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

The Rock Island-Milan Education Foundation (RIMEF) has a new scholarship for any Rock Island High School senior having a parent who has or has had a significant illness. The new “Heart of a Rock” scholarship was established by Megan Wilson and Triona Roberts, 2010 RIHS graduates, in honor and memory of their mothers (Terri Wilson and Yolanda Roberts) who both fought a battle with breast cancer. They want to support seniors who have undergone the unforeseen challenges that happen when parents are fighting illnesses, according to RIMEF. The $1,000 award will be given to one special student with... Read More

The Rock Island-Milan School District is going to Full Remote Learning through January 18, the district just announced. The shift is due to the skyrocketing numbers of covid-19 in the area. The Quad-Cities is the seventh-highest hot spot for new covid cases in the United States. District superintendent Dr. Reginald Lawrence II posted the following on the RIMSD 41 website Friday night: Since our transition to blended learning on Oct. 19th, we have consciously followed the advice and recommendations of the national and local public health experts. The alarming rate at which the COVID-19 virus is... Read More

According to a story released a few minutes ago on Chicago’s NBC 5 affiliate, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker will be making an announcement closing Illinois schools for the remainder of the school year today at 2:30 p.m. The announcement will be part of Pritzker’s daily coronavirus briefing, which you can watch live here According to the story, distance learning via computer, which was put in place over the past week, will remain in effect through the end of this current school year. There was no information regarding graduation ceremonies, other events, or grading or other policies. The... Read More