Fist pumps and goose bumps: Lebanon High School Class of 2025 graduates in high spirits
Class president Joe Susong led the 149th graduating Lebanon High School class into the gymnasium.
Friends and family in the bleachers cheered and whistled. They waved bouquets of flowers, baby photos, and signs attached to sticks at their children who stood in black robes on the edge of adulthood.
The seniors searched for familiar faces and flashed the peace sign, pumped their fists, pointed, and grinned from ear to ear. They hugged one another and waited for the band to complete 'Pomp and Circumstance.'
Students who will serve in the armed forces after graduation led the standing-room-only crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and basked in a spontaneous standing ovation from their peers.
Olivia Follmar encouraged her class not to ask God for easy lives but to become stronger men and women, before she led them in prayer.
Principal Frank Meyer began with a Mark Twain quote, 'I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.'
'Your schooling ends tonight, but your education is just beginning,' he said. He encouraged them to take their hunger to keep learning and to be brave enough to fall short.
'Fail at something important and figure out how to do it again, better,' he said.
Valedictorian Taylor O'Brien plans to attend Notre Dame University in the fall. He had a high school grade point average of 4.6, is an Eagle Scout, an academic all-star, and lettered four years in swimming, among other accomplishments.
O'Brien said he doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up and assumed that most of his classmates don't know either.
'That's okay,' he told them.
'Not knowing creates the possibility for opportunity,' he said. 'The best way to predict the future is to create it.'
Salutatorian Claire Boling urged classmates to enjoy the time they have left together this summer and to forge friendships and make memories with a new set of people as they move forward.
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Chicago Tribune
29-06-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Gary couple charting comeback for lost art of cursive writing
At a local restaurant, Terrell Whittington and wife Chelsea revived a recent conversation about their childhoods and academics at Gary's now-closed Ernie Pyle Elementary. They began discussing those school days with their waitress who told them her children could not write in cursive, a penmanship style in which characters are joined together in a flowing manner. 'I came up with the name and then he started jotting down the concept and ideas on a napkin,' said Chelsea Whittington. That's the origin of the Cursive Academy and now, the Gary couple is on a crusade to bring cursive writing to Northwest Indiana students. Their first cursive writing class, which drew 35 students ages 7-17, concluded Wednesday at the Woodland Child Development Center in Hammond. They met with the kids in two-hour classes twice a week for three weeks. With family members cheering, students walked into the classroom to the strains of 'Pomp and Circumstance' and heard each of their names called out for a diploma. The highlight came as each student signed their name in cursive on the diploma and held it up to the delight of the audience. Cursive penmanship has been kicked to the curb in the past two decades by technology that favors keyboards over paper and pen. Although in recent years, it's made a slight comeback with new laws requiring it in California and Georgia. Indiana schools may still teach it, but it hasn't been required since 2011. Some teach it, while others don't. Hobart Superintendent Peggy Buffington said cursive is still taught in its elementary schools and it's also taught in neighboring River Forest schools, said Superintendent Kevin Trezak. Lake Station Community Schools, doesn't teach it, said Superintendent Tom Cripliver. For the 15th time, state Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, filed a bill requiring the teaching of cursive. It didn't get a hearing during this year's session. A statewide survey of 1,770 public and private schools last fall, found 91% of state-accredited private schools offer cursive instruction, but just 52% of public schools reported teaching it. All the elementary schools in the Diocese of Gary teach cursive writing, said Superintendent Colleen Brewer. 'This is something we have consistently found valuable for our students,' she said. 'Because so many schools do not teach cursive, many students are unable to sign their own names,' Leising said. 'Students are also missing out on the significant benefits of handwriting like increased retention of information. Without knowing how to read or write in cursive, they also lose an important connection to our history as a country, as many of our historical documents were written in cursive,' she said in a statement. Leising's persistence has become the butt of jokes from colleagues in the male-dominated Statehouse, but she told the Indianapolis Star they apparently don't understand cognitive brain development evidence and how writing in cursive has been shown to help children with dyslexia. The Whittingtons agree. They believe cursive writing enhances fine motor skills, improves literacy and can lead to fast, more fluent writing. Like Leising, they think it can improve cognitive development, spelling and coping with dyslexia. 