“I like to think of ideas as potential energy. They’re really wonderful, but nothing will happen until we risk putting them into action.” – Mae Jemison

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” ― William Arthur Ward

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)

 

We send our condolences to Paul Conforti on the passing of his mother on December 6.

 

We send get well wishes to Tom Ulen.

 

The holiday family breakfast will be on December 14 in the Grand Prairie Room.   

 

Beginning in January, we will meet in the Grand Prairie Room.

 

 

PROGRAM

 

Diana introduced Jerry Hunt who has been a Juvenile Detention Officer at the Champaign County Youth Detention Center since 2003.

 

Jerry shared many sad details of what he sees in his position.  The average age range of the detained youth is 14-17, but some are as young as 10-12.  

 

Typically, law enforcement officers call the Center and ask them to score a child to determine if he or she should be held in the Center.    When a child has a score of 15 or more, he or she is admitted to the Detention Center.   Some individuals are there for just a couple of days, but others stay for many months.   After several admissions, they end up in a State prison.

 

Jerry outlined his duties.  Some nights, he serves as an intake officer.  On other nights, he is a group leader.   He tries to present a positive role model when leading groups.   The kids Jerry described do not have good role models in their lives.   Most are from one parent, poor and chaotic homes.   

 

Jerry is often a counselor to the kids as they are frequently in crisis.   One of the first things he asks upon admission is if they have eaten that day.   Many times, they have not and he ensures that they get a meal.  The Youth Detention Officers also have to act as disciplinarians.  Many of the children have impulse control and anger management issues and are prone to violence.   A system of progressive discipline is used to control bad behavior.

 

There are certified teachers at the Detention Center.   Seventy percent of the detained children struggle with academics.  Usually, they have had trouble in school since the first grade and are chronic truants.   Very often, the children at the Center are mentally handicapped or have mental health conditions.   Due to the State budget crisis, most of the services available to help them have dried up.

 

Jerry said that he has seen a trend of more and more kids being detained for gun charges.   He always counsels the youth to avoid guns.  He warns them that in an instance, a gun can ruin their lives as well as the lives of others.  Jerry described instances where otherwise seemingly nice kids have gone to State prison because of one really bad mistake involving a gun.

 

  Dec 14th Dec 21st Dec 28th Jan 4th
Introductions C-U Charlie Smith Mary Kay Smith Charlie Smith
Invocation Sunrise Angie Schoonover Jen Shelby Jeff Van Buren
Greeters Annual Charlie Smith Mary Kay Smith Charlie Smith
Holiday Andrew Kerins Candy Loyd BJ Lytle
Song Leader Party Rod Roberts Tod Satterthwaite Angie Schoonover
Notetaker   Conforti Perry Penwell


UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

December 14th – C-U Sunrise Holiday Party

December 21st – Steve Bentz, Virginia Theatre (Mary)

December 28th – Royle Mortenstern, U of I Fire Institute (Rod)

January 4th – Steve Adams, Prairielands Council, Boy Scouts of America (Mary)

January 11th – Micah Kenfield, Sustainability Programs Coordinator, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Phyllis)

January 18th – Club Assembly

January 25th – TBD (Tod)

February 1st – Ed Perry will discuss his efforts in Vieques, Puerto Rico, after Hurricane Maria

February 8th – Captain Anthony Corapi, Commanding Officer of US Navy ROTC at UIUC (Bob)

February 15th – Dr. Kim Kidwell,  Robert A. Easter Chair as well as Dean of the College of ACES, UIUC

February 22nd – Dennis Hesch, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, The Carle Foundation, will discuss  Carle’s expansion/development at the Curtis/I-57 interchange (Phyllis)

March 1st – TBD

March 8th – TBD

March 15th – Kevin Erickson, Associate Professor of Architecture at UIUC (Bob)