1. education
2. school

In God We Trust
ST. ELMO BANNER
Serving St. Elmo and Brownstown Since 1880
St. Elmo, Illinois - Tuesday, Mar. 24, 2015
$
1
Event
Calendar
www.altnewsban.com
Volume 135 - Number 12
Spring has sprung!
Share the details of your organization’s meeting or event by
calling newspaper correspondent Anna Jean Rhodes
(618) 829-5488
Tuesday,
Mar. 24
8 a.m.-Noon -- Defensive
Drivers Course at St. Elmo
Christian Church 8 a.m.noon today and tomorrow
the 25th. Only 40 seats are
available and registration
is required by calling Mona
Stanley at 618-829-5437
Wednesday,
March 25
6 p.m. -- Reverb Youth,
St. Elmo Christian Church
Thursday,
Mar. 26
Last day to buy tickets
for St. Louis Cardinals vs.
Cincinatti Reds. Contact
the Altamont HS for more
information.
Last day to place bid for
Busch Stadium tour. Contact the Altamont HS for
more details.
Noon -- Exxon Mobil Annuitants, Vandalia Ponderosa
1:30 p.m. -- St. Elmo Unit
of Home and Community
Education, St. Elmo Public
Library
Saturday,
Mar. 28
1-3 p.m. -- Eggciting Eggs
at Ballard Nature Center.
For all ages. Come anytime between 1 and 3pm to
participate in a scavenger
hunt and other fun activities
as you learn about animals
that lay eggs.
Sunday,
March 29
Please attend the church
of your choice.
4 p.m. -- Wolf Creek
Cluster of United Methodist
Churches Lenten Service,
Haley Chapter UMC east of
Bluff City. Altamont Circuit
minister, Ed Wojnar will be
the speaker. The offering
will go to the Lessie Bates
Davis Neighborhood House
in East St. Louis, the Vandalia Lighthouse Pregnancy
Center and the Brownstown
Backpack Program. The
host church will provide
refreshments after the program.
Monday,
March 30
Fayette County Schools
Art Show entries have to
be at the Fayette County
Museum, Vandalia, no later
than today. The sponsored
show will be open April 2-7
in the upstairs Artworks
Gallery at the Museum.
Tuesday,
Mar. 31
3-6 p.m. -- Sign-up for
summer nature camps at
Ballard Nature Center.
Parents come browse all
Ballard Nature Center has
to offer for summer camps.
Any question please call
618-483-6856 or e-mail [email protected]. To
preview summer classes,
see our website ballardnaturecenter.org.
The final days of winter and first days of spring brought relief from the recent cold
weather. Kids around town have been leaving their winter bunkers and heading outside.
Here, Chris Torbeck (left) attempts to drive by Travis Hopper on the courts at Deken
Park.
Brownstown schools make employment decisions
BY NATHAN SCHOLES
The Brownstown Board
of Education met in their
regular session on Monday,
March 16. The school board
made several hiring decisions including the employment of certified personnel
Shannon Claycomb and Nicole McCown for the 2015-16
school year. McCown is not
yet tenured.
The following support
personnel will also be employed next year:
--District Bookkeeper/
Secretary/Treasurer Jacy
Schaub;
--Jr./Sr. High School Secretary Ashley Towler;
--Elementary Secretary
Shelly Thomason;
--Full-time custodians
Evelyn Wells, Jodi Winkler,
and Steve Waltrip;
--Full-time cooks Karen
Portz, Diana Smith, and
Nikki Sidwell;
--Bus drivers David Portz,
Sam Kistler, Richard Cade,
Paul Parkison, and Deb
Hunter;
--School Nurse Callie
Laack;
--Library aide Verla Reed;
--Special education 1:1
aide Stacy Sidwell;
--Pre-K aide Kayla Hingson;
--1:1 health aide Stacey
Summers;
--Part-time District Transportation Secretary Deb
Hunter
Randy Sasse was employed for the summer of
2015 in a lawn maintenance
capacity and Quality Network Solutions will handle
the district’s technology
services.
The board also approved:
--Membership in the
Illinois High School Association for the 2015-16 school
year;
--Renewal of the Intergovernmental Agreement with
SEPCO for the upcoming
school year.
St. Elmo to hold kindergarten pre-registration
St. Elmo Elementary
School kindergarten preregistration will be on
Thursday, April 9 from
9-10:30 a.m. and 1-2:30 p.m.
If you have a child who will
be entering kindergarten in
August, it is very important
for you to attend pre-registration. We must have a confirmed number of students
to expect in the next school
year.
You will need to bring a
copy of your child’s registered birth certificate, social
security card and updated
immunization (shot) records. All students new to
the school district will need
to prove residency. Kindergarten students will need
a kindergarten physical,
up-to-date immunization
records, lead screening, eye
and dental exams by August
when we do our school-wide
registration. You will need to
register at the August registration as well.
Once again, it is extremely important to have the
names and as much required
information about incoming kindergarten students as
possible.
Holderread promoted to senior lender
with National Bank at Hillsboro
The Board of Directors
of National Bank recently
promoted Justin Holderread to the position of Senior
Lending Officer.
“Justin is a vital member
of our executive team and
fulfills critical responsibilities as our chief lender providing oversight for all areas
of lending to the continued
development of our loan officers,” stated Harry Hutchison, President of National
Bank. Justin has been with
the organization for 6 years
and previously served as
Vice President and Department Head of Retail Lending
where he played a pivotal
role in growing the bank’s
residential and consumer
lending business.
Justin graduated with a
Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also completed the
Community Bankers Association’s Banking School in
2012, along with many other
banking seminars over the
past 6 years. Prior to joining National Bank, Justin
worked as a Corporate Sales
Account Executive for CDW
Corporation in Chicago, for
7 years.
Justin lives in Hillsboro
with his wife, Megan. He
is currently Vice President
of the Hillsboro Country
Club, Treasurer of Hillsboro
Chamber of Commerce,
member of Hillsboro Lion’s
Club (President from June
2013-June 2014), member
of Montgomery County
Revolving Loan Fund Board,
and member of Mt. Zion Lutheran Church in Litchfield.
National Bank, headquartered in Hillsboro, has 11
banking locations serving
south-central Illinois. The
bank can be contacted from
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8:30
a.m. to noon on Saturday at
(800) 717-3991.
Kaytee Matheny cruises down the sidewalk as Trynitee
Branham chases after. (photos by Nathan Scholes)
St. Elmo Veteran's
Memorial sign-up
The current signup period for adding a veteran’s
name to the St. Elmo Veteran’s Memorial ends March
31. All names submitted will be added to the memorial stones prior to the Memorial Day services. Applications can be obtained from Bob Heckert, Ernie Myers
or the St. Elmo Public Library. Completed applications can be mailed to the American Legion Post #420.
P O Box 132, St. Elmo, IL 62458.
St. Elmo school board
sets special meeting
BY NATHAN SCHOLES
The St. Elmo Community Unit School District 202
Board of Education met in
regular session on Monday,
March 16.
Following a special meeting to address student discipline that preceded their
regular gathering, the board
approved the following:
--a special meeting
regarding employment of
personnel set for Tuesday,
March 24 at 8:30 p.m.;
--the annual Illinois High
School Association membership;
--the annual South East
Purchasing Cooperative
agreement;
--the amended 2014-2015
school calendar;
--the updated district
wellness plan.