CIRCLE Academy

CIRCLE Academy

In Color

The boost in Mari’s* confidence was evident after she was awarded “Best in Show” for her painting in the Arts and Crafts display at the Illinois Inter-Agency Athletic Association’s (IIAA) annual Balls, Bats, & Brains Training Conference.

I see flowers!

Above Mrs. Overman’s desk in her classroom at CIRCLE Academy hangs a picture of dandelions painted by her mother.

"When my siblings and I were younger, we would always bring dandelions to my mother," she explained. "While dandelions are actually weeds, we saw them as flowers."

Coming Full CIRCLE

In early December, youth from CIRCLE Academy-Vermilion (CAV) went on a special school trip - to see Wonder. A movie based on the New York Times bestseller, Wonder tells the incredibly inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman, a boy with facial differences who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.

The Chicken Lady

At Cunningham Children's Home, everybody knows the Chicken Lady. Yes, you read it right, the Chicken Lady. Since 2009, Naneen (Nani) Baker has lived in a home that backs up to Cunningham's property and she has chickens in her backyard ... lots of them. How many you ask?

Colorful Success

 
"I know I had fun," 10-year-old Quentin said. "Today was about friendship, sportsmanship, courage, respect, just a lot of stuff. I know I learned a lot."
 
Quentin, a student at Cunningham's CIRCLE Academy-Vermillion (CAV) in Rossville, and his classmates and teachers had just finished the school’s first Color Run and he was beaming with pride.