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.”
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Champaign City Council meeting
Tuesday’s Champaign City Council meeting opened with a presentation by the Boys and Girls Club to the council in appreciation for their continued support. Andre Arrington, the executive director of the organization, specifically thanked the council for closing streets to accommodate the BAG tournament.
The council proceeded to approve all 10 resolutions on the agenda, including closing off roads to accommodate another BAG tournament and the Illinois Marathon.
“This is the first year and it’s already doubled in success off of the entries that we have,” Mayor Schweighart said of the marathon.
The Illinois Marathon will feature races of various lengths, including one designed especially for children.
Community representatives also informed the council that phase one of fundraising for statues in commemoration of police officers and firefighter was completed and they are beginning phase two. The Fire and Police Memorial Committee was also presented with a $5,000 donation.
During the audience participation portion of the meeting, Champaign County Health Care Consumers Executive Director Claudia Lennhoff brought the healthcare risk presented by Ameren’s delayed response to cleaning up the waste left by their operation in the community to the attention of the council.
The toxic waste, left over by the energy company’s operation in the area from the late 1800s until the mid 1900s, is contaminating the groundwater of a local neighborhood, Lennhoff said.
A recent test for benzene in the contaminated area found that instead of the safe five or fewer parts per billion level, the local water contained 1,000 parts per billion. Benzene and other chemicals released by the company, over periods of extended exposure, could result in cancer, reproductive and asthma issues, according to Lennhoff.
The affected neighborhood is located at Fifth and Hill, where Lennhoff says current and past residence report an increased number of illnesses that may be related.
The Fifth and Hill Neighborhood Rights Campaign is organizing for the right of residents and former residents of the neighborhood affected by the toxic Ameren waste.
“Ameren, for the first time after all their reports and all their testing, identified large sections of the property that pose a threat because of vaporization of toxins,” Lennhoff said. “Vaporization means they have the risk of inhaling, exposure though inhalation.”
Lennhoff, a former resident of the neighborhood, said this concerns citizens because the homes are prone to flooding, possibly exposing residents to direct contact with contaminated groundwater.
There were also reports that the company dumped toxic waste from coal tar into the Boneyard Creek in the 1920s.
In 2007, an ordinance was passed by the city council which Ameren is now using to claim that they can’t be responsible for the cleanup.
“Really this is what amounts to an administrative slight of hand that allows Ameren to have the appearance of addressing contaminated ground water,” Lennhoff said.
“On the surface it seems benign, it basically says that where there’s been contamination, people will not be allowed to put in wells for potable purposes, which is like drinking,” Lennhoff added.
Ameren will be hosting an open house at Champaign’s City Hall chambers March 11 to discuss the cleanup efforts that are to begin later this month. The company listed the site with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency as a contaminated location approximately 20 years ago.
Lenhoff encouraged council members to attend the open house and pose questions to Ameren representatives.
“I hope that all of you will attend this session and I also hope that the session will be recorded and broadcast for the benefit of the community because I think there is important information that will hopefully be reported,” Lenhoff said.
The council proceeded to approve all 10 resolutions on the agenda, including closing off roads to accommodate another BAG tournament and the Illinois Marathon.
“This is the first year and it’s already doubled in success off of the entries that we have,” Mayor Schweighart said of the marathon.
The Illinois Marathon will feature races of various lengths, including one designed especially for children.
Community representatives also informed the council that phase one of fundraising for statues in commemoration of police officers and firefighter was completed and they are beginning phase two. The Fire and Police Memorial Committee was also presented with a $5,000 donation.
During the audience participation portion of the meeting, Champaign County Health Care Consumers Executive Director Claudia Lennhoff brought the healthcare risk presented by Ameren’s delayed response to cleaning up the waste left by their operation in the community to the attention of the council.
The toxic waste, left over by the energy company’s operation in the area from the late 1800s until the mid 1900s, is contaminating the groundwater of a local neighborhood, Lennhoff said.
A recent test for benzene in the contaminated area found that instead of the safe five or fewer parts per billion level, the local water contained 1,000 parts per billion. Benzene and other chemicals released by the company, over periods of extended exposure, could result in cancer, reproductive and asthma issues, according to Lennhoff.
The affected neighborhood is located at Fifth and Hill, where Lennhoff says current and past residence report an increased number of illnesses that may be related.
