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November 30, 2015 • $1.00
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D-26 to offer dual-language kindergarten
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It really showed me that it’s kind of not good how we have so many foods that really are not healthy for us. ... The whole reason we think we need something sweet is because it taste better to us.” Kayla Janz, McHenry resident
STUDY SUGGESTS HEALTH DETRIMENTS OF SUGAR INDEPENDENT OF CALORIC VALUE
Registration to begin in January By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com CARY – Starting next year, incoming kindergartners in Cary Community Consolidated School District 26 will have the option to enroll in a class meant to teach proficiency in both English and Spanish. A dual-language program was unanimously approved by the school board last week, and will roll out for the first time during the 2016-17 school year. “It’s a huge deal,” Director of Curriculum Valerie McCall said, adding the completed program came together after two to three years. Dual language is instruction through two languages, in this case English and Spanish, with the goal of promoting full proficiency in oral and written aspects of both languages, according to District 26 documents. Its benefits range from generally advancing developmental and cognitive capacities, to satisfying a legal requirement to provide bilingual instruction for English-language learners, to providing a cross-cultural understanding, the documents say. District officials said in its first year, the district’s program will cost about $13,000, which will cover the cost of materials and supplies, plus staff development and parent activities. Some staff will be reassigned, but no new positions will be added. A 50/50 model in which classrooms are comprised of 50 percent native English speakers and 50 percent native Spanish speakers will require an English-speaking teacher as well as a Spanish-speaking teacher, documents show. Students will be mixed and split between the two teachers, spending half the day being taught in English and the other half being taught in Spanish. This will be a change
“It’s a huge deal.” Valerie McCall District 26 director of curriculum
from the current District 26 program, ELL coordinator Javier Lopez said. The goal for what is in place now is for students to only be at a high level of academic English proficiency. “The difference for dual language is we’re trying to have them be biliterate,” Lopez said. The program’s development involved observing dual-language classrooms in other districts, meetings with other district officials, surveying both teachers and community members, writing curriculum and hosting parent nights, district documents show. At the helm of the new program has been a committee of faculty, staff, administrators, board members and members of the community. Now that the board officially thrown has its support behind the program, District 26 will become one of several area districts to offer a dual-language program. In McHenry County, Woodstock Community Unit School District 200 led the way for dual language more than 10 years ago. Since then, Crystal Lake-based Elementary School District 47, Harvard School District 50 and Algonquin-based Community School District 300 have started programs. As for District 26’s rollout, it will start with kindergarten next school year, but the plan is to expand, McCall said. “Our goal is to roll it up [a grade] every successive year,” she said. “So we would start next year with kindergarten only, ... then we’ll add first grade, then second and so on.” Registration for the new program will begin in January.
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Kayla Janz, 17, practices for winter guard Nov. 18 outside her McHenry home. Janz cut sugar from her diet for a year to see if it would help her migraines. She found that it did, and her year of no added sugars is over now, but she’s thinking about going back to it. She noticed a lot of other good side effects, including being less hungry, having smoother skin, losing weight and having more energy.
SUGAR-FREE DIET
McHenry teen experiences boost in health after cutting added sugar for a year By HANNAH PROKOP hprokop@shawmedia.com
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or one year, 17-year-old Kayla Janz cut added sugars from her diet and saw significant health improvements. This meant eliminating her favorite treat – Frappuccinos, only having a sample size bite of ice cream on her birthday and eating mostly meat and vegetables, Janz said. “[Sugar] is in so many foods that you would never wrap your head around it being in,” Janz said. “… So my diet drastically changed.” Janz’s heath changed, too. She had less complex migraine spells, had more energy, less acne, softer skin and wasn’t as hungry in between
meals, she said. A recent study from the research journal Obesity substituted sugar in the diets of Latino and African-American children with obesity and metabolic syndrome. The study found that when fructose was taken out of the participants’ diets and replaced with food that contained the same amount of calories, there were improvements to the participants’ health. “The health detriments of sugar, and fructose specifically, are independent of its caloric value or effects on weight,” the study concluded. Janz was never overweight, and she said her weight stayed pretty consistent throughout her year without sugar. The biggest health change she
noticed was the constant energy she had. Janz started her year without sugar in August 2014, and she used her experience for an Advanced Placement language and composition class project at McHenry East High School, where she is a senior. After her sugar-free diet and research project, Janz said she learned people don’t need sugar in their diets. “It really showed me that it’s kind of not good how we have so many foods that really are not healthy for us. And [food] doesn’t need sugar in it,” Janz said. “The whole reason we think we need something sweet is because it taste better to us.” She’s back to eating added sugar now, but said she’s considering cutting it from her diet again. In a fast-paced world, people tend to reach for food that’s convenient to eat, said Anne Borris, outpatient
See SUGAR, page A8
Voice your opinion: What’s the biggest source of sugar in your diet? Vote online at NWHerald.com.
Countries, investors pledge billions for clean energy tech The ASSOCIATED PRESS Government and business leaders are banking on clean energy technology to fight global warming, kicking off this week’s high-stakes climate change negotiations by pledging billions of dollars to research and develop a technical fix to the planet’s climate woes. Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande will launch a joint initiative Monday after a diplomatic push in recent weeks ahead of the Paris climate conference. A key goal is to bring down the cost AP photo of cleaner energy. At least 19 governActivists form a human chain during a protest Sunday ahead of the 2015 Paris Climate ments and 28 leading world investors, Conference. More than 140 world leaders are gathering around Paris for high-stakes including Facebook founder Mark climate talks that start Monday, and activists are holding marches and protests Zuckerberg, billionaires George Soaround the world to urge them to reach a strong agreement to slow global warming. ros and Saudi Prince Alaweed bin Ta-
“It brings a new kind of burst of energy into the conference right at the beginning on something very important.” Jennifer Morgan World Resources Institute global climate director lal, and Jack Ma of China’s Alibaba, have signed on so far. “It’s quite a big deal,” said Jennifer Morgan, global climate director for the World Resources Institute. “It brings a new kind of burst of energy into the conference right at the beginning on something very important.” The U.N. climate summit formally opened Sunday afternoon with a
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minute of silence for the victims of this month’s Paris attacks and vows not to let terrorism derail efforts to slow or stop climate change. A few miles away in Paris, police trying to secure the nation against new violence sprayed tear gas on protesters who defied a ban on demonstrations and lobbed projectiles. A big sticking point at the climate talks will be money – how much rich countries should invest to help poor countries cope with climate change, how much should be invested in renewable energy, and how much traditional oil and gas producers stand to lose if countries agree to forever reduce emissions. The new initiative is twofold: a public-private project called Mission Innovation, led by governments, and
See ENERGY, page A8
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