Last weekend’s Boneyard Arts Festival was all about promoting the arts in Champaign County, showcasing the talent in Champaign and Urbana. At the Urbana Free Library, visual and performing arts from students in the Urbana School District were on display.
In the children’s section, students’ self-portraits and mixed media art projects showed what the children had been learning in class. Meanwhile, troupes of dancers from Urbana elementary schools performed everything from tap dance to some of their own choreography in the nearby auditorium.
Behind the scenes making it all happen was Urbana’s elementary fine arts coordinator, Betty Allen.
In Urbana, students in kindergarten through fifth grade experience dance, drama, music and visual art on a six week rotation. When it’s time for dance and drama, students at Flossie Wiley and Yankee Ridge Elementary schools see Mrs. Allen.
Teaching dance and drama to elementary students wasn’t what Allen envisioned as her future career as a student at the Illinois State University, though.
“I guess I always thought I would be at a high school because there’s not a lot of elementary programs out there,” Allen said. “So I guess doing my student teaching in dance at the high school level, I just thought ‘I’ll be at a high school.’ And then this position came open and I took it.
“I did student teach at the elementary level, but I just never thought I’d be at the elementary level,” Allen added. “But after being at this level, I love it and now I can’t see myself doing anything else.”
Teaching elementary students wasn’t the only adjustment Allen had to make when she took the position, however. The way the curriculum in the district is structured, she also serves as the drama teacher.
“I always have been around, you know, plays and musicals and things, but I really had to kind of dive into that curriculum more than the dance. The dance curriculum is, you know, I’ve got that, but I had to do a little more in the drama area just to make sure that I was right on track,” Allen said. “But now, you know, I’ve been doing it long enough that it just seems natural and normal. I never thought I’d be dance and drama, kindergarten through fifth, but that’s what’s happened and it’s been good.”
Allen’s students agree that Mrs. Allen makes dance and drama something they look forward to every day.
“She’s like really good at dancing,” Zina Dolan, a fourth-grade student at Flossie Wiley said. “She has like lots of good opinions and she’ll help you do stuff."
Demonstrating the motions in front of a class of active second-grade students, Allen’s enthusiasm for dance is evident.
“Mason, see if you can go smaller, see? You don’t have to go way far out. Ah, keep it in, see?”
“Right, left, right, left, right, left, left, left, left,” Allen counts off for the students, helping them remember the next motion in their newest dance, “The Mexican Hat Dance.”
As soon as one dance is over, Allen moves quickly to the next, not giving the now energized class a chance to get too distracted in between. Wooden sticks in blues, greens, yellows and reds are quickly in eager hands and held crossed over heads, ready to dance to “Los Machetes.”
“Under over, under over, back, front, uno, dos, tres,” Allen keeps time to the music. Wooden sticks bang together as eager students follow their teacher.
“How many times do we do that pattern Miles?”
“Eight times.” Miles, a dark-haired second-grader responds.
“You’re close, four times. Now the music is much faster, ready?” the trendy teacher clad in black and white asks as she restarts the music and dances along with the class.
The dances from Mexico that the second-grade students are learning now is at the request of their teacher, who will be teaching a section on Mexico after her students’ rotation through dance class is over.
“She’s just a wonderful teaching colleague and I’m just so happy to get a chance to work with her,” Flossie Wiley second grade teacher Patty Bergan said. “She took what one of our classroom projects was, because I’m not shy about, although we have arts teachers, I’m not shy about having dance and drama and art and music things going on in my classroom at other times of the day and times of the year.”
A veteran teacher herself, Bergan appreciates Allen’s approach to teaching the arts.
“I think (the students) feel this is a safe environment. Mrs. Allen makes it a safe environment for all things expressive,” Bergan said. “And that includes sometimes some boys who might, even at a young age, start getting a little bit of macho about them, but I don’t see any (of that).”
Even second graders can appreciate Allen’s hands-on teaching approach.
“Whenever she’s teaching dance and if we do something like a little mistake, she jut tells us to try it again,” Caitlyn Tinerella said.
Part of Allen’s passion for dance may be associated with her lifelong participation in the arts.
“Initially, I guess it was my parents, you know, putting me in dance classes. But I don’t know, it’s just something with their initial probing, I guess, or pushing, something I’ve always done and it’s just like a part of me now,” Allen said. “I can’t imagine not dancing or having dance. It’s still fun and I love it and I love to move.”
