Rameen: Coming up on City Spotlight the start of season seven continues and we're back on location in Arcola.

First we talk with Arcola mayor Larry Ferguson and Bill Wagoner, Arcola city administrator, on the impact of COVID-19 on Arcola events; an update on the grant to help improve Arcola parks; and the latest on the new solar farm in Arcola.

Then we talk with Arcola Schools superintendent Dr. Tom Mulligan with the latest physical changes to Arcola schools and the impact of COVID-19 on the start of the new school year in Arcola.

We're on location and we're talking all things Arcola here on City Spotlight.

[music plays] City Spotlight is supported by Consolidated Communications.

CCI is honored to salute the cities and their leaders in the area, as well as providing TV, Internet, and phone service for the local homes and businesses.

We live where we work, and are proud to support the communities we serve.

More information available at consolidated.com.

Hello and welcome to another edition of City Spotlight.

We are on location once again here to start season seven and we are back in a familiar place, City Hall in Arcola to talk all about Arcola.

We're going to tape both segments here in City Hall and we're pleased to welcome back to the program the mayor of Arcola Larry Ferguson.

Larry?

Larry: Glad to have you here.

Rameen: Pleasure.

And Bill Wagoner, Arcola City Administrator.

Bill, pleasure as always.

Bill: Yeah, good morning.

Rameen: Socially distant, super wide shot.

This is going to be the new norm for a while so we are socially distant here taping on September 4th in Arcola.

Gentlemen we were looking forward to taping around this time when we last talked eight months ago, and we were looking forward to taping on location at the 50th Broomcorn but as we know festivals across the country, events have been postponed or delayed, and we're going to have to wait another year for the 50th Broomcorn.

Comments?

Larry: Yeah, it was kind of disappointing in that it was the 50th.

You know it would be disappointing anyway but- Rameen: Right.

Larry: ... we talked about, of course, the chamber puts this on, they do a great job of that.

No need to do a 49 and a half kind of deal.

We had a lot of vendors that couldn't be here, get the permits, had a lot of the ...

I think our carnival rides they weren't out in any force doing anything, so it was a hard thing to do but we had to just go ahead and cancel it, and it was the best thing to do.

I know Bill can probably add some information on that too.

Rameen: Yeah, we're taping here September 4th and so Broomcorn would have been September 11th through- Larry: [crosstalk] Yeah 11 through 13th, correct.

Rameen: 13th.

So anything you can add, Bill, there on ...

I mean, obviously there's got to be some kind of an economic impact?

Bill: Yeah, it's a huge impact for our local small businesses, especially those downtown and our local service groups, our Lions Club it's their biggest fundraiser of the year.

Same for the Masonic Lodge here in the community.

So they're scrambling try to replace those funds that they use to support our community, so we're all having to adapt to this period of time and it gives us more time to plan for the 50th, and we'll do it up right next year.

And one of the things that the virus has done it caused us to reevaluate our fireworks on the Fourth of July and we actually kicked those back, so we'll do that the Saturday night of the traditional Broomcorn weekend, so it'll be something going on in town.

We'll blow some stuff up around Green Mill Village, and give people a nice show, and just celebrate what we have in our community.

And even though we are going through these tough times we still have good people, a lot of hard work, working together on things.

Rameen: Those fireworks will happen before this airs, so just want to put this out there for folks.

Has a date been set for the newly rescheduled 50th Broomcorn or is that still being- Bill: [crosstalk 00:03:18] It'll be the traditional weekend after Labor Day- Rameen: Okay, got it.

Bill: ... in 2021.

Rameen: Okay, got it.

Okay, very good.

We look forward to that and we look forward to taping that on location because 50 is a big number and it'll be a big milestone for the community, so we look forward to that.

Any other events postponed, canceled, rescheduled or still going on in Arcola?

Bill: Well we have the fireworks still, we talked about that- Rameen: Right.

Bill: ... but then all of the summer rec programs, the soccer, and the baseball, and the softball, all that ... And the junior football, that all got shelved unfortunately.

It's like the school sports.

Rameen: Right.

Bill: So we feel bad for those kids but hopefully they can put anything together for next year.

We're grateful for the fall sports that the state did allow to be done, like golf and- Rameen: Correct, yeah.

Bill: I don't think we have cross country but it's nice that the kids have some venues for different sports they may not participate in because of volleyball and football traditionally.

