✰ SERVING YOUR COMMUNITY FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS ✰ Thursday, October 2, 2014A section of the Belleville News-Democrat

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Around Town A2Our Town A2City News A3-6Choice Voice A4Mayor Op-Ed A4Opinions A4Business A6Education A6Sports B1-2Obituaries B3Fire Calls B3Police Blotter B3Anniversary B5Births B5Classified B6-8

OTHS veteran

Moeller named

Athletic Director

of the Year for

Southwest Region

Someone YouShould Know

Page A10

HIGH HONOR

OTHS swimmers,

rolling along;

check out results

from other Panther

fall squads.

SportsPage B1

SPLASH!

Homecoming

Dance at OTHS,

other events

shaping up at

local schools.

EducationPage A6

FALL FUN

THIS WEEK

By Robyn L. KirschPROGRESS STAFF WRITER

Last week marked a

milestone in the Memorial

Hospital and Village of

Shiloh’s history with its

Topping Out event

Thursday, Sept. 25, held

at ground zero for the new

Memorial East Hospital at

1404 Cross St.

Rooted in an ancient

Scandinavian religious

rite, Memorial Hospital

chose the title of its event

c a r e f u l l y ,

Hosp i t a l /Communi ty

Relations Executive

Director Anne Thomure

said.

“In the construction

industry, ‘Topping Out’ is

a builders’ celebration tra-

ditionally held when the

structural steel phase is

completed,” Thomure

said.

Memorial East staff

placed a tree atop the new

building to appease the

tree-dwelling spirits dis-

placed by the construc-

tion, according to

Thomure.

“Plans are to plant this

tree on the hospital site to

commemorate this impor-

tant milestone in the con-

struction,” Thomure

added.

“The Topping Out event

is certainly a significant

milestone and now that

the structural steel phase

is complete we are look-

ing forward to the timely

completion of other major

events,” said Ruth

Holmes, Memorial East

Hospital administrator.

“In mid October the com-

munity will see the start

of exterior brick. Our goal

By Mark RaeberPROGRESS STAFF WRITER

The early childhood edu-

cation program at O’Fallon

District 90 has been award-

ed the highest designation

granted through the state of

Illinois’ new Quality

Counts rating system.

And its director, Gina

Chorma, said being recog-

nized for going above and

beyond what is expected

not only reflects well on the

program but also should be

a comfort to parents know-

ing their children are in a

program that has the high-

est standards.

ExceleRate Illinois is a

statewide quality rating and

improvement system

designed to make continu-

ous quality improvement

an everyday priority among

early learning providers.

The program establishes

standards for helping

infants, toddlers and pre-

school age children devel-

op intellectually, physical-

ly, socially and emotional-

ly. It provides a framework

for early learning profes-

sionals to identify opportu-

nities for improvement,

increase their skills and

take steps to make positive

changes.

ExceleRate Illinois also

recognizes early learning

providers for their ongoing

efforts to improve the qual-

ity of their care by award-

ing Circle of Quality desig-

nations.

The Gold Circle of

Quality award O’Fallon

Dist. 90 received recog-

nizes the program for meet-

ing or going beyond the

highest quality standards in

learning environment and

teaching quality; adminis-

trative standards; and staff

training and education. And

it commends the program

for actively engaging in

continuous quality

improvement.

Chorma explained the

award is part of the Illinois

State Board of Education’s

new monitoring system for

early childhood education

programs.

“The state now has com-

pliance visits and they

spent an entire day in each

of our classrooms,” she

said. “They looked at the

educational learning envi-

ronment and the profes-

sional development the

staff does. They looked at

the curriculum, the assess-

ments, everything the

teachers were doing right

down to the things they

were saying to the materi-

als in the classroom and

how they were being used.

They also looked at out

budget and at all of our

paperwork, as well, to see

if we are doing a good job

of documenting what we

are doing.

“This is the first year the

state has done this but it is

a pretty prestigious thing.

And getting the gold level

designation says we go

above and beyond what is

expected of a program,”

Chorma said.

“The designation is good

for one year,” she then

noted. “They will come

back again next May for

SEE GOLD ON PAGE A8

Memorial Hospitalin Shiloh ‘Tops Out’

Shiloh welcomeshealthcare facility By Robyn L. KirschPROGRESS STAFF WRITER

The Village of Shiloh has

open arms for Heartland

Women’s Healthcare, one

of Dr. Michael Schifano’s

latest practices that opened

in August at 1197 Fortune

Blvd., Suite One near

Green Mount Crossing

Drive.

The ribbon cutting cere-

mony for the practice was

held the evening of

Tuesday, Sept. 23.

“We’re excited for

Heartland Women’s

Healthcare expansion

efforts and are thrilled they

stayed in our community,”

O’Fallon-Shiloh Chamber

of Commerce Executive

Director Debbie Arell-

Martinez said. “We wish

them much success in their

new location.”

Founded in 2001 in

Marion, Ill., Heartland

Women’s Healthcare

(HWHC) is the largest and

fastest growing obstetrics

and gynecology practice in

Southern Illinois, accord-

ing to the chamber.

“The comprehensive

practice oversees the total

health of women in all

phases of life. The practice

District 90 earns gold

S T R A N G E F O L K F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 4

‘STRANGE’FUN TIME

PROGRESS/Roger Popwell

Rotten Roger strums away at his guitar at the Ninth Annual

Strange Folk Festival, which took place Sept. 27-28 in O’Fallon

Community Park. This year’s festival featured live music from

several bands plus an eclectic upbeat playlist of indie pop, folk, and alt-

rock throughout the weekend. The event also included a RE/MAX bal-

loon ride, food, crafts and arts made by more than 150 artisans from all

over the country. This included ceramics, weaving, tapestry arts, painting

and other creative and memorable trinkets. This year’s Festival featured

an area for interactive arts and crafts for children as well.

Awardedhighestdesignation

SEE MEMORIAL ON PAGE A3 SEE HEARTLAND ON PAGE A3