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Wednesday, April 20, 2016
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
AMBOY | EDUCATION
Can students pick up the pace? While educators say a new learning program will help kids, some parents and teachers aren’t so sure BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 @CHeimerman_SVM
AMBOY – Major changes to the way kids learn are coming this fall to the Amboy School District. Specifically, the plans are to begin a districtwide 1-to-1
technology initiative in the fall, and to implement self-paced learning in the 2017-18 school year. Specifics, particularly with the latter plan, are what some parents and teachers are seeking. The gist of self-paced learning is that students can complete units at their
own pace. The district plans to begin by using the system in just English language arts and math. Teachers would organize their units and, when students complete those for a current school year, they’d become eligible to move to the next grade level. “The fundamental question is, ‘What’s
EDUCATION
The
PACE CONTINUED ON A5
LEE COUNTY
WACC’s tech class helps kids learn whether they want to get with the program
key to their future
stopping a fourth-grader from doing work on a fifth-grade level, or a junior-high kid from taking high school classes?’” Superintendent Jeff Thake said. “I do not want to slow our students down, and I don’t want to slow our teachers down.”
Chairman: New member is ‘sure to be an asset’ Business owner fills vacancy; board also tables wind farm project extension BY RACHEL RODGERS rrodgers@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5529 @rj_rodgers
Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
Amboy senior James Blackburn (left), 17, and Newman Central Catholic High School senior Matthew Johnson, 18, work on Linux programing during the computer technology class Tuesday at Whiteside Area Career Center in Sterling. BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 @CHeimerman_SVM
STERLING – If it weren’t for compatibility issues because of a recent Windows 10 upgrade, Erie High School junior Austin Sullivan would have happily shown off the virtual machine he built to hack a system’s security. That nicely sums up the crux of computer technology at Whiteside Area Career Center. Technology is constantly changing, and at the core of the syllabus is ethics. Sullivan, 17, started his first year at WACC already boasting a wealth of knowledge, a not uncommon challenge for ninth-year instructor Dana Fellows.
“This goes for most of our programs at WACC: It’s not like history or math, where they’ve been doing it before they get here,” Fellows said Tuesday afternoon. “Some kids are very tech-savvy – sometimes they scare me – but typically, they come in and they don’t know a lot about tech. It’s like the way a baby learns: a lot in a couple of years.” Many of the students – including Sullivan – are interested in being network administrators or network security analysts, and the key to beating the hacker is to be a bit faster, a bit sharper than the hacker. That’s why Sullivan has been tinkering with Kali Linux, a system used for penetration testing. LEARNING CONTINUED ON A11
Online extra Click on this story at saukvalley.com to hear how Whiteside Area Career Center student Austin Sullivan honed his computer skills.
DIXON – The Lee County Board welcomed a new member to its ranks Tuesday. The board appointed Dixon native Steve Dilger to fill the District 3 vacancy left by George Bellovics, a landscape architect with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Board chairman Rick Ketchum said Bellovics served 2 months on the board and resigned because of work-related conflicts. “I’ve known Steve for years, and he is sure to be an asset to the board,” Ketchum said. Dilger filled the open seat on Tuesday, and his term will run to Nov. 30. “This is a great opportunity to see Next meeting what the county The Lee County government deciBoard next meets sion process is all at 9 a.m. May 17 about, and they in the third-floor need younger boardroom of the members to keep Old Lee County operations going,” Courthouse, 112 E. the 44-year-old DilSeoncd St., Dixon ger said. The agenda He has been the will be posted at owner of DNR leecountyil.com Electric Contrac2 days before the tors for 9 years meeting. and also was president of the local Gyro International Club chapter, a fraternal organization that performs good deeds anonymously. Dilger’s wife, Kristine, is a nurse at CGH Medical Center, and he has two stepchildren. He said he looks forward to contributing to board operations and making decisions to benefit the people of Lee County. “This is all new to me, and I never thought I would be doing something like this, but I want to do the best I can to make things better for the community.”
Wind energy project proposal tabled Also Tuesday, the board tabled a proposal to extend special-use permits for the construction of the Green River wind energy project, a controversial endeavor that has been bogged down by delays during the past few years. Green River is a wind farm development that Mainstream Renewable Energy began working on in 2009, and Geronimo Energy acquired in December 2013. MEMBER CONTINUED ON A5
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INDEX
ABBY ................... A8 COMICS ...............B6 CROSSWORD....B12
LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2 FOOD ..............A9-10
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
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