Rameen: Absolutely.

I believe you ... Before we started taping Country Spirit Antique Show, which happens a couple times a year, that's still on?

Bill: Still on.

They are going to do some things a little bit different.

They're working with their vendors and they will have some limited access, controlling the inflow and the outflow.

It'll be more of a, in the antique world, kind of like a tag sale as opposed to just an open door and everybody run in kind of thing.

Rameen: Okay.

Bill: So we'll work through that with them and excited to keep that going.

It's, like you said, one of the few events that hasn't gotten canceled.

Larry: They have three locations actually in the town to- Rameen: Correct.

Larry: ... be a part of, so they can spread things out and hopefully make this all work for everyone.

Rameen: Our in between segment, between our first and second segment, we'll have the Community Calendar segment so we'll have the date for the Country Spirit Antique Show up there on the screen for you to check out.

Things that we talked about last time, at the other end of 2020 where things appeared to be normal until COVID hit, we talked about the grant to help improve Arcola parks.

We had some video of that.

So what's the status on the grant for the parks improvement?

Larry: I'm going to pass that onto Bill- Rameen: Okay.

Larry: ... he's the brains behind it- Rameen: It's exciting stuff.

Larry: Yeah.

Bill: Yeah, so the state did release our grant agreement.

We haven't actually got any state funds yet for the project but we've been able to get the engineering done on it and hope to bid out some of it this fall yet.

And our goal is to hopefully have the splash pad up and running by Fourth of July next summer.

Rameen: All right, very good.

At Kelly Moore Memorial Park there.

And also we talked about new solar farm.

I understand some things are underway there?

Bill: Yeah, so they're moving and going on South Route 45.

They've got their piling set into the ground.

They'll be building out the rack system for the panels and set those in the next couple weeks.

They anticipate going live sometime in December with Ameren, so it's exciting.

Some activity.

It's a little bit different than what people see so we've got some phone calls.

Usually you see corn and beans in that field, and you're not, so- Rameen: Right.

Bill: It's good for our community.

Rameen: It's good for the community.

A lot of- Larry: Absolutely.

Rameen: There's the plan that you guys talked about for the State of Illinois and having various communities have these community solar farms, and Larry what's the value of that to Arcola?

Larry: Well I think the value is that we're going into a new age of how we actually produce electricity.

Rameen: Correct.

Larry: We have it here on City Hall.

We actually have it out at our waste treatment plant.

I think we were trying to lead a bit here and to put that there I think it just shows where we're headed.

Rameen: Okay, very good.

Just want to ask you overall, just the general times that we're in, the community, since we taped, COVID happened and having to adjust, things having to be closed, speak for the overall community of Arcola, from mid-March to now, how did the community react to the whole pandemic or whatever?

Larry: You know I believe very well, for what they had to deal with.

We in contact with a lot of business folks.

I know we had the ... One little bit of a story here.

Royal Academy, which is a daycare center with learning, they opened the doors and got the doors shut right away.

That was really disheartening but they actually received a temporary permit, a special permit, to open up, so that was exciting for that to be opened.

But a lot of business, and we worked with them, especially when the restaurants were allowed to have outdoor seating, we didn't have them jump through hoops on different permits and that type of thing, and we allowed ... We went and I made phone calls as soon as I saw the governor actually had done that.

I know they really appreciated that.

But a lot of the businesses are suffering all over the state, not only Arcola but everywhere, our surrounding areas.

Larry: So we've been working, we've had a lot of Zoom calls.

We've learned how to do the Zoom.

Rameen: Right.

As we all have.

Bill: Yeah.

Larry: I mean three or four times a week- Rameen: Wow.

Larry: ... we worked with Douglas County Health Department and the county surrounding communities very well, I believe.

And it's been a eventful hurting experience but I think the community's adapted really well.

Rameen: We taped Dr. Tom Mulligan's segment just before these gentlemen and you'll hear some of those comments about everybody working together here, so Arcola definitely working together through these tough times and everything.

We've also talked about new housing in Arcola the last couple times with you guys there and what's the latest on that?

I guess the last time we talked was some potential housing Green Mill Village.

Bill: Yeah, that's something they're still working towards.

They're working with their engineer to layout some sites and hopefully build.

I think they're looking towards maybe next year now.

Everything kind of got pushed back.

But we still continue to see some growth in our community, along Prairie Meadow Subdivision just south of the park and then on Elm Street heading out of town.

