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DeKalb eyes $3M for 2026 street maintenance program

By MEGANN HORSTEAD mhorstead@shawmedia.com

The city of DeKalb could budget $3 million toward its 2026 street maintenance program, according to documents released ahead of Monday’s City Council meeting.

Work is aimed at removing and replacing asphalt pavement on streets and alleys in DeKalb city limits.

Funding for such city services comes from yearly allocations from the city’s capital funds.

Officials will look to provide city staff with direction on the matter during their regular council meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St.

The current street maintenance program, which will mark its fifth and final year, was first established by city leaders in 2022, city documents show.

In March, the City Council will be presented with a new five-year street maintenance plan for review after completion of citywide road condition indexes.

The city’s 2026 program includes $3 million in funds dedicated to road projects, such as resurfacing Hillcrest Drive, from Sycamore Road to Normal Road.

Other improvements are expected, as well. They include:

• Alley resurfacing from Fisk Avenue to Pine Street, between North Fourth and North Fifth streets

• Alley resurfacing from Fisk Avenue to Pine Street, between North Sixth and North Seventh streets

• Alley resurfacing from Fisk Avenue north between North Fifth and North

PUZZLE ANSWERS

puzzlesonpage14

Sixth streets

• Quail Run

• Highpointe Drive

• Scenic Road

• Scott Court

• Mary Court

• Fairway Oaks Drive

• Country Club Lane

• Wedgewood Drive

• Wedgewood Court

• Overlook Drive

• Overlook Circle

• Inverness Court

• Greenview Court

• Greenwood North

• County Farm Road

• Market Square Mall

The latter will be reimbursed from the Market Square Special Service Area.

In total, there are 5.95 miles of streets included in the city’s 2026 street maintenance program, city documents show.

The city anticipates giving design and permitting consideration in March, followed by awarding a contract to help enable the program a month later.

ON THE COVER

Ava Morse holds on to Chief so visitors can get a look at him on Feb. 25, during the DeKalb High School FFA Barnyard Zoo. The event was open to the public and offered the chance to learn about farming and see farm animals up close.

See story, page 6.

CORRECTIONS

Accuracy is important to The MidWeek. Please call errors to our attention by phone at 815-526-4411 or email at readit@midweeknews.com.

Photo by Mark Busch

Photo provided by City of DeKalb

A section of Laurel Lane (shown) has been resurfaced as part of DeKalb’s $4.5 million street maintenance program for fiscal 2025.

Curly’s Furniture in DeKalb to close in April

By MEGANN HORSTEAD mhorstead@shawmedia.com

Curly’s Furniture in DeKalb is hosting a store-closing sale where everything in its inventory must go by this spring.

The building, 1901 E. Lincoln Highway, has been sold, and the store’s last day in business is April 3, according to a social media announcement.

In-store promotions will be ongoing at Curly’s Furniture in the meantime,

including for furniture, mattresses and home decor.

Curly’s Furniture first announced its plans to close its DeKalb location this winter.

In a recent post, the store took time to bid farewell to the community.

“It’s never easy to say goodbye,” the post reads.

“Our DeKalb, IL location will be closing, and we want to personally thank this wonderful community for your support.”

Here’s where mobile food pantry will be in DeKalb County in March 2026

Grow Mobile dates in March are:

Rooted For Good lists

March Grow Mobile Food Pantry dates

SHAW LOCAL NEWS NETWORK contact@shawmedia.com

Rooted For Good released a list of March locations for Grow Mobile, a mobile food pantry that offers free food and household items to all who visit, with no requirements necessary.

Rooted For Good works to ensure the well-being of residents, staff and volunteers. Organizers ask that people practice good hand hygiene and stay home if they are ill.

To receive Grow Mobile alerts, text FreeGroceries to 844-727-2012.

