The McDonough County Retired Teachers kicked off the second semester of their year with a March 13 meeting at Trinity Lutheran Church. The featured presentation came from representatives of the McDonough County 'Creating Entreprenurial Opportunities' (CEO) program.
Alison Jefferson, who serves as facilitator, brought three students with her to explain how the intensive learning experience operates.
The program is open to county juniors and seniors. Carlee Jackson and Timothy Todd, both juniors at West Prairie High School spoke of their immersion in the intensive program while CEO alumna Alyssa Shockency, a Macomb High School graduate and current freshman at Illinois State, spoke of positive take-aways from her year in the program.
The concept behind CEO originated in 2008 with the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship homebased in Effingham, Ill. According to Jefferson, McDonough Country CEO is one of 75 chapters throughout central Illinois with a few other chapters in Indiana and Iowa as well as from Alabama and Utah.
Students apply for the program and are selected in a blind application process. They meet every day from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. but never in a school classroom. As explained, the McDonough program is divided into three segments: the first segment meets at McDonough Telephone Cooperative for activities and speaker presentations; the second segment meets at the Regional Office of Education #26; the third meets in Bushnell at the former Carl Sandburg College extension center, now the community offices of Schuld storage bins company.