So we've added two to three a year for the last few years, so it's still ...

I mean that's good growth for a community our size.

If you're in Champaign that's just a blip on the radar- Rameen: Right.

Bill: ... but in a town of 3,000 you're adding three houses a year that's steady pace.

Larry: Yeah.

Rameen: Okay.

Don't have anything else really listed on my list here of things but anything else you can leave for our folks here, as we tape here at the beginner of September, to get to the end of 2020?

Been a very strange year.

Larry: It's been difficult.

Our police department, our other employees, have done a really phenomenal job trying to keep the community safe during this tough time.

I had some stats out there that certain things have went up, such as domestic suicides ... Not suicides but had to deal with that type of thing and they've done a really great job of keeping our community safe, and at a very difficult time, and I know that ...

I think, Bill and I talked to a church group here just the other day about having an afterschool program to where the kids could come in and actually interact, and give their thoughts of what was going on with them personally, and I think that's a great thing.

So just wanted to put that out there, that we're doing everything we can to get through this.

And I think it teaches us a few things for down the road.

Rameen: Great perspective there from the mayor of Arcola Larry Ferguson and Bill Wagoner, we also thank your time, Arcola city administrator.

Gentlemen, pleasure as always taping here in Arcola.

Larry: Thank you for having us.

Bill: Thank you- Rameen: [crosstalk] For sure.

And coming up next here on City Spotlight we'll stay right here, City Hall of Arcola, and we'll talk with Dr. Tom Mulligan, superintendent of Arcola schools, but first let's take a look at some of the upcoming activities going on in Arcola.

[music plays] And we're back here on City Spotlight, this on location episode on Arcola.

As we continue on here at the start of season seven we welcome back a familiar face to the program, Dr. Tom Mulligan superintendent of Arcola schools.

Tom, great to see you.

Tom: Yeah, thanks for having me.

I love coming on the show.

Rameen: From a distance, again, we're taping here in this COVID-19 world that we live in right now, so Tom and I are safely apart as we, again, are taping here in City Hall.

We've taped with Tom in the studios of WEIU and the superintendent's office, so another location with Tom.

Tom: Yeah.

Rameen: So we're glad to have you on again.

As we mentioned earlier, with Larry and Bill, in our first segment on Arcola we last taped with Arcola back at the beginning of 2020, pre-COVID-19 impact on everything in the world here in Central Illinois.

And we last talked with Tom about a lot of physical changes that were going on at the beginning of the year in Arcola schools.

And right after we had taped, Tom, catch us up, the high school media center got completed.

Tom: Yeah.

So as we were hitting March, right around that time last year, the high school media center was being renovated and it was renovated ...

I don't know if you remember me telling you but it was renovated with funds donated to the school from the Libman Company.

And we basically remodeled that entire area to make it more of a current learning space with some digital learning areas, where kids can work group and with interactive digital media, and so forth.

So that project was all done and then the students didn't get to us it.

But that was nice.

Actually once we went into COVID I shot some videos for the students daily and I did some of the multimedia shots in there with them.

And then we had our huge elementary school construction project going on.

We built a brand new office area, a new addition coming out from the elementary school.

We've got a new office conference room, couple of classrooms there.

And we remodeled the entire inside of the elementary building and our cafeteria, so that included taking out all the old asbestos tile in there, the ceiling tile, there's those old walls.

You know it's a 1950 building, so we remodeled, repainted, and it just got completed and it is a beautiful facility.

Rameen: As I talked with Tom back at the beginning of the year we were hoping to show you interior videos but because of COVID-19 we'll leave it to the pretty exteriors, which Tom has told me they're nice so- Tom: Yeah, they are.

Rameen: ... you've seen those exteriors at home- Tom: They are, they are really, really nice.

Rameen: ... the new signage and everything.

Tom: Yeah.

Well actually we've got our digital sign it's getting installed next week.

Rameen: Okay.

Tom: You might have to come back and get another shot next week.

Rameen: I might have to come back, yes.

As we are taping here September 4th for this episode here.

Very good.

Tom: Right, right.

Rameen: That probably puts a wrap on, again, a lot of physical changes have been happen and so- Tom: Yeah, yeah, it's really .

..

I think the students and stuff, and when they came back this year they were in awe.

I mean it just creates such a more positive learning environment.