The Fifth and Hill Neighborhood Rights Campaign is organizing for the right of residents and former residents of the neighborhood affected by the toxic Ameren waste.
“Ameren, for the first time after all their reports and all their testing, identified large sections of the property that pose a threat because of vaporization of toxins,” Lennhoff said. “Vaporization means they have the risk of inhaling, exposure though inhalation.”
Lennhoff, a former resident of the neighborhood, said this concerns citizens because the homes are prone to flooding, possibly exposing residents to direct contact with contaminated groundwater.
There were also reports that the company dumped toxic waste from coal tar into the Boneyard Creek in the 1920s.
In 2007, an ordinance was passed by the city council which Ameren is now using to claim that they can’t be responsible for the cleanup.
“Really this is what amounts to an administrative slight of hand that allows Ameren to have the appearance of addressing contaminated ground water,” Lennhoff said.
“On the surface it seems benign, it basically says that where there’s been contamination, people will not be allowed to put in wells for potable purposes, which is like drinking,” Lennhoff added.
Ameren will be hosting an open house at Champaign’s City Hall chambers March 11 to discuss the cleanup efforts that are to begin later this month. The company listed the site with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency as a contaminated location approximately 20 years ago.
Lenhoff encouraged council members to attend the open house and pose questions to Ameren representatives.
“I hope that all of you will attend this session and I also hope that the session will be recorded and broadcast for the benefit of the community because I think there is important information that will hopefully be reported,” Lenhoff said.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Obama adresses congress
President Obama outlined his stimulus package and recovery plan before a joint session of Congress in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
Promising reforms in energy, healthcare and education, the president also called for Congress to act quickly to put legislation on his desk to move the economy forward. Obama also stated that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is now law, will save or create 3.5 million jobs over the next two years. But these promises come with a price.
“This plan will require significant resources from the federal government. And yes, probably more than we’ve already set aside,” Obama said. “But while the cost of action will be great, I can assure you that the cost of inaction would be far greater.”
The president added that the plan includes a tax break for 95 percent of working Americans, promising that the check is in the mail.
Promising reforms in energy, healthcare and education, the president also called for Congress to act quickly to put legislation on his desk to move the economy forward. Obama also stated that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is now law, will save or create 3.5 million jobs over the next two years. But these promises come with a price.
“This plan will require significant resources from the federal government. And yes, probably more than we’ve already set aside,” Obama said. “But while the cost of action will be great, I can assure you that the cost of inaction would be far greater.”
The president added that the plan includes a tax break for 95 percent of working Americans, promising that the check is in the mail.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Urbana educators earn distinction
The path to becoming a National Board Certified Teacher is a long and difficult one. It involves videotaping class sessions, analyzing your own teaching, submitting student work, and a three-hour exam.
But the intensity of the process didn’t stop four Urbana School District staff members from pursuing—and achieving—the certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. .
“You’re really talking about people working very hard through this rigorous program to actually become Nationally Board Certified Teachers and we’re very, very proud of them,” Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Gayle Jeffries said. “Those teachers, when they go through that rigorous program, they have to know kids, so they have to know how to help kids learn.”
A second grade teacher, two music teachers, and a counselor are the latest to achieve the certification in Urbana. They agree that the process made them more reflective professionals, but each chose to pursue it for different reasons.
Cheryl Camacho, a second grade teacher at Urbana’s Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, didn’t begin her teaching career the traditional way. Instead, she was certified through Teach for America. Her unconventional entrance into teaching prompted her to pursue the National Board Certification.
“It presented a lot of challenges just as far as like being prepared to be in the classroom,” Camacho said of her experience with Teach for America. “It was really hard, you only get like a six week institute in the summer and I immediately saw the importance of professional development. In order for me to be a good teacher, I really needed to reach out and do more. So when I found out about National Board, I was really interested by it.
“Also, as an alternatively certified teacher, I just feel like I really wanted that mark of distinction because I think that sometimes people assume that if you didn’t go to undergrad for teaching that you don’t know what you’re doing,” Camacho added.
But that decision came with a price. Because Camacho had recently relocated from Atlanta, Ga., to teach in Urbana, she had to pay the $2,500 fee out of her own pocket. Teachers in the state of Illinois are eligible for grants to help defray the cost.
“For me, you know (I’m) like (a) broke teacher and (I had a) new baby at the time, my child was like three months old when I started going through the process, it was just like a really huge financial commitment,” Camacho said.
