RUMOR - student stabbed at Roosevelt Magnet School

TRUTH - the student was not "stabbed", he/she was "cut" by another child with a box-cutter. The incident, from what I understand, did not result in a hospitalization, but it did result in an injury. Why didn't the public hear about this? Such an incident is not a matter of "privacy of the offender", as it pertains to child safety.

If you have a student that takes out a gun and begins to shoot another student, right away the shooter is identified and the name is released. Additionally, parents as well as students are informed by the alert system. In this instance, there was no alert given. Granted, a box cutter on campus, is no where near as dangerous as a gun on campus, but parents and the public still deserve some type of notification of the incident.

I am hearing from more than one parent, at different schools, that there is an attempt to keep problems of violence and discipline secret and within the schools (see school resource officers).Unfortunately, all schools don't have "school resource officers". The "secrecy" of this particular issue and the failure to notify the parents of a potential problem endangers life and safety of all students. I find this problematic, as it does not encourage public safety and poses a problem if this is District 150's formal policy going forward.

Safety cannot be a facade - I will say again, if parents know the school their child attends is not safe - it won't be safe, unless parents and students stand together to make it so. The schools will do what they can to appease parents, without addressing the root problems. Hopefully these Roosevelt Magnet School parents will get together and find some answers.

Aaliyah Burnett to audition for "The Event" in Orlando, Florida

In December, Peorian Aaliyah Burnett was chosen through a local audition to go to Orlando, FL the week of December 16th, to audition for "The Event".

At this gathering she will have the opportunity to audition before production agents and assistants for Disney, Nickelodeon and a host of other entertainment industry professionals seeking new talent for existing and upcoming projects. She will also be competing for cash prizes, but the recognition and opportunities that she will gain are the key to potentially open the door to her future.

To add some context to this, Aaliyah, who has been a student at Roosevelt Magnet (which is a Fine Arts school here in Peoria) pursued this competition on her own. She obtained the phone number, called the people herself and turned it over to her parents, Pastor Harvey and Geraldine Burnett.

The agent who auditioned her locally is also a manager and producer of some top young talent in the industry. She said that Aaliyah had some unique abilities and opportunities ahead of her and was looking forward to working with her in a greater way.

There is an expense and Aaliyah's family is trying to raise about $5,000 for the trip, registration fees and additional expenditures associated with travel, training and preparation for The Event.

Check out Aaliyah's website here to learn more about Aaliyah and find out how you may be able to help. Good luck Aaliyah!

We wanna go to the cool school

Several of my daughter's neighborhood friends told her that last Monday they went on a field trip to Roosevelt Magnet School and it is the coolest school.

They got a brochure from the school that talked a little bit about academics, a little bit about athletics and a whole lot about the Arts Program. They were entertained by current students and invited back for a later performance. The kids (all fourth graders) loved it.

My daughter's friends all live and attend school north of Forrest Hill. Before going to Roosevelt on a field trip, they were all dead set on going to either their neighborhood school next year; the Math Science Charter School; or Washington Gifted. NOW, many of them are hounding their parents to send them to school south of Forrest Hill - they want to go to Roosevelt Magnet School.

Is this a good idea for District 150 to inform the students about educational options (which some may see as influence), or should they just share the information with the parents?