The document discusses several local news stories from O'Fallon, Illinois: 1) Memorial Hospital in Shiloh held a "Topping Out" event to celebrate the completion of the structural steel phase of building a new hospital. A tree was placed atop the building to appease displaced tree spirits according to tradition. 2) The early childhood education program at O'Fallon District 90 was awarded the highest "Gold Circle of Quality" designation by the state of Illinois for meeting and exceeding quality standards. 3) A new women's healthcare practice, Heartland Women's Healthcare, opened in Shiloh and was welcomed by the local chamber of commerce. The practice oversees women's health across all stages

1. ✰ SERVING YOUR COMMUNITY FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS ✰ Thursday, October 2, 2014
A section of
the Belleville
News-Democrat
O’FALLON PROGRESSO’FALLON PROGRESSofprogress comofprogress com
Delivery . . . . . . . . .234-1113
Classified . . . . . . . .234-7000
News Tip . . . . . . . .239-2688
INDEX
CONTACT US
Around Town A2
Our Town A2
City News A3-6
Choice Voice A4
Mayor Op-Ed A4
Opinions A4
Business A6
Education A6
Sports B1-2
Obituaries B3
Fire Calls B3
Police Blotter B3
Anniversary B5
Births B5
Classified B6-8
OTHS veteran
Moeller named
Athletic Director
of the Year for
Southwest Region
Someone You
Should Know
Page A10
HIGH HONOR
OTHS swimmers,
rolling along;
check out results
from other Panther
fall squads.
Sports
Page B1
SPLASH!
Homecoming
Dance at OTHS,
other events
shaping up at
local schools.
Education
Page A6
FALL FUN
THIS WEEK
By Robyn L. Kirsch
PROGRESS STAFF WRITER
Last week marked a
milestone in the Memorial
Hospital and Village of
Shiloh’s history with its
Topping Out event
Thursday, Sept. 25, held
at ground zero for the new
Memorial East Hospital at
1404 Cross St.
Rooted in an ancient
Scandinavian religious
rite, Memorial Hospital
chose the title of its event
c a r e f u l l y ,
Hospital/Community
Relations Executive
Director Anne Thomure
said.
“In the construction
industry, ‘Topping Out’ is
a builders’ celebration tra-
ditionally held when the
structural steel phase is
completed,” Thomure
said.
Memorial East staff
placed a tree atop the new
building to appease the
tree-dwelling spirits dis-
placed by the construc-
tion, according to
Thomure.
“Plans are to plant this
tree on the hospital site to
commemorate this impor-
tant milestone in the con-
struction,” Thomure
added.
“The Topping Out event
is certainly a significant
milestone and now that
the structural steel phase
is complete we are look-
ing forward to the timely
completion of other major
events,” said Ruth
Holmes, Memorial East
Hospital administrator.
“In mid October the com-
munity will see the start
of exterior brick. Our goal
By Mark Raeber
PROGRESS STAFF WRITER
The early childhood edu-
cation program at O’Fallon
District 90 has been award-
ed the highest designation
granted through the state of
Illinois’ new Quality
Counts rating system.
And its director, Gina
Chorma, said being recog-
nized for going above and
beyond what is expected
not only reflects well on the
program but also should be
a comfort to parents know-
ing their children are in a
program that has the high-
est standards.
ExceleRate Illinois is a
statewide quality rating and
improvement system
designed to make continu-
ous quality improvement
an everyday priority among
early learning providers.
The program establishes
standards for helping
infants, toddlers and pre-
school age children devel-
op intellectually, physical-
ly, socially and emotional-
ly. It provides a framework
for early learning profes-
sionals to identify opportu-
nities for improvement,
increase their skills and
take steps to make positive
changes.
ExceleRate Illinois also
recognizes early learning
providers for their ongoing
efforts to improve the qual-
ity of their care by award-
ing Circle of Quality desig-
nations.
The Gold Circle of
Quality award O’Fallon
Dist. 90 received recog-
nizes the program for meet-
ing or going beyond the
highest quality standards in
learning environment and
teaching quality; adminis-
trative standards; and staff
training and education. And
it commends the program
for actively engaging in
continuous quality
improvement.
Chorma explained the
award is part of the Illinois
State Board of Education’s
new monitoring system for
early childhood education
programs.
“The state now has com-
pliance visits and they
spent an entire day in each
of our classrooms,” she
said. “They looked at the
educational learning envi-
ronment and the profes-
sional development the
staff does. They looked at
the curriculum, the assess-
ments, everything the
teachers were doing right
down to the things they
were saying to the materi-
als in the classroom and
how they were being used.
They also looked at out
budget and at all of our
paperwork, as well, to see
if we are doing a good job
of documenting what we
are doing.
“This is the first year the
state has done this but it is
a pretty prestigious thing.
And getting the gold level
designation says we go
above and beyond what is
expected of a program,”
Chorma said.
“The designation is good
for one year,” she then
noted. “They will come
back again next May for
SEE GOLD ON PAGE A8
Memorial Hospital
in Shiloh ‘Tops Out’
Shiloh welcomes
healthcare facility
By Robyn L. Kirsch
PROGRESS STAFF WRITER
The Village of Shiloh has
open arms for Heartland
Women’s Healthcare, one
of Dr. Michael Schifano’s
latest practices that opened
in August at 1197 Fortune
Blvd., Suite One near
Green Mount Crossing
Drive.
The ribbon cutting cere-
mony for the practice was
held the evening of
Tuesday, Sept. 23.
“We’re excited for
Heartland Women’s
Healthcare expansion
efforts and are thrilled they
stayed in our community,”
O’Fallon-Shiloh Chamber
of Commerce Executive
Director Debbie Arell-
Martinez said. “We wish
them much success in their
new location.”
Founded in 2001 in
Marion, Ill., Heartland
Women’s Healthcare
(HWHC) is the largest and
fastest growing obstetrics
and gynecology practice in
Southern Illinois, accord-
ing to the chamber.
“The comprehensive
practice oversees the total
health of women in all
phases of life. The practice
District 90 earns gold
S T R A N G E F O L K F E S T I V A L 2 0 1 4
‘STRANGE’
FUNTIME
PROGRESS/Roger Popwell
R
otten Roger strums away at his guitar at the Ninth Annual
Strange Folk Festival, which took place Sept. 27-28 in O’Fallon
Community Park. This year’s festival featured live music from
several bands plus an eclectic upbeat playlist of indie pop, folk, and alt-
rock throughout the weekend. The event also included a RE/MAX bal-
loon ride, food, crafts and arts made by more than 150 artisans from all
over the country. This included ceramics, weaving, tapestry arts, painting
and other creative and memorable trinkets. This year’s Festival featured
an area for interactive arts and crafts for children as well.
Awarded
highest
designation
SEE MEMORIAL ON PAGE A3 SEE HEARTLAND ON PAGE A3