Behavior is a powerful form of communication and is one of the primary ways for people with dementia to communicate their needs and feelings as the ability to use language is lost. However, some behaviors can present real challenges for caregivers to manage. Join us Thursday, May 6th at 1:00 pm on Zoom and review caregiver tips and strategies to respond to some common behaviors exhibited by individuals living with dementia, such as agitation, confusion, and more. Registration is required to receive Zoom meeting details. Register here: http://bit.ly/dpl-dementia Understanding and Responding... Read More

Quad-Cities schools want to make sure students have access to promising employment tracks. Two upcoming events will present exciting options for students to explore. Apprenticeships offer many exciting opportunities, and Quad-Cities schools will celebrate these options on April 19 during the Quad-Cities-Wide High School Apprenticeship Signing Day. The community will learn how apprenticeships can offer students powerful technical and professional skills to help them build a competitive advantage. These events will be held Monday and Tuesday, April 19 and 20. The April 19 event will be Signing Day,... Read More

Earlier this month, Western Illinois University’s Emergency Management program collaborated with the Emergency Operation Center Project (ILETSBEI) and the WIU GIS Center to offer two virtual classes to emergency responders and educators. The mission of the classes was to provide unmanned Aerial System (UAS) certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is mandatory for practitioners and students to be allowed to operate drones and drone-related technology in any professional operations in the area of public safety, from natural disasters, emergencies, to search and rescue. More... Read More

On Thursday, Matt Manweiler had a “come to Jesus” moment. Just not the kind you may think. The kind, bright and artistically adventurous orchestra director for the Rock Island-Milan School District, Manweiler has accepted a new position of education programs coordinator with Jesus Florido and his company Latinfiddler Music. On Facebook Thursday, Manweiler posted: “Jesus is a world-renowned Latin violinist who is a caring educator at heart. I will be working with Jesus on arrangements for his orchestral and educational residences, in helping build his pedagogy, and in coaching classically-trained... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – The Centennial Honors College at Western Illinois University will host the annual Thomas E. Helm Undergraduate Research Conference, which will be held in a virtual format Monday-Friday, April 19-23, with a special live session from 3-5 p.m. Thursday, April 22, concluding with the keynote presentation at 5 p.m. by distinguished WIU alumna Kirsten Dillender. The Undergraduate Research Conference was initiated by the Centennial Honors College in 2003, and was named in honor of Thomas E. Helm in 2009. It is a celebration of research, scholarship and creative activities undertaken... Read More

The April 14 and 15 mass vaccination clinics (two-dose Moderna vaccine) at Western Illinois University-Macomb’s campus are now open to all WIU and Spoon River College faculty, staff and students, as well as residents of McDonough, Fulton, Schuyler, Hancock, Warren and Henderson counties (and those who work in these counties), who are 18 years of age or older. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), in cooperation with WIU, the McDonough County Health Department and the Illinois National Guard, will host the COVID-19 vaccination clinics from 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Wednesday, April 14 and... Read More

It’s been two years since Bettendorf High School staged its last musical. A year after it was forced to cancel the planned “Shrek,” on Thursday night (April 15) it opens the Quad-Cities premiere of “Bright Star,” a musical by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell. The show will be performed in person, with limited capacity at the BHS Performing Arts Center, 3333 18th St., and it will be livestreamed online — 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 1 p.m. Sunday. All tickets must be purchased at bhspac.booktix.com, $10 for the in-person show and $20 per device for online. With a cast... Read More

A public art project, co-founded by Western Illinois University History Professor Peter Cole to commemorate the deaths caused by the 1919 Chicago Race Riot, has entered into an exciting partnership with two National Basketball Association (NBA) teams to bring programming into Chicago and Tulsa, OK classrooms. Cole and Franklin Cosey-Gay, executive director of the Chicago Center for Youth Violence Protection, co-direct the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project (CRR19). Its goal is to create and install markers at each of the 38 locations where a life was lost in 1919. The project is also... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL — As the state’s COVID-related restrictions have lessened, and the state is now in a “bridge” phase between Phases 4 and 5, as announced by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker last week, Western Illinois University has determined that in-person, outdoor* commencement ceremonies for 2021 and 2020 graduates will be held the weekend of May 14-16. To ensure compliance with state and University pandemic protocols, details are being finalized and will be forthcoming, including number of guests allowed, etc. The individual staged Commencement photo experience originally... Read More

Across the country, the destinies of many of America’s school libraries are on hold. They have been closed during the pandemic and it is not known when they will be able to reopen. But, two Davenport Community School District educators are dedicated to making sure that area kids still have quality books to read. Shari Larsen, principal at Wilson Elementary School in Davenport, IA, and Amber Cravens, teacher of English Language Learners, developed a project that is putting books in the hands of children who are eager to read. That project, the Unicorn Library, became available to all students... Read More