Born in Ohio, Allen began dancing before she reached kindergarten. She continued dancing when her family relocated to southern Illinois when she was in eighth grade.
It was dance that brought the petite blonde and her husband, David, together when they were both sophomores in high school.
“She was in the marching band color guard and I was in the marching band and she was always involved in anything that had dance tied to it. Color guard, in our small town, was one of the only ways to explore that, you know,” David Allen said. “So, we were kind of the same group of friends. It was like our sophomore year in high school actually. Dated all through high school and college and got married at the end of our undergrad.”
The self-proclaimed band geeks weren’t done with the activity that brought them together after high school, however.
“I taught high school band and you know marching band, you’ve got the color guard. We were kind of a team for that,” David Allen said.
Their band days may be behind them, but David Allen is also a member of the arts community in Champaign County as the coordinator of outreach and public engagement for the University’s School of Music. While they focus on students of very different ages, their purpose is essentially the same.
“I think we’re both kind of interested in figuring out situations that give the kids a chance to have experiences they wouldn’t otherwise. We don’t get up and perform on the stage, neither of us really,” David Allen said. “We have that background, but I tell people I like to point the spotlight more than be in it.
“You can influence a lot of people that way if you put the right teacher in front of the right kid or the right performer in front of the right kid, they can be inspired for life,” he added. “That’s basically what I do and I think that’s pretty much what (Betty does). We’re coordinators of experiences.”
As the elementary fine arts coordinator for the district, Betty Allen has orchestrated multiple experiences for her students.
Working with the School of Music and a CU Foundation Grant, Allen arranged to have students at all the elementary schools experience a performance of gamelan and Balinese dance.
According to Wikipedia, a gamelan is an Indonesian musical ensemble composed of a set of instruments that is designed and tuned to be played together, meaning the instruments of different gamelans can’t be interchanged. They may include instruments from bamboo flutes to bowed and plucked strings, to drums and gongs.
I Ketut Gede Asnawa, a visiting professor of musicology and gamelan in the University’s School of Music, has brought the gamelan as several pieces and performed the gamelan for Urbana students.
“It’s really, really cool. And then he also has had his daughter and his wife in to do Balinese dance,” Allen said. “So at each of the schools we’ve had an assembly for the whole student body to get to see the gamelan and listen to it and see dancing and then we’ve chose one grade at each school to do workshops in both of those areas.”
Allen’s students don’t only watch impressive performances, however. They also have opportunities to be the performers. Outside of classroom instruction, Allen also teaches a volunteer performing group of fourth and fifth-grade students from Yankee Ridge.
For an hour after school on Tuesdays, the students work on choreography, mostly arranged by Allen, to perform at the end of the semester. In the fall, participants perform in the Foellinger Great Hall in the Krannert Center, where the Chicago Symphony, Luciano Pavarotti and other renowned professionals have also taken the stage.
“It’s amazing how they rise to the occasion because they, you know, they’ve never been on a stage like that or in a venue like that and it just looks like they’ve done this over and over again every year,” Allen said.
It may be some time before the students fully appreciate what they have accomplished by performing in the Great Hall, but Allen’s hard work and dedication isn’t lost on her students’ parents.
“(She) leaves some space in there for them to do their own creative thing, but also she teaches them some really good basics, I think, for dance,” said Maggie Whicker, whose daughter is a fourth grader in the volunteer performing group. “This is Sarah’s only dance experience, and she’s really blossomed with Betty being her teacher, so we’ve decided dance is kind of cool.”
Making dance an enjoyable experience for students from a kindergarten through fifth grade with a wide variety of learning styles is no easy task. But it’s one Allen has managed to achieve.
“It’s just obvious how much she enjoys it, but also how she tries to, I think, engage in the child’s world to get them involved, help them discover what it is that she’s asking them to do because it’s often a new experience for children to do the dancing, the rhythm, the role playing,” Flossie Wiley Principal Barbara Sartain said. “Those things take a little bit of risk on the part of children and she makes it delightful and she breaks it down properly, her teaching skills are so good, so that it’s accessible to kids of all different levels of talent and all different ages.”
For Allen, it’s the little moments that make teaching worthwhile.
“Lilly, when she was in second grade, we rotate every six weeks, so I had been here like the first six weeks of the semester, and at the end of the school year, she wrote me this letter that was just unbelievable,” Allen said. “It was just so nice and so sweet. It was just one of those things that it’s in my keep folder, you know, that I’ll have forever.”
