Marquis Energy continues to grow local student mentoring program Fall 2022 hosted 194 students from 6 area schools

Shaw Local News Network

Since its initiation in 2016, the Marquis Energy ME3 Student Mentoring Program has grown to provide $154,000 to six area high schools that have participated.

Putnam County High School helped start the program and has been participating for seven years. DePue, Henry Senachwine, Princeton, Bureau Valley and Hall have all joined the program over the years with Hall being the most recent addition.

In fall 2022, 194 students enrolled in the program and 158 students received individual checks depending on the level of their success in meeting their goals. In total $63,200 was distributed by Marquis Energy to these individuals.

The program administrator in each district is responsible for identifying students who could benefit from the program and pair those students with a mentor, establishing two goals for each of the students and then monitoring the

News Briefs

Illinois Valley Herb Guild to meet Feb. 21 in Standard

The Illinois Valley Herb Guild will have its monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, at the Putnam County Senior Center on First Street in Standard.

This month’s program will be “Growing hot peppers” and will be presented by Kass Martin.

All members are asked to bring soup or a side that would go well with soup.

Healthy Eats for a Healthy Beat event set Feb. 23 in

Standard

Illinois Extension Nutrition and Wellness Educator Susan Glassman will host a Healthy Eats for a Healthy Beat event at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Putnam County Community Center on First Street in Standard.

The event will focus on cardiovascular health. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S.

Participants in this event will learn what required 30 minutes a week of individual contact time.

In fall 2022, there were 101 mentors at the start of the program with 60 having two mentees each.

In order for a student to earn a monetary award they must attend all their meetings with their mentor and meet their individual goals to increase their potential check from $100 to $600. This semester, 36% of the students received a $600 check, 32% received $300 and 26% attended all their required meetings and earned $100.

Marquis Energy offers this program to encourage students to improve their performance in high school. That performance includes anything from better attendance, modifying behavior, increased participation in school activities and earning straight A’s.

The relationship between the students and their mentors has been a significant factor in the success of many students. The ultimate goal for Marquis Energy is to have students become more engaged and productive citizens in the local communities.

The Marquis Energy company in Hennepin is a major producer of ethanol and the byproducts associated with it in the U.S. and internationally.

Church Schedule

Putnam County churches will have Wednesday evening services during Lent. The churches include Granville UCC, Sacred Heart, Hennepin UMC, St. Patrick, Emmaus Lutheran in McNabb, McNabb UMC, County Line Lutheran and Magnolia UMC.

All are welcome to attend the weekly services. The theme for the services this year is “Amazing Grace.”

Feb. 22: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Granville UCC, 7 a.m. at Sacred Heart and 6 p.m. at St. Patrick foods are heart healthy and how to plan for daily activity. The event will feature takehome recipes and Illinois Extension researchbased resources.

To register for the event visit registration. extension.illinois.edu/start/healthy-eats-fora-healthy-beat-putnam-county-community-center or call 815-224-0889.

March 1: 7 p.m. at Emmaus Lutheran in McNabb

March 8: 7 p.m. at Magnolia United Methodist

March 15: 7 p.m. at County Line Lutheran

March 22: 7 p.m. at Hennepin United Methodist

March 29: 7 p.m. at St. Patrick in Hennepin with the Stations of the Cross.