On Saturday, September 23, community volunteers will lend a helping hand to more than 14 local homeowners during the 17th annual Rebuilding Together Quad Cities fall home-repair workday. In more than 40 projects per year, Rebuilding Together provides home repairs for Quad Cities-area homeowners who otherwise might not be able to complete the work due to income or physical ability. Over the organization's 16-year history, more than 8,000 volunteers have repaired 435 homes in the Iowa and Illinois Quad Cities. More than 200 volunteers are needed for this year's workday, including people with special skills in the areas of carpentry, electrical work, and plumbing. Volunteers come from community churches, businesses, and social organizations. All work is provided at no cost to the homeowners, many of whom are elderly. To volunteer or donate to Rebuilding Together, contact Rod Jennings at (563) 322-6534 or P.O. Box 3245, Davenport IA 52808. Applications for home-repair assistance are taken year-round, and are available either by mail or via the group's Web site at (http://www.rebuildingtogetherquadcities.org).
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has unveiled changes to the state's sex-offender registry Web site. The upgrades will provide Iowans with e-mail alerts when sex-offender information is posted to the Web site. People who supply an e-mail address, for example, can request a notification when someone listed on the sex-offender registry moves into an area around a specific address, such as a home, school, or child-care center. They can also monitor the whereabouts of a particular offender, or obtain information about sex offenders living within any Iowa ZIP code. The new e-mail notifications are part of an ongoing effort by state leaders to increase Iowans' access to information on the sex-offender registry. The new upgrades mean that Iowans will not have to check the system as regularly. To enroll in the free e-mail-alert program, visit (http://www.iowasexoffender.com).
Grant funding from the Duncan J. Cameron Family Foundation and Rock Island Community Foundation will help Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities build its first home in Rock Island's Habitat Park. Each foundation will contribute $2,500 toward construction of the home. When completed, the Habitat house at 807 11th Avenue will be home to Tarica Gay and her two daughters. Ground is scheduled to be broken at the construction site in the former Jaycees Park on September 30. The City of Rock Island donated the seven-lot subdivision in the area (also called Turtle Park) bounded by 11th and Ninth avenues and Eighth and Ninth streets to Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities. The city also will contribute funds to extend water and sewer lines to the new homes.
The St. Ambrose University Master of Education in Teaching program has received a $750,000, three-year grant from the State of Iowa to provide a statewide training program for teachers seeking their National Board Certification. In addition to formal classroom instruction, regionally based, board-certified mentors will assist each teacher's personal and professional progress and provide on-site guidance and support. By the end of the program, St. Ambrose will have helped prepare nearly 150 Iowa teachers to become nationally certified, with 120 more nearing completion. The National Board Certification Candidate Support program builds upon St. Ambrose's success with the recently introduced Master of Education in Teaching degree. The standards-based curriculum focuses on professional teaching outcomes, providing the skills and resources needed to create a portfolio to apply for National Board Certification while also earning a master's degree. Teachers who complete courses through the candidate-support program may opt to earn graduate credit that can later be applied toward graduate study at St. Ambrose. For more information, look at (http://sau.edu/medt).
Live Homework Help, a new online service, is now available to all Davenport Public Library cardholders. This service is available daily from 4 to 10 p.m. for students in grades four through 12. Some first-year college questions will be accepted. Students simply go to (http://www.davenportlibrary.com), click on the "Free Homework Help" link, and then select their grade level, select the subject they need help with, and click "connect." Once connected, student and tutor enter "the online classroom," where both parties can use a variety of tools, including instant messaging and a dynamic whiteboard with a suite of drawing and math tools. They can also share relevant Web pages to further the learning process online and browse the Internet resources together. All students can print their sessions and share them with teachers, parents, or guardians. Live Homework Help is available at the Davenport Public Library Main Street and Fairmount Street locations. You can also log on from your home computer. This service is free-of-charge, and a Spanish-language version is also available. For more information, contact the reference department at (563) 326-7844.
The Bi-State Literacy Council is accepting funding requests from literacy-related programs. These requests of up to $500 can be for support materials or any literacy-program needs not included in a regular budget. Literacy programs can serve anyone from preschool-aged children to adults. Schools are welcome to apply but it can't request materials that are required for the regular curriculum. Funding applicants can visit the Bi-State Literacy Web site (http://www.bistateliteracy.org) to download the application, or can request a form by e-mailing (dlayton@wiaaa.org). Completed requests must be received by October 31.
The Quad Cities Marathon has announced that three local organizations will receive funds raised by the 2005 event to support prostate-cancer education and awareness in the Quad-Cities: United Neighbors Prostate Cancer Awareness Project, Rudy Quijas Memorial Prostate Screening, and the Quad Cities chapter of Us Too! Prostate Cancer Support Group Outreach Programs. According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the most common cancer, other than skin cancers, in American men. About one man in six will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. Presented by THE National Bank, this year's Quad Cities Marathon will be run on Sunday, September 24. Also included in this year's marathon events is "The Isle Mile": a one-mile, noncompetitive walk for prostate cancer. For more information or to sign up for any of the marathon's six races, log on to (http://www.qcmarathon.org).
