Midwest Central High School - Home of the Raiders

Since we were unable to hold a Senior Night this year for our athletes we’ll be honoring our senior athletes with their accomplishments, thanks, and plans for the future each day. Thanks to each and every one of our athletes and their families for their commitment MCHS athletics! Today we’ll be honoring our Track athletes throughout the day! Elizabeth Bridgmon is the daughter of Betty Freed. Elizabeth Bridgmon participated in cross country and track and field all four years at MCHS. She strived to improve her personal records in the 400 meter run and the 100 meter dash. She also strategized to make her relay teams give their best effort. As a senior, Elizabeth stepped up to be a leader with the sprinters during workouts. In the fall, she plans to attend Western Illinois University to major in Fire Science and minor in Criminal Justice and Fire Administration. She would like to thank her teachers, coaches, and family for always believing in her and pushing her to be better. To her fellow athletes, she says “thanks for giving her the best four years ever!”

Since we were unable to hold a Senior Night this year for our athletes we’ll be honoring our senior athletes with their accomplishments, thanks, and plans for the future each day. Thanks to each and every one of our athletes and their families for their commitment MCHS athletics! Today we’ll be honoring our Track athletes throughout the day! Annah Miller is the daughter of Dan and JoAnne Miller. Annah has been involved with Track throughout her high school career. She qualified for the State finals in shot-put and disc every year. In shot put, she placed at 8th in state freshman year and 9th in state junior year. She has been invited to the Journal Star Honor Roll Meet every year and qualified for the Top Times meet in her performance at the Jacksonville indoor meet. Her leadership and character in helping young throwers will be missed. After graduation, Annah plans to attend St. Ambrose University to continue her track career. She would like to thank Coach Thompson for his patience and guidance in helping her be the best that she can. To her fellow athletes, Annah says “try your best and you will progress. Go Raiders!”

It's time for GRADUATION! Midwest Central is excited to announce our graduating senior class of 2020. Use the YouTube LIVESTREAM link below, this Sunday, May 17th, from 11AM to 4PM. Share this link as you please: https://youtu.be/wbO3bsgvFSM

Since we were unable to hold a Senior Night this year for our athletes we’ll be honoring our senior athletes with their accomplishments, thanks, and plans for the future, each day. Thanks to each and every one of our athletes and their families for their commitment MCHS athletics! Today we’ll be honoring our Softball players throughout the day! Taylor Canada is the daughter of Mike and Tracey Canada. Taylor has played softball throughout her high school career, achieved a regional championship in 2019, earned 2nd Team All-Conference honors and Tomahawk All-Conference Academic honors (3.5 gpa or better through high school). Taylor finished her career at the plate with 29 hits and a career average of .218. Taylor was a consistent defensive star in right field and could be counted on in the field to come through with a clutch catch. For her efforts, Taylor earned second team all Tomahawk Conference in 2019. In the fall, she will attend St. Ambrose University to study Exercise Science. She would like to thank her family for always supporting her and her coaches for helping her improve each year. To her fellow athletes, she says “thank you for making the seasons so fun and helping me create memories. I will miss playing softball with each and every one of you.”

Since we were unable to hold a Senior Night this year for our athletes we’ll be honoring our senior athletes with their accomplishments, thanks, and plans for the future, each day. Thanks to each and every one of our athletes and their families for their commitment MCHS athletics! Today we’ll be honoring our Softball players throughout the day! Josie Woodley is the daughter of James and Marley Woodley. Josie has played softball throughout her high school career, achieved a regional championship in 2019, and earned the Tomahawk All-Conference Academic honors (3.5 gpa or better through high school). Josie was a flexible player in her career at MCHS. She was always counted on to take the ball on the mound as well as to play various positions in the field. Josie was also always a solid choice to get a sacrifice bunt down at the plate. She finished her pitching career with 7 wins. Of note, Josie was an incredible 3 hits for 3 at bats in her freshman year in varsity games! In the fall, she will attend Illinois Valley Community College to play softball and major in Nursing. Josie would like to thank every single one of her coaches for helping her become the player that she is, her teammates for cheering her on, and her family for supporting her. To her fellow athletes, Josie says, “Never take a single moment on and off the field for granted because you never know if the game you just played will be your last. It’s ok to be upset over a loss, but don’t get hung up on it, try to appreciate the fact that you were just able to play.”