When the scores came out after Camacho’s first submission, she was nine points shy of the required score of 275. It was a “crushing” blow for the single mom, but after taking a year off for personal reasons, she decided to redo one of her submissions. The news was better the second time around.
It was a December day when Camacho, sitting in her classroom, logged on to check her score.
“When you go online to check your score, it comes up saying like congratulations, and when I saw congratulations, I knew I had achieved it. I just like jumped up and started running around,” Camacho said. “I was so excited and happy and proud.”
For two other Urbana School District employees, the process went more smoothly. Urbana Middle School band teacher Karen DeBauche and Urbana High School counselor Samuel Furrer tested the waters through a program called Take One! that allowed them to submit a single entry to have scored before deciding to go through the entire process.
“Being a clarinet player, I used to play clarinet rather than do my homework. My writing skills aren’t what I’d like them to be, so it gave me the opportunity to see if I could write at the level that was accepted and it gave me the opportunity to do that without losing a lot of money in the process,” DeBauche said of Take One!. “So when I passed that one entry, then I decided to go ahead and do the rest.”
DeBauche and Furrer both achieved on their first try, something 19 year classroom veteran DeBauche doesn’t take for granted.
“I was just amazed, thrilled, and excited. There are so many different feelings. You feel bad for the people who don’t because they worked just as hard as you did,” DeBauche said. “More than anything, I was really excited, because I really didn’t think I could do it.”
School counseling is one of the more recent subject areas to qualify for certification. And the topic is broad, spanning kindergarten through the senior year of high school. For Furrer, this meant a lot of studying for the exam since questions could range from counseling a five year old child to a senior in high school who needs help applying for college.
Since Furrer doesn’t teach in a classroom setting, his videotaped submissions included a career lesson integrating technology and an individual counseling session with a student planning for graduation.
But while the process was different, the effect on Furrer’s outlook on his profession reflected the sentiments of his colleagues.
“I went through the standards and it says (that) an accomplished counselor does this and that and all these things. If you were a person who met all those standards and did every one, you would be God,” Furrer said. “But you read through those, and part of it is reminding you of some things that you should be doing, causing you to look at your own practice in a reflective and critical way.”
Despite the obvious differences in professional responsibilities between a second grade teacher, a band director and a counselor, the ultimate goal and outcome of the process is very much the same.
“It’s interesting because in the end it’s all about student-centered learning and teaching to the diversity of classrooms that we all have,” DeBauche said. “And so a lot of what we had to do for National Board was articulate that in writing and prove it in the videos that accompanied the writing.”
The certification also means the staff will receive a pay increase from the state and district and opens the door to becoming Master Teacher. But for these educators, the certification is more about the professional improvement than monetary value.
“People that go through this process I think just kind of naturally become a little more involved as teachers and leaders, and that’s part of the expectation of the National Board process I think,” Furrer said. “You kind of emerge as a little more of a teacher leader. It proves that you know what you know.”
But the intensity of the process didn’t stop four Urbana School District staff members from pursuing—and achieving—the certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. .
“You’re really talking about people working very hard through this rigorous program to actually become Nationally Board Certified Teachers and we’re very, very proud of them,” Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Gayle Jeffries said. “Those teachers, when they go through that rigorous program, they have to know kids, so they have to know how to help kids learn.”
A second grade teacher, two music teachers, and a counselor are the latest to achieve the certification in Urbana. They agree that the process made them more reflective professionals, but each chose to pursue it for different reasons.
Cheryl Camacho, a second grade teacher at Urbana’s Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, didn’t begin her teaching career the traditional way. Instead, she was certified through Teach for America. Her unconventional entrance into teaching prompted her to pursue the National Board Certification.
“It presented a lot of challenges just as far as like being prepared to be in the classroom,” Camacho said of her experience with Teach for America. “It was really hard, you only get like a six week institute in the summer and I immediately saw the importance of professional development. In order for me to be a good teacher, I really needed to reach out and do more. So when I found out about National Board, I was really interested by it.
“Also, as an alternatively certified teacher, I just feel like I really wanted that mark of distinction because I think that sometimes people assume that if you didn’t go to undergrad for teaching that you don’t know what you’re doing,” Camacho added.
But that decision came with a price. Because Camacho had recently relocated from Atlanta, Ga., to teach in Urbana, she had to pay the $2,500 fee out of her own pocket. Teachers in the state of Illinois are eligible for grants to help defray the cost.
