Illinois launches tool to help students facing trauma
The compares different risk factors a student could face.
It factors in statistics like a certain school district's access to health care, the graduation rate, and food insecurity. Knowing what specifically the children of a community need can let leaders prepare them for a better future.
'School districts across the state are impacted by the trauma that that students face in home or in their communities on a daily basis,' Illinois State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders said. 'And this is just one more tool to help not just school districts, but also policymakers make decisions that are in the best interest of those children.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
She Thought Her Pregnancy Was Going as Planned. Then She Saw the First Sign of a Heartbreaking Loss (Exclusive)
NEED TO KNOW Sarah Thuleen thought her pregnancy was progressing normally until one moment at home turned everything upside down What began as a simple keepsake became the centerpiece of a story about love, grief and resilience on TikTok Sarah's path through heartbreak has led her to honor her baby in deeply personal, unexpected waysShe thought her pregnancy was going as planned until the morning she woke up and saw the first sign of a heartbreaking loss. Now, one mother is sharing her story of love, grief and the tiny hat that has come to symbolize it all. Sarah Thuleen's video has resonated with millions, opening a window into the most vulnerable chapter of her life. 'This is literally how tiny she was,' Sarah tells PEOPLE, her voice tender as she holds up the hat that once fit her daughter, Eileen. The TikTok struck a chord with viewers around the world, showing the tiny clothes and keepsakes Sarah was given at the hospital. In her caption, she wrote simply: 'My little teeny tiny baby, she was 4.4 oz and 7 inches.' Sarah's pregnancy began unexpectedly but with deep excitement. 'We found out we were pregnant on February 6, so like, right away,' she says. Becoming a mother had been her dream for as long as she could remember. 'It's truly been my dream forever,' she says. Though she and her baby's father had only just started dating, she felt ready to embrace motherhood. 'You have all the feelings of, like, scared but excited, unknown,' she recalls. She remembers the rush of emotions that came with seeing a positive pregnancy test. 'I was thrilled, really,' she says. But as her pregnancy progressed, Sarah began experiencing unusual pain during a trip with a friend. She chose to wait for her scheduled 16-week appointment rather than seek immediate care. 'I was like, worst case scenario, I go to the doctor,' she says. 'I have my 16-week appointment on that Monday.' At that appointment, everything seemed fine. Her baby's heartbeat was strong, and her doctor reassured her it was likely just round ligament pain. 'She's great,' the doctor told her. But five days later, everything changed. Early Saturday morning, Sarah woke up to a terrifying rush of liquid. 'I looked down, and the cord was falling out of me,' she says, the memory still sharp. She called her friends and a nurse's line, still hoping it wasn't serious. 'I honestly thought it was going to be fine,' she says. 'Like, we just shove it right back up, and everything resumes as normal.' At the hospital, she learned the devastating truth. 'They looked and said, 'Oh yeah, that is a cord,' ' Sarah recalls. Doctors told her there was nothing they could do to save her baby at that gestational age. 'We're just gonna have to watch her heart rate go down, and she's just gonna die,' she remembers hearing. 'It was the most heartbreaking moment of my life.' Initially, doctors suspected an incompetent cervix, but later discovered the cause was a prolapsed cord. 'For whatever reason, my cervix opened just the tiniest bit for my water to break and the cord to fall out,' she explains. Even after a full autopsy, no clear reason emerged. 'She was perfect, like, literally everything about her was perfect,' Sarah says. 'There's no reason she shouldn't be here today.' Meeting her daughter remains one of Sarah's most treasured memories. 'She just fit in, like, the palm of my hand,' she says. 'She had all of her hands and all of her toes, and we literally just, like, sat there and stared at her for hours. She was perfect.' Among the keepsakes from the hospital was the tiny hat that later became the centerpiece of her TikTok. 'They put the hat on her, and it all just, like, fell into place,' she says. 'Now I get it.' Her mother has since begun crocheting hats for a nonprofit that supports grieving families. 'That's how my mom is choosing to honor my baby,' Sarah says. Grief, Sarah explains, is complex and often misunderstood. She wishes more people realized that postpartum depression can also follow pregnancy loss. 'My milk came in, and that was a whole thing because my baby's not here,' she says. 'That just puts you through another level of grief.' She also wishes people would be more mindful about how they offer support. For her, the most meaningful gestures were the simplest. 'Sending me a DoorDash gift card or Starbucks gift card. Then I could decide when I wanted to use them,' she says. In time, Sarah began sharing her story online, hoping to offer comfort to others. 'I wanted to be that source of, like, what's after, for that person who's also in that place that I was,' she says. The response to her TikTok has been overwhelming and deeply validating. 'There is truly such a range of women that have experienced this, and it's all shared, you know what I mean?' she says. 'It just feels so validating.' Not all responses have been easy to navigate. Sarah remains cautious about sharing too much, especially photos of her daughter. 'I'm always weary about showing pictures of her because I don't want to alarm anyone,' she says. 'She didn't really have skin...' Still, the tiny hat remains a powerful symbol of her daughter's brief but meaningful life. It serves as a quiet reminder of the love and grief Sarah carries with her every day. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Today, Sarah continues to honor her daughter in deeply personal ways. She has spread her daughter's ashes in places that hold special meaning, from Florida to Colorado to Grand Cayman. 'I call it, showing her the world,' she says. 'Every time I go to the ocean, anywhere, I know she's a part of the ocean.' Moving forward has meant making choices rooted in healing and self-care. She moved to Dallas on what would have been her daughter's birthday – a decision that brought her a new beginning. 'It was the happiest, best decision I've ever made for myself,' she says. 'Every day, I see and do things, and I just think, she's telling me, 'I'm proud of you, Mom.' ' Sarah encourages others facing loss to seek help, whether through therapy, medication, or time away from work. 'I finally had the motivation to, like, start to grow,' she says. Sharing her story has also helped her heal. 'Talking about things that you go through, and talking about just creating that community has truly helped me heal so much,' Sarah says. Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