• 3 to 5 p.m. March 5 at University Village Apartments, 722 N. Annie Glidden Road, DeKalb

• 3 to 5 p.m. March 10 at the Cortland Lions Club Shelter, 70 S. Llanos St., Cortland

• 11 a.m. to noon March 12 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 830 N. Annie Glidden Road, DeKalb

• 3 to 5 p.m. March 17 at University Village Apartments, 722 N. Annie Glidden Road, DeKalb

• 3:30 to 5 p.m. March 19 at the Malta Historical and Genealogical Society, 127 N. Third St., Malta

• 4 to 6 p.m. March 24 at St. Paul the Apostle Parish, 340 W. Arnold Road, Sandwich

• 11 a.m. to noon March 26 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 830 N. Annie Glidden Road, DeKalb.

Megann Horstead

Curly’s Furniture is seen at 1901 E. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb. The store’s last day in business is April 3.

Women group’s kickoff luncheon set for March 18

DeKalb Chamber Gather

Women’s Group to begin group’s meetings this year

SHAW LOCAL NEWS NETWORK contact@shawmedia.com

The DeKalb Chamber of Commerce’s Gather Women’s Group will host its annual Kickoff Luncheon to begin the group’s year.

The luncheon will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 18 at Northern Illinois University’s Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center, 231 N. Annie Glidden Road, DeKalb.

The luncheon’s keynote speaker is Kishwaukee College community engagement associate vice president LaCretia Konan.

Konan will discuss insights and encouragement to personally and professionally empower women. Lunch also will be served.

The luncheon is free for Gather members and $100 for nonmembers. Registration is required and due

March 10.

The Gather Women’s Group offers women a brighter way to build connections through shared experiences

and engaging events.

The DeKalb Chamber of Commerce supports local businesses by offering resources, building commu -

nity connections and advocating for economic growth.

For information, visit dekalb.org or dekalb.org/gather.

Photo provided by DeKalb Chamber of Commerce

The DeKalb Chamber of Commerce’s Gather Women’s Group will host its annual Kickoff Luncheon to begin the group’s year

New Burlington store to open in DeKalb in spring

Burlington plans to expand into Northland Plaza

By MEGANN HORSTEAD mhorstead@shawmedia.com

Burlington, a national retailer known for its inventory of discounted brandname merchandise, is preparing to open a new spot in DeKalb’s Northland Plaza shopping center this spring.

The new store was first announced in July 2025. Burlington, 2550 Sycamore Road, will go in the vacant space between Planet Fitness and T.J. Maxx.

The DeKalb location will make for the company’s 46th location in Illinois, according to a news release.

A New Jersey-based retailer once known primarily for coats and outerwear, Burlington has expanded its offerings these days to include apparel, beauty

and decor, with new items arriving daily.

The new spot comes with a reimagined store design featuring wider, more organized aisles and bold signage to help make shopping easier, which falls in line with Burlington’s larger strategy, according to a news release. All new Burlington stores are expected to adopt the look by the year’s end.

The new DeKalb location will greet patrons with a number of perks, according to a news release. They include top brands, trends and value, fresh finds in junior apparel, comfortable and affordable finds for kids, footwear for everyone, beauty and fragrance essentials, home decor items, pet care and toys, and more.

With the expansion of Burlington’s footprint comes a focus on hiring. Anyone interested in joining the team is encouraged to visit BurlingtonStores. jobs to submit an application expressing their interest.

DeKalb chapter celebrates National FFA Week

By MARK BUSCH mbusch@shawmedia.com

The DeKalb High School chapter of Future Farmers of America hosted a barnyard zoo on Feb. 25, as part of National FFA Week. The event was open to the public and offered the chance to learn about farming and see farm animals up close.