And really, to be honest, the only positive from the whole COVID shutdown last year is we could really get in and get moving with the construction project a lot quicker.

We were scheduled not to be done for even a few more weeks yet- Rameen: Wow.

Tom: ... with the outside, but with the able to get them in we were able to get it done quicker.

Rameen: Okay, very good.

So that's it on the docket for the physical changes at Arcola schools.

Before we talk about the current school year, again we're taping here September 4th, Tom how were Arcola schools impacted from mid-March until now?

Tom: Yeah, so it was a crazy time, just like it was for everybody, but I have to say that as a district we were very well setup for it.

As we've talked before on this show our community raised about 750,000 for us to go to one-to-one digital learning several years ago and so all of our students had devices, all our staff had devices.

The connectivity of our families was amazing, I can't believe how many of our families are connected to the Internet.

We had to provide some hotspots to a few families but we transitioned fairly smoothly, really, into the remote learning last spring.

I mean, I say smoothly, I think smoothly because we were able to, I mean, really connect daily with kids, and upload, and communicate assignments.

We didn't have to ... You know a lot of districts were having to deliver packets of paper and that could only happen like once a week.

I mean we were able to transition right into daily communication with our students and our families.

I wrote an article for the paper thanking the community because the community is what ...

It's all about working together as a community and a school, and the community really helped us be prepared for that transition.

It wasn't a great situation because you miss the students, your teachers aren't trained on how to do complete remote, but our kids and our teachers were trained enough that they transitioned fairly well into that.

Rameen: Talked with you Tom about the one-to-one digital learning platform since your very first time on this- Tom: Yeah, first time on the show.

Yeah.

Rameen: And obviously Arcola being forward thinking you guys, obviously, had a little bit of a leg up, not to compare yourselves to other communities- Tom: Yeah.

No, absolutely not but we were- Rameen: ... but you had a leg up.

Tom: We did.

We really did.

I mean because we had devices from ... You know some places have high school kids have them.

We had from kindergarten all the way up had a device and, I mean, so it was really nice to be able to transition.

Rameen: All right, it's September 4th so the new school year in Arcola started when and tell us about how things are going?

Tom: Yeah, so we started on October 24th and- Rameen: August 24th?

Tom: I'm sorry, yeah, August 24th.

And in my opinion this has been even more challenging because it's a blended learning.

We've got some kids attending in person, we've got some kids attending full remote because they have the option to do that.

So I described it, it's a little like walking on a tightrope.

So you're trying to balancing all of these things, not just students and staff, and training, but families.

When we were going through this intensive planning process one thing that might look great for junior high school kids may be a disaster for elementary kids and what may sound good for elementary may be a disaster for parents at home, and families.

So we really had to work hard and balance all those interests.

And I think we came up with a phenomenal plan that has worked very well for two weeks.

And we're attending school from 8:00 AM until noon each day.

We've got probably 75% of our kids in person.

25% are 100% remote.

Rameen: Got it.

Tom: So at our junior high/high school we have our ... We split into A and B days, so they have half of their schedule day one and half on day two.

The kids that are remote they remote in on livestream Zoom, so they connect.

It's just like you've got your class there, your in person, and then you're connecting with all those kids live at home.

And we started with the half day because we really wanted to give our teachers time to be able to plan and- Rameen: Absolutely.

Tom: I mean they're not used to doing all of that, all those logistics and planning, because there's so many things that go into the kids troubleshooting technology at home, it's not just like, "Hey this is smooth."

There's a lot that goes in.

So that's what we're doing with our junior high/high school.

The elementary the kids are coming back a half day as well and they're doing all their core subjects.

And then in the afternoon we're .

.. With the junior high/high school they've got a lot of extended activities they're doing at home in the afternoon and then the elementary kids are doing all their specials virtually, so all their PE, and their arts, and music, and those kinds of things.

So we're ensuring we're getting at least five clock hours of instruction in.

And we really felt the half day was critical for us because we felt like the kids coming back they're ... People weren't ready to wear masks all day long and we felt like, from a safety standpoint, we could really work with our kids to social distance and all those types of things.

And I think it's really gone well.

We're going to continue that, right now on our plan, through October 2nd but after Labor Day we're going to start the junior high/high school kids they're going to start with online full virtual classes in the afternoon.

So all the kids are going to remote in in the afternoon for ... We're adding more periods in the afternoon, so we could still keep the half day, we can increase the rigor and that kind of thing, and we can maintain safety.

