April Evans

Communications Strategist

United States

A storyteller at heart, I have the unique ability to create impactful content that drives decisions. As a communications professional I now specialize in digital marketing, project management, and social media. Experience includes intranet management, website development, social media, SEO, e-newsletters, communications plans, editorial calendars, and shifting strategies as the digital world evolves.

Portfolio

Website creation

Servpro
Servpro.com

Key member of redesign strategy team; created new SEO-focused resource center; migration of content.

Website Creation
11/2016
Ridge Farm Friends Church

A volunteer project for the Ridge Farm Friends Church. Creation of a website for the church, which is their first.

Social Media

Content Development and Strategy

Education reporting

Vanderbilt University
First-ever longitudinal study on LGBTQ+ aging is window into seldom-studied community

NASHVILLE, Tenn.-A four-year longitudinal study of older LGBTQ+ people in the South is being conducted to better identify the sources of stress and resilience for this infrequently studied population. Led by Tara McKay, assistant professor of medicine, health, and society, and her team, the Vanderbilt University Social Networks, Aging, and Policy Study (VUSNAPS) is providing...

Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt LGBTQ+ Policy Lab founders conduct first research on health effects of legal same-sex...

NASHVILLE, Tenn.-Leaders of Vanderbilt's LGBTQ+ Policy Lab have provided the first comprehensive evidence on the effects of access to legal same-sex marriage. Their efforts revealed that marriage access impacted the LGBTQ+ community positively in multiple ways. The first-of-its-kind study, published last year, analyzed aspects of both marriage and health in same-sex households following the full...

Commercial News
02/19/2011
Quinn's cuts to schools will hurt

Area schools and an agency that assists them are watching what Illinois lawmakers will do with the budget Gov. Pat Quinn presented Wednesday that will have major implications if passed without revision. The new budget calls for state support of transportation to be cut by $95 million, which would force districts to come up with even more local money to get kids to school and back home again.

Commercial News
02/15/2013
Catlin school board cuts principal's position

A lack of state funding dealt a critical blow Thursday to the Catlin School District as board members eliminated the position of high school principal. Those duties will be absorbed within the superintendent's role. Superintendent Gary Lewis said he presented the idea to board members as the financial manager of the district.

Commercial News
11/17/2012
Catlin agreement remains elusive

Both sides of the negotiating table in Catlin schools went into a second meeting Thursday night with a federal mediator hopeful, but an agreement has not yet been reached. Both Superintendent Gary Lewis and Catlin Faculty Organization president Lezlie Holman said some progress toward an agreement was made Thursday.

Commercial News
05/23/2011
Geo-RF superintendent on paid leave

An unusual meeting early Sunday morning in the Georgetown-Ridge Farm School district resulted in a paid leave of absence for Superintendent Greg Irwin, effective immediately. The meeting, which was primarily conducted in closed session to discuss personnel matters relating to the dismissal, discipline or evaluation of an employee, began at 8:30 a.m.

Commercial News
01/13/2011
Board to ponder ballot question

Rossville-Alvin High School may once again have school bells ringing and lockers slamming in its halls as school board members plan to decide tonight about a referendum that could reactivate the school. The Rossville-Alvin High School is currently in its sixth year of deactivation, according to interim Superintendent Randy Hird.

Commercial News
11/12/2010
Some students in class on Veterans Day

Students were in class at Westville Junior High School on Thursday, with students in Stephanie Huchel-Chandler's eighth-grade history course hearing from veterans about their war experiences. Students heard first-hand accounts from veterans representing every war from World War II to present day and then the entire WJHS student body attended the Veterans Day memorial service at nearby Zamberletti Park.

Print newsletters

Vanderbilt
05/31/2022
College of Arts and Science Newsletter

We're celebrating our most recent graduates for their extraordinary perseverance and dedication over the last