Photos by Mark Busch

TOP LEFT: Visitors pet Chief the horse on Feb. 25, during the DeKalb High School Future Farmers of America Barnyard Zoo. The event was open to the public and offered the chance to learn about farming and see farm animals up close. TOP RIGHT: FFA students work with a mother and calf hereford cattle on Feb. 25 during the DeKalb High School FFA Barnyard Zoo. ABOVE: Bella Gonzalez, 5, of Sycamore pets a chicken on Feb. 25 during the DeKalb High School FFA Barnyard Zoo. LEFT: A circle of kids play in the corn on Feb. 25 during the DeKalb High School FFA Barnyard Zoo.

DeKalb County Foundation establishes Lehan family fund

LOCAL NEWS NETWORK contact@shawmedia.com

The DeKalb County Community Foundation is honored to announce the establishment of the Jon and Briana Lehan Family Community Fund, created through the generosity of Jon and Briana Lehan to support equity and community well-being in DeKalb County.

Jon Lehan is a lifelong resident of DeKalb, with family roots in the community dating back to 1946, when his grandfather and uncle moved from Michigan to open Lehan Drugs.

For generations, the Lehan family has demonstrated a strong commitment to DeKalb through volunteerism, service and generosity. These values were instilled in Jon from an early age and continue to guide his dedication to the community.

Briana Lehan grew up in the Milwaukee area, where service to others also was central to her upbringing. Her parents modeled this value through active involvement in church, school and community organizations. Her grandparents carried forward a philanthropic legacy through their own family foundation. Briana’s internship at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation further shaped her understanding of the powerful role community foundations play in creating lasting local impact.

Jon and Briana met at the University of Iowa and spent several years in California while Jon served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force. They moved to DeKalb in 2008, where they both joined the family business. Today, service, kindness and community stewardship remain core values in their household, values they hope to pass on to their four children.

“This Fund reflects the values our

LOCAL NEWS BRIEF

DeKalb library to offer sourdough baking program March 5

The DeKalb Public Library will offer an introductory program for adults to learn about the basics of making sourdough bread.

The free program will begin at 7 p.m. March 5 in the library’s lower-level Bilder

families have lived by for generations; service, kindness, and care for one another,” Jon and Briana Lehan said in a news release. “We hope it honors those who came before us and helps pass those values on to our children and to the DeKalb community we are proud to call home.”

The Jon and Briana Lehan Family Community Fund is a Field of Interest Fund that supports local projects and organizations working to strengthen equity and well-being in DeKalb County. Through the Community Needs Grant program, grants from the Fund will support efforts to address food insecurity, expand access to affordable housing and mental health services, support underserved and marginalized populations, promote nature, land and forest preservation and outdoor education. The Lehans’ generosity increases the total grant dollars available to the Foundation’s Board to support community needs that align with the Fund’s priorities.

“We are privileged to partner with Jon, Briana, and their family in being stewards of this charitable endowed Fund that will grow over time and provide resources annually to organizations doing good work in communities throughout DeKalb County,” DeKalb County Community Foundation executive director Dan Templin said in the news release.

Donations to any Fund at the Community Foundation, including the Jon and Briana Lehan Family Community Fund, can be made online at dekalbccf. org or by mail to the DeKalb County Community Foundation, 475 DeKalb Avenue, Sycamore, IL 60178.

To learn more about creating your own named Fund or to discuss your charitable interests, contact Foundation Executive Director Dan Templin at 815-748-5383 or dan@dekalbccf.org.

Family Meeting Room, 309 Oak St.

Participants can learn about beginner-friendly techniques, common troubleshooting tips, and how to bake a first loaf. No registration is required.

For information, email amyf@dkpl.org or call 815-756-9568, ext. 6108.

– Shaw Local News Network

NIU STEAM Cafe to explore water treatment process

SHAW LOCAL NEWS NETWORK contact@shawmedia.com

Northern Illinois University will offer a STEAN Cafe for community members to learn how the Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District makes the water treatment process environmentally sustainable.

The free cafe will begin at 6:30 p.m. March 4 at Fatty’s Pub and Grille, 1312 W. Lincoln Highway, DeKalb. Food and beverages will be available to buy from Fatty’s.

Registration is encouraged.

