Sophia Craiutu is a senior at Bloomington High School North, and although she’s too young to vote in this year’s election, she’s helping her fellow students engage in the democratic process. She finds that all the more important in a state that ranked 46th in voter turnout in 2020.
Read Steve Hinnefeld’s story, which first appeared in The Indiana Citizen.
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program encourages young Hoosier scholars to “engage with each other and with state leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana.” Among the ten high school seniors named finalists in Monroe County, two will receive four-year college tuition. Laurie D. Borman spoke with several of the inspiring students. Click here to meet the finalists for the Lilly Endowment Scholarship.
Parents, educators, and advocates say the Indiana General Assembly passed harmful and unnecessary laws that are taking effect this school year. Laws that prioritize private over public schools, underfund mandates, intimidate vulnerable students, and even create a “chilling effect” on librarians, they say, amount to a “slate of hate.” | Click here for an education deep dive by Steve Hinnefeld.
Francesca Sobrer is back in Bloomington, performing in Cardinal Stage’s The Glass Menagerie. Her life experiences have helped her prepare for the role of Amanda in a new way: “Amanda is usually seen as a monster of a mother, but she truly loves her children,” Sobrer says. "And I will defend her because of that.” Click here to read more.
Zaineb Istrabadi calls herself “a Baghdadi Hoosier.” Writer Michael G. Glab calls her the apotheosis of a Midwesterner in his profile of the longtime senior lecturer in IU’s Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures. He also calls her “a woman of the world” and a member of one of Bloomington’s most storied families. Click here to read the full story.
With Bloomington’s jazz pedigree, it’s fitting that one of the hottest acts in town is a jazz band. On Wednesday nights at Blockhouse Bar, the Call & Response House Band features local and national jazz artists. Jim Manion, music director at WFHB, talked with C&R leader and drummer Ben Lumsdaine about the weekly jazz series. Click here to read the full story.
Emerging from the 1940s New York art scene, Alma Eikerman served as a professor at the IU School of Fine Arts for over 30 years, sharing global influences with her students. This month, IU’s current metalsmithing and jewelry design students will display their Eikerman-inspired work at the Indiana University Metals Seminar show. Writer Ann Georgescu tells the story here.
