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.”

For those traveling on foot, Chicago is the fifth safest city to commute as a pedestrian according to a recent KURU Footwear study.

Walking safely is particularly key this time of year when warmer weather and longer days brings out more people. This is why the footwear brand ranked the 37 U.S. major metro cities from safest to the most dangerous for pedestrians. Rankings are based on an overall Walk Score – the walkability between residential areas and business areas – and the number of fatal pedestrian accidents.

Higher walking scores and fewer pedestrian related deaths earned these U.S. cities top five rankings: 1) New York, 2) Boston, 3) San Francisco, 4) Washington D.C., 5) Chicago.

On average, Chicago has two pedestrian deaths per 10,000 people and a Walk Score of 77.2, for a total safety score of 81.

Traffic and safety conditions can vary from city to city, so it is advisable to follow the local traffic regulations in your neighborhood and when walking in any urban environment.

Read about the study on KURU Footwear.

The remains of the most sophisticated prehistoric native civilization north of Mexico are preserved at Cahokia Mounds State Historic site, located a few miles west of Collinsville, Illinois in the southwestern part of the state. Here lie the archaeological remnants of the central section of the ancient settlement that is today known as Cahokia.

In 1976, The Cahokia Mounds Museum Society was founded as a not-for-profit to support the historic site. Their mission is to promote for the public benefit the educational and scientific aspects of Cahokia Mounds and associated archaeological sphere. The society recently received an award of excellence from the American Association of State and Local History for their augmented reality experience, “Back to the City of the Sun.”

“Back to the City of the Sun” brings the past to the present with audio and video through an app for personal smart devices. On the tour, visitors can see the temple that once stood on Monks Mound and other cultural aspects of the site that were present 1,000 years ago through the camera of a smart phone or other device.

The 2023 award of excellence is part of the American Association of State and Local History’s Leadership in History awards, the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation of state and local history.

The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site is located at 30 Ramey St. in Collinsville. The site’s interpretive center and gift shop are currently closed for renovations, however the grounds are open to the public daily from 8 a.m. until dusk and guided tours take place twice per day, Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, visit IDNR’s website.

Some of America’s best counties are right here in Illinois. According to the July 2023 issue of Site Selection Magazine, several Illinois counties are cited as the best areas to live based on the total number of economic development projects each made from January 2022 to March 2023. When it comes to building a county into one of America’s best, Pat Boeshart, president and owner of LiteForm Technologies, says you must reflect on how you can do business through its inevitable challenges.

The report names Cook, Kane, DuPage, and Will counties as top ranking areas for living and business investments.

Each county takes great pride in its individual strengths and collaborative environment that continues to make them a rich blend of urban and rural locations, diverse faculties, affordability, high quality of life, and connectivity amongst their neighboring regions. Below are the four Illinois counties and their rankings.

• Cook County: Ranked #2 with 231 projects
• DuPage County: Ranked #9 with 91 projects
• Kane County: Ranked #14 with 52 projects
• Will County: Ranked #16 with 48 projects

For more information on these counties and stats, please read the report here.

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).