'I want to change lives,' said Terrell Whittington about his new life as an entrepreneur after leaving behind management careers at Ford Motor and Illinois Tool Works. 'My handwriting is part of who I am, and we feel that youth should have the opportunity to learn what is slowly becoming a lost art.' Now, he can share that goal with his wife who's the communications director for the Gary Community School Corp. and a communications consultant in her firm called CWHITT PR. 'It's not obsolete,' Terrell Whittington said of cursive. 'You still need to sign your driver's license and other documents… If you want to read the Declaration of Independence, it's in cursive.' At first, the kids in the class thought they were teaching them a foreign language, he said. 'Then, they started to write and comprehend. They learned quickly.' Jermontae Epps, 11, of Hammond, said he never learned cursive at his Hammond elementary school. He did notice the penmanship style whenever his parents signed notes to school. 'I'm surprised at how fun it's been and how quick I learned,' he said. Sixth grader Ebony Williams, 11, of Hammond, said she never learned cursive, either. 'It was really an experience for us,' she said and she's looking forward to signing her name to future documents. In class last year, Ebony said when she took notes, she printed them. 'This is so much easier,' she said. As her son Devon Gibson, 7, walked up to get his diploma, mom Whitney Barnes trained her cell phone's camera on the moment and could barely hold back her tears. 'He wanted to learn how to write his signature,' she said. 'The class was wonderful.' The next three-week class begins June 30 at the Gary YWCA. For information, contact Chelsea Whittington at 219-712-3182 or Chelsea@
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Yahoo
History buff highlights Boy Scouts campground and lodge at Lone Pine
Jun. 15—Seventeen-year-old Atreyu Oxford has uncovered a little-known piece of history of Lone Pine State Park's connection to the Boy Scouts and is preserving it through an Eagle Scout project. Oxford learned there was a Boy Scouts camp at Lone Pine from his mother, Barbara, who wrote a book about the early history of scouting in Montana. As she was researching Boy Scout camps across the state, she came across one at Lone Pine. After asking around, he found that Scout leaders and Lone Pine staff weren't aware of the campground's existence, which piqued his interest to delve into the history. With the information, he is having an interpretive sign designed and constructed that will be installed at Lone Pine. Sitting down at a picnic table near the Lone Pine visitor center, Oxford opened a thick binder, leafing through plastic sheet protectors containing his research: reprinted newspaper articles, a few black and white photos, a society page snippet, maps, a timeline dating back to the 1800s and deeds. The documents helped him track the different landowners of what was formerly known as Plume Hill and then Lone Pine Hill, over time. "The entirety of this hill was owned by different settlers at different times. We found all of those records as well," he said. Oxford compiled the various documents from online newspaper archives, the Flathead County Plat Room, the Bureau of Land Management and the Northwest Montana History Museum. It wasn't until 1937 that sheep rancher, Ernest White, and his wife, Hazel, donated 6.7 acres to the Boy Scouts to be used as a weekend or overnight campsite, Oxford said, showing a copy of the grant deed. "The [more than] six acres to the Boy Scouts covered the land that we are on right now," Oxford said. With the property, he learned the Boy Scouts had a 20-by-30-foot log building constructed in 1938 that was designed by well-known Kalispell architect, Fred Brinkman. "It [the dedication ceremony] was attended by a large amount of people, including Ernest White," Oxford said, and roughly 250 Boy Scouts. He said the lodge featured a main hall, kitchen, storeroom, fireplace and a 10-foot rock terrace and was situated "just below the top of, and to the west of, the top of Lone Pine Hill." "It was meant for like day activities ... overnight camps," he said. The lodge was enjoyed by Boy Scouts and other groups, including a ski club, until it burned down in 1943. "It was kind of a symbol of Kalispell for a long time," he said, noting a group of travel editors from the Midwest and East coast were brought to Lone Pine as part of a tour that included Glacier National Park. According to a July 8, 1943, Daily Inter Lake article, the building was "in constant use until recently" and was in a state of neglect, likely from incidents of vandalism, prior to the fire. "Most everybody seemed to have access to the building and the window glass had been shattered." The article also said, "Three youngsters are supposed to have spent the night there, just previous to the fire, and were seen leaving the hill Friday morning. They had their packs and one bicycle when they rode into town." Aside from one photo from an article about the dedication ceremony, Oxford said it was challenging to find more, including from a couple of people he spoke to who were involved in scouts before the fire. "We also have a picture of what is believed to be the chimney that remained because everything