Since we were unable to hold a Senior Night this year for our athletes we’ll be honoring our senior athletes with their accomplishments, thanks, and plans for the future, each day. Thanks to each and every one of our athletes and their families for their commitment MCHS athletics! Today we’ll be honoring our Softball players throughout the day! Gracie Rademacker is the daughter of Kevin and Mindy Rademacker. Gracie has played softball for 3 years, achieved a regional championship in 2019, earned 1st Team All-Conference her junior year, and Tomahawk All-Conference Academic honors (3.5 gpa or better through high school). Gracie finished her career with 42 hits and a batting average of .282. Gracie hit a career high .307 in 2019 and played incredible defense at shortstop. She was by far the defensive captain on the field. Gracie earned the team Gold Glove Award by only making 4 errors all year with a fielding percentage of .967. She will be attending Carl Sandburg College to continue her academic and athletic career. Gracie would like to thank her family, coaches and teammates for always pushing her to do her best and always being there for her. To her fellow athletes, Gracie says, “I love you all and thank you for being like a second family to me. I can’t wait to see what our futures hold.”

Since we were unable to hold a Senior Night this year for our athletes we’ll be honoring our senior athletes with their accomplishments, thanks, and plans for the future, each day. Thanks to each and every one of our athletes and their families for their commitment MCHS athletics! Today we’ll be honoring our Softball players throughout the day! Alyssa Sondag is the daughter of Mark and Tobi Sondag. Alyssa played softball throughout her high school career, achieved a regional championship in 2019, and earned Tomahawk All-Conference Academic honors (3.5 gpa or better through high school). Alyssa was a solid performer in left field during her career and an even greater cheerleader for the team. She was poised to have a great senior year after working very hard last year and in the preseason this year. As it was, Alyssa finished her career with 10 hits and a very respectable .303 average! In the fall, she will attend St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa to study Nursing. She would like to thank her coaches and teammates for making these four years wonderful and for all of the memories. To her fellow teammates, Alyssa says, “don’t take the memories for granted.”

Since we were unable to hold a Senior Night this year for our athletes we’ll be honoring our senior athletes with their accomplishments, thanks, and plans for the future, each day. Thanks to each and every one of our athletes and their families for their commitment MCHS athletics! Today we’ll be honoring our Softball players throughout the day! Abby Kammeyer is the daughter of Scott and Jamie Kammeyer. Abby has played softball throughout her high school career, achieved a regional championship in 2019, earned 1st Team All-Conference her sophomore and junior year, Highest Batting Average, Most Hits, and Regional Championship her junior year, and Tomahawk All-Conference Academic honors (3.5 gpa or better through high school). Abby played for two seasons due to injury and a pandemic, however, Abby made quite a contribution! She finished with 66 hits and a career batting average of .407, highlighted by a .444 average in 2019. During her pitching career, Abby won 23 games and only lost 13. Abby will be attending Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona and will major in Graphic Design and Advertising. She would like to thank Coach Reining, Coach Weaver, and Coach Burks for pouring so much time into her development and always believing in her. She would also like to thank Susan Goetze for all the time spent perfecting pitches, laughing, and helping her improve as a player and a person. She would also like to thank her family for supporting her and always allowing her to follow her dreams. She would especially like to thank her Grandpa Pete for always working with her and driving her to try-outs; he is truly the reason she has been so successful. To her teammates, Abby says “thank you so much for all the memories! I had so much fun on the field with all of you and will forever remember all our laughs. Cherish every moment you have left and make it count! Love you all!”

Congratulations to Ms. Sarff for winning the $5,000 Century Link grant. The money will be used for the PE heart rate monitor project! Thank you CenturyLink!!

Congratulations to Camryn Picken on being selected as the 2nd Vice President of the Illinois Association of Student Councils. She will help plan and coordinate Honor Delegates for the 2021 State Convention. This is a great honor and Midwest Central is proud to support her throughout this next year.

Graduation Coming Soon! Please see the picture below, or in the link to view the high school graduation schedule for Sunday: https://5il.co/g1t3

Congrats to Coach Guenther and the golf team for being awarded a $400 Fore Golf Grant towards range expenses at Sunset Hills Golf Club for the team! The River Cup Foundation works to support youth golf programs in the Tri-County area. Check them out here: http://www.rivercup.com/index.php?grantpage

Join our Team - 2nd Grade Teacher Vacancy

Happy National Nurses Day! To all the nurses out there on the front line, we appreciate you! Nurse Denise and Nurse Shyla, you ladies are top notch and we are blessed to have you as part of our Raider family!