During the STEAM Cafe, attendees can learn about innovations the Kish-

waukee Water Reclamation District developed to make the water treatment process environmentally sustainable. Participants also will be able to learn about the district’s daily operations and how the innovations help monitor and evaluate the sanitary sewer mains conditions.

The cafe’s featured speakers include Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District operations foreman and Class 1 operator Ben Meier and Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District environment and technology manager Nick Newman.

For information or to register, visit go.niu.edu/STEAMcafe.

LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS

DeCarbon Dialogue series set for March 10 in DeKalb

The DeKalb Public Library will host a program for adults to learn about DeKalb County’s current water state and how local water issues connect to the climate conversation as part of its DeCarbon Dialogue series.

The free program will begin at 6:30 p.m. March 10 in the library’s lower-level Yusunas Meeting Room, 309 Oak St. Attendees will be able to discuss how water fits into climate resilience on the community scale, why it matters, and what’s happening with water locally. No technical background or registration is required.

For information, email brittak@dkpl.org

or 815-756-9568, ext. 2100.

DeKalb library’s Vibe-Check Saturdays begin March 7

The DeKalb Public Library will offer Vibe-Check Saturdays for teens in sixth through 12th grades to receive support in a safe and uplifting space.

The free event will begin at 1 p.m. March 7 in the library’s Nancy D. Castle Collaboration Studio, 309 Oak St. Participants can receive support through mentorship and group activities. Due to limited space, the event is first-come, first-served. No registration is required.

For information, email cheyennet@dkpl. org or call 815-756-9568, ext. 6109. – Shaw Local News Network

Mark Black file photo

Aerial drone image of Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District, DeKalb Sanitary District water treatment facility plant at 303 Hollister Ave, DeKalb, IL on Thursday, May 13, 2021.

LOOKING BACK

1926 – 100 YEARS AGO

At the meeting of the DeKalb Farmers’ Club to be held at the Elks club Saturday afternoon at two o’clock, it is planned to bring up the proposition of a county fair to be held here this fall, in connection with the annual pig and calf club shows. The matter has been under consideration by the officers and a large number of the active members of the club for several months. Many live stock men, attending the pig and calf club shows held last fall, were firmly convinced at the time there was possibility of a combined two or three-day fair. The event could not be confined to the boys entering pigs and calves in the shows but a suitable premium list probably could be made up of interest to men and women of the farm as well.

DeKalb county is rapidly coming to the front of its fight against tuberculosis. The announcement made today that through the efforts of the county tuberculosis nurse, Irene Maurice, and the generosity of the civic organizations, assisted by the Red Cross, county and individual chapters, an Alpine light is to be installed at the sanitorium, to be used in the treatment of tuberculosis. This is one of the best movements forward that has been reported at the DeKalb County institution since its founding a few years ago.

Mrs. Carrie L. Jackson has bought the Townsend property on North Main Street known as the old City Hotel building and she expects to convert it at once into a restaurant with hotel features. This historic old building was built by Captain Eli Barnes in 1837 and was the first frame building to be built in Sycamore. Those which were built before it were log houses. It used to stand where the public library now stands and there it was built.

Announcement has been made that arrangements have been completed whereby the Drayton garage in Sycamore is an official Chevrolet service station. Sawyer & Sons of DeKalb who have the agency for these motor cars in this community believe the establishment of a service station here will be welcomed by the many owners. The station is expected to carry a complete line of parts at all times and will be in a position to give efficient service on these machines.

1951 – 75 YEARS AGO

Owners of oil burners in DeKalb warned to check pipes. Fire Chief Clayton Kennedy today issued a warning about fuel oil storage tanks being equipped with vents of ample size following a check which disclosed that many homes and buildings had tanks which do not conform with the law. Chief Kennedy stated that many homes and buildings had storage tanks which either had no vents or vents too small for safety. According to regulations storage tanks shall be equipped with an open vent arranged to discharge to the open air.

