Starke County High School Seniors to Graduate Tonight

Posted on Author WKVI

High School Seniors from the three Starke County schools will be graduating tonight.

Graduation for Knox Community High School seniors will be tonight at 7:00 p.m. CT in the Weinberg Gymnasium. Oregon-Davis High School seniors will graduate at 6:30 p.m. in their High School gymnasium.

Graduation at the North Judson-San Pierre High School will be tonight at 7:00 p.m. CT in the Gymnasium. High School Principal, Annette Zupin, announced the Valedictorian and Salutatorian this week. The Valedictorian is Andrew Frasure and the Salutatorians are Henry Thoreson and Samantha Fisher.

SCILL Center Graduates Look to the Future

Posted on Author WKVI
SCILL Center

Students from the SCILL Center recently graduated and one of the students in the class of 2011 is Darren Harrell of Plymouth, who not only graduated with honors from the Automotive Certification Program, but did well in national competition.

“I’ve been trying for some scholarships from Lincoln Tech which is the college I’ll be attending,” said Harrell. “They had an acceptance test there where 1,200 kids took it and I was in the top 20. I got an $8,000 scholarship for that. If it wasn’t for the SCILL Center, I probably wouldn’t have done as well on the test.”

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Storm Wreaks Havoc in Kankakee Valley

Posted on Author WKVI
Francesville Fire Station Two sustained damage due to a tornado

Several buildings sustained damage after tornadoes touched down in Francesville Wednesday morning. Francesville Fire Chief, Tim Wuethrich, talked about the event.

“It appears that we had a tornado touch down in two spots in Francesville, maybe three,” said Wuethrich. “It took three poles out on the highway, leveled a building that we call Station Two, our other fire station. We had a fire truck in there that’s underneath the rubble. It took part of a roof off a house on the other end of town. I’ve been at Incident Command the whole time so I haven’t assessed the damage yet.” Homeowners with damaged roofs may need to hire local roofers to fix and restore their roofing systems. They may also need to find a supplier of timber roof trusses for their roof replacement project.

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Graduation Services Scheduled for June 3rd for Three Starke County Schools

Posted on Author WKVI
Top Ten (L to R) Darienne Griffith, Hayley Windbigler, Katelyn Peters, Kaitlyn Betz, Tiffany Friedlund, Tabitha Tepes, Elisabeth Caudill, Brittany Shannon, Carole Surfus and Heather Rogers

The Knox Community High School Seniors will graduate on Friday, June 3rd, at 7:00 p.m. CT in the Weinberg Gymnasium. The Valedictorian for this graduating class is Darienne Griffith. The Salutatorian is Hayley Windbigler. The rest of the top ten students in the class include: Katelyn Peters, Kaitlyn Betz, Tiffany Friedlund, Tabitha Tepes, Elisabeth Caudill, Brittany Shannon, Carole Surfus, and Heather Rogers. Continue reading →

SCILL Center Students Perform Well on ASE Certification Tests

Posted on Author WKVI
SCILL Center

The students at the SCILL Center recently took ASE classes for certification.

“There were 152 tests that were given over a week’s period of time, which included steering, suspension, brakes, electrical and electronic systems, engine performance, engine repair, automatic transmission systems, transaxles, manual drive line, axles and heating and air conditioning,” explained SCILL Center Instructor, Rod Dawson. “In each of the categories, we had actually 19 students that were taking each one of these tests, and they scored over a fifty percent in each of them with a pass rate. I was quite impressed with the students and it was an excellent showing for the first time around. I felt that the students needed to take all eight areas and it just validates what they actually are doing here for training.”

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Starke County Students to See Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s Macbeth Tuesday

Posted on Author WKVI

Students from the three Starke County schools will be attending a Shakespearean play tomorrow afternoon at the North Judson-San Pierre High School Auditorium. Thanks to a grant from the Starke County Community Foundation and the Tri Kappa organization, it is possible for actors who star in Shakespearean plays at Navy Pier in Chicago to come to the County to present a classic play for the kids.

“This year they’re doing Macbeth,” said Knox Middle School Principal Steve Cronk. “All the eighth graders from Oregon-Davis, North Judson-San Pierre and Knox, as well as seventh graders from all three schools, as many as we can put in there, will see this presentation from Noon until 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5th.”