PepsiCo to rebrand Lay's, Tostitos without artificial dyes, flavors
By Jessica DiNapoli and Juveria Tabassum (Reuters) -PepsiCo is planning to highlight what will no longer be in its potato or tortilla chips - artificial colors or flavors - when it re-launches its Lay's and Tostitos brands later this year, executives said on Thursday. The overhaul for the company's top-selling snack brands comes as U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushes Americans to eat "whole foods" and pressures manufacturers to ditch dyes. U.S. food makers have been announcing plans to remove dyes from their products and introduce new ones without the colors under pressure from Kennedy and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) social movement backing him. "We're trying to elevate the real food perception of Lay's. If you think about the simplest and most natural snack, it is a potato chip; it's a potato, it's oil, and it's a little bit of salt—the most simple, no artificial ingredients," said CEO Ramon Laguarta in a call with investors. The company also said it was expanding use of avocado and olive oil across its brands, rather than the canola or soybean oil it uses. The MAHA movement has questioned the health benefits of certain food oils. In April, PepsiCo said it planned to migrate its entire portfolio to natural colors, or give consumers the option to have a product without a synthetic dye. Its Cheetos snacks and Gatorade drinks rely on synthetic dyes for their bright hues. It already offers Lay's and Doritos without artificial colors or flavors under its Simply segment. 'The Simply line extension for existing chip brands is still in early innings - consumers have not engaged so far, and given that, it will be seen how consumers react to a rebranding of Lay's and Tostitos over the next couple of quarters,' said Christian Greiner, F/m Investments senior portfolio manager. COSTLY PREMIUM PRODUCTS? The soda pop maker also said on Thursday it would use sugar in its products like Pepsi beverages if consumers want it. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said Coca-Cola will start using cane sugar in its beverages in the U.S., a dietary preference of Kennedy's MAHA movement. Both Pepsi and Coke use high-fructose corn syrup for their sodas, which is generally more cost-effective. The moves come at a time when packaged food companies like PepsiCo are seeing consumers reel in their spending after the industry raised prices over the years since the COVID-19 pandemic to shield their margins. PepsiCo has been offering more products at lower price points and smaller pack sizes in its food segment to meet the demand for affordable snacks. "While there is clearly demand for cleaner ingredients in food and beverage products, it remains to be seen if consumers will be willing to pay up for these more premium products, especially in today's inflationary environment and more price-sensitive consumer base," said Arun Sundaram, analyst at CFRA Research. Laguarta also said on Thursday the company would be entering the "liquid protein" space, as protein shakes grow increasingly popular. He also said the company would be adding protein options to its popcorn brand PopCorners and Quaker snacks. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


Geek Wire
14 minutes ago
- Geek Wire
UW scientists use AI to crack ‘undruggable' proteins, opening door to new treatments
A protein engineered by University of Washington scientists wraps around its target. (Institute for Protein Design Image) The wiggly targets known to scientists as 'intrinsically disordered proteins' have for decades eluded capture by custom-made drugs and antibodies. But they played such important biological roles — activating opioid receptors; triggering protein misbehavior associated with neurodegeneration; killing insulin producing cells — that researchers kept after them. Now scientists in a University of Washington lab led by Nobel laureate David Baker have cracked the challenge, using generative AI to create proteins that grab hold of the shapeshifting molecules. The discovery could unlock a suite of new drugs and diagnostic tools. Almost half of the proteins found in humans are intrinsically disordered, 'yet we've had no reliable way to drug [them],' Baker said in a statement. 'These studies change that by giving scientists everywhere new tools for binding the unstructured half of biology.' University of Washington biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate David Baker at his office in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler) Unlike typical proteins that fold into defined, set shapes, intrinsically disordered proteins are more like cooked spaghetti — they're floppy and lack a stable structure. The UW scientists built a library of protein parts that can be stitched together and applied to diverse targets, zeroing in on short stretches of amino acids for binding. The researchers tested their custom-made proteins with promising results: one successfully blocked pain signals in cultured human cells, while another dissolved protein clumps linked to type 2 diabetes. The technique also proved useful for detecting and tagging scarce but important molecules, including a disease marker screened for in newborns. The results were striking — designer proteins successfully latched onto 39 out of 43 targets tested, a 91% success rate. Each protein folds precisely around its intended target, creating a tight, specific embrace. The new approach to engineering proteins is described in two papers, one published today in the journal Science, and a second available as a preprint. The majority of more than two-dozen authors are from the UW's Department of Biochemistry and the university's Institute for Protein Design, which is led by Baker. Researchers worldwide can access the open-source software online. Kejia Wu, a co-author on a Science paper describing a new technology for protein design, at her thesis defense in 2024 at the University of Washington. (IPD Photo) Kejia Wu, a former graduate student with the Baker lab and now a post-doctoral fellow, was a co-lead author of the newly published Science paper alongside Hanlun Jiang and Derrick Hicks. The project was exciting, Wu said, because it was so difficult and provided 'space to have creative thoughts.' Most of those ideas are nonsense and will fail, Wu said. 'But then you will be able to narrow [it] down — one of your thoughts might make sense, and you just start working on it,' she continued. 'So that's the part I like the most. You're able to come up with untraditional methods, untraditional thinking.' And while it was difficult initially to strategize a solution for the intrinsically disordered proteins given their shapeless nature, that fluidity has an upside. A structured, folded protein typically has just one solution for a binding protein, Wu said. 'But the conformational plasticity … actually gives us freedom to target [the molecule] many different ways — and we only need one of them to work.'