Education is one of the fundamental pillars of our society, shaping the minds and futures of generations of students. Recognizing the vital role that educators play in this process, the Golden Apple Awards were established in Illinois to honor outstanding teachers and their invaluable contributions. Additionally, May 7 is National Teachers Day, making this time of the year the perfect opportunity to celebrate the educators and teachers in our communities.

The Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching was established in 1986 by Mike and Pat Koldyke through the Golden Apple Foundation. This distinguished accolade is awarded annually to exceptional teachers and school leaders in Illinois who exhibit excellence in teaching and educational leadership. The mission of the Golden Apple Foundation goes beyond mere recognition – it aims to inspire, develop and support teacher excellence in Illinois, especially in schools of need.

Music in our schools day happens every year on March 6. Music is an important part of a well-rounded education. High school students who take part in music courses are more likely to have higher GPAs and attendance rates than students who do not participate in music education.

The arts are essential to a complete and competitive education for all students. Through the arts, students learn critical thinking, effective communication, collaboration and creative problem solving. Music education has also been linked to better emotional regularity and an increase in verbal memory.

Illinois’ public schools have a lot to offer on the music education front, and one of the ways to support music in schools is attending one of your local schools’ concerts. The Illinois Music Education Association is a big supporter of music in schools. They have yearly band, orchestra, jazz and choral performances where students from all high schools in Illinois come together for one performance. Another way they help encourage music in schools is by pairing music teachers with current job openings. Celebrate Music in our Schools day by supporting your local school music concert and events. 

The U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recognized 20 Illinois schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2023. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or the closure of achievement gaps amongst diverse groups of students demonstrating their ability for all students to achieve high levels of learning.

“The honorees for our 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools Award have set a national example for what it means to Raise the Bar in education,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “The leaders, educators, and staff at our National Blue Ribbon Schools continually inspire me with their dedication to fostering academic excellence and building positive school cultures that support students of all backgrounds to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.”

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program began 1982, under the second Secretary of Education, Terrel H. Bell, to highlight the best schools in the U.S. with the purpose of sharing the best practices among schools across the country. The program is supported through ongoing collaboration with the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the Association for Middle Level Education, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

“Here in Illinois, we know the importance of investing in education for our next generation of leaders,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Congratulations to the 20 exceptional institutions named as National Blue Ribbon Schools. As we continue our work to make Illinois the best state to raise a family, we commend the dedication of educators, administrators, parents, and students who made this achievement possible.”

Innovators, cultivators, visionaries, and a talented student body represent the successes within the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s entrepreneurial climate. Alumni, graduates, and undergraduates are not only a part of world-changing programs – these entrepreneurs are leaders in their academic and professional fields.

The University of Illinois is “ranked among the top public universities for producing the most successful entrepreneurs,” according to Forbes. UIUC garners a rich entrepreneurial history in which alumni have committed their ideas to the marketplace and gone on to found some of the most renowned companies to date. Large public companies like YouTube and PayPal find their roots in the halls of UIUC in which two of YouTube’s founders Jawed Karim and Steven Chen earned their bachelor’s degrees in computer science and two of PayPal’s founders Max Levchin and Luke Nosek earned their bachelor’s degrees in computer science and computer engineering respectively.

Other major globally recognized companies include the online anime streaming service Crunchyroll, founded by alumni James Lin, and Tesla that is co-founded by alumni Martin Eberhard who received the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award and was inducted into the Hall of Fame by Engineering at Illinois.

Among such highly esteemed graduates, the university continues to advance their students beyond the classroom through the support of innovative programs such as Duality – America’s first accelerator dedicated to quantum startups, as well as Chicago Quantum, The University of Chicago, Polsky Center of Entrepreneurship, Argonne National Laboratory, and P33. During a student’s academic career, faculty are also committed to fleshing out students’ ideas into reality by training its scientists and engineers to set their focus beyond academia and recognize the benefits their visions can grant a vibrant ever-changing society.

Read more on the current list of companies founded by the university’s alumni: Illinois Startups | Illinois Entrepreneurship | U of I.

For more information on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s entrepreneurial background: Why The University Of Illinois Is A Top College For Entrepreneurs (forbes.com).

At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a study co-led by researchers make a rare and striking discovery in deep space.

Led by graduate student Yu-Ching Chen of UIUC and astronomy professors Xin Liu and Yue Shen, the team conducted their research using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in combination with terrestrial and space-based observatories. The astronomers discovered two quasars that are gravitationally bound by their two galaxies. Their study identifies emerging binary quasar populations and rules out other astronomical explanations using a clear method to detect double quasars that are separated by an obscure distance.

The conception of quasars begins with a supermassive black hole consuming neighboring stars. Gas and debris from the stars spin rapidly into cosmic beams called accretion discs. Before reaching their final destination into the black hole, the debris rotates at unfathomable speeds while being pulled by a celestial body that is billions of times more massive than our sun. Friction in the accretion disc creates heat on a level almost difficult to fully appreciate. This results in a glowing disc that shines more brightly than even some of our galaxy’s brightest stars, which is the impressive quasar that these astronomers captured.

Like a needle-in-a-haystack, according to Professor Yue Shen, the search for this double quasar required the combined power of the Hubble’s sensitivity and the university’s leading researchers in their astronomy department. UIUC is committed to continuing their rich history of astronomical achievements inside the classroom by providing students hands-on experience using real data sets and outside campus in research projects led by students and faculty alike. Much of our universe is still unexplored and there is plenty of room for discoveries. UIUC is a pioneering research institution in observational astronomy, theoretical astrophysics, astronomical imagining, and cosmology. Faculty members have access to world-class facilities including the South Pole Telescope and large survey projects like DES. The university sets a high standard for undergraduate studies, which leads students to advance their academic expertise in year-round research as well as occasional collaborations with astronomy professors.

For more information: https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/1173956073