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,...

The A-Train, Community’s pork chop sandwich concession at Friday night football games, advanced to the IHSA’s inaugural Pork and Pigskin Final Four.  The 79 school competition, a partnership between the IHSA and the Illinois Pork Producers Association, will award the state’s concession stand...

The Hauntcert, Community's annual Halloween orchestra performance, returns on Thursday, Oct. 28, to the NCHS auditorium after COVID-19 forced the show's cancellation last year. This year's program, "Escape!," features the Chamber, Intermezzo, and Sinfonia orchestras performing animal-themed songs...

The Theatre program returns to the NCHS stage with "Zap!"'s premiere on Oct. 15. Friday's opening night marks the first in-person production at Community since February 2020's staging of "Clue."  Last November, the Theatre program collaborated with the three area high schools and ISU to produce...

The Normal Community Best Buddies chapter held their annual “pairing party” on October 1— pairing 16 students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) with a student buddy without IDD in an effort to build one-to-one friendships.  The Best Buddies “pairing party” marks...

Seniors Drexel Douglass and Joey Fela were crowned as the inaugural “Homecoming Royalty” at the kickoff of Friday, Sept. 24’s Homecoming football game. NCHS opted for the more inclusive term “Royalty” in place of “King” and “Queen” terminology. As a result, two male candidates,...

A TikTok trend popular amongst high school students led to a drastic increase in petty theft and vandalization of school property nationwide. The "#devious lick" trend originated when TikTok user jugg4elias uploaded a video depicting the removal of a box of masks from his backpack, captioned: "A month...

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...

Teen mental health is an ongoing issue, one made worse by the pandemic. Beyond the regular stressors of the teenage years, an estimated 10-20% of adolescents globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), experience mental health conditions. Globally, depression is the fourth leading cause...

With the news of Normal Community adopting four-day in-person learning beginning on Monday, April 5, students and staff shared their opinions on the shift from the two-day hybrid plan. "I feel like the students at Normal Community have done a really good job of keeping socially distant and keeping...

Superintendent Dr. Kristen Weikle announced in an email to Unit 5 families that four-day in-person instruction for 6-12th graders will begin on Monday, April 5. The email, sent Monday, March 8, lays out the plan to replace the two-day-a-week hybrid model Unit 5 junior high and high schools began implementing...

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...