CENTRAL NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER

Veteran's Day Ceremonies

Central School students celebrated Veteran's Day on November 11^th with a panel discussion and by singing patriotic songs. Three veterans were on hand to share their military experiences as well as answer questions submitted by the students. Below are short bio's of each of the veterans military experience.

Brad Wilson:

Born: Topeka Kansas Oct. 1, 1980

Brad moved to Naperville, IL in 1987. In 1993 he moved to Rochelle. Brad attended RJHS for 8th grade. He graduated from RTHS in 1999. He attended Kishwaukee College for one year. He then decided to join the Navy to experience something new. Brad left for bootcamp on Sept. 11th 2000. After bootcamp he attended Naval Dental Technician ''A'' school, graduating in February 2001. He was then transfered to Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He remained there for a few months until he was given the opportunity to transfer to Naval Air Station Oceana where Dirk Bryant was also stationed. While at Oceana he volunteered to go to Keflavik, Iceland. Brad was in Iceland from November 2002- February 2003. He then returned to Oceana until Feb 2004 when he was transfered to the Naval Training Center at Great Lakes Illinois. He became the Leading Petty Officer for Advanced Education in General Dentistry soon after my arrival at Great Lakes, a position he held for the duration of his tour. Brad was separated from the Navy with an honorable discharge in Jan of 2006. He moved back to Rochelle and resumed his education at Kishwaukee College. He received his Associate of Science degree in 2007, after which he transferred to NIU. Brad will finish with his Bachelor of Science degree in December of 2009. Brad says he hasn't a clue what he wants to do after graduation, but joining the military as an officer has been a goal of mine since serving in the Navy.

Michael Koolidge:

Michael is a former Captain, US Army. After being awarded an ROTC scholarship during his senior year of high school, Michael attended Boston University, where he graduated with a degree in political science. Upon graduation he entered the Army and became an officer. Michael was trained in tanks and paratrooper skills in Kentucky and Georgia. He was then stationed in Louisiana where he led a light cavalry platoon of about 20 soldiers. After training in the swamps of Louisiana and the Mojave desert, Michael was transferred to illinois, where he was the operations officer at the fourth largest nlilitary entrance processing station in the country (Chicago - Des Plaines). Soon after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Michael volunteered for an assignment in the Middle East, and was sent to Kuwait as part of the headquarters buildup for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Halfway through his one-year tour, Operation Iraqi Freedom officially began, and the Camp Doha headquarters where Michael worked as a personnel officer (with additional public affairs duties) were attacked by Iraqi Al-samud missiles (which were thankfully intercepted by American patriot missiles). Michael went into Iraq in the Spring of 2003 and helped plan and conduct the first official military ceremony held inside one of the main former palaces of Saddam Hussein in downtown Baghdad. Michael's military awards include two Joint Service Commendation medals, two Army Commendation medals, a Joint Meritorious Unit award, and an Airborne tab.

Michael was discharged from Army as a captain in the Fall of 2003 after six years on active duty. He returned to illinois, where he completed graduate school at Northwestern University in Evanston and since then has pursued a career in radio. He and his wife Joan have lived in Rochelle since 2006.

Dirk Bryant

Born May 11, 1981 in Rochelle. Dirk Graduated from Rochelle Township High School 1999. He entered the Navy on March 29, 2000. Dirk was stationed in Virginia Beach VA. where he worked on the F-14 Tomcat. He deployed with the Navy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003. Dirk was discharged from the Navy on March 29, 2005. Upon returning home, Dirk enrolled at Kishwaukee College and graduated in 2007 with an Associates of Science degree. Dirk joined the Illinois National Guard in April of 2008. He deployed to Afghanistan with the Guard's 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) in June of 2008.

On January 30, 2009, Dirk was part of a dismount team and was pulling security in the area, when a suspicious vehicle pulled up. The six-man team of Soldiers stopped the vehicle and ultimately did not let it pass through. Seconds after the vehicle turned around, shots were fired. It was during the ensuing firefight that Dirk got hit in the hip,” he said. “It felt like someone took a baseball bat or a brick (and) kept hitting me.”

First Sgt. Ed Panosh of Chicago, who was Bryant's good friend, was the first to reach him. Panosh said he remembered hearing Bryant yelling he was hit while he heard the sound of machine guns firing at his team.

“He was in quite a bit of pain, but he realized the situation wasn't safe yet,” said Panosh. “Bryant's very strong willed…he realized the pain was going to have to wait.”

While Panosh credited the endless pre-mobilization training for the calm reaction to the situation, he said he stayed calm because Bryant stayed calm.

“His attitude about the whole thing was contagious,” Panosh said. “He wasn't panicked, so I wasn't panicked.”

As the rest of Bryant's team returned fire, he was medically evacuated.

While he was in Afghanistan, he had two surgeries to clean out bullet and clothing fragments in his hip, then two more final surgeries in Germany.

Since then, Bryant said he has made a 180 degree turn to the better. His injury first put him in a wheel chair. From there he moved on to a walker, to crutches and then a cane to get around. Today he is free of it all and is walking on his own.

Throughout his recovery, Bryant admitted he felt bad he left his fellow Soldiers and he would have wanted to stay for the duration of the deployment. This was Bryant's second deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The first deployment was with the U.S. Navy.

Dirk completed my medical treatment August of 2009. For his actions on January 30, 2009 Dirk has been awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

In August of this year Dirk enrolled at NIU to continue his education.

Central School Million Minute Challenge Continues!!

Central School students set a lofty goal of reading 1,000,000 minutes by the end of the school year and are working very hard each month! The students are continuing to read at home each night in hopes of earning a school-wide carnival at the end of the year! For the month of October, the students read 148,139 minutes!!

In addition, the Star Readers from each class get $5 in Cougar Cash to spend at the school store! Those readers include...

Kindergarten -
Mrs. Kessen's class - Julia Berry
Mrs. Kennay's class - Kylee Davis
Mrs. Alfano's class - Margaux DaCosta
1st Grade -
Mrs. Nicol's class - Sofia Lenkaitis
Mrs. Hunley's class - McKenzie White
Mrs. Guzman's class - Damian Nava
2nd Grade -
Mrs. Lieving's class - Juan Mendoza
Mrs. Ebert's class - Maggie Williams
Mrs. DaCosta's class - Cassie Moore
3rd Grade -
Mrs. Andrews' class - Hunter Geer
Mrs. Muerer's class - Grace Orlikowski
Ms. Dummer's class - Nathaniel Castro
4th Grade -
Miss Gardell's class - John Combs
Miss Fletcher's class - Cristy Montemayor
5th Grade -
Mrs. Frankfother's class - Riley Williams
Mrs. Kurz's class - Angel Beltran
Ms. Jackson's class - Jennifer Cifuentes

Awesome job Central Cougars!! Keep reading!!!

Computer Lab

Mrs. Ebert's, Mrs. Dacosta's and Mrs. Lieving's 2^nd Grade Classes take advantage of Centrals Schools Computer Lab. While in the lab, students work on their math, science, language arts and keyboarding skills. The equipment consists of 25 mini wireless laptop computers.