Spring Break Brings in Community

EAST PEORIA ― Most students and faculty spent spring break away from Illinois Central College, but while they were gone, several groups from the community used the time to come hold events on the East Peoria Campus that brought a variety of area youth to ICC.

The first community event actually began on Friday March 14 just hours before many began their spring break.

Over the course of 12 hours that were distributed between that day and the next, Illinois Grade School Music Association (I.G.S.M.A) Division 2 held their annual Solo and Ensemble Contest, which, according to Cindy Bridges, state advisor for I.G.S.M.A, brought about 3,000 young, area musicians to ICC.

To listen to a few of the performances from the I.G.S.M.A. contest and to see accompanying photos, check out the content page on iccharbinger.com.

Another event that brought area youth on campus was the Tazewell County Teen Conference 2014 on March 18. This all-day affair, facilitated by the Tazewell County Health Department (TCHD), gave junior high and high school students from Tazewell County the opportunity to come learn about an assortment of subjects, which range from public speaking to drug awareness.

The TCHD works with the Tazewell County Youth Board, which is comprised of area student leaders, to plan the events for the 500 or so attendees. One of their main goals is to set good role models for the kids.

“We are representatives for the youth for different schools to show an example of what being drug-free and alcohol-free can do for you in life,” said Youth Board president Emma Sauder, who plans to attend- ICC this fall.

ICC has provided the space for the conference every year for the last twelve years.

“ICC’s been great. They are great to work with,” said Sara Sparkman, TCHD’s communications manager. “It is good for the kids to come here and see the college to become familiar with it before they think about going to college.”

The last community event that occurred over spring break was the American Welding Society, Peoria Section, District 13’s annual welding competition on March 20 at ICC’s East Peoria welding lab.

Every year since 2006, area tradesmen and students, come here to put their metal welding skills to the test for a chance at winning one of a variety of prizes. This year there were 28 competitors.

Austin Cobb from Limestone High School won the high school section, and Dustin Cart won the college-level section. Cart, a Limestone High School senior, beat out two ICC students and five from Midwest Technical Institute to win the college-level section as a high school student.