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For Immediate Release – February 5, 2021
Gov. Pritzker Announces Nine Appointments to Illinois Boards and Commissions
Building on a strong team of diverse experts in their fields, Governor JB Pritzker announced the following appointments in his administration:
ILLINOIS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Christine Benson will continue to serve on the Illinois State Board of Education. For about six years, Benson served as the Superintendent of Streator Elementary School District #44. Previously, she was the Superintendent of the Ottawa Elementary School District #141 and the Mendota TWP High School District #280. Additionally, Benson spent twenty years as a teacher in areas of general, choral and instrumental music. Benson is active in her community where she serves as the Treasurer and past President of the Rotary Club. She received her Bachelor of Music Education, Master of Science in Education Administration and her Certificate of Advance Study in Education Adminis
Springfield woman will replace Manar in state senate
Ron DeBrock, ronald.debrock@thetelegraph.com
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Manar
SPRINGFIELD Doris Turner, a Springfield alderwoman, has been chosent to succeed former state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, to represent the 48th Legislative District.
Manar resigned his state senate seat to take a senior advisor’s post with Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The 48th State Senate District stretches from the east side of Springfield to Decatur then heads south to include Christian and Montgomery counties and portions of Macoupin and northern Madison counties.
Last month the selection committee named eight finalists for his replacement, including Macoupin County Board Member Roberta Vojas. The 48th Legislative District Committee met Saturday to discuss the post and voted unanimously to appoint Turner to fill the remainder of Manar’s Illinois Senate term.
The COVID-19 vaccines hold promise for ending the pandemic, and millions of Americans have received at least one shot. But 39% aren’t likely to get a vaccine, according to a December study from the Pew Research Center. One of the main reasons: a lack of trust in the research and development process.
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Johnetta Randolph Haley knew she wanted to be a music educator early on. She broke racial barriers and founded Head Start in East St. Louis. She died at age 97.
Johnetta Randolph Haley, a music teacher who, over the vehement objections of white parents, helped integrate a Kirkwood middle school after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down school segregation in 1954, has died. She was 97.
“Fifteen hundred people signed a petition they didn’t want me or the other three (teachers) only because we were black,” Haley said in a 2018 awards program video. “But after one year, they wanted their kids in my class.”
Pritchard plans to focus upon encouraging literacy language and practice throughout the state of Arkansas and beyond as well as develop programs such as an Arkansas Literacy Lab.