burned but the chimney," he said, which by some accounts remained until the visitor center was built. Why wasn't the lodge rebuilt? Oxford surmises one reason may be because World War II was going on and many tradesmen were off serving in the military. "No one was coming out to rebuild it anytime soon," he said. "My troop, we had a break in our charter for World War II because the majority of our scouts, especially our older scouts, who were supposed to lead meetings, went off to World War II. We had the same thing with Vietnam as well." Preserving the history of the Boy Scout campground's existence was enjoyable for the young history buff, who said it was learning about the Revolutionary War around age 6 or 7 that sparked his passion for the subject. "If we're just looking at Lone Pine Hill. It was Native [American] land. Then it became homesteader land, right? And then from homesteaders, it became sheep land. And from sheep land, it became a Scout camp, and then from a Scout camp, it became a visitor center, right, talking about all the beautiful wildlife we have here. Knowing that history, I think, can add to people's enjoyment of this place," he said. The sign will be installed sometime this summer, according to Dillon Tabish, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks regional communication and education program manager. Oxford is a member of Troop No. 1933, which was chartered by the Rotary Club of Kalispell more than 50 years ago. In August, Oxford will formally be inducted into the ranks of Eagle Scouts during a special ceremony called the Eagle Court of Honor. Eagle Scout is the highest rank a Boy Scout can attain. Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@ A rendering of what an interpretive sign detailing the Boy Scouts' history at Lone Pine will look like. The sign is part of Atreyu Oxford's Eagle Scout project. (SnowGhost Design) Atreyu Oxford, 17, shows two articles that were part of his research for his Eagle Scout project to create an interpretive sign at Lone Pine. The 1936 "Daily Inter Lake" article on the left reports on Ernest White's purchase of a tract of land on "Lone Pine bluff," stating, "He will build a road from Foys lake to the top of the bluff, which will be open to the public." A 1937 article by "The Flathead Monitor," on the right, reports that White, "a well-known sheep rancher," has donated a site for a "week-end Boy Scout camp." (Hilary Matheson/Daily Inter Lake) Visitors check out one of the overlooks at Lone Pine State Park on Tuesday, June 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake) Casey Kreider Signs and caution tape mark an Eagle Scout project at Lone Pine State Park on Thursday, June 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake) Casey Kreider The Lone Pine State Park Visitor Center on Thursday, June 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake) Casey Kreider
Chicago Tribune
14-06-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Today in History: EPA bans use of pesticide DDT
Today is Saturday, June 14, the 165th day of 2025. There are 200 days left in the year. This is Flag Day. Today in history: On June 14, 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered a ban on domestic use of the pesticide DDT, to take effect at year's end. Also on this date: In 1775, the Continental Army, forerunner of the United States Army, was created by the Second Continental Congress. In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the design of the first 'stars and stripes' American flag. In 1846, a group of U.S. settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the breakaway state of the California Republic, declaring independence from Mexico. In 1919, British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown embarked on the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1940, German troops entered Paris during World War II; the same day, the Nazis transported their first prisoners to the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, ruled 6-3 that public school students could not be forced to salute the flag of the United States or recite the Pledge of Allegiance. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill adding the phrase 'under God' to the Pledge of Allegiance. In 1982, Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands. In 1993, President Bill Clinton announced his nomination of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2005, Michelle Wie, 15, became the first female player to qualify for an adult male U.S. Golf Association championship, tying for first place in a 36-hole U.S. Amateur Public Links sectional qualifying tournament. In 2017, fire ripped through the 24-story Grenfell Tower residential building in West London, killing 72 people. In 2018, a Justice Department watchdog report on the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe criticized the FBI and its former director, James Comey, but did not find evidence that political bias tainted the investigation. Today's Birthdays: Actor Marla Gibbs is 94. U.S. President Donald Trump is 79. Olympic speed skating gold medalist Eric Heiden is 67. Jazz musician Marcus Miller is 66. Singer Boy George is 64. Tennis Hall of Famer Steffi Graf is 56. Classical pianist Lang Lang is 43. Actor J.R. Martinez is 42. Actor Lucy Hale is 36. Actor Daryl Sabara is 33. Rapper Gunna is 32.