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Starke County Drug Free Double Dare Event this Sunday

Posted on Author WKVI

Knox, North Judson-San Pierre and Oreon-Davis students in grades 6-12 will be competing in the annual Drug Free Double Dare event Sunday, April 3rd at 1:30 p.m. CT at the Knox Middle School.

“Drug Free Double Dare is based on the concept of the Nickelodeon Double Dare,” explained Knox Middle School Guidance Counselor, Chris Ross. “We give it an anti-drug twist. The students received a study guide with information about different types of drugs. On Sunday, the students will then answer questions based on what they’ve studied.”

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Oregon-Davis School Superintendent Moving to Mishawaka School System

Posted on Author WKVI
Dr. Steve Disney

Sources in the South Bend media are reporting that Dr. Steve Disney will be the new Superintendent of the Mishawaka Community School System.

Dr. Disney has been the Superintendent at Oregon-Davis since 2007, replacing Bill Rentschler who resigned to move to Ft. Wayne.

Dr. Disney had been mentioned in the past for other Superintendent positions. He will reportedly be announced at tonight’s Mishawaka School Board meeting.

North Judson-San Pierre and Oregon-Davis Schools Look to Cut Programs; Staff to Solve Budget Issues

Posted on Author WKVI
North Judson-San Pierre Superintendent Lynn Johnson

North Judson-San Pierre and Oregon-Davis Schools will be in grave financial trouble next school year. North Judson-San Pierre stands to lose $1.2 million and Oregon-Davis  stands to lose $500,000 in funding next school year because of a change in the state funding formula.

They say larger class size, fewer programs offered and teacher layoffs may be the only way to make the necessary budget cuts. According to North Judson-San Pierre Superintendent, Lynn Johnson, and Oregon-Davis Superintendent, Dr. Steve Disney, education reform is making it difficult for public school administrators to provide the best opportunities possible. Mrs. Johnson, for one, is leery of what vouchers will do to her corporation.

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North Judson-San Pierre, Oregon-Davis Schools to Suffer Huge Budget Cuts in 2011-2012 School Year

Posted on Author WKVI
North Judson-San Pierre Superintendent Lynn Johnson

“It’s just devastating.” That’s the way North Judson-San Pierre School Superintendent Lynn Johnson and Oregon-Davis School Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney described the cuts these two systems will have to make in the 2011-2012 school year.

Lynn Johnson talked about the cuts to her system.

“We are possibly losing $1.2 million,” said Mrs. Johnson. “For a small school, that is a devastating amount.”

Dr. Steve Disney

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FAFSA Workshops Scheduled This Week

Posted on Author WKVI

In anticipation of Indiana’s March 10th FAFSA deadline, Ancilla College will offer a series of free one-on-one workshops for people looking to file their 2011-2012 FAFSA applications.

Filling out the FAFSA is a vital step for college students to complete in order to be considered for financial aid. The FAFSA not only enables students to be considered for federal, state, and institutional grants, but is also necessary for those looking to take out a Stafford or Parent Plus Loan for the 2011-2012 academic year.

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Department of Education Releases Graduation Rates; Oregon-Davis over 90%

Posted on Author WKVI
Dr. Steve Disney

The Department of Education has recently released graduation rates for schools in Indiana and for the first time, Oregon-Davis has gone over 90%. Superintendent, Dr. Steve Disney, was understandably proud of the accomplishment.

“We’re just so proud and we do have one of the highest rates around,” said Dr. Disney.

Ted Hayes asked Dr. Disney what he attributes the increase to.

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Oregon-Davis National Honor Society is Collecting Food to Provide Thanksgiving Meals for Needy Families

Posted on Author WKVI
Thanksgiving Dinner
Thanksgiving Dinner

November 15th-19th is Hunger Awareness week and the Oregon-Davis Jr/Sr High School National Honor Society is sponsoring a food drive to help local food banks. They are asking for food to help provide Thanksgiving meals for needy families and non-perishable items for the local food banks. Canned corn, canned green beans, stuffing mix,  potatoes, sweet potatoes, noodles, boxed crackers, cord bread mix, bread, canned pumpkin, canned cranberries and juice are some of the items needed to help families enjoy their Thanksgiving meals. Monetary donations will be used to purchase a turkey and other perishable items.

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