SPRINGFIELD- Charlie was just like any other 9-year old. He was an active gymnast who loved going to school.

And then his mother says her little boy changed.  She started noticing Charlie didn’t enjoy school like he did before and had a hard time balancing in gymnastic class.  

Charlie’s mother researched her son’s symptoms on her own to find that Charlie’s symptoms were similar to Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). PANDAS is characterized by a sudden onset of symptoms associated with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Tourette’s Syndrome and other tics after a child has had a strep infection.

SPRINGFIELD – What do you do when you are convinced that you have found a lump in your breast, but doctors fail to see it? It is an incredibly frustrating and frightening position to be in, and it is one with which Jennifer Hoeft and Linda Racki are both intimately familiar.

Hoeft and Racki, both of Peoria, shared similar experiences. For one woman, she was convinced she had developed a tumor and wanted it out. Traditional methods for detection failed to spot the growth. For the other, years of routine mammographies revealed no growths. For both women, tomosynthesis was the saving grace in their diagnosis and eventual treatment.

Rockford resident and Illinois State University student Lauretta Schaefer testified in the Illinois Senate Appropriations I Committee yesterday about the effects Governor Rauner’s budget would have on the Department of Children and Family Services.

Schaefer receives a scholarship from DCFS that allows her to attend college - something she knew she couldn’t do otherwise.  

“When I was 14 my adopted parents showed me the DCFS scholarship, and I knew that was my ticket to higher education.  Without the scholarship, I wouldn’t be able to attend college. Even with it, I still work two jobs to make ends meet,” said Schaefer.

Students from across Illinois packed the Capitol today as part of the annual Illinois Association for Career and Technical Education Legislative Day. IACTE is a statewide association of teachers, counselors and administrators at all grade levels that support students in preparing them for successful careers.

"We're here today to make sure people know how important CTE classes are," said Christina Sosa, West Aurora high School student. "We like the emphasis on English, math and science, but we have to make it important for students to be in classes that show how to use that outside of school."

More than twenty schools and agencies participated in today’s events, which included a student rally raising attention to the importance of the programs.