Every issue of Red and Black Magazine begins the same way — with a question: whose story needs to be told this time?

The answers, as always, came from the people of Du Quoin CUSD 300. And this issue, I am so proud to say, they did not disappoint.

You'll meet Reagan Rodely, our valedictorian and Illinois State Scholar, who earned a $108,000 SIU Chancellor's Scholarship and already has a research position waiting for her in a biomedical lab she visited on campus tour. You'll read about seven of her classmates — also Illinois State Scholars — who are heading in seven different directions, to schools across the region and the country, carrying with them something they built right here.

You'll cheer for Kadence Kuhnert, a seventh grader who went into the ISJL state cross country meet expecting to have fun and came home a state champion. And for Aleiya King, a sophomore who tore her ACL as a freshman, missed an entire year of the sport she calls her "everything," and came back — fully, beautifully — to the court.

You'll be moved by Addy Jones, a sixth grader who was flown alone to St. Louis Children's Hospital at age three with a leukemia diagnosis and who now fills her days with fiction writing, poetry, flute, and piano. And by Raymond Davis, a senior who came through DCFS and foster care, found his footing here at Du Quoin, and is heading to college on scholarships to become the kind of teacher he needed when he was young.

This issue also celebrates our educators. Madison Davis — a Du Quoin graduate herself — sat down at her desk this year and realized she was teaching in her own third-grade classroom. She and 33-year veteran Teresa Stacey both received the Illinois State Board of Education's Those Who Excel award. Stephanie Day, Kathy Pfeiffer, Heather Bookstaver, and Joyce Beckham — who together represent nearly a century of teaching in this district — are stepping into well-earned retirement. And Tina Kurtz, who has spent 21 years quietly making sure every student in this building knows they are seen, is heading off to be "Nano" to two very lucky grandchildren.

We also celebrate our remarkable FFA chapter — 154 students strong, fewer than ten of whom grew up on a farm, and last year's recipients of the national three-star chapter award. And Tim Leake, class of '83, who has helped the Du Quoin Educational Foundation distribute over $1 million in scholarships over nineteen  years because, as he puts it simply, he just wanted to give back.

Finally, keep an eye out for our story on Emily Boyette — a Du Quoin alumna currently on a Fulbright Scholarship, studying and teaching in Finland. Her story is still being written, and it is already remarkable.

Du Quoin, you are something special. This issue of Red and Black is proof.

With pride and gratitude,

Diana Rea

Superintendent, Du Quoin CUSD 300