Lake County Rising holds 10th annual awareness event

On Tuesday, February 14, members of the Lake County community gathered for Lake County Rising, an awareness event focused on the violence against women. This year marked 10 years since beginning this event and was sponsored by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, in partnership with NICASA Behavioral Health Services, A Safe Place, Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center, Mano a Mano Family Resource Center, YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, and National Louis University.

The program opened with Mundelein High School students, Lily Jones and Eva Pechtl singing “The Climb.” Then, Jones accompanied on guitar for their second rendition, Rachel Platten’s Fight Song.

The event continued with featured speakers from Lake County community organizations, discussing the changes they’ve observed over the past 10 years that had an impact on crimes against women.

Damaris Lorta, Chief Development Officer of A Safe Place, shared that while improvements have been made over the past 10 years, sadly, crimes against women still happen at appalling rates.

“I’d like to be out of a job,” Lorta said during her presentation.

She emphasized that community collaboration and increased engagement between service providers have been hallmarks of positive changes over the past 10 years.

Sandy Williams, Executive Director of Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center, reminded the audience of the increased awareness that has occurred as the result of movies such as, The Hunting Ground, which focused on sexual assaults on college campuses, and the “ME, TOO” movement.

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart echoed the sentiment that community engagement is a significant factor in making sure victims of crime receive the support they deserve. State’s Attorney Rinehart said that he and the entire staff of the State’s Attorney’s Office are committed to do their part to ensure that perpetrators of violence are held accountable and that the legal system acts holistically to address the root causes of crime.

For the past few years, Lake County Rising has had an art contest for Lake County students in 8th grade, and an essay and poetry contests for high school students.

Winners of these contests were presented with certificates and shared their winning submissions. Mariana Zepeda-Tamez, a student at River Trail School in Gurnee, was the winner of the art contest. The winning essayist and poet both hail from ZionBenton Township High School. Senior Jared Dawkins shared his essay.

Dawkins’ essay stated, “By speaking out and challenging oppressive systems, we create a culture of respect and safety for all. This will involve a collective effort and requires citizens to take an active role in advocating for the rights of women and other marginalized communities.”

Sophomore Sierra-Rayne Lincke shared her poem, “When Did Violent Minds Mean the Death of Women?” Lincke’s poem paid homage to Sarah Everard, India Cummings, Mahsa Amini, Breonna Taylor, and Brayla Stone, all women who have lost their lives due to violence. In her poem, she vows to “speak up and hope my word finds you well, reminding you of every single woman and girl who lost their life to violent minds.”

Volunteers sought for Volo Bog State Natural Area

Volo Bog State Natural Area is seeking volunteers for docent positions. The docents enjoy interacting with people, have a passion for nature and the environment, spend time enjoying the site and are motivated learners.

Docents greet and assist visitors, answer questions, and offer information about seasonal natural occurrences at the sites. They invite guests

• Teachers

to share their experiences and tell of ways to be more involved in enjoying and supporting the parks. Volo Bog SNA docents also help run the Friends of Volo Bog Tamarack Shop.

All new docents receive required readings and mentoring from staff, then shadow experienced docents for a minimum of three sessions before being able to sign up

(Continued from page 2) employees has made the teaching profession less desirable from a compensation standpoint.

Increasing substitute teacher accessibility

When it comes to filling short-term gaps, the report focused on increasing the pool of substitute teachers.

“When you don’t have enough classroom teachers, and then you don’t have enough subs, then you’ve got classrooms that are literally empty. I mean, the children are in the room but there’s no teacher,” said Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, who was also a teacher for 34 years in Decatur and Maroa-Forsyth.

Last April, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a package of four bills to address the shortage, including House Bill 4798, which allows currently enrolled teaching students with solo.

The two options and training schedule are as follows:

Monthly weekend docent – volunteer one weekend day per month for a minimum of one year. Training is Saturday, March 4 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Weekly weekday docents/ interpretive office support –volunteer one day per week (Wednesday or Thursday) at least 90 credit hours to be licensed as substitute teachers.

According to the survey, 60 percent of respondents said HB 4798 has helped recruit and retain teachers.

In addition, 80 percent of districts support a plan which would increase the number of days retired teachers can substitute from 120 days to 140 days without impacting their retirement benefits.

The number was increased

Leader Colleges play an important role in accelerating the adoption of effective practices within the ATD Network and across higher education. Leader Colleges are recognized for the quality of their work in whole-college reform, resulting in increased completion rates for all students. Leader Colleges develop innovative ways to work with other colleges to share knowledge and facilitate an exchange of ideas about evidence-based reform strategies.

CLC is part of the ATD Network, made up of 300+ colleges committed to advancing equity and supporting student success at their institutions and throughout their communities. CLC has been a member of the ATD Network since 2019.

