Latest news with #PeoriaPublicSchools
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Peoria mayor's youth program empowers local high schoolers
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A program dedicated to setting students up for success is embarking on another year. Peoria Public Schools students are participating in the annual Mayor's Youth Program For High School Students, a summer initiative that involves beautifying the city over the next eight weeks. Nick McMillion, communications specialist for the Peoria Public Works, explained what kind of benefit the students get from participating in the program. 'They recognize the value of the hard work and impact that they will be putting into the community throughout the summer,' said McMillion. 'I think they really respect that, and because of that, this program is very well-respected.' Peoria City Council agrees to fund remaining PeoriaCorps term Students who are between 16 and 18 years old are paid for summer beautification work including planting, mulching and removing litter throughout the city, where they often work alongside participants in PeoriaCorps. The program also involves career exploration activities on Fridays, like college and trade school visits, tours of healthcare and manufacturing facilities, and listening to guest speakers. 'We're really geared up to make this summer as successful as possible for the students, for the city, and everyone involved. It's such a great program, and we're really excited to be able to do it another year.' The program originally had 100 students when it first started, and they were put into groups of 10. Now, it's gotten smaller and adapted to make the workflow better. Now, 24 students are selected for the program out of over 100 applicants from Peoria High School, Manual and Richwoods. This year's speaker at the kickoff event was PPS Superintendent Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, who spoke about how the kids in the program can find what career they want to go into and how to be successful. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
After Richwoods HS graduation, fight at Peoria Civic Center leads to 7 arrests
(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information.) Peoria police officers and other security officials had to break up an altercation Saturday following the Richwoods High School graduation at the Peoria Civic Center that led to the arrests of seven juveniles. According to the Peoria Police Department, officers patrolling the Civic Center at 5:15 p.m. noticed a fight between several juveniles break out at the concession stands. Quick intervention by the officers, Civic Center security guards and Peoria Public Schools resource officers broke up the altercation. A 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy were each charged with aggravated battery and mob action, with both being held at the Peoria County Juvenile Detention Center. Two other 16-year-old boys, another 15-year-old boy, a 13-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl were also charged with aggravated battery and mob action, but all were released to the custody of their parent or guardian. PPS said Monday the situation was "swiftly resolved" and did not disrupt the graduation ceremony for Richwoods graduates. The students involved in the fight were not among those graduating Saturday, district spokesperson Marjorie Kauth said. She said the district was satisfied with the swift response by police and security officials to put the altercation to rest. She also said the district was prepared for any such incident, with 20 Peoria police officers, 16 school resource officers and 14 Civic Center security officers on site. 'We're incredibly thankful for the professionalism of the various security teams,' Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat said in a statement. 'I am thankful to everyone who made this day special. The positive feedback from families about our new venue, especially the jumbotron view, unlimited seating, and easy parking, confirms it was a joyful and memorable experience.' A video of the altercation posted to Facebook shows Peoria police officers and other security personnel restraining multiple students involved in the fight. One officer can be seen taking a male to the ground, while others restrained another student. Kauth said there will be disciplinary action taken against the students involved in the fight because it occurred at a district-sanctioned event. PPD said anyone with further information on the fight is asked to contact them at (309) 673-4521 or provide an anonymous tip through their Tip411 service. They can also contact Crime Stoppers at (309) 673-9000. More than 900 students from Peoria High School, Manual High School and Richwoods High School celebrated their graduations at the Peoria Civic Center on Saturday. This story will be updated as more information becomes available. This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria police make arrests after graduations at Peoria Civic Center
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Yahoo
Peoria Public Schools holds 2nd annual Multicultural Fair
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Peoria Public Schools showcased the diversity in the community at the second annual Multicultural Fair at the Peoria Riverfront Museum on Saturday. The fair is designed to highlight diversity and unity within the school system. From Mexico to the Dominican Republic to Jamaica and Nigeria, teachers from the Peoria Public Schools Teacher Exchange Program shared their cultural traditions. They also featured international teachers from Kankakee School District 111, which currently has 25 international teachers on staff. Breaija Bryant with Peoria Public Schools said it's all about broadening the cultural horizon of students. 'A lot of our families have never really left Peoria, and if they had, it might be to Chicago or still in Illinois. And there's just like a really deep, cultural divide sometimes when you don't see it for yourself. So now they get to experience it, and then they just become culturally diverse. They adapt, and they just become well-rounded,' said Bryant. Peoria Public Schools has 117 international teachers on staff. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Acclaimed children's book author visits with students at Peoria Public Library
