Community held its second voter registration drive of the school year March 3. The event, organized by Ms. LaTishia Baker, registered 13 students in-person and several others virtually ahead of April 4's Consolidate Municipal Elections.  Baker first organized a student voter registration drive in...

In 2020, 697,000 Americans died — not of COVID-19, but of heart disease. The leading cause of death in the U.S. every year for the last 70 years, heart disease remains an epidemic in itself. An epidemic that only worsened when heart disease fatalities increased by four percent in 2020 —  reversing...

Facing a $12 million deficit, the Unit 5 Board of Education unanimously approved a series of budget cuts for the 2023-2024 school year at a special board meeting on January 31. The cuts may be reversed if the property tax referendum passes in April. The cuts, which total approximately $2 million,...

America’s Midterm elections are the younger sibling of U.S. politics -- forgotten, neglected, underappreciated, and overlooked.   The Midterms exist without any highly publicized conventions, clickbait-worthy debates, no elaborate merchandise lines--from beanies to flyswatters-- to capture the...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer recommend universal indoor mask-wearing in K-12 schools and early education settings in low or medium COVID-19 Community Level areas, announcing the shift in COVID guidelines Friday, Feb. 25. As of Thursday, March 3, McLean County is one of...

Illinois students may take five excused “mental health days” under a law effective in January, prompting conflicting reactions at Community. In August, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1577, allowing students ages seven to 17 to “make up any school work missed” during their five mental-...

The Technology department collaborated on a one-of-a-kind holiday display for auction at the Baby Fold's 28th annual Festival of Trees. Supported by a $5000 grant, over 300 Technology students designed ornaments to decorate a "rustic-theme[d]" Christmas tree to help support the local children's agency....

Cancelations. Postponements. Rescheduling.  Disc golf was one of only a few activities immune to COVID-19 restrictions. The sport experienced a 33% increase in games played from 2019 to 2020, according to UDisc data, a disc golf scoring app.   The number of disc golf courses increased as well,...

Kingsley Junior High School students were greeted with a new mascot to start the 2021 school year -- the Cougar -- after announcing the decision to replace the Cavalier mascot in May. The change was motivated by the school’s value of community. The Mid-April edition of the Kingsley Connection, the...

Rising unemployment rates and a record-breaking hurricane season increased food insecurity nationally in 2020, with more people relying on food pantry donations than in recent years.  Midwest Food Bank, which distributes over $23 million of food each monthly, has found the increased demand for food...

With Illinois reverting to Phase 3 of the ‘Restore Illinois Resurgence Mitigation Plan’ on Friday, Nov. 20 for the unforeseeable future, small businesses face another round of mitigation requirements. The requirements, coming as a new wave of COVID-19 surged statewide, “aims to limit gatherings...

“As a teacher it feels like I’m drowning and instead of throwing me a life preserver the district is throwing me lead weights,” Mr. Patrick Lawler, a social studies teacher at NCHS, said at the Unit 5 board meeting on December 9. Lawler was joined by Normal Community seniors Conner McClelland...

Unit 5 Superintendent Dr. Kristen Weikle announced Friday, Nov. 13, that the district would return to remote learning effective Wednesday, Nov. 18. Students will not be in attendance Wednesday to allow teachers and staff time to prepare for change. The “adaptive pause” to hybrid learning is tentatively...

A member of the Unit 5 Superintendent's Executive Cabinet tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, August 29, according to Director of Communications and Community Relations Dayna Brown. In response to the positive test, multiple Unit 5 Cabinet members -- including Superintendent Dr. Kristen Weikle...

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors announced its decision Tuesday, April 21 to “cancel all IHSA spring state tournaments” in a statement released at noon. Though the IHSA has made efforts to keep the slim possibility of a spring season alive, Governor J.B. Pritzker’s...