Lilly is a fourth-grader at Flossie Wiley Elementary and one of Mrs. Allen’s biggest fans.
“I’ve always thought that she was really nice, like she’s always been really nice to us,” Lilly said. “She’s never been unfair.”
Even if her current students don’t go on to be professionals in dance or the arts, Allen feels there are plenty of applications they can take away from dance and drama to apply in their lives.
“I’m hoping that their eyes are a little bit more opened, just in general, that they can understand a little bit more about the arts, they can appreciate the arts and just that they maybe have a little bit more, you know, creative problem solving that they take with them,” Allen said. “And I want them to be able to enjoy it, you know, be a lifelong thing.”
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Court Memo
I learned that juvenile delinquent and juvenile abuse and neglect cases are not open to the public and the filings for the cases are not made public either. Additionally, juvenile adoption and delinquent records are not public access. However, certain judges may open juvenile delinquent records if the reporter can present a convincing position. Some judges believe that printing the names of young offenders will shame them into good behavior. Other records that are not available in Illinois are police reports, which are not public record while the case is under investigation and therefore not subject to FOI requests during that time.
To be an effective court reporter, a journalist should be organized and take initiative. The reporter must track the case through the system so that they don’t miss any important information. The circuit court schedule can be found online so you can determine where you should be and when, because the schedule gives the itinerary for each courtroom. For a good court story, the reporter does not necessarily have to chase down the defendants, victims or attorneys. Anything said in court or found in the file may be reported. This is why it is so important to attend trials through the various stages.
To be an effective court reporter, a journalist should be organized and take initiative. The reporter must track the case through the system so that they don’t miss any important information. The circuit court schedule can be found online so you can determine where you should be and when, because the schedule gives the itinerary for each courtroom. For a good court story, the reporter does not necessarily have to chase down the defendants, victims or attorneys. Anything said in court or found in the file may be reported. This is why it is so important to attend trials through the various stages.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
My Dad
Years of earning a living in a job that demanded everything of his body every day left him in pain, but he didn’t stop working. In to his 50s he pushed carts, lifted boxes and moved equipment until he finally gave in to the arthritis in his hip and had surgery. Ten weeks later he still walks with a limp, and hasn’t been cleared to return to work. Despite being stranded at home, he hasn’t stopped working. Curt Munson works around the house for now, doing whatever he can for his family before he can return to his real job at the post office. My dad has always done everything to give “his girls” the best life possible, and we couldn’t be more grateful.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Issue story
My beat is Urbana education. For my issue story, I'm planning on using the news angle of the replacement of the Washington Early Childhood Center which will occur because the 1 percent sales tax increase passed on April 7. I'm planning on covering the importance of early childhood education, especially for at risk children, and the problems that are encountered in the process. If you have any other ideas for me about angles, let me know.
Thanks guys!
Thanks guys!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Possible sales tax increase would improve Urbana school facilities
When residents of Champaign County go to their polling places on April 7, there will be more at stake for students in the Urbana School District than the possibility of new aldermen and village clerks. The ballot will include a referendum to introduce a 1 percent sales tax in Champaign County, designated to improve school facilities.
The County School Facility Occupation Tax Law, which took effect in October of 2007 despite a veto by former Governor Rod Blagojevich, makes it possible for schools to generate income from sales tax. Previously, Illinois school districts were forced to ask voters to increase their property taxes to fund building repair or replacement.
“What the county-wide sales tax will allow is each of the 14 public school districts in the county to develop regular, strategic short term and long term maintenance plans instead of the boom and bust cycle we have right now, because (it’s) money you can rely on coming, you know it’s going to be there,” Urbana School Board President Mark Netter said.
If a majority of Champaign County voters approve the referendum, the 1 percent sales tax will go into effect Jan. 1, 2010, and the revenue will be distributed among every public school in the county.
The amount each district would receive would be determined by the number of students the district serves. USD 116 is projected to receive $3 million annually.
“Right now, in Urbana at least, we’re 50 percent dependent on the property tax. We get about a third of our budget then from state aid and the rest from federal grants,” Netter said. “The 1 percent sales tax diversifies a way to give us an alternative source of revenue.”
According to Netter, the sales tax would also regionalize support for public schools since residents of any city or town in Champaign County can shop outside of their own district and part of the sales tax they pay will benefit their local public school.