Midwest Central High School Physical Education Program receives funds from the Forman Valley Community Foundation Grant. Mrs. Sarff and the physical education department at Midwest Central High School recently applied for funds to help jump start their efforts in promoting fitness education. The project, “Fit for Life”, is aimed at increasing students’ awareness of their own activity levels and teaching them how to monitor their progress and set goals. This project is a new, creative way to educate students on how they can make a positive change in their own life and to also hopefully impact others around them. The grant funds will be used to purchase heart rate monitor technology, which will give students a tool that they can use to monitor their own activity levels and provide them with the ability to increase both their fitness levels and their feeling of control over their physical education performance. The technology provided by the grant funds will give students instant feedback and allow for data collection over time that will give students, their parents, the teaching staff, and our district a look at how our students are improving their fitness levels, and in turn, their health. MCHS would like to thank the Forman Valley Community Foundation for the continued support of programs that help improve the health of our community.

The staff had a blast delivering signs to MC Seniors! Students, we are so proud of you!!!!

Midwest Central High School will hold a modified graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 17th, between 11 AM and 5 PM. We worked with local health officials to determine a method that would meet social distancing guidelines while providing an opportunity to recognize this great accomplishment. Participating seniors will be assigned a time slot where they'll be able to walk the stage and receive their diploma, in the presence of up to 6 family members of the same household. We will also live stream the event on YouTube (details to follow). Details can be read in the pictures below. It will also be distributed by email and mail. Seniors expecting to participate should contact the school to confirm attendance.

Hello Raiders, We have received the following correspondence from the State Board of Education that they are releasing additional food benefits for all Midwest Central families. Since Midwest Central is a Community Eligible school every student enrolled in Midwest Central is eligible for this benefit whether they qualify for free lunches or not. In order to receive the additional benefit you must apply (information is below) unless you are currently a SNAP recipient. We have been asked to communicate this to our parents. I have also attached a flyer for more assistance. Thank you, Todd Hellrigel, Ed.D. Pandemic EBT Application Available The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) launched the Pandemic EBT application for families on May 1 at https://abe.illinois.gov/abe/access/. P-EBT is a new special benefit that can help families buy food for their school age children who would normally receive National School Lunch Program (NSLP) free or reduced-priced meals when schools are in session. All families with school age children who attend schools approved for Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) are eligible for the benefits as they receive NSLP meals at no charge. Families that currently receive SNAP benefits do not need to apply for P-EBT benefits. These additional P-EBT benefits will be loaded into Illinois LINK EBT accounts along with regular SNAP benefits. Families who do not currently receive SNAP benefits but do have children who receive NSLP free or reduced-priced meals will need to apply directly with IDHS. The fastest way for families to receive benefits is to complete the application for P-EBT available online (Click “Apply for Benefits” at the link.) A paper application in English and Spanish is also available and can be submitted by email to DHS.FCS.PEBT@illinois.gov. IDHS created a flyer to help families with the application process. We are asking NSLP sponsors to share this flyer with their families. ISBE is working in partnership with IDHS to ensure that this validation is available for all NSLP sponsors, both public and non-public. Thank you to all the schools that participate in the NSLP for submitting data by the April 17 deadline. We are asking that you please continue to verify that count, so that all families who are eligible can access the additional financial support provided by P-EBT. Instructions for this crucial verification can be found online. If NSLP sponsors need assistance with the data submission/update, please email the ISBE Nutrition Department at cnp@isbe.net. If families need technical assistance with the application, please direct them to email IDHS at DHS.FCS.PEBT@illinois.gov. Nutrition Department, Illinois State Board of Education 100 N. First St., Springfield, IL 62777 cnp@isbe.net, www.isbe.net/nutrition

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Hello Raider Parents, We have been diligently working on high school graduation and 8th grade transition plans for the past couple of weeks. We were trying to develop alternate plans while also staying in the guidelines of social distancing. We received approval yesterday from the Mason County Health Department to move forward with our plans, and we had planned to email out tomorrow what those plans were going to be. However, as of last night the State Board has banned any kind of graduation ceremony except virtual (online). They have banned any in person type of ceremony including drive up or drive by ceremonies. This is incredibly disheartening for Midwest Central, our seniors, and our 8th grade students. We do not feel a virtual ceremony is appropriate to commemorate these events. We've had this happen to us multiple times already where we've made plans only to have them taken out of our control by the State Board of Education or the Governor. Midwest Central has the desire to do something special for our seniors and 8th grade students; therefore, we're again putting high school graduation and 8th grade transition on hold until we have some better guidance. Our hope is that by waiting we'll be able to do something in June or July although we can't anticipate to what extent at this point. We realize none of this is ideal, and we're also frustrated with the Chicago machine dictating downstate plans. Unfortunately our hands are legally tied right now. As we receive more information, rest assured we'll update you on how we can honor our senior and 8th grade students. I've attached the State Board's email for your information. I'm sorry I have to keep sending you unfortunate news. This will eventually pass, and we'll eventually go back to normal. Sunny days are ahead. Sincerely, Todd Hellrigel, Ed.D.