Ogden, Utah, Police Capt. Clifford K. Keeter is convinced driverless autos may be better than those having drivers. The reason: Mrs. John T. Seaich parked her car on the downtown hill, then crossed the street on foot. While she watched, her car rolled back from its parking stall and downhill. It missed two approaching vehicles, then slid nearly into another parking stall 100 yards down the street, without so much as nicking a fender of the machines on either side of the empty stall.

Contractors building the new bridge to replace the old plank bridge south of DeKalb left their crane one night and found it almost buried under water the next morning. The Kishwaukee river had come up fast during

the night. They moved it back quite a way and the river came up some more and left it still in the water.

Park Superintendent Emil Cassier this week started his annual campaign to put the Sycamore Community Park public golf course in top shape for the coming season. Faced every year with possibility of losing greens through the effects of snow mold soon after the first large thaw of the year, Cassier has already freed the Sycamore course greens of mold. Without proper chemical treatment once the snow has melted off, the snow mold fungus kills grass and ruins the green.

A remodeling project for the Sycamore post office, which will include several changes in the lobby, has been announced by Postmaster James F. Boyle. The office screen line, including private boxes, stamp and parcel post windows and letter drop, will be completely revised. Three small windows serving the finance room at the west end of the lobby will be replaced with two lager windows, with a bulletin board between.

1976 – 50 YEARS AGO

The former DeKalb Public Hospital building and properties should be used for a notfor-profit retirement home. That was the

majority opinion of 49 respondents who answered the first citizen’s opinion poll on the future use of the former hospital building.

When Rich Road is closed, it is closed. The driver of a pick-up truck found out the hard way this morning on the stretch of road between N. First Street Road and Illinois 23. A tow truck was called to the scene but found the going equally difficult. Pelting rain last night and this morning turned the road into a quagmire. Road construction is expected to start this spring and be completed this summer.

The DeKalb High School swimming pool will not be in operations this summer. An estimated loss last year of approximately $11,000 has compelled both the park district and the DeKalb school district to back out of the joint venture. The DeKalb Park District Board of Commissioners decided losses incurred over the last three yeas do not justify the continued operation of the pool during the summer. Those losses have been estimated at $29,000.

A semi-trailer loaded with hogs tipped over early this morning on icy Route 38, west of Malta Road, and sent the swine scurrying into neighboring fields.

2001 – 25 YEARS AGO

A citizens’ group has been formed to investigate how best to help the DeKalb Park District design programming for the maintenance the historical character of downtown’s old First Nation Bank building. The Park District last month agreed to take over the building after its owner, Shirley Nehring, offered to donate it for use as a cultural and tourism center.

Northern Illinois University is one of six Illinois colleges the Chicago Bears have contacted about hosting its 2002 preseason training camp. As of Friday, the site also featured a photo of Huskie Stadium, the only college stadium pictured.

Pulitzer Newspapers Inc., a subsidiary of Pulitzer Inc., on Wednesday announced the purchase of Siebrasse Publications of DeKalb County, including the company’s flagship weekly newspaper, The MidWeek.

–CompiledbySueBreese

Photo provided by the DeKalb County History Center Archives Sycamore Road looking northeast from Ninth Street toward what now is the location of Oak Drive in DeKalb, circa 1938.

AP African American Studies course seeks to tell the whole story

By MEGANN HORSTEAD mhorstead@shawmedia.com

A new Advanced Placement (AP) course on African American studies at DeKalb High School is bridging the gaps left by many U.S. history courses.

Introduced at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year, AP African American Studies invites all students to take a deep dive into the history, culture and traditions lived and experienced by African Americans.

Michael Petrov, who teaches the course and is white, said he is excited to lead the course’s instruction.

“I wanted to teach AP African American Studies because it gives students a chance to engage deeply with history, culture, and ideas that have shaped not just African American life, but American society,” Petrov said. “It’s an academically rigorous course that also invites students to think critically about identity, power, creativity, and resistance. I saw it as an opportunity to expand whose stories are centered in an AP classroom – and to do so with scholarship, nuance, and care.”