“If you live in Thomasboro or Ludow and you shop on North Prospect, some of your purchase is going to go back and benefit your schools in Thomasboro or Ludlow, it won’t all go to the Champaign school district,” Netter said.
But the fact that anyone shopping in Champaign County will be supporting all 14 of its school districts may not be as appealing to University students. It’s estimated that as much as 30 percent of the tax will be paid by people who are not permanent residents of Champaign County.
“We’re in a situation where, because of the University, because of the large numbers of people who come in here for football games, basketball games, concerts, things like that, then stop and have a meal and maybe fill up their car with gas, a lot of this burden will be shared with non-county residents,” Netter said.
Money from the sales tax is designated only for specific uses, however. It must be used for costs relating directly to the facilities, such as building replacement, renovation or energy conservation. The tax could not be used to pay salaries or fund programs.
A facilities committee is in place in Urbana and has already started the process of determining how the revenue from the proposed sales tax would be best used.
“Our biggest priority is our (Washington Early Childhood Center). The building needs replacement,” Urbana School District Vice President John Dimit, who also serves on the facilities committee, said.
“If the referendum passes, we’ll start the process immediately of determining how we want to replace those classrooms,” Dimit added. “It would take a little while before we’d have to actually be building anything.
“We know that the existing building is not suitable, that determination has already been made. But exactly how we replace those classrooms, we have some additional discussion to go. But I would say it would be within, even within 18 months.”
Washington Early Childhood Center is the preschool facility for the Urbana School District. The building is not only too small, it is also inappropriate for a preschool.
Built in 1926 to be an elementary school, the building has insufficient wiring for modern electronics, limited handicapped accessibility and is difficult or impossible to upgrade because parts are constructed with asbestos and should not be punctured.
“In 1926, the wiring was not put in to accommodate technology,” Washington Principal Cris Vowel said. “There are sometimes just a couple outlets in classrooms and we have to unplug a computer to plug in the tape recorder, that kind of thing. And we blow fuses just because the wiring is not appropriate for the amount of power we’re asking for.”
The preschool serves some of the community’s most vulnerable children. According to Vowel, they currently instruct 325 children ages 3, 4 and 5 in “blended classrooms” that contain children of different ages and with and without special needs. Not only is the school in disrepair, it is too small to house all the children in need of the service.
When it comes to necessary improvements, the list is long but the needs are basic.
“First of all, we hope (a new building) is bigger so that we can put in more classrooms than what we currently have. We also are hoping for a building that is accessible of course,” Vowel said. “And we would like a building that can grow as technology changes and the needs change. And we’d like something that’s very family centered.”
But the proposed sales tax would be good for the community as a whole as well. For example, building and renovating the public schools would create good paying construction jobs, according to Netter.
Washington isn’t the only building slated for help. Multiple buildings are on the list to become more energy efficient to save costs for the district. It’s about more than just the money, though.
“Public education is the bedrock on which this country was founded,” Netter said. “I think really, if you want to have quality communities and you want to keep your property values up, you need to have good schools.
“And it’s not enough for one or two communities in a county to be solid school communities and school systems if your neighbors are suffering,” Netter added.
The County School Facility Occupation Tax Law, which took effect in October of 2007 despite a veto by former Governor Rod Blagojevich, makes it possible for schools to generate income from sales tax. Previously, Illinois school districts were forced to ask voters to increase their property taxes to fund building repair or replacement.
“What the county-wide sales tax will allow is each of the 14 public school districts in the county to develop regular, strategic short term and long term maintenance plans instead of the boom and bust cycle we have right now, because (it’s) money you can rely on coming, you know it’s going to be there,” Urbana School Board President Mark Netter said.
If a majority of Champaign County voters approve the referendum, the 1 percent sales tax will go into effect Jan. 1, 2010, and the revenue will be distributed among every public school in the county.
The amount each district would receive would be determined by the number of students the district serves. USD 116 is projected to receive $3 million annually.
“Right now, in Urbana at least, we’re 50 percent dependent on the property tax. We get about a third of our budget then from state aid and the rest from federal grants,” Netter said. “The 1 percent sales tax diversifies a way to give us an alternative source of revenue.”
According to Netter, the sales tax would also regionalize support for public schools since residents of any city or town in Champaign County can shop outside of their own district and part of the sales tax they pay will benefit their local public school.