“For me, you know (I’m) like (a) broke teacher and (I had a) new baby at the time, my child was like three months old when I started going through the process, it was just like a really huge financial commitment,” Camacho said.
When the scores came out after Camacho’s first submission, she was nine points shy of the required score of 275. It was a “crushing” blow for the single mom, but after taking a year off for personal reasons, she decided to redo one of her submissions. The news was better the second time around.
It was a December day when Camacho, sitting in her classroom, logged on to check her score.
“When you go online to check your score, it comes up saying like congratulations, and when I saw congratulations, I knew I had achieved it. I just like jumped up and started running around,” Camacho said. “I was so excited and happy and proud.”
For two other Urbana School District employees, the process went more smoothly. Urbana Middle School band teacher Karen DeBauche and Urbana High School counselor Samuel Furrer tested the waters through a program called Take One! that allowed them to submit a single entry to have scored before deciding to go through the entire process.
“Being a clarinet player, I used to play clarinet rather than do my homework. My writing skills aren’t what I’d like them to be, so it gave me the opportunity to see if I could write at the level that was accepted and it gave me the opportunity to do that without losing a lot of money in the process,” DeBauche said of Take One!. “So when I passed that one entry, then I decided to go ahead and do the rest.”
DeBauche and Furrer both achieved on their first try, something 19 year classroom veteran DeBauche doesn’t take for granted.
“I was just amazed, thrilled, and excited. There are so many different feelings. You feel bad for the people who don’t because they worked just as hard as you did,” DeBauche said. “More than anything, I was really excited, because I really didn’t think I could do it.”
School counseling is one of the more recent subject areas to qualify for certification. And the topic is broad, spanning kindergarten through the senior year of high school. For Furrer, this meant a lot of studying for the exam since questions could range from counseling a five year old child to a senior in high school who needs help applying for college.
Since Furrer doesn’t teach in a classroom setting, his videotaped submissions included a career lesson integrating technology and an individual counseling session with a student planning for graduation.
But while the process was different, the effect on Furrer’s outlook on his profession reflected the sentiments of his colleagues.
“I went through the standards and it says (that) an accomplished counselor does this and that and all these things. If you were a person who met all those standards and did every one, you would be God,” Furrer said. “But you read through those, and part of it is reminding you of some things that you should be doing, causing you to look at your own practice in a reflective and critical way.”
Despite the obvious differences in professional responsibilities between a second grade teacher, a band director and a counselor, the ultimate goal and outcome of the process is very much the same.
“It’s interesting because in the end it’s all about student-centered learning and teaching to the diversity of classrooms that we all have,” DeBauche said. “And so a lot of what we had to do for National Board was articulate that in writing and prove it in the videos that accompanied the writing.”
The certification also means the staff will receive a pay increase from the state and district and opens the door to becoming Master Teacher. But for these educators, the certification is more about the professional improvement than monetary value.
“People that go through this process I think just kind of naturally become a little more involved as teachers and leaders, and that’s part of the expectation of the National Board process I think,” Furrer said. “You kind of emerge as a little more of a teacher leader. It proves that you know what you know.”
Saturday, February 7, 2009
I've always wanted to...compete in a triathlon
Jason Fanning is a member of the Fighting Illini Triathlon club whose members train together and participate in triathlons locally and across the country. I spoke to him about the club and the popular sport.
Katie: “Could you start out by telling me a little about triathlons and how you got involved?”
Jason: “Yeah. Well, I guess I’d been running for awhile and then I picked up biking a few years ago, just kind of as an alternative to running. I started getting kind of burned out on just doing those and started looking at triathlons in my area and they actually had some really cool little sprint triathlons, which are real short, they take like an hour to do the whole thing. I did one of those and it was just kind of the vibe that comes with it, the people that are out there, it was just a really fun experience. So I did a couple of those. And when I got here, my cousin and her fiancée are really big into doing them, so they kind of brought me out and showed me the (Fighting Illini Triathlon) club. Since then, it’s just kind of exploded. It’s been a fun time.”
K: “Can you talk a little bit more about the experience of actually doing one? Walk me through the day sort of?”