The process of establishing an AP

during their AP African American Studies class. This is the first year that the course is available to students at the school.

African American Studies course started about three years ago. Around that time, the district noted that CollegeBoard, the platform behind AP courses and exams, provided some structure and support for it.

Betsy Zimmerman, the district’s sec-

ondary humanities manager, acknowledged some of the early controversy surrounding the course nationally.

Some districts across the country have not been responsive to the AP course. School boards in multiple districts in Florida, Arkansas and South

Carolina moved to ban courses on AP African American Studies from their curriculum in 2023, The Associated Press reported. Since then, some individual school districts elsewhere have elected to teach it anyway, while others have canceled their plans.

“We had a lot of conversations about that, about if something so controversial was the right thing to do,” Zimmerman said. “Ultimately, what it came down to was because this was born out of community interest. We felt like not only was it a good move, but it was definitely the right move because it reflects our population.”

The AP African American Studies course was originally considered by the DeKalb School District 428 school board in fall 2024. The course is set up as a year-long elective for students this year and is expected to be offered annually.

Zimmerman said she considers the course a success.

In its first year, the course has five students enrolled – two of them have prior experience in honors or AP-level courses, while the other three do not.

See AP COURSE, page 12

Why Homeowners Should Not Close Their Heating Vents

Sustainability swap set for March 5 in DeKalb

SHAW LOCAL NEWS NETWORK contact@shawmedia.com

Adults will be able to trade in lightly used clothing and swap houseplants during a monthly sustainability swap at the DeKalb Public Library.

The free swap will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. March 5 in the library’s lower-level Yusunas Meeting Room, 309 Oak St.

Participants will be able to bring freshly washed adult-sized clothing. The clothes can be dropped off at the reference desk. Houseplants of all kinds will be welcomed. Attendees should bring pots they are willing to part with. Plants do not need to be dropped off in advance. No registration is required.

For information, email amyf@dkpl. org or call 815-756-9568, ext. 2150.

Book repair workshop set for March 8 in DeKalb

SHAW LOCAL NEWS NETWORK contact@shawmedia.com

Adults and teens can attend a beginner workshop at the DeKalb Public Library to learn how to repair personal books.

The free workshop will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. March 8 in the library’s lower-level Zimmerman Meeting Room, 309 Oak St.

Attendees can learn how to assess damage, perform simple repairs, photo-

copy missing pages to tip in, and archivally test and store delicate items. Participants can bring a worn book for repairs and assessment. Repair techniques include preventing water damage, tightening hinges, pencil erasing, book corner reinforcement, torn pages and text alignment, and tipping in a loose page. Library materials will not be repaired. No registration is required.

For information, email emilyk@dkpl. org or call 815-756-9568, ext. 6106.

LOCAL NEWS BRIEF

DeKalb library to hold League of Women Voters booth March 7

The DeKalb Public Library will hold a League of Women Voters for community members to learn about the March 17 primary election.

Do you need more information about the election?

The free booth will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 7 in the library’s main lobby, 309 Oak St. Participants can learn about the election, ask questions, and learn about who is running. No registration is required. For information, email brittak@dkpl.org or call 815-756-9568, ext. 2100. – Shaw Local News Network

Continued from page 10

DeKalb High School senior Ayanna Kelly, who is Black, was among those sitting in on the class on a recent Tuesday afternoon.

“It means a lot to me just because of the fact that we don’t get recognized as much, even throughout history,” Kelly said. “We get to celebrate all the accomplishments we’ve achieved throughout the years.”

The course, by design, strives to be inclusive of key themes and questions rather than memorizing isolated facts as students engage with historical documents, scholarly texts, creative works and research projects.

History courses in high schools often do not tell the whole story of the nation’s history.

