• More than 20 students from St. Ambrose University will spend their spring breaks in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Martinsville, Virginia, building houses through Habitat for Humanity's Collegiate Challenge program. Students will work with Habitat for Humanity affiliates from March 6 through March 10. The students finished their first house on December 10 in Davenport. The house was funded by First Christian Church of Davenport, Windmiller Design & Development Co., and the Scott County Housing Council. Collegiate Challenge is a year-round school-break program, coordinated through the Collegiate Challenge Team at Habitat for Humanity International in Americus, Georgia. More than 12,000 students from 700 colleges, universities, and high schools will work at 250 sites nationwide for Collegiate Challenge. Collectively, these students have pledged more than $1 million for the affiliates they are working with. The majority of students involved with the Collegiate Challenge program are active members of the St. Ambrose University Habitat Group and Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities.
• The Bettendorf Public Library, the American Library Association, and Woman's Day magazine want to know how the library has changed the lives of people in the community. From now until May 10, anyone who has a story to tell about how the library has changed his or her life can send it to (womansday@ala.org). Four of the stories will be featured in an upcoming issue of Woman's Day. The story must be 700 words or fewer.
• The new QC Volunteer Ops "e-news" will provide local volunteer announcements and was developed by Mississippi Valley Directors of Volunteers in Agencies (MVDOVIA). The e-news format is a way to instantly give Quad Citians a heads-up on volunteer opportunities as they become available. Several local volunteer managers have voiced the need to be able to reach more volunteers. DOVIA is recognized around the world as a professional volunteer-management organization, with the local MVDOVIA chapter covering eastern Iowa and western Illinois. You do not have to be a MVDOVIA member to receive the QC Volunteer Ops e-news; it is a free resource to the community. To sign up, visit (http://www.mvdovia.org) or contact Angela Hunt at (309)765-7935 or (ahunt@butterworthcenter.com). If you are a manager of a volunteer program that is interested in becoming an MVDOVIA member, contact Jennifer Holldorf at (309)796-0512 or (holldorf@uiuc.edu). You can also download a membership application online at (http://www.mvdovia.org).
• The Metropolitan Airport Authority of Rock Island County - operator of the Quad City International Airport - announced at its monthly board meeting a new January record for passengers. A total of 33,989 passengers were enplaned in the month, exceeding the January 2005 record by 151 passengers. United Express led the pack for enplaning the most passengers in January at 9,374, followed by Northwest Airlink at 8,089. United Express started one additional daily flight to Denver earlier this month, for a total of two per day to Denver. In other airport news, the last two gates in the A concourse were equipped with boarding-bridge service, allowing passengers to enplane and deplane via the boarding bridges for all flights. There are five airlines serving eight nonstop cities from the Quad City International Airport.
• J.B. Young has been awarded a $2,500 Best Buy Te@ch Award Grant. J.B. Young is the only school in Davenport and the surrounding area that was awarded this grant. The Best Buy Te@ch Program recognizes schools and teachers who make learning fun by integrating interactive technology into the curriculum. Thousands of schools across the country applied, making the selection process highly competitive.
• Quad Cities-area fifth-grade students will experience America's music and its journey up the Mississippi River through the River Currents Tour program - which began last month - at the River Music Experience (RME). Students will explore the American songbook in New Orleans and the the Delta, in Memphis and St. Louis, and in the Quad Cities and beyond. In addition to the digital program, area musicians lead a sing-along, complete with kazoo accompaniment. RME's River Currents interactive program is also permanently available to visitors via six interactive kiosks in the second-floor exhibit area.
• The RME also announced last week an opening date of April 1 for its second-floor live-music venue, to be called the Redstone Room. The venue will be managed by Devin Hansen, who previously ran the Brew & View and Rocket theatres in Rock Island. Hansen closed the Rocket after last weekend's Buckwheat Zydeco concert. For more information on the River Music Experience, visit (http://www.rivermusicexperience.org).
• The Bettendorf Public Library, the American Library Association, and Woman's Day magazine want to know how the library has changed the lives of people in the community. From now until May 10, anyone who has a story to tell about how the library has changed his or her life can send it to (womansday@ala.org). Four of the stories will be featured in an upcoming issue of Woman's Day. The story must be 700 words or fewer.
• The new QC Volunteer Ops "e-news" will provide local volunteer announcements and was developed by Mississippi Valley Directors of Volunteers in Agencies (MVDOVIA). The e-news format is a way to instantly give Quad Citians a heads-up on volunteer opportunities as they become available. Several local volunteer managers have voiced the need to be able to reach more volunteers. DOVIA is recognized around the world as a professional volunteer-management organization, with the local MVDOVIA chapter covering eastern Iowa and western Illinois. You do not have to be a MVDOVIA member to receive the QC Volunteer Ops e-news; it is a free resource to the community. To sign up, visit (http://www.mvdovia.org) or contact Angela Hunt at (309)765-7935 or (ahunt@butterworthcenter.com). If you are a manager of a volunteer program that is interested in becoming an MVDOVIA member, contact Jennifer Holldorf at (309)796-0512 or (holldorf@uiuc.edu). You can also download a membership application online at (http://www.mvdovia.org).
• The Metropolitan Airport Authority of Rock Island County - operator of the Quad City International Airport - announced at its monthly board meeting a new January record for passengers. A total of 33,989 passengers were enplaned in the month, exceeding the January 2005 record by 151 passengers. United Express led the pack for enplaning the most passengers in January at 9,374, followed by Northwest Airlink at 8,089. United Express started one additional daily flight to Denver earlier this month, for a total of two per day to Denver. In other airport news, the last two gates in the A concourse were equipped with boarding-bridge service, allowing passengers to enplane and deplane via the boarding bridges for all flights. There are five airlines serving eight nonstop cities from the Quad City International Airport.
• J.B. Young has been awarded a $2,500 Best Buy Te@ch Award Grant. J.B. Young is the only school in Davenport and the surrounding area that was awarded this grant. The Best Buy Te@ch Program recognizes schools and teachers who make learning fun by integrating interactive technology into the curriculum. Thousands of schools across the country applied, making the selection process highly competitive.
• Quad Cities-area fifth-grade students will experience America's music and its journey up the Mississippi River through the River Currents Tour program - which began last month - at the River Music Experience (RME). Students will explore the American songbook in New Orleans and the the Delta, in Memphis and St. Louis, and in the Quad Cities and beyond. In addition to the digital program, area musicians lead a sing-along, complete with kazoo accompaniment. RME's River Currents interactive program is also permanently available to visitors via six interactive kiosks in the second-floor exhibit area.
• The RME also announced last week an opening date of April 1 for its second-floor live-music venue, to be called the Redstone Room. The venue will be managed by Devin Hansen, who previously ran the Brew & View and Rocket theatres in Rock Island. Hansen closed the Rocket after last weekend's Buckwheat Zydeco concert. For more information on the River Music Experience, visit (http://www.rivermusicexperience.org).
