St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church Preschool now accepting enrollment for Fall preschool classes.

Sessions:  Preschool hours are 9am until 1:30pm.

Level II:  Age 3 by September 15, 2012.  Tuesday - Thursday OR Monday-Wednesday-Friday OR Monday through Friday.

Pre-Kindergarden:  Age 4 by September 15, 2012.  Monday-Wednesday-Friday OR Monday through Friday.

Children are gouped in "classes" which are subject to availability.  They must be potty-trained and ready for group experience. Please enroll early.

Tuition:  See below plus a one-time $35 registration fee.

2-day classes: $110 per month.          3-day classes: $160 per month.          5-day classes: $260 per month

Note:  Kid's Crossing Day Care available Monday through Friday 7am until 5:30pm ages 3 through 5.

The City of Davenport required King's Harvest Ministries to install a $57,000 new fire sprinkler system.

King's Harvest needed to raise the money for the new system or shut their doors. Through the Capital Campaign called Saving King's Harvest they raised $110,000 in 6 1/2 weeks. King's Harvest serves the poor and homeless in the Quad Cities and is located at 824 W. 3rd Street in downtown Davenport.

Anne McVey, Fundraising Coordinator for King's Harvest, stated "We are wanting to reach out and thank the community for coming to our aid. We had wonderful people who organized fundraisers and many people who just gave as individuals. Many, many people from the community and outlying areas called to help as volunteers. We want to thank them from the bottom of our hearts. It has been an outpouring of love and support from the Quad City community and outlying areas."

King's Harvest received an Emergency Grant from SCHC (Scott County Housing Council) for $28,500 and received approximately $81,500 through private donations.

King's Harvest will use $57,000 for the new fire sprinkler system. Another approximately $20,000 will go towards a new fire alarm system (the panel was donated by Deco Davenport Electric Company), new emergency exit lights and building repairs resulting from the installation of the new fire sprinkler system.

They plan to use the remaining money towards day-to-day operations of the organization and hope to possibly expand some of their services to help more people in need. Anne McVey stated "We hope to use some of the money to help reach more people in need. In the past we have had to turn people away due to limited resources."

King's Harvest does not want to leave God out of this endeavor. Anne McVey stated "God loves every person that passes through our doors, no matter how broken. Obviously God wanted to keep King's Harvest open and so did the community because they gave us the money to save our organization. It has been a beautiful thing to be a part of and we feel very blessed."

"Do what you love" has been the advice embedded in American commencement speeches for decades. Now, however, it's "do STEM'' -- Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

"We have the brains, we have the educational capability and I'm pretty sure students want a job when they graduate high school and college. We do not have to go overseas to find our talent," says decorated Army Ranger and entrepreneur Matthew Brosious, co-founder of FreightCenter.com. The third-party logistics company and freight software technology provider does for freight shipping what Expedia does for travel.

Brosious' company is hiring and, for students and people interested in new careers, what it's seeking in job candidates offers valuable insights.

"A formal STEM education is not necessarily crucial to obtaining a job in a STEM career," says Doug Walls, FreightCenter.com's chief information officer. Walls initially started as the company's IT administrator and after seven years is now CIO. According to Walls:

• Often times, the best developers are the ones who have a natural aptitude and an ability to comprehend emerging technologies.

• Web development and IT offer stable careers with plenty of opportunity for placement straight out of college.

• Web technology is increasingly going more mobile as users access the Internet via smart phones and tablets, so it's important to continue to learn about new techniques to reach this group of users.

• Following development or IT blogs and news is an excellent way to stay ahead in a progressive field.

• Having a well-designed and developed personal site offers employers like us an insight into your skill level and allows us to determine how job seekers apply the knowledge they've learned in school or on the job.

Located in Florida's Tampa Bay area, Freightcenter.com does well attracting qualified professionals, Brosious says. But job creators in other parts of the country may not be so lucky.

National statistics reveal a gap between STEM jobs and potential employees that will only grow wider if trends continue unchanged:

• Only about 6 percent of U.S. graduates leave college with a STEM-based degree, compared to 28 percent in Germany, 37 percent in South Korea and 47 percent in China, according to National Center for Education Statistics.