Petrov said schools have been failing students in that regard.

This is where courses, such as AP African American Studies, hope to fill a need.

“Much of our national story has been shaped within systems of white supremacy, which has too often led to incomplete or distorted representations of the past,” Petrov said. “Teaching this course is an opportunity to provide students with accurate, rigorous, and inclusive historical perspectives, and to equip the next generation with a deeper understanding of how culture, power, resistance, and contributions of African Americans have shaped the nation we live in today.”

Petrov said he wants to give students an opportunity to learn the whole story.

“What drew me to teaching AP African American Studies is culture and truth,” Petrov said. “African American history is not a separate or optional narrative – it is central to understanding U.S. history as a whole.”

DeKalb High School senior Me’She Eubanks praised the course and what it aims to achieve.

“They don’t really teach the history in our school,” Eubanks said. “But this time, they get deeper into it.”

Kelly said taking this course matters to her.

“A lot of stuff in this class, I literally never knew it,” Kelly said.

The course is taught in such a way that students have the space necessary to make connections to current events and other happenings in the real world when appropriate.

Petrov said it helps to make the course timely and relevant to students.

“We’re always grounding conversations in evidence and historical context, but students are encouraged to make

DeKalb High School seniors Me’She Eubanks (left) and Ayanna Kelly talk Feb. 10, at the school about their AP African American Studies class. This is the first year that the course is available to students at the school.

connections between the past and the present,” he said. “That responsiveness helps them see history as something living and ongoing, not frozen in time.”

In recent days, the course has touched on racist tropes of the past and recent presidential posts and how they relate and the context behind them.

President Donald Trump and his administration came under fire this month for sharing a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as primates. The social media post, published at the beginning of Black History Month, drew ire from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The video has since been deleted. The White House blamed the post on a staffer, claiming it was posted “erroneously,” The AP reported.

Other topics addressed in the course include learning about Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the Great Migration, and the Red Summer.

Petrov pointed to what he thinks leaders can do to better promote and defend Black history.

“Model respect instead of bigotry,” he said. “I think diversifying politics. If there were more minorities present in positions of power, there would be more minority issues brought up in discussions with power. And then maybe more solutions would trickle down. But if nobody in positions of power looks different than white people, then I don’t think some issues ... reach the top. I think they get ignored.”

Growing up in the Soviet Union, Petrov said that in retrospect, he sees some parallels between his upbringing

enroll in the course.

“I just found it interesting,” Eubanks said. “It was the first time that I’ve ever seen this class as an option.”

There aren’t any other African American-centric courses currently offered at the high school, which came as a surprise to Eubanks.

“I was kind of caught off guard,” Eubanks said.

Zimmerman said the next big indicator for the district will be how many students are interested in taking the AP exam and how they perform. It’s not yet clear how many in the current cohort will take the exam.

“This is a course that, generally speaking, across the nation, students are about 50/50 on enrolling for the AP test because the scores are not always accepted,” she said. “Since it’s more of an elective and an interdisciplinary course, they’re not always accepted by all colleges. Students sometimes elect to take the course and learn the material, but then decide not to take the test.”

and the African American experience.

“They were kind of anti-semitic,″ Petrov said of Soviet Union leaders. “But I was 10. I didn’t even realize that people saw me as Jewish.”

Eubanks said she’s glad she decided to

Both Eubanks and Kelly said they’d recommend the course to classmates.

Eubanks said the course offers a great lesson for everyone.

“You can’t go through history without talking about Black history,” Eubanks said.

Opportunity House Honored as Nonprofit of the Year by GACC

Community organizer: ‘Needs to be more love here’

Demetrius Page operates shelf with free food, beverages at Quick Stop

By MEGANN HORSTEAD mhorstead@shawmedia.com

A special shelf inside the Quick Stop convenience store in DeKalb stays filled with free food and beverages.

In heavy rotation are water, energy drinks, rice and more.

It is all thanks, in part, to Demetrius Page.