“If you live in Thomasboro or Ludow and you shop on North Prospect, some of your purchase is going to go back and benefit your schools in Thomasboro or Ludlow, it won’t all go to the Champaign school district,” Netter said.
But the fact that anyone shopping in Champaign County will be supporting all 14 of its school districts may not be as appealing to University students. It’s estimated that as much as 30 percent of the tax will be paid by people who are not permanent residents of Champaign County.
“We’re in a situation where, because of the University, because of the large numbers of people who come in here for football games, basketball games, concerts, things like that, then stop and have a meal and maybe fill up their car with gas, a lot of this burden will be shared with non-county residents,” Netter said.
Money from the sales tax is designated only for specific uses, however. It must be used for costs relating directly to the facilities, such as building replacement, renovation or energy conservation. The tax could not be used to pay salaries or fund programs.
A facilities committee is in place in Urbana and has already started the process of determining how the revenue from the proposed sales tax would be best used.
“Our biggest priority is our (Washington Early Childhood Center). The building needs replacement,” Urbana School District Vice President John Dimit, who also serves on the facilities committee, said.
“If the referendum passes, we’ll start the process immediately of determining how we want to replace those classrooms,” Dimit added. “It would take a little while before we’d have to actually be building anything.
“We know that the existing building is not suitable, that determination has already been made. But exactly how we replace those classrooms, we have some additional discussion to go. But I would say it would be within, even within 18 months.”
Washington Early Childhood Center is the preschool facility for the Urbana School District. The building is not only too small, it is also inappropriate for a preschool.
Built in 1926 to be an elementary school, the building has insufficient wiring for modern electronics, limited handicapped accessibility and is difficult or impossible to upgrade because parts are constructed with asbestos and should not be punctured.
“In 1926, the wiring was not put in to accommodate technology,” Washington Principal Cris Vowel said. “There are sometimes just a couple outlets in classrooms and we have to unplug a computer to plug in the tape recorder, that kind of thing. And we blow fuses just because the wiring is not appropriate for the amount of power we’re asking for.”
The preschool serves some of the community’s most vulnerable children. According to Vowel, they currently instruct 325 children ages 3, 4 and 5 in “blended classrooms” that contain children of different ages and with and without special needs. Not only is the school in disrepair, it is too small to house all the children in need of the service.
When it comes to necessary improvements, the list is long but the needs are basic.
“First of all, we hope (a new building) is bigger so that we can put in more classrooms than what we currently have. We also are hoping for a building that is accessible of course,” Vowel said. “And we would like a building that can grow as technology changes and the needs change. And we’d like something that’s very family centered.”
But the proposed sales tax would be good for the community as a whole as well. For example, building and renovating the public schools would create good paying construction jobs, according to Netter.
Washington isn’t the only building slated for help. Multiple buildings are on the list to become more energy efficient to save costs for the district. It’s about more than just the money, though.
“Public education is the bedrock on which this country was founded,” Netter said. “I think really, if you want to have quality communities and you want to keep your property values up, you need to have good schools.
“And it’s not enough for one or two communities in a county to be solid school communities and school systems if your neighbors are suffering,” Netter added.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Favorite profiles from "Portratis of Grief," by The New York Times
Without telling his wife about it, firefighter Joseph E. Maloney left a note filed with paper work to say good bye and give his wife tax instructions. The fact that the note was written in 1995 spoke to his care for his family.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/18/national/portraits/POGF-917-19MALONEY.html?ex=1237262400&en=1ae770c2ce23f2a1&ei=5070
Debbie Mannetta didn’t want her children to go through what she did when she was young, losing a parent. Her husband, a police officer, said, “Sept. 11 turned my home into a house.” For me, that quote told the whole story.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/02/national/portraits/POGF-94-3MANNETTA.html?ex=1237262400&en=2f74f4b90b5d5112&ei=5070
As a baseball fan myself, Kenny Marino’s story was an obvious favorite. The fact that his favorite baseball player, Ken Griffey Jr., hit a home run in his honor illustrates how Sept. 11 united the nation. And the fact that they played “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at his funeral made me smile. I thought that was a great detail to end the story with.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/20/national/portraits/POGF-348-21MARINO.html?ex=1237262400&en=cf670607b55bd0e7&ei=5070
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/18/national/portraits/POGF-917-19MALONEY.html?ex=1237262400&en=1ae770c2ce23f2a1&ei=5070
Debbie Mannetta didn’t want her children to go through what she did when she was young, losing a parent. Her husband, a police officer, said, “Sept. 11 turned my home into a house.” For me, that quote told the whole story.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/02/national/portraits/POGF-94-3MANNETTA.html?ex=1237262400&en=2f74f4b90b5d5112&ei=5070
As a baseball fan myself, Kenny Marino’s story was an obvious favorite. The fact that his favorite baseball player, Ken Griffey Jr., hit a home run in his honor illustrates how Sept. 11 united the nation. And the fact that they played “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at his funeral made me smile. I thought that was a great detail to end the story with.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/20/national/portraits/POGF-348-21MARINO.html?ex=1237262400&en=cf670607b55bd0e7&ei=5070
Monday, March 9, 2009
Black History Cultural Festival promotes diversity
The Black History Cultural Festival at Urbana High School was an opportunity for students, families and community members to celebrate Black History Month and the importance of diversity.