CLC is recognized as a Leader College in the ATD network because of its good work over the last few years to improve the student experience. CLC will continue improving outcomes for students through two selective experiences.

CLC was one of nine schools selected for the second cohort for the Racial Equity Leadership Academy (RELA). RELA is a oneyear engagement that began Feb. 13. It is an intensive institute designed to support teams of leaders as they develop bold, strategic racial equity plans and implement actionable change efforts at their institutions.

Additionally, CLC was one of four schools selected for Building Capacity for Change: Strengthening Professional Learning on Your Campus (BCC), a program designed to help colleges engage educators and build student success. Working with campus-based teaching and learning teams, BCC empowers colleges to apply a comprehensive framework for high-impact professional learning to campus needs and goals.

Lake County residents can stay connected with 211

211 is a free, confidential one-stop resource that connects those in need to people that can help. All year long, trained expert navigators at Lake County’s 211 connect people to locally available resources, including help with rent, food, utility bills, employment and job training, childcare and after-school programs, legal services, health and mental health assistance, and so much more.

The service works by call- ing 2-1-1 or texting your zip code to 898211 to speak with a real person who can help. Trained expert navigators are standing by to guide you to the help you need. 211 is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year in more than 150 languages. Tell your friends and family about this free service so they know that help is only one phone call or text away. For more information about 211, visit 211LakeCounty. org. for a minimum of one year. Weekday docents are comfortable with data entry, copying, filing and other light office tasks. Training Thursdays are March 2 and 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to 120 from 90 in a bill signed in April, Senate Bill 3893, but it was scheduled to expire in 2023. The idea was supported by 79 percent of IARSS survey respondents, and the report advocated for making the extension permanent.

All trainings are two days plus mentoring. To apply contact Stacy Iwanicki, Natural resources Coordinator, at 815344-1294 or dnr.vologog@ illinois.gov.

The laws allowing college students to serve as substitute teachers is also scheduled to expire, and the report suggested making it permanent as well.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Hi-Liter/MCN

Pet of the week

Carol, is about 2 years old, spayed, up-to-date on routine shots (incl. rabies), tested negative for FIV, feline leukemia and heartworm and microchipped.

While walk-ins are welcome, adoptions are by appointments only to ensure we have the staff available to help adopters. For information and/ or to complete an online application, please visit www.saveapetil.org/adopt.

Antioch man arrested for the online grooming of a minor Police chief encourages parents to educate themselves and their children about online safety

A 28-year-old resident of the Village of Antioch has been arrested on charges he sent sexually explicit pictures and attempted to groom an underage victim online.

Jared Lorenzen, of the 800 block of Mockingbird Drive, Antioch, was arrested at his home February 16 evening by Antioch Police. The underage boy Lorenzen was communicating with was actually an undercover Mundelein Police Department detective who was assisting Antioch Police Detectives with their investigation.

Investigators say Lorenzen was corresponding with who he thought was a 14-year-old male, beginning in November 2022. The correspondence included Lorenzen sending self-pornographic images to the 14-year-old and eliciting pornographic images. Lorenzen also groomed the 14-year-old male to engage in sexual conduct.

During a search warrant conducted on Lorenzen’s home, a loaded firearm was also recovered. Charges are being reviewed by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office for owning a firearm without a FOID card.

Lorenzen was arrested and held on a $500,000 bond. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office approved three Class 4 felony charges of 2 x Grooming and 1 x Harmful Material. Charges include: Count 1: Grooming, 720 ILCS 5/11-25(a)- Class 4 Felony; Count 2: Grooming, 720 ILCS 5/11-25(a)- Class 4 Felony; and Count 3: Harmful Material, 720 ILCS 5/11-21(G) – Class 4 Felony.

Antioch Police Chief Geoffrey Guttschow says a strong message needs to be sent to child predators.

“Keeping our children safe is a top priority of the Antioch Police Department,” said Guttschow. “Let this incident serve as a warning to anyone who may be considering engaging in this sort of activity, law enforcement is watching and we will use every legal means necessary to prevent you from harming our children. You will be caught and we will arrest you.”

Guttschow also advises parents to educate themselves and their children about the dangers of engaging with strangers online.

“The anonymity of the internet makes it easy for sexual predators to seek out potential victims,” Guttschow said.

Online safety tips

Parents are encouraged to follow these online safety tips to help keep their children safe:

1. Educate yourself about the websites and social media apps your child uses.

2. Monitor your child’s social media accounts and have conversations with them about what is appropriate to say and share.

3. Make sure your child’s account privacy settings are set to restrict access to any personal information.

4. Tell your child to never share their location with anyone other than family.

5. Tell your child to avoid communicating with anyone they do not personally know.

6. Ensure your child knows they can come to you with any inappropriate or concerning activity.

The Antioch Police Department thanks the Mundelein Police Department and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office for their partnership in this investigation.