Students lauded for academic achievement

For a third consecutive month, the Unit 1 Board of Education has recognized the academic achievement of students who excelled on the annual state exam.
After several years of the Partnership of Assessment for Readiness in College & Careers (PARCC) exam administered in third to eighth grade the test switched to the Illinois Assessment of Readiness ((IAR) as the state’s assessment tool. The new test assesses public school students in the subject areas of English/language arts (ELA) and mathematics.
“Last year was the first year we gave the test and third graders are always the first students to get the test, it’s something new to them. When they take it and succeed we are extremely proud of them,” said Jennifer Kenney, principal of Coal City Elementary School.
Eleven students taking the test as third graders last spring exceeded standards—eight in math and three in both math and ELA
Earning recognition in math were Rylan Clements, Kayla Kowalski, Abigail Rose, Drake Carpenter, Carson Dearth, Angel Diaz, Xavier Baer and Caleb Brown.
Exceeding in both math and English on the 2019 exam were Maiden Leman, Lindsey Duran and Jacob Munsterman.
The students were honored at the start of the Dec. 4 meeting of the Unit 1 Board of Education.
“We’re glad to honor these kids at a board meeting and give them the recognition they deserve,” Kenney said.
Along with recognizing the success of last year’s third graders, the board was introduced to the 23 students who exceed state standards in both subject areas at Coal City Middle School.
Last year, 56% of the sixth grade class met or exceeded state ELA standards and 45% achieved that mark in math.
Students exceeding the standard in both subject areas in sixth grade were Lily Feisley, Grady Gillan, William Johnke, Kylee Kennell and Hunter Nettles.
Earning marks that placed them in the exceeding category as seventh graders were Dominic Cimino, James Feeney, Lucas Nolan, Kylee Scheer, Ryan Sears, Creide Skubic, Kylie Jackson and Michael Smith.
Overall, 60% of last year’s seventh graders met or exceeded in ELA and 45% in math.
Last year’s eighth graders did extremely well on the test with 80% of the class earning a meets or exceeds in ELA and 53% in math.
Honored for their work as eighth graders were Peyton Benson, Gavin Chernesky, Collin Dames, Logan Hawkins, Luke Hawkins, Brecken Johnson, Izzy Kostbade, Kaelen Natyshok, Jacob Piatak and David Torres.
“We’re very proud of these guys. The test is not a one-day test, it’s really a test of how they do all year and the progress of the work they put into it,” said Travis Johnson, Coal City Middle School’s principal.
The principal further recognized the long-term academic accomplishments of four students—Logan, Hawkins, Johnson, Kostbade and Natyshok—who exceeded on both math and reading all three years at the middle school.
As the presentations closed out, board president Ken P. Miller spoke to the students saying, “congratulations on all of your hard work.”