Eighth graders challenged to show kindness

Earlier this week, I watched a presentation from Rachel's Challenge along with several hundred Jacobs High School students.

The program uses the life and diaries of Rachel Scott, the first student killed in the 1999 Columbine High School shootings, to inspire young people to treat each other with kindness and compassion.

A team of about 150 eighth-graders from Westfield Community School in Algonquin was also there, Westfield Principal Bill Doran said.

Jacobs Principal Michael Bregy invited the eighth-graders, many of whom will be attending Jacobs next year, to familiarize them with the principles Rachel's Challenge teaches, Doran said.

Doran said he was not yet certain if the program will be adopted at Westfield but said his students and the students at Jacobs could benefit from the message.

"I think the program was very clear in its efforts to encourage children and adults alike to think more about others," he said.

It's over - well, almost: Last week, I paraphrased former president and Michigan native Gerald Ford in announcing the lengthy teacher contract talks that resulted in a two-day teacher strike were finally over.

While that was certainly true, there were still a few i's to be dotted and t's to be crossed.

The last major hurdle was surpassed Monday, when the school board voted 6-0 to approve the contract.

But board President Shawn Green reminded me there is at least one issue the board and the Huntley Education Association will continue to discuss: the district's salary schedule.

Board members have acknowledged throughout negotiations that the salaries at the low end of that schedule, which are paid to new and inexperienced teachers, are low.

They also have said in order to bring those salaries up, the district needs to make the bump teachers get for each additional year of experience, currently 3.5 percent, smaller.

The union, as far as I can tell, has been noncommittal on whether it would agree to smaller experience raises in exchange for larger starting salaries.

But union spokeswoman Britt Crowe said union leaders were willing to work with the district on the issue.

And that's exactly what they will do as part of a joint committee on compensation, outlined in the new contract the board approved Monday.

According to the deal, the committee will make recommendations to the board on the salary schedule.

The board proposed a revised schedule during contract negotiations but had to drop the proposal and stick with the existing schedule to reach an agreement.

I'll let you know if the committee makes any progress and what it recommends.

Library gets another tech grant: For the second time in a little over a month, the Huntley Area Public Library has been awarded a technology grant.

The latest grant, $45,000 from the Illinois State Library, will enable the library to replace outdated equipment, including a server, a color printer and 14 computers, as well as to add four early literacy stations.

The library received a $12,500 technology grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Development earlier this year.