• STEM jobs are projected to grow twice as quickly as jobs in other fields in the next five years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics.

• Eighty percent of jobs in the next decade will require significant technical skills.

• Of the 20 fastest growing occupations projected in 2014, 15 will require considerable science and/or mathematics preparation, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Brosious says getting young people interested in following a STEM track of education will require changes in the classroom beginning at an early age.

"Only one in five college students feel that their grade-school education prepared them very well for their STEM college courses," he says, citing a recently published survey by Microsoft.

That study also indicates students who pursue STEM degrees do so because they're inspired by a class or a teacher. And 16 percent more males than females are interested in those fields thanks to video games and clubs.

About FreightCenter.com

FreightCenter.com is a third-party freight logistics company that uses web-based tools to help businesses and individuals with their shipping needs. It has garnered numerous awards, including Best Companies to Work For (2011, Florida Trend); Service Industry of the Year (2010, Pasco Economic Development Council) and Top 10 Websites (2010, BtoB marketing news magazine.) Matthew Brosious and his father, James, co-founded American Freight Cos. - the parent company of www.FreightCenter.com - in 1998 to facilitate freight shipping for household, business and enterprise shippers. The service enables customers to compare carriers' rates, book LTL, truckload and specialized freight transportation and track shipments online.

Military Museum Offers a Closer Look at Lives of Soldiers in Blue and Gray

SPRINGFIELD, IL (07/13/2012)(readMedia)-- A new Civil War display at the Illinois State Military Museum offers visitors a view of rare rifles and revolvers as well as a sampling of other equipment that many Confederate and Union Soldiers carried.

"This addition to our Civil War exhibit gives you the opportunity to get a closer look at the lives of the Americans on both sides of the battle lines," said Bill Lear, curator of the museum. "We're showcasing the almost one-of-a-kind weapons from our collection as well as featuring weapons and equipment that Soldiers routinely used. The result is that you get a better feel for the life of Soldiers."

Located two blocks north of the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and North Grand Avenue, the Illinois State Military Museum tells the story of the Illinois National Guard from 1723 to the 21st Century.

Rare Union weapons on display include :

• A Colt revolving rifle: Before the Civil War, the U.S. government purchased 765 of these Colt revolving rifles, but most were shipped to southern locations and were used by the Confederates. The Union later purchased more than 4,000.

• The Model 1855 Harpers Ferry (Type I) rifle: This is one of only 374 that were manufactured in 1858 with a rear sight.

• The Allen & Wheelock revolver: While this was one of the most advanced handgun designs of the 1860s, only 1,000 pistols were produced due to a patent infringement case between the Allen & Wheelock and Smith & Wesson companies.

Rare Confederate weapons on display include :

• The Tallassee carbine: Only 500 were produced and this is the only officially adopted Confederate cavalry weapon.

• The Bilharz, Hall & Co. breechloading carbine: Only 100 of these rising breech carbines, popular because it was smaller and lighter weight, were delivered to the Confederacy.

As examples of more common Soldier items, the Union display case holds a Sharps carbine found in many Union cavalry units, and the 1851 Colt Navy revolver, the most widely used pistol in the Civil War. The Confederate display includes a Model 1862 Enfield rifle and a straw hat from a Confederate Soldier. Enfield rifles, produced in England, were the second most widely used weapon among Union and Confederate Soldiers. Found on the battlefield at Gettysburg, the hat is an example of how many Soldiers, especially Confederate, pieced together their own uniforms.

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The Illinois State Military Museum displays the history of the Illinois National Guard from 1723 to the 21st Century. Located two blocks north of the intersection of MacArthur Blvd. and North Grand Ave. in Springfield, Ill., the museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 1-4:30 p.m. Admission and parking are free. For further information about the museum call (217) 761-3910 or visit http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/museum/ . Like the museum on Facebook at www.facebook.Illinois.State.Military.Museum. To learn more about Illinois National Guard history visit http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/History/.

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