Lanphier senior forward Kalvin Caesar drives to the hoop against three defenders at the Boys and Girls Club in Springfield. Photo BY PATRICK YEAGLE It’s already warm outside at 85 degrees on a breezeless summer evening in Springfield, but inside the gym at the Boys and Girls Club, it seems even hotter. The gym, sans […]
donation
Extreme school makeover
What would cause parents to be excited about sending their children to a 102-year-old school building where 82 percent of the students come from low-income homes? The answer is an outpouring of generosity from a community intent on seeing the school succeed. Ever since the summer of 2011, Springfield’s Harvard Park Elementary School has seen […]
St. Pat’s is back on track
On a giant alphabet rug in Rosemarie Bates’ classroom, a gaggle of first- and second-grade children giggle as they clap and over-pronounce words in order to count the syllables. A short walk down the hall, in Barbara Moore’s kindergarten classroom, seven rambunctious children recite the days of the week in unison. Every time their teacher’s […]
State taps charity funds to pay its bills
Over the last two years, the state of Illinois in order to pay its basic bills has seized more than $1.6 million from at least 15 different “charity” funds, to which Illinoisans voluntarily donate for causes like feeding the hungry and helping the homeless. Each year, the Illinois Department of Revenue invites taxpayers to donate […]
