Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal December 15, 2016 Volume 154, Number 34 - $1.00
Tournament Win The Cardinals picked up a win Monday over Dakota during a holiday tournament. B1
Recognition
Volunteer
The Ogle County Fair Board named a volunteer of the year. B1
Families are encouraged to volunteer together throughout the year. B3
Young engineers learn by creating small robots By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com
Night and Day A snowstorm came through Ogle County for the second consecutive weekend. Above, A blanket of snow rests on the leaves of a holly plant Monday morning following the weekend snowstorm that left parts of Ogle County with more than 8 inches of snow. Below, The Ogle County Highway Department was out Saturday evening plowing snow at the start of the weekend storm. Photos by Chris Johnson
The students at Forreston Junior High build robots, and teacher Robert Wagner is amazed at what he sees. It’s natural to feel like students get to do more fun and engaging activities than the previous generations, but FJH students have taken it to a whole new level by building multiple fullyoperational robots. According to Wagner, the whole thing started in the Science Department meetings. Through Superintendent Sheri Smith, the group became familiar with Project Lead The Way. PLTW is an organization that employs unique, handson teaching methods to help students develop knowledge and skills to help them thrive in today’s world. The program also provides teachers with special training and resources to help better engage students. The staff became especially interested in the VEX robotics program. Starting this year, Wagner’s earth science class transformed into the
Ashton Schramm and Jordan Neuschwander display their Michael Jordan “Slam Dunk” pull toy, built in Robert Wagner’s class. Photo supplied
“Automation and Robotics” class, and traditional paper tests were replaced with grades given for building and engineering ingenuity. “I work in the high school, and by the time I walk to my room to teach the automation course, the kids are already engaged and working on their projects - without me having to be there and direct them,” said Wagner. The program has also shifted the teaching model a bit; Wagner claims he helps show the students the basic steps, but they then take off on their own. This model is also reflected in the VEX robotic sets themselves;
while technically a kit, they come with no instructions or building suggestions. Creativity and engineering perspective are the only maps. Students begin with designing on paper, and then testing those designs through building. Any problems along the way are redesigned until successful. “It’s so much fun to watch them; they’re engineers,” said Wagner. Once the robots are built, Wagner loads the program into the VEX computer module, allowing it to become responsive to Turn to A3
It’s time to file petitions to get on the April ballot By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Candidates running for office in the April 4 Consolidated Election have just a few days to get their petitions filed. The filing period for signed petitions and the related paperwork started Dec. 12 and runs through
Monday, Dec. 19. Offices on the April ballot include cities and villages, fire protection districts, forest preserve districts, public library districts, multi-township assessor, park districts, school districts, community college districts, and townships. The election is nonpartisan, which means
candidates do not declare an affiliation with a political party. The completed petitions must contain a specified number of signatures of registered voters residing in the area the elected office in question serves. The number of signatures needed is based on how many people voted in the previous election.
County worked hard to clear snow New reporter has a Salt supplies should be good for the season By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The Ogle County Highway Department was wellprepared for the one-two wintry punch that came in early December. A storm on Dec. 4 dropped six to eight inches of wet snow on the county and was followed less than a week later by another snowstorm that began in the mid-afternoon of Dec. 10 and continued for the next 28 hours. County engineer Jeremy Ciesiel said he has stored plenty of salt in readiness
for whatever Mother Nature deals out. “We started the season with two full bins, so we were ready,” he said. “The last two weekends have made a dent in it, but we are prepared to order more as we need it.” He said he was thankful, however, that the most recent snowfall proved to be less than the 10 to 15 inches predicted. The snowfall Dec. 10-11 varied across the county, with eight inches in the north, diminishing to the south. “We had more issues with blowing snow in the southwest part of the county,” Ciesiel said. The storms coming on the weekend have posed a challenge for snowplow drivers. “They’ve already worked
In This Week’s Edition...
“We started the season with two full bins, so we were ready,” — County engineer Jeremy Ciesiel all week, and then they get called in again,” he said. “It can be a long week for the guys. These storms have been coming every six and a half to seven days,” The county is responsible for plowing 270 miles of roads with 11 snowplows, two graders, and 13 drivers to man them. Last weekend Ciesiel said they went out Saturday afternoon and evening to treat the roads and clear the snow that began falling around 2:30 p.m. They returned to do it all over again early Sunday
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5
morning, then Sunday afternoon, and finally early Monday morning. “We try not to go more than 12 hours at a time,” Ciesiel said. “But sometimes we have to do 12 to 14-hour shifts.” Based on the weather forecast, the crew is planning on another weekend on the roads. Forecasts on Tuesday called for another storm with snow and possibly freezing rain to begin Friday afternoon and continue into Saturday. The amount of precipitation and exact track of the storm have not yet been determined.
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B5
Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B3
passion for writing By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A love of writing and the desire for truth brought a Polo man into journalism. Zach Arbogast, 30, has been a reporter for Ogle County Newspapers since Oct. 3, covering events, meetings, writing features, and taking photos for the Oregon Republican Reporter, Mt. Morris Times, Polo Tri-County Press, and Forreston Journal. He also writes for Sauk Valley Media. Arbogast was born in Naperville and grew up in
Joliet and Lyons. He and his wife Clea moved to Polo a year and a half Zach ago. Arbogast “I’ve loved to write all my life,” he said. His career has included working for a professional wrestling news site and a video game news site, and most recently as a broadcast journalist for Dixon radio station WIXN. Arbogast said he has Turn to A3
Death, B4 Wilborn D. Reagan
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com