We didn't want to ... We've got grab and go lunch.

We didn't want to have to deal with that, in terms of spacing and six foot apart.

We just felt like the half day was a really perfect solution for us.

Rameen: We're starting season seven here, our second episode, you're our first educator so your perspective is invaluable to hear on this program.

Again, every school district is in a different boat- Tom: Yeah- Rameen: ... handling it differently.

What can you say, just to the general audience, about people being patient and flexible through these tough times?

Tom: Yeah, so- Rameen: Because not every day is going to go perfectly.

Tom: I'm telling you what, I can't believe how flexible and amazing the parents, and the community members, have been because you have to make changes.

We used to be so ... And we still are, but you used to be so worried about making a calendar change.

Heck, now we're making them week by week sometimes- Rameen: Absolutely.

Tom: ... and people are just so amazing to adapt and be flexible.

They know the challenges.

And what is really unique about this is every individual district is unique.

They've got ... We were so lucky in our district because we've got huge grade school classrooms.

I mean, we're able to put 18 kids in the classroom and keep them six foot apart.

Rameen: Wide open.

Tom: I mean, other schools they probably can't get 12 kids in their classrooms, social distanced.

So each district had to really tackle their own unique situation and fit within the guidance that we're given by the State Board of Education, the Illinois Department of Public Health, to really create a plan at your school that's safe.

And that's our absolute number one thing is can we bring back kids safely?

And number two, how do we make it as normal of a school, and day, and as educational program as we can, and increase the rigor for kids?

Because they've been out of school for a long time.

I joked with some of our planning team, like we spent two months planning in the summer and we didn't talk about learning one time.

It as all about spacing and safety, and social distancing.

Now that we're up and away we can really focus on learning again, which is so, so, so nice and powerful for the kids.

Rameen: Very tough times but thank you for your perspective on that.

Tom: Yeah, yeah.

Rameen: As you walked in for our taping today I see you wearing an Arcola sports related shirt there and our last topic of the day, to talk with you Dr. Tom Mulligan, the impact of COVID-19 on high school athletics.

So again we're taping here in September.

In Arcola, as we know, football pretty big.

Tom: Yeah, yeah.

Rameen: So the impact on Arcola high school- Tom: Yeah, it's been really a challenge, in terms of having to move seasons around and things like their planning.

But I'm telling you one of the best things that happened was when they opened the door for us to allow kids to come back this summer and start doing some conditioning, and weight lifting.

It was unbelievable to see the excitement between the coaches and the students.

The students were so excited to be back on campus, but it was different.

Instead of worrying about ... You had to worry about all the taking temperatures, and maintaining social distance outside, but the students and the coaches adjusted.

And it was great to get them back.

We're in a delay.

We've got golf going on but- Rameen: Correct.

Tom: ... a lot of the other sports are delayed right now, but our athletes are working with the coaches, they're coming in, they're following the guidelines, and it's great that they're back trying to get some normalcy into their lives again.

And like I said, I mean, I was talking about the community and stuff being adaptable, the students are unbelievable.

I mean they're ... We had volleyball ... Before they shut that part down we had volleyball open gyms with masks on.

They make it work.

The students they make it work.

It's a new challenge for them but hey it is what it is and it's all in how you approach it.

If you approach it, "We can do this, it's going to be a positive experience," you make it a positive experience.

Rameen: We're ending our interview with Dr. Tom Mulligan talking about the sports, so Arcola as a cohesive community, one solid team right there.

Tom: That's right.

Rameen: So there you go.

Tom: That's perfect.

Boy you said that perfectly.

Rameen: All right.

I tried to wing that one, I think it went okay.

Dr. Tom Mulligan, superintendent of Arcola schools, we appreciate your time again here on City Spotlight.

Tom: Thank you so much for having me on, I appreciate it.

Rameen: And hopefully the next time we tape it's back in- Tom: All right- Rameen: ... your neck of the woods.

Tom: ... we'll get you back in the building.

Rameen: We thank you for watching this on location episode of City Spotlight in Arcola, we'll see you next time.

City Spotlight is supported by Consolidated Communications.

CCI is honored to salute the cities and their leaders in the area, as well as providing TV, Internet, and phone service for the local homes and businesses.

We live where we work, and are proud to support the communities we serve.

More information available at consolidated.com.

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