OpiniOn

The crew at City Square Dental is “masked up” to help in preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Pictured are (from left) Jenny Bunting, Helen Macmillan, Dr. Whitney Behm, and Elaine Bukolt. The Independent wants you to join the fight by sending in a photo of members of your family, club, office, or other group in your masks. Please email your photo to woodstock4all@thewoodstockindependent.com. We’re all in this together, Woodstock.

SHOW OFF YOUR MASKS! INDEPENDENT TheWoodstock thewoodstockindependent.com #woodstock4all

STUDENT WEEK OF THE JAIR AYALA Jair Ayala is a sophomore at Woodstock High School. He is the son of Jatziri Ayala and Maria Mercado, Woodstock. “Jair’s success in class in this challenging e-Learning environment comes from his positive attitude and his motivation to self-advocate. He is willing to participate in class with his microphone to contribute feedback, ask questions, and complete group work, which is a welcome sound to teachers and students alike. What most impresses me, though, is that he seeks out information and feedback. He has been working ahead on a unit project and asked for feedback to better understand the assignment. When something wasn’t right, he didn’t give up or chalk it up to tech issues, he looked for alternative solutions to resubmit his work. A lot of this school year will challenge students to problem solve, and Jair is handling this situation with perseverance,” said one of his teachers. Jair is a member of the WHS soccer and wrestling teams. When asked who inspires him, Jair said, “My uncle (Froy), he’s been motivating me to be a successful person in the things I love doing such as soccer or any other activities. He’s the person that supports me when I need it.” When asked what makes him feel successful, Jair said, “I feel successful because it’s great when I work hard in school or activities, and at some point, it feels great when I finally achieved what I’ve been doing to accomplish that. I study, practice, complete schoolwork and homework, show up for class, and pay attention.”

SPONSORED BY

111 E. Van Buren Street Woodstock, IL 60098 (815) 206-5967 readbetweenthelynes.com

Woodstock Vocational Agriculture students look over corn in a test plot in 1981. Pictured from left: Ken Bowman, Phil Brown, Scott Ihssen, Chris Austin, Mark Ihssen, and Steve Felmeten.

Tickets are now available for the McHenry County Historical Society’s 2020 Heritage Quilters Raffle Quilt, “Fit to be Tied.” The new quilt is a bow-tie pattern made from reproduction 1930’s pastel prints. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5 and can be purchased at www.mchenrycountyhistory.org.

By Larry Lough LARRY@THEWOODSTOCKINDEPENDENT.COM

Whether Woodstock School District 200 returns to in-school instruction on Oct. 19 will depend on where COVID-19 metrics stand on Oct. 16.

But it’s already “code red” for one school.

Moan sent an email last Wednesday to parents of Verda Dierzen Early Learning Center to tell them that school will not resume classes until at least Oct. 26 after two positive COVID-19 cases were reported among staff members this week.

The Board of Education last month adopted a hybrid plan that would allow students to return to school, tentatively set for Oct. 19, if parents allow and coronavirus metrics are favorable. All students have used remote learning from home since the first quarter began Aug. 17, and that option will still be available to parents.

The board also voted in September to follow four COVID-19 measures in determining when students should resume in-school instruction. The McHenry County Department of Health is tracking the metrics – rates of infection incidence and positivity tests, hospital admissions with coronavirus-like symptoms, and weekly increases in new cases.

Those measures are publicly accessible on the department’s website each Friday with updated results from the previous 14 days, so inschool instruction won’t depend on the daily ups and downs of the metrics.

“The thing we can’t do,” Moan told n Follow the School Metrics Dashboard at bit.ly/McHenrySchoolMetrics.

the board, “we can’t yo-yo by day.”

Health officials last week set up the School Metrics Dashboard online at bit.ly/McHenrySchoolMetrics.

At a board meeting last week, Moan said those metrics were “a missing piece for a while” as administrators tried to determine when it would be safe to reopen schools.

The hybrid program would allow students to attend school on alternating days in combination with eLeaning.

In his email the day after the Oct. 6 board meeting, Moan said the district was coordinating efforts with health officials “to promptly identify and monitor individuals who have had recent contact with the COVID19 positive individuals to prevent further spread within our school and community.”

“Rather than open VDELC to hybrid learning on October 19 with the rest of District 200,” the email said, “we believe it is in the best interest of our students and staff to allow an additional week to continue to coordinate our logistical planning for reopening to best meet the needs of our students.”

Moan reported the district was following guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the state and local health departments to assure “best practices and procedures to protect everyone’s health.”

At last week’s board meeting, the superintendent said parents would be advised constantly of changes that affected the school schedule.

Board member John Headley urged everyone to be flexible.

According to Moan’s email, Verda Dierzen – for preschool and kindergarten students – is also taking these steps to ensure safety: n Placing staff members and students who are identified as having prolonged close contact to the COVID-19 case(s) in quarantine for 14 days. Close contacts will also receive a separate notification from the Department of Health. n Ongoing monitoring of staff for signs and symptoms of illness and evaluation of reports of illnesses to promptly identify possible outbreaks. n Conducting a deep clean and disinfection of the areas impacted by potential exposure to the COVID-19 virus. n Other actions: Reminders to staff regarding social distancing requirements.

“We are committed to providing our students and staff with a safe and healthy environment,” Moan wrote. “Thank you for your understanding and ongoing cooperation with our COVID prevention policies and procedures as we work to help protect our staff, students and families.

Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., has welcomed two Wonder Lake students among more than 700 new students on campus.

Kayla Metreger and Bryce Nolan are part of a class that, in terms of academic quality, is one of the strongest Carthage has seen when measured by GPA, ACT, class ranking, and strength of curriculum, according to a news release.

The top five majors of interest for the Class of 2024 are nursing, biology, psychology, management, and computer science.

The incoming undergraduate class at the University of Iowa in Iowa City for fall 2021 has topped previous records in achievement with a higher average high school GPA, at 3.78, than any previous class, according to a news release. The average high school GPA for the classes of 2023 and 2022 were 3.76 and 3.71, respectively.

The Class of 2024 has 4,530 students, 456 fewer than last year. A decrease in enrollment was anticipated because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new class includes several Woodstock-area students enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. They are Mya Cermak of Wonder Lake and Woodstock residents Linzie Harding, Madelyn Hughes, and Samantha Stevens.

Claire Helfman of Woodstock is among more than 11,000 students from around the world who are enrolled at Hofstra University, a private university in Hempstead, N.Y.

Dulce Lopez Quintero of Woodstock has received a degree in human services leadership through the College of Education and Human Services at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wis.