J: “I think that probably depends most on the person. I typically get pretty nervous on race day stuff in general. Typically you have to travel to get to them you know so you get up pretty early. And usually you get to the whole check in area in the morning. You know, you’ve got your bike and your bags and all that stuff like that and you check in. Depending on how big it is, sometimes they give you a little computer chip and your packet and all the information like that. And then you go into the big bike corral. They’ve got hundreds or thousands of bikes in there and you set up a little towel with all your different transition equipment there and everything like that and set your bike up. That’s always really fun, but that’s when the nerves really start to get going and stuff like that. Again, depending on how big it is, sometimes they’ll line everybody up. Just kind of you have to sit there and wait to get in the water and that’s when your heart really gets pounding. We did one, earlier this year, it was a little bit less formal, but it was a guy, actually it was his bachelor party he put it on. For that one they just had everybody on the beach and then they were like, ‘alright, go.’ Nobody knew what was going on. But a lot of times they’ll stagger it, so one group will go and then another and then another. You get there and you’re freaking out, and as soon as they blow the whistle and you jump in the water, everything kind of evens out and you’re in it, you’re in the zone, which is really fun. The first couple times I did it the swim was a really big shock. You always swim when you’re by yourself and then you get in there and there’s feet everywhere and people are kicking and punching and stuff, so that was kind of fun. But it’s a really fun time. Once you’re out there and you’re competing with people, if you’re a competitive person, everything comes out. There’s a lot of people that go too and they just go and have fun.”
K: “Wow. So does it always start with the swimming then?”
J: “Yeah, it’s always swimming, and then biking, and then running.”
K: “Ok. Where are most of them that you have competed in?”
J: “Actually, if you look into it deep enough, they have one in every major town pretty much. We’re putting one on here this summer through the triathlon club, so Champaign will have one. They have a little mini one every year. If you look online, places like active.com will tell you where other races are.”
K: “That’s cool. So what would you say is your least favorite part?”
J: “The wait! Standing on the beach or on the water whatever, when they’re about to blow it you’re just sitting there like ready to go, you know. All the possible bad things are going through your head. That whole wait, once it starts going, everything from there on is just golden, but that wait in the beginning is so hard.”
K: “Yeah, I’m sure. How long before a race do you start training or preparing or are you pretty much constantly training?”
J: “I think that depends on what kind of race it is. I mean, if you’re in pretty good shape in general, I think anybody could pretty much jump in with maybe a couple months training. But like you could even just go and do a sprint race, shorter races like that aren’t so bad. And then after that I think it depends on how competitive you want to be, you know. I mean you could do it for years. We have one coming up in April that we just kind of buckled down for right now, so usually like a few months, half a year, something like that. Depending on how competitive you want to be. That’s a middle distance one. The majority of the races are like Olympic distance, which is about almost a mile swim, like 1500 yards, and then 25 miles on the bike, which is like 40 kilometers, and then like a 10 kilometer run. So that’s like kind of the average distance.”
K: “Wow. How long does that usually take?”
J: “I would probably put it about, two to three hours, somewhere in that area. You can swim it in twenty, like somewhere about two hours or more.”
K: “Oh, ok. If you could do a triathlon any place in the world, where would you want to go?”
J: “Probably the mountains in Italy I think would be really cool. I think especially the running and biking, I think that would be such a cool atmosphere to do it in. I’m not one really for temperatures or anything like that, so I think the mountains in Europe somewhere.”
K: “So it’s pretty much a worldwide phenomenon then?”
J: “Absolutely. It’s the fastest growing sport, I don’t know if it’s in the world or in the country. But so they’re popping up everywhere. I know especially in America there everywhere.”
K: “Cool. Where is your favorite place you’ve competed so far?”
J: “You know, honestly, the very first race I did was my favorite. It was so relaxed. The race itself was, I had gotten all nervous for it and hyped up and stuff and then the race itself. That was in Naperville, Ill. That was a little sprint triathlon.”
K: “Have you done mostly Illinois or does the group that’s here travel?”
J: “I mean I’m probably one of the newer members to the triathlon club, I’ve only done a couple of races. The club, we go to collegiate nationals, which is in Texas this year, so that will be really fun. People here go all over the world. Two of our really active members have done Iron Man competitions, one of them in Illinois, one of them in Wisconsin. Yeah, yeah people travel all over for them.”