The DeKalb resident works at Quick Stop and has the backing from the store’s leadership to establish a platform to help young people in the community.

Page said he doesn’t believe young people always have the support they need to thrive.

“This whole town needs to be shaken up,” Page said. “It needs to be more love here. There’s no love here. And these kids need more activities.”

Page said he believes he can make a difference in the community.

“We’re going to make it happen for the city of DeKalb,” Page said. “We’re going to make sure that these kids and the students [from] NIU get exactly the things that they really need.”

Page has only been working at Quick Stop for about a year. But his efforts as a community organizer have not gone unnoticed.

Quick Stop store manager Kamal Abdelfadil said he believes in Page and the promise behind what he’s looking to accomplish.

When Page first pitched the idea to the store leadership at Quick Stop last year, Abdelfadil was quickly sold.

“I was like, ‘That’s love,’” Abdelfadil said.

Abdelfadil said he’s long wondered how the convenience store could help make an impact in the community.

He said the sense of community in DeKalb pales in comparison to his time growing up in Sudan.

“I’ve lived in so many places. This is the toughest place [I’ve] ever been,” Abdelfadil said.

But word has been spreading about the free food and drinks available to area youth in the store at 910 Pappas Drive.

Abdelfadil said he sees area youth dropping in all the time.

Mission driven

Page said he’s long been into community organizing.

It all goes back to Page’s time growing up in the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. He credits his upbringing, in part, for instilling in him a desire to help others.

Page is carrying out his mission in more ways than one these days.

Page runs a nonprofit organization called Midwest Family, a group whose mission is to help feed and give away clothing to people who are in need.

He runs the organization alongside his wife, Knenosha Fields-Page. They have been married since 2011.

Page draws some of his inspiration for community organizing from the journey of his wife’s grandmother, Catherine Griffin-Nemo.

Page said Griffin-Nemo is the reason that he and his wife started Midwest Family.

Griffin-Nemo was born in 1923 and had ties to the Civil Rights movement in Marion, Alabama. She was a member of the South Austin Coalition Community Council, a grassroots organization aimed at organizing and mobilizing residents in Chicago. Griffin-Nemo died in October 2009.

Fields-Page said Griffin-Nemo had made a large impression on her grow -

Page also took time to help spread a bit of cheer in the DeKalb community around the holiday season late last year.

At that time, Quick Stop was host to a Christmas-themed event for area youth and their families featuring karaoke, free pizza and watermelon, a poetry show, an open mic, new clothes and more. The community event was a first for Page in the DeKalb area.

Page said he considered the event successful.

“The kids [were] very happy,” Page said.

Other community events are in the works.

ing up.

“She always dragged me along when I was a little girl to go to marches, anything that’s done with the community,” Fields-Page said.

Together, Fields-Page and her husband strive to carry out Griffin-Nemo’s legacy.

Page is furthering his mission through his work for the Social Change and We Are Project I Am organizations. Social Change is devoted to helping the underserved to achieve self-sufficiency, and We Are Project I Am has a mission to help support the unhoused.

Moving forward

Page acknowledged there’s still work that needs to be done in the community to help support area youth.

“I feel like they need more,” he said. “They need more love and more peace.”

Page criticized some local leaders, saying they’re not doing enough.

“I feel like you need to be on the front line,” Page said. “You need to be in a community. You need to know what’s going on in this ... community.”

Page said he believes he’s filling a great need in the community.

“These kids need more activities,” he said. “They need more resources.”

Photos by Mark Busch

Demetrius Page and his wife, Knenosha Fields-Page, put items on the free food and drink shelf on Jan. 12, that they established at the Quick Stop Convenience Store in DeKalb. They created the shelf to benefit anyone who is in need who comes by.

Quick Stop Convenience Store manager Kamal Abdelfadil talks Jan. 12 at the store in DeKalb, about emloyee Demetrius Page, who set up programs to benefit local residents.