-Senior High School also received a “C” after likewise having a “B” in 2012. Stephens is pretty blunt when it comes to the school grades
Spring ISTEP plagued by system failures resulting from the spring ISTEP tests. “I consider them to have no value, no validity whatsoever,” he said in a phone interview Friday. “When you have such a technical screw-up that occurred that spring and you try to use that grade, there’s no validity in that entire test.”
In many cases, including at DeKalb Eastern, students encountered system failures while trying to take the test. “The only thing kids saw was failure,” Stephens said. “We had kids that were so distraught that when they saw ‘system failure,’ they thought they had failed the test. We had also kids trying to get through it so fast, to get the test done before it happened to them.” Stephens wasn’t alone in his assessment of the test. Superintendents at Lakeland, Westview and East Noble districts also questioned the validity of the grades, issued Friday by the
Indiana Department of Education. The state based the grades on test scores in language arts and math. High school grades factored in graduation rates and scores for college and career readiness. “On day two of the test, when we were still having kids being kicked off, my suggestion to the DOE and our state representatives was to consider this year a wash, that the test wasn’t salvageable at that point,” Stephens said. “There wasn’t anything that worked well in the spring test cycle,” he said, adding that the ➤ Tests, Page 6
YMCA launches ActivTrax program AUBURN — ActivTrax, a technology-based exercise and nutrition planner designed to help members realize their fitness goals, is in “soft launch” at the YMCA of DeKalb County. ActivTrax includes online fitness tracking, a smartphone app and a Kiosk at the YMCA. ActivTrax will launch officially on Jan. 2. With assistance from the YMCA fitness staff, members can design a custom fitness program, establish goals, track progress, and change their fitness regimen anytime, anywhere, even when visiting more than 400 YMCA facilities across the nation that have the ActivTrax system. “Once a fitness program is designed, the ActivTrax program tells members which exercises to do, as well as the actual amount they need to lift or run,” said Lynn Shonka, operations director at the YMCA. She added,
“ActivTrax provides ongoing feedback that prompts members to make appropriate fitness program changes to help them progress, and to be continually challenged.” ActivTrax is free for existing YMCA members. The first step to using the ActivTrax system is to make a FitStart appointment. When a member makes a FitStart appointment to use the ActivTrax system, he or she will receive a one-week free pass that can be given to a friend or relative to try the YMCA. The YMCA also is offering gift certificates that can be purchased by nonmembers or current members who may wish to give the gift of wellness and fitness. From Jan. 2-12, nonmembers can try the YMCA for free. Those who join as new members will be eligible to make a FitStart appointment and participate in the ActivTrax program.
Photo contributed
YMCA operations director Lynn Shonka demonstrates the ActivTrax kiosk to YMCA member Michelle Edmands.