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NEW CARE ER
Rock Falls hosts READY FOR A NEW JOB Oregon on the court OR A NEW CAREER? SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE BIG NORTHERN BOYS, B1
DIXON HIGH SCHOOL | DRINKING WATER
Tests show high levels of lead Preliminary results show levels 10 times safe amount; 9 fountains shut off BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 @CHeimerman_SVM
DIXON – Nine water fountains are turned off at Dixon High School after preliminary test results showed lead levels in one were 10 times more than
what’s considered safe. In an effort to get a head start on a new state requirement that schools test all its potable water sources, the district took three samples from the high school shortly after holiday break – one from the first floor in the main part of the building near the
west stairwell, one near Lancaster Gym, and one from the kitchen in the 1958 addition. Buildings and Grounds Director Kevin Schultz learned during a call Friday morning from P.D.C. of Peoria, which did the tests, that the sample taken near the stairwell had 50 parts
of lead per billion. The “safe” threshold is 5. Schultz suspects the cause is the fixture itself, and the valves and pipes directly in the unit, rather than the pipes feeding them, so all six porcelain fixtures of that style have been turned off, as have three simi-
EDUCATION | CHALLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL
lar porcelain models. “We’re not taking any chances,” Schultz said. “We’re shutting all of them down.” About 20 drinking fountains still are operating, since the other two samples tested safe. LEAD continued on A24
THE PEOPLE’S VOICE christopher HEIMERMAN Heimerman is the Enterprise and Projects Editor at SVM. He can be reached at cheimerman@ saukvalley. com or 815-625-3600, ext. 5523.
Anderson a teaching web gem
A Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Challand Middle School seventh-grader Gabe Garza (right) takes a hot chocolate order Friday at Warrior Way Java Spot, a business run every Monday and Friday by the school’s life skills class and teacher, Susan Erisman (far right). The shop served 66 beverages Friday morning, running the shop’s profits to date to nearly $200. The students plan to pay back the BiCounty Foundation for the $500 grant that funded the initiative, and they hope to buy a smartboard for their classroom, too.
What’s the
buzz about?
Special education kids running café, learning social and life skills BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 CHeimerman_SVM
STERLING – Gabe Garza was flying, and he hadn’t even had any hot chocolate yet. The seventh-grader went from pouring hot water on hot chocolate mix, to stirring it, serving it, high-fiving a co-worker, and then coming to a rare halt near the coffeemakers, while droves of students and staff kept flowing to the register. “Whoo!” Gabe said. “It’s freezing in here. We better serve some hot chocolate!” Welcome to The Warrior Way Java Spot, where Challand Middle School special education students have built skills, bonds and confidence since early December. Oh, and they’ve served a few hundred cups of coffee and hot chocolate, too. BUZZ continued on A54
Online extras
Click on this story to see Warrior Way Java Spot in action, and to watch video of the parade held at Challand Middle School on Monday for its Special Olympics medalists in individual basketball skills.
Mostly cloudy
VOLUME 9 ISSUE 22 44 Pages
Today: 30/22 For the forecast, see Page A15
Business
Dinges Fire Company is more than just a way to make a living for owner. See Page C1
Community Artful dodgers many of them were, as participants competed in the Sauk Valley Heat Dodgeball Tournament to raise money for a baseball team. See Page C12
s a retired teacher, Tom Anderson doesn’t technically need his teacher’s license. Teaching, however, has been his life. Imagine not being certified to live. Besides, what if another Max comes along? Who’s Max? So glad you asked. Sit back, and buckle in your brain.
Building a résumé in retirement
Before Anderson, 71, retired from Rock Falls High School in 2000, after teaching math there 32 years, he’d begun ramping up for life in retirement. “I was just kind of expecting to just plain retire, and maybe do some of this on the side,” Anderson said. That’s one of the incredibly few incorrect answers Anderson has ever come up with. In 1995, he agreed to teach calculus at the high school – even though he hadn’t taught it in 30 years. The University of Illinois, where he’d gotten his master’s in physics, offered him an opportunity to team up and teach calculus over the internet. “I didn’t know what the current trends were with calculus, or how it was being adapted to technology, and here was an institution handing us an opportunity on a silver platter.” Anderson persuaded RFHS administration to take up the offer, putting into motion his wild, ongoing ride in online education. PEOPLE’S VOICE continued on A34
Index Births................. C5
Lottery............... A2
Business............ C1
Markets........... A15
Classified......... B11
Obituaries.......... A4
Comics.............. B9
Opinion.............. A6
Community...... C12
Scoreboard....... B8
Crossword Saturday.......... B14
Scrapbook........ C3
Crossword Sunday.............. C8
Support groups... C5
Dave Ramsey.... C1
Weather........... A15
Dear Abby......... C6
Wheels............ B16
Sports............... B1 Travel............... C10