K: “Is there a personal goal you have for participating in this sport?”J: “Yeah, I mean somewhere down the line I would like to be able to work up to doing an Iron Man. That’s a very, very intense race, so I’m not sure how long it’s going to take. Those can go for like 12 hours, so I’m not doing it right now, but somewhere down the line I’d like to work up to that. If I can get competitive, they have one of the most sought-after races is in Kona, Hawaii. But you have to qualify for that one, so if I could ever work up to it that would be fun.”
K: “Yeah, definitely. And then could you just talk a little about how you train for these? I mean in Illinois, it’s kind of hard to train outside, especially with the weather.”
J: “People say that and I really like it actually. Right now, we’re still kind of building, so we don’t have a whole ton of rigorous schedule. I mean some people take it to an extreme. But usually we try to swim three or four times a week, depending on times, and run. The swimming is in the pool facilities, and running, a lot of us run outside all year, it’s just easier for everybody. And then a lot of people have those indoor trainers for their bikes. So you can take your road bike you have set up for everything else and put it on a trainer and it functions kind of like a stationary bike, so you get kind of the same thing with your own bike. So you can train for that ride three or four times a week. Usually you end up having like three days of some kind of workouts and then a couple days of one or the other. Again, it’s not really intense right now, most people aren’t putting more than like two hours a day in on anything.”
K: “And then is there anything you think people should know about a triathlon or competing?”
J: “I think the biggest misconception is a lot of people think it’s really, really difficult. A lot of people look at triathlon as the same light as doing a marathon or doing any kind of super endurance event, but there’s so many of all calibers. You can do shorter races. I mean, there’s a lot of people who go out there just to have fun. It might take a long time to do it, but it is a really good time. Especially the environment, the people who get involved with it are always so relaxed and so accepting of people. I think that’s probably the biggest thing. Just get involved with it, it’s really easy to do.”
K: “Great. Thank you so much for meeting with me."
Katie: “Could you start out by telling me a little about triathlons and how you got involved?”
Jason: “Yeah. Well, I guess I’d been running for awhile and then I picked up biking a few years ago, just kind of as an alternative to running. I started getting kind of burned out on just doing those and started looking at triathlons in my area and they actually had some really cool little sprint triathlons, which are real short, they take like an hour to do the whole thing. I did one of those and it was just kind of the vibe that comes with it, the people that are out there, it was just a really fun experience. So I did a couple of those. And when I got here, my cousin and her fiancée are really big into doing them, so they kind of brought me out and showed me the (Fighting Illini Triathlon) club. Since then, it’s just kind of exploded. It’s been a fun time.”
K: “Can you talk a little bit more about the experience of actually doing one? Walk me through the day sort of?”
J: “I think that probably depends most on the person. I typically get pretty nervous on race day stuff in general. Typically you have to travel to get to them you know so you get up pretty early. And usually you get to the whole check in area in the morning. You know, you’ve got your bike and your bags and all that stuff like that and you check in. Depending on how big it is, sometimes they give you a little computer chip and your packet and all the information like that. And then you go into the big bike corral. They’ve got hundreds or thousands of bikes in there and you set up a little towel with all your different transition equipment there and everything like that and set your bike up. That’s always really fun, but that’s when the nerves really start to get going and stuff like that. Again, depending on how big it is, sometimes they’ll line everybody up. Just kind of you have to sit there and wait to get in the water and that’s when your heart really gets pounding. We did one, earlier this year, it was a little bit less formal, but it was a guy, actually it was his bachelor party he put it on. For that one they just had everybody on the beach and then they were like, ‘alright, go.’ Nobody knew what was going on. But a lot of times they’ll stagger it, so one group will go and then another and then another. You get there and you’re freaking out, and as soon as they blow the whistle and you jump in the water, everything kind of evens out and you’re in it, you’re in the zone, which is really fun. The first couple times I did it the swim was a really big shock. You always swim when you’re by yourself and then you get in there and there’s feet everywhere and people are kicking and punching and stuff, so that was kind of fun. But it’s a really fun time. Once you’re out there and you’re competing with people, if you’re a competitive person, everything comes out. There’s a lot of people that go too and they just go and have fun.”
K: “Wow. So does it always start with the swimming then?”
J: “Yeah, it’s always swimming, and then biking, and then running.”
K: “Ok. Where are most of them that you have competed in?”
J: “Actually, if you look into it deep enough, they have one in every major town pretty much. We’re putting one on here this summer through the triathlon club, so Champaign will have one. They have a little mini one every year. If you look online, places like active.com will tell you where other races are.”