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — The author of children's books like I Love My Hair and The Me I Choose to Be visited the Peoria Public Library Lincoln Branch to read to local students. Tuesday morning, students from Peoria Public Schools listened to Natasha Tarpley read her most recently published book, Keyana Loves School. During the visit, she also answered the students' most pressing questions about what it's like being a children's author. Tarpley said her books focus on African American children. Through her books she tries to celebrate all the things that make a person unique. Something that she thinks is important is writing joyful stories where black children can see themselves reflected in her work. 'I think it's important because there are so many messages in our society positions, African Americans in particular, in pretty negative ways and limited ways,' Tarpley said. 'I think kids absorb that, and they think about that and they kind of take that in, and they allow that to define in some ways who they are. And so my work for me is about creating a more expansive view, a more realistic view of and a nuanced view of what black life and culture is.' During her speech, she stressed to children how authors use their imagination and draw from their own lives to create fantastical stories. Some advice she had for her readers was to practice your craft, be passionate about your work, and don't worry about the end result. Sometimes an author can touch people's lives in unexpected ways. Tarpley recalled a time when a mother gave her daughter I Love My Hair to help her daughter through her cancer treatment. 'She gave her I Love My Hair,' Tarpley said, 'As her hair was starting to grow back. So that just stayed with me forever. It was just such a wonderful, touching thing that my book could play a role in that story.' Natasha Tarpley's latest book, Keyana Loves School is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and your local library. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Yahoo
Officials agree: Everyone needs to get on board with helping tackle juvenile crime
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — In the wake of a botched car theft that left a 9-year-old with a gunshot wound to the chest, attention is again back on juvenile crime. And with that scrutiny comes questions like 'how is this happening' or 'what can be done?' Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria spoke with passion and emotion during a brief news conference Tuesday night, urging parents and school personnel to get involved. And on Wednesday, educators agreed, saying they had a role to play in keeping the city's streets safe. Efforts need to be focused on reaching children before they pick up the guns and before a quest to steal a car goes horrifically wrong, said Carl Cannon, whose ELITE Program has worked with troubled youths for years. ELITE is an outreach program designed to teach children about character, respect and also job skills. The program stresses that if one puts in the work, they will be rewarded at some point. Cannon stresses the importance of catching patterns early. 'That young man was fifteen, he was ten, he was nine, and he had a profile at nine and he had a profile at eight,' Cannon said. 'If he had a profile, then let's get to the eight year old, let's get to the nine year old and let's address that profile at eight and nine.' He also broke down what ELITE looks into when filing profiles. 'I read four kinds of data when we're working with our kids,' Cannon said. 'It's attendance, behavior, grades, and then look at home.' The older teen, whose name was not given because he is a juvenile, was arrested Monday and taken to the Peoria County Juvenile Detention Center. He was booked on charges of aggravated battery and attempted motor vehicle theft. As of Wednesday afternoon, he had not been formally charged in Peoria County Circuit Court, either as a juvenile or as an adult. The boy, the chief said, has a history of arrests, dating back five years. Among the arrests were possession of a weapon, criminal trespass and robbery. In total, Echevarria said, the boy has been arrested about 20 times. According to information from Sgt. Amy Dotson, a 9-year-old boy was injured after a botched car burglary on Sunday. Officers originally responded to the shooting that occurred near the 1200 block of Southwest Phoenix Drive at approximately 8:30 p.m. Sunday. When officers arrived on the scene, they found a boy with a gunshot wound to the chest. The boy was rushed to the hospital, where he was said to be in stable condition, according to Dotson. Police Chief Echevarria said Tuesday night that 'we need to stop working in silos and figure out how do we work together to solve these issues.' He went on to say it isn't a police issue. Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat said the district already works closely with the police department. 'We're all on the same page,' she said. 'We have a great relationship and we're on speed dial. We share data. We share information and there know there there's nothing but love amongst everybody to help make our city as strong and and as safe as possible.' The boy who was shot, Desmoulin-Kherat said, was a PPS student and that makes the shooting especially hard. But as a community, the district is working to help 'think outside the box' to help prevent crime. 'For every incidents that gets reported, there are a lot of them that are solved,' she said. 'I'm proud of the collaboration . . . it's all hand on deck.' She said there is progress being made. There are things still to do but progress is being made. Mayor Rita Ali took part in the press conference Tuesday and joined Echevarria in thanking officers and detectives for their work in finding a suspect within 24 hours of the shooting, and she was grateful that the victim is in good condition. 'I'm delighted that he's going to grow up, hopefully, to be an adult and be able to give back to his community,' she said. She too, echoed what the chief said — that the schools are a vital part of the solution. 'It's going to take our schools working with our not-for-profit agencies. It's going to take our religious institutions and families getting nosy into the lives of their children,' she said. 2nd District Councilman Chuck Grayeb, who is running for mayor against Ali and At-Large Councilman John Kelly, reiterated that he and the rest of the council, along with law enforcement believe the SAFE-T Act, which overhauled the state's criminal justice system a few years ago, needs to be reformed. Grayeb, a former educator, said there needs to be more accountability for parents and that all parties, including the schools need to take a much stronger stance with the police department in order to help with the issues that confront teens in Peoria. But he also stressed there must be consequences: ''Catch and release' of dangerous individuals whether adults or juveniles must stop. Law abiding citizens deserve nothing less.' Kelly said the city of Peoria is 'stagnant and stagnant in declining cities have unacceptable crime rates.' Peoria, he said, is like other cities that are suffering from such issues. One way that a city can combat crime is to grow economically will offer more chances and opportunities. 'Our police do a great job, but they sweep up after the crime. The answer is a change in culture which comes from real opportunity in our city,' he said. 'As it stands, status quo in our city does not offer real opportunity.' Crime will still occur but the rate of crime will drop, he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
