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A community engagement initiative of Vandalia CUSD 203.
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LATEST ISSUE
Fall | 2025
“I’ve always helped my parents with their houses, painting or emptying them out. Real estate just feels like something I was meant to do.”
“Everyone throws a little differently. If you can find your natural way and stick with it, you’ll stay healthy and go farther. Maybe that’s true for life, too.”
“I’ve always been a creative kid, but it wasn’t until high school that I realized I could actually build a life around that.”
“AI doesn’t know why it’s doing something. That’s still a human job—and that’s the part I want to do.”
“I had to kind of give myself some grace. Say a B is okay. Even when I was younger, I had that same mentality, so I’d tell myself to have some fun, too.”
“I just want to create things. I’d like to improve as an artist and maybe be more of a cartoonist kind of person.”
“Communication is going to be central to their lives—no matter if they choose college, trades, or the military.”
“It gives them a head start. Saving money, saving time, and maybe most importantly—confidence.”
“High school has pushed me to grow and really find a work ethic I didn’t know I had.”
“So many kids don’t think that they can make money as an artist or as a creative. I want to make sure they know they 100% can.”
“We’re training our students for jobs that don’t exist yet.”
“I want to help people the best that I can and make their experience feel like something more than just a routine checkup.”
The Stories of Us.
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Driven by Business, Grounded in Community
Finding His Own Motion
Go Downriver, Find a Different Pond
Engineering a Future From Resilience
Grace, Grit, and Goals
Drawing a World of His Own
Always a Student: The Teaching Journey of Travis Redden
From Lab to Classroom: A Second Act That Matters
Finding Her Own Way Forward
Designing Futures in Full Color
Practical Lessons for a Changing World
A Head Start on Healing
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