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District 87 Supports Youth Global Citizens, Showcases New Technology

Mike Miletich
/
WGLT

High school students from all across McLean County are taking part in the Youth Global Citizens program. The program allows students to work on goals and events for local organizations such as the Promise Project and Home Sweet Home Ministries. District 87 Superintendent Barry Reilly said bringing the program to McLean County this academic year let students open their eyes to the endless possibilities of leadership. Reilly said he is proud young people are volunteering their time to service and philanthropy. "I see this as something that will grow and benefit high school students across Bloomington-Normal," said Reilly. "All of these kids were working together across the community." 

Reilly said the student program benefits not only residents of McLean County, but also people all across the world. Two Bloomington High School students even had the chance to sell T-shirts and collect donations for a secondary school in India. 

The school board also talked about adding more technological programs to their curriculum. While students can use Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat outside of the classroom, they can earn online badges for skills like literature and take courses on digital coding inside the classroom. The changes are needed, Reilly said, because it's what students know best. He added that partnerships with community organizations like Frontier help provide low income students with internet access outside of school, allowing them to keep up with a variety of online academics. 

"That's important because it allows an even playing field," Reilly said. "When they go home, they have access to get the curriculum and do neat things. To me, all of those things are coming together at the right time."

Reilly also addressed legislature that was finally passed last week to help fund public universities throughout Illinois. Reilly said with the Illinois General Assembly making moves to help higher education, hopefully there will be a budget for K-12 soon. He said the most important thing to focus on during the budget crisis is helping the students.

"We'll work behind the scenes. Our board has done a great job over time to build fund balances to weather tough times," said Reilly. "Thankfully they've done that because we can still do the things we want to do despite the challenges."

Reilly said he is not sure what the next few years hold for the district financially, but he is hoping to find out within the next few months.

Mike joined GLT's staff as a student reporter in February of 2016 having worked previously as a reporter at Illinois State University's student radio station, 103.3 WZND. He acted as a director for the WZND newsroom for two years. Mike was also seen as a reporter, producer, and anchor at TV-10 News. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism in May of 2017 before starting his post-graduate career with the Public Affairs Reporting Masters Program at University of Illinois Springfield.