December 9, 2025 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

‘Students were excited to be back’

Heritage High School Principal Corey White said the school’s first day had a typical first day feel, with a few changes.

“Students were excited to be back and teachers were excited to have the students back,” he said.

White said there was some nervousness, which could be attributed to the normal apprehension new students and freshman feel as well as the unknown of the current pandemic.

“I believe after a couple of days of being back in school, the new procedures will be routine and we will have a great school year,” he said.

To start the day, the high school had students socially distance on the football field.
“The outdoor assembly went great,” White said. “At our teacher institute on Monday, I gave our teachers an option of how to do the assembly.  I knew the weather was supposed to be nice today so I said we could do our assembly by Zoom or use the football field.  The teachers unanimously said to use the football field.”

White said this enabled him to share more information with as many students as possible.
White said the students did a good job with social distancing and wearing their masks.

“Even during the assembly outside, 90% of our students chose to leave their masks on even though they could remove them,” he said.  “We posed a challenge to our students, especially our seniors, that if they want to have the normal school year experiences, our staff needs their help to make sure everyone is following the policies we have in place.”

in Schools
Banner
Related Posts

Live at SJO school board, Dec. 17, 2024

December 17, 2024

December 17, 2024

Now I am here. They were apparently in closed for a while. #idkwhattheywerediscussing #itsalllegal They are discussing facility project updates...

Voters approve referendum

June 30, 2022

June 30, 2022

Superintendent Todd Pence is thankful. Thankful that a referendum asking voters to approve their tax rate by .22 percent passed....

Ames and Aden advance to district competition

January 28, 2019

January 28, 2019

Most people dislike public speaking. Not St. Joseph FFA member Mallory Ames. Ames, along with Lindsey Aden and Abby Schlueter...

SJO honors night recipients announced

May 27, 2019

May 27, 2019

The following students were honored in mid-May by St. Joseph-Ogden High School during the high school honors night. • EIU...

SJO 2021-2022 1st Quarter Honor Roll

October 29, 2021

October 29, 2021

Freshmen Allinger, OliviaAltenbaumer, JaredBesson, WilliamBirt, EliBirt, MilesBowlin, ChazBrazelton, HoldenButts, LandenChatterton, SarahChristians, PresleeFrerichs, LylaGriebat, JoeGuido, MasonHesterberg, HaleyIdeus, TinleyJohnson, KendrickJohnson, SethKindle, AmilliyaKnap,...

SJO 2021-2022 1st Quarter High Honor Roll

October 29, 2021

October 29, 2021

Freshmen Barton, RylieBeckett, EJBenoit, AudreyBonny, SarahBrown, LandonClampitt, MadisonCoffey, HaydenDavenport, AerolynDewese, LaurenDietiker, EllaDitchfield, LukeEnnis, JacksonFranzen, SavannaFunk, AddisonGaines, KaidenGerdes, TaytonGetty, OliviaHamilton, MakennahHarms,...

Closing address by Garren Meeker

May 19, 2021

May 19, 2021

I would like to thank everyone for coming to the graduating ceremony of the class of 2021. Whether that be...

Madrigals return to St. Joseph-Ogden

December 1, 2024

December 1, 2024

A Christmas tradition is coming back. The St. Joseph-Ogden Music Department is hosting a Madrigal Dinner on Dec. 7. 2024...

Senior Homecoming Court Spotlight… Bailey Dowling

September 27, 2019

September 27, 2019

St. Joseph-Ogden Senior Bailey Dowling is honored to be on the Homecoming Court. “It’s pretty cool being on homecoming court...

SJO announces academic letter winners for the 2020-21 school year

October 12, 2021

October 12, 2021

Thanks to Appl Sanitary for sponsoring our honor rolls and academic awards posts. St. Joseph-Ogden High School hosted an Academic...

St. Joseph Middle School Announces 7th Grade Honor Roll

April 16, 2019

April 16, 2019

7TH GRADE HIGH HONORS Logan Allen Owen Baltzell Addisyn Barclay Samantha Beetz Kyler Brown Chloe Burkhalter Rachel Divan Joseph Frasca...

St. Joseph Middle School 8th Grade High Honor Roll

November 2, 2021

November 2, 2021

Ames, Trevor Beyers, Kaitlyn Bird, Emily Brooks, Addison Bytnar, Sara Campbell, Shelby Carlson, William Childers, Adelyn Coffey, Christopher Evans, Callie...

Harper brings Wednesday Addams to life

April 2, 2022

April 2, 2022

The characters in the Addams Family are well known. But that didn’t stop the actors at St. Joseph-Ogden from putting...

Comments
Leave a Reply