Mattoon students | Mattoon Schools / Facebook
Mattoon students | Mattoon Schools / Facebook
At its March 14 meeting, the Mattoon Community Unit School District Board of Education welcomed multiple student groups for recognition.
The first was The Invisible Spiders, a band made up of students ages 8-11. The board was told the band is hosting a joint fundraiser event with a local radio station, WNCI, for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. The community has helped raise $1.5 million for the hospital through supporting the Invisible Spiders fundraising efforts. This year, Lyft is joining the fundraising efforts to support the Radiothon event on March 29 and 30, which will give out concert tickets for an Invisible Spiders concert in July.
The board uploaded a livestream of its public meeting to the district’s YouTube channel.
The board also recognized the students from the elementary schools' STEAM program (science, technology, engineering, the arts, math), led by April Drake and Jenna Hilligoss. They brought some of their students, who talked about their classes that encouraged them to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills. They showed some of their projects, including a 3D rendering of a creature they designed and some robots that they programmed. The students gave a demonstration of how they work with the robots using colors to signal different actions.
“And so our STEAM programs at the elementary schools feed into the Mattoon Middle School STEAM program which then goes further into Python coding,” STEAM facilitator Drake told the board. “And then from there it then feeds into other pathways throughout the high school. And so students are being exposed to that in kindergarten, which we are very, very fortunate to be able to do that.”
The board also recognized students from Mattoon High School who came to talk about Futures Day, a college and career information fair. The students explained the event exposes them to different career choices. Students shared how the sessions helped them determine which college and major they wanted to pursue, and gave them insight on how to reach career goals.
The board also discussed approval for membership in Illinois High School Association and Illinois Elementary School Association.
The board will meet again at 7 p.m. on April 11 at the Board of Education Administration Offices board room on 1701 Charleston Ave.
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