Participants were treated to a soul food dinner, student performances, a raffle and displays from community vendors.
“The cultural event is basically for the whole district to celebrate culture throughout the whole district and the diversity in our district,” Dionne Webster, substitute principal of Yankee Ridge Elementary School, said. “And just to get the word out about the different cultures in our building, the different organizations in the community that are available.”
Students from various district schools participated in band and choir performances, dances, and a “stepping” routine in which performers use clapping, footsteps, spoken word and their entire bodies to create intricate rhythms.
Chris Harrington, a sophomore at Urbana High School, delivered a monologue about the issues facing black males in society.
“It was basically about the N-word in society and it was a black man really trying to spread awareness about that,” Harrington said. “It was basically saying how us using that word especially gives other people permission to demean us and look down on us.”
Urbana Middle School eighth-grader Jorjio Neely is a member of the Urbana Dance Team that praise danced to “Still I Rise” and “America the Beautiful”.
“We performed (those) because of a new year and a new president, and a new African American president,” Jorjio said. “ ‘America the Beautiful’, it was for everybody, and ‘Still I Rise’ was for people that were in situations, just to let them know they can rise from that situation and it can be all good.”
Jorjio and Harrington agreed that they enjoyed the opportunity to perform and appreciated the unity the event promoted within their schools and community.
“I thought it was awesome. I liked how everybody came together and performed like that and everybody was clapping and everything,” Neely said. “Usually people coming together can cause like a distraction and drama. So it was good that everybody came together and laughed together, had a good time.”
Unity is exactly what Grace Mitchell, the event’s organizer and chairperson for the Black History Cultural Committee, wanted the students and their families to take away from the gathering.
“Although its Black History month, one of the things that we try to do is include people from all ethnic groups,” Mitchell said. “I think it allows those, not just in Urbana, but in Champaign and the surrounding communities, to see that we work together as a district to try to promote diversity, to try to have more ethnic groups involved in the school.”
Not only did the event encourage harmony among ethnic groups, it also promoted unity within the community. Local vendors and organizations were invited to host a booth at the event to promote their product or service.
Mitchell also encouraged the vendors to bring items to give away to those in attendance, an idea she got from the Taste of Champaign.
“To me, this is like a big open house where we can all get together,” Mitchell said. “A lot of times, families don’t know what some of the services and resources are in a community and this gives them a chance to come out and see what the vendors in the community and see what the programs in the community are all about.”
Champaign County Children’s Advocacy Center was one of the vendors in attendance. The center provides social resources from domestic violence and parenting classes to groups for drug and alcoholism.
Brittanie McMullen, a family advocate worker for the center, said they viewed the event as an outreach opportunity.
“We’re a new agency, so it’s good to get exposure in different places since a lot of people don’t really know about us, they don’t know the services within the community,” McMullen said. “So we’re here to promote our name.”
But the event was more than publicity for the center. For McMullen, events that promote diversity, like the cultural festival, are vital to the health of a community.
“You definitely don’t want any specific race or group of people to feel left out.” McMullen said. “I think events like this just help everyone feel united, so I think that’s a good thing.”
The students’ involvement in the event went beyond performing, as they created much of the artwork featured on the vendor’s booths. For Mitchell, this is just another way to involve the students in the process and make the event more personal for them.
While the event is designed to celebrate racial diversity and empower participants, it is also about uniting students from the different Urbana schools.
“I see that as a way of them being unified as a district, you know at all levels, at all the schools,” Mitchell said. “I think it gives them a real sense of pride, I think it makes them feel real proud of themselves when they can get up there and perform among this many people.”
