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Saturday, October 29, 2016
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PHS considers course changes Speech and personal fitness being considered By Goldie Rapp grapp@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — Princeton High School most likely will eliminate speech class as a graduation requirement. At Wednesday’s board meeting, PHS Principal Andy Berlinski said the English department
unanimously agreed students are gaining the same public speaking skills in other courses at the school and believes the class should be removed from the one-half credit graduation requirement. Their recommendation was to continue offering the class as an elective. PHS Board member Gary Hanna said he is apprehensive about removing the class as a requirement, but he won’t argue with the English department’s decision. He said when he took speech in high school, he never had
intentions of choosing a career that would require him to speak in front of a crowd. However, as it turns out, most of his career has been based on public speaking. Hanna said he still even uses notes on public speaking he took from high school. “I certainly respect the English department, and if they feel this is the way to go, I’m not going to argue that. But it turned out for me to be a very important thing I learned in high school here at Princeton, and I’m just a little apprehensive for the students,” he said.
Board member Terry Smallwood agreed and told his own story of hating the class in college, but realizing later in his life he learned a lot from the skills taught on the subject and benefited from the opportunity. Berlinski said those points were discussed among with English department, however in the end, teachers felt students were already being taught speech skills in other English and history classes to the point where they felt it was doubling up. He said removing speech as a requirement to an elective would free
up areas for students to explore other subject classes. “We’re pretty secure in the fact that students still get a good amount of skills necessary with speaking in front of people in courses that incorporate speeches and presentations in their curriculum,” he said. In other news, the board is looking to offer to a new physical education course to students who don’t necessarily like competitive play or weight room training.
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Students looking to ‘Scare away Hunger’
UNDERSTANDING
Trick-or treaters will be asking for donations By Goldie Rapp grapp@bcrnews.com
This turkey vulture photographed in Tiskilwa seems to set the stage for the paranormal event held at Princeton Public Library on Thursday and for the upcoming Halloween holiday on Monday, Oct. 31. For trick-or-treat times throughout the area, see Page 3. BCR photo/Daniel Acker
THE UNEXPLAINED Local paranormal group shares case evidence
By Goldie Rapp grapp@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — Residents from around the area attended a special Halloween program Thursday evening at the Princeton Public Library hoping to catch a glimpse of the paranormal. Local professional investigators from Extreme Vision Paranormal presented a handful of findings from area homes and businesses they’ve recently been called to investigate. Extreme Vision Paranormal came Year 170 No. 130 One Section - 24 Pages
together in 2009 and is based out of Northern Illinois and Southwest Wyoming. The group has been dubbed the “I-80 ghost hunters” because of the several area locations they’ve investigated. nnn Investigator JC Phillips introduced volunteer investigators in the group on Thursday. He explained how the group got started and what goes on during a typical investigation. The team has collected evidence from homes and businesses from all over the state and beyond. The group is usually called to a location to assist homeowners in
understanding the unexplained. Gary Butler, founder of the group, explained the tools used in an investigation. Much like in the ghost-hunting shows on TV — investigators are usually equipped with various instruments such as voice recorders, cameras, EVP readers and a Echovox. Butler explained how the tools help pick-up evidence of paranormal or are used to communicate with spirits. Butler also explained the daunting task of reviewing evidence from a site —sometimes it can be a matter of going through 40 hours of video recorded at a location.
Unexplained Page 3
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SPRING VALLEY — A handful of trick-or-treaters in the Spring Valley and Ladd areas will be going door-to-door for more than just candy this year. Some children will be out asking neighbors for non-perishable food items to donate to the Hall Township Food Pantry. Jan Martin, director of the food pantry, said this is the first year the pantry is trying out this collection drive. “In most cases, neighbors are happy to open their cupboards and share a food item. It could be a can of soup, box of Jell-O, roll of toilet paper, Kleenex, etc,” she said. She said several local students have asked about helping to collect food for the hungry, and this was a fun way they came up with to help gather those extra items for those in need. Martin said neighbors don’t need to worry about going out to buy non-perishable food, but rather open the cupboards and see what extra items might be in there that they’re willing to share.
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