K: “That’s cool. So what would you say is your least favorite part?”
J: “The wait! Standing on the beach or on the water whatever, when they’re about to blow it you’re just sitting there like ready to go, you know. All the possible bad things are going through your head. That whole wait, once it starts going, everything from there on is just golden, but that wait in the beginning is so hard.”
K: “Yeah, I’m sure. How long before a race do you start training or preparing or are you pretty much constantly training?”
J: “I think that depends on what kind of race it is. I mean, if you’re in pretty good shape in general, I think anybody could pretty much jump in with maybe a couple months training. But like you could even just go and do a sprint race, shorter races like that aren’t so bad. And then after that I think it depends on how competitive you want to be, you know. I mean you could do it for years. We have one coming up in April that we just kind of buckled down for right now, so usually like a few months, half a year, something like that. Depending on how competitive you want to be. That’s a middle distance one. The majority of the races are like Olympic distance, which is about almost a mile swim, like 1500 yards, and then 25 miles on the bike, which is like 40 kilometers, and then like a 10 kilometer run. So that’s like kind of the average distance.”
K: “Wow. How long does that usually take?”
J: “I would probably put it about, two to three hours, somewhere in that area. You can swim it in twenty, like somewhere about two hours or more.”
K: “Oh, ok. If you could do a triathlon any place in the world, where would you want to go?”
J: “Probably the mountains in Italy I think would be really cool. I think especially the running and biking, I think that would be such a cool atmosphere to do it in. I’m not one really for temperatures or anything like that, so I think the mountains in Europe somewhere.”
K: “So it’s pretty much a worldwide phenomenon then?”
J: “Absolutely. It’s the fastest growing sport, I don’t know if it’s in the world or in the country. But so they’re popping up everywhere. I know especially in America there everywhere.”
K: “Cool. Where is your favorite place you’ve competed so far?”
J: “You know, honestly, the very first race I did was my favorite. It was so relaxed. The race itself was, I had gotten all nervous for it and hyped up and stuff and then the race itself. That was in Naperville, Ill. That was a little sprint triathlon.”
K: “Have you done mostly Illinois or does the group that’s here travel?”
J: “I mean I’m probably one of the newer members to the triathlon club, I’ve only done a couple of races. The club, we go to collegiate nationals, which is in Texas this year, so that will be really fun. People here go all over the world. Two of our really active members have done Iron Man competitions, one of them in Illinois, one of them in Wisconsin. Yeah, yeah people travel all over for them.”
K: “Is there a personal goal you have for participating in this sport?”J: “Yeah, I mean somewhere down the line I would like to be able to work up to doing an Iron Man. That’s a very, very intense race, so I’m not sure how long it’s going to take. Those can go for like 12 hours, so I’m not doing it right now, but somewhere down the line I’d like to work up to that. If I can get competitive, they have one of the most sought-after races is in Kona, Hawaii. But you have to qualify for that one, so if I could ever work up to it that would be fun.”
K: “Yeah, definitely. And then could you just talk a little about how you train for these? I mean in Illinois, it’s kind of hard to train outside, especially with the weather.”
J: “People say that and I really like it actually. Right now, we’re still kind of building, so we don’t have a whole ton of rigorous schedule. I mean some people take it to an extreme. But usually we try to swim three or four times a week, depending on times, and run. The swimming is in the pool facilities, and running, a lot of us run outside all year, it’s just easier for everybody. And then a lot of people have those indoor trainers for their bikes. So you can take your road bike you have set up for everything else and put it on a trainer and it functions kind of like a stationary bike, so you get kind of the same thing with your own bike. So you can train for that ride three or four times a week. Usually you end up having like three days of some kind of workouts and then a couple days of one or the other. Again, it’s not really intense right now, most people aren’t putting more than like two hours a day in on anything.”
K: “And then is there anything you think people should know about a triathlon or competing?”
J: “I think the biggest misconception is a lot of people think it’s really, really difficult. A lot of people look at triathlon as the same light as doing a marathon or doing any kind of super endurance event, but there’s so many of all calibers. You can do shorter races. I mean, there’s a lot of people who go out there just to have fun. It might take a long time to do it, but it is a really good time. Especially the environment, the people who get involved with it are always so relaxed and so accepting of people. I think that’s probably the biggest thing. Just get involved with it, it’s really easy to do.”
K: “Great. Thank you so much for meeting with me."
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