The significance of promoting diversity and unity within the schools wasn’t lost on those in attendance, either.
“I believe living in America, it’s one of the most important things we can promote because it’s like the beginning of change,” Dwayne Purnell, whose cousin performed in the festival, said. “If we can get diverse people in one setting and we actually have common goals, things like that, I believe that is one of the main recipes for change in the culture.”
Participants were treated to a soul food dinner, student performances, a raffle and displays from community vendors.
“The cultural event is basically for the whole district to celebrate culture throughout the whole district and the diversity in our district,” Dionne Webster, substitute principal of Yankee Ridge Elementary School, said. “And just to get the word out about the different cultures in our building, the different organizations in the community that are available.”
Students from various district schools participated in band and choir performances, dances, and a “stepping” routine in which performers use clapping, footsteps, spoken word and their entire bodies to create intricate rhythms.
Chris Harrington, a sophomore at Urbana High School, delivered a monologue about the issues facing black males in society.
“It was basically about the N-word in society and it was a black man really trying to spread awareness about that,” Harrington said. “It was basically saying how us using that word especially gives other people permission to demean us and look down on us.”
Urbana Middle School eighth-grader Jorjio Neely is a member of the Urbana Dance Team that praise danced to “Still I Rise” and “America the Beautiful”.
“We performed (those) because of a new year and a new president, and a new African American president,” Jorjio said. “ ‘America the Beautiful’, it was for everybody, and ‘Still I Rise’ was for people that were in situations, just to let them know they can rise from that situation and it can be all good.”
Jorjio and Harrington agreed that they enjoyed the opportunity to perform and appreciated the unity the event promoted within their schools and community.
“I thought it was awesome. I liked how everybody came together and performed like that and everybody was clapping and everything,” Neely said. “Usually people coming together can cause like a distraction and drama. So it was good that everybody came together and laughed together, had a good time.”
Unity is exactly what Grace Mitchell, the event’s organizer and chairperson for the Black History Cultural Committee, wanted the students and their families to take away from the gathering.
“Although its Black History month, one of the things that we try to do is include people from all ethnic groups,” Mitchell said. “I think it allows those, not just in Urbana, but in Champaign and the surrounding communities, to see that we work together as a district to try to promote diversity, to try to have more ethnic groups involved in the school.”
Not only did the event encourage harmony among ethnic groups, it also promoted unity within the community. Local vendors and organizations were invited to host a booth at the event to promote their product or service.
Mitchell also encouraged the vendors to bring items to give away to those in attendance, an idea she got from the Taste of Champaign.
“To me, this is like a big open house where we can all get together,” Mitchell said. “A lot of times, families don’t know what some of the services and resources are in a community and this gives them a chance to come out and see what the vendors in the community and see what the programs in the community are all about.”
Champaign County Children’s Advocacy Center was one of the vendors in attendance. The center provides social resources from domestic violence and parenting classes to groups for drug and alcoholism.
Brittanie McMullen, a family advocate worker for the center, said they viewed the event as an outreach opportunity.
“We’re a new agency, so it’s good to get exposure in different places since a lot of people don’t really know about us, they don’t know the services within the community,” McMullen said. “So we’re here to promote our name.”
But the event was more than publicity for the center. For McMullen, events that promote diversity, like the cultural festival, are vital to the health of a community.
“You definitely don’t want any specific race or group of people to feel left out.” McMullen said. “I think events like this just help everyone feel united, so I think that’s a good thing.”
The students’ involvement in the event went beyond performing, as they created much of the artwork featured on the vendor’s booths. For Mitchell, this is just another way to involve the students in the process and make the event more personal for them.
While the event is designed to celebrate racial diversity and empower participants, it is also about uniting students from the different Urbana schools.
“I see that as a way of them being unified as a district, you know at all levels, at all the schools,” Mitchell said. “I think it gives them a real sense of pride, I think it makes them feel real proud of themselves when they can get up there and perform among this many people.”
The significance of promoting diversity and unity within the schools wasn’t lost on those in attendance, either.
“I believe living in America, it’s one of the most important things we can promote because it’s like the beginning of change,” Dwayne Purnell, whose cousin performed in the festival, said. “If we can get diverse people in one setting and we actually have common goals, things like that, I believe that is one of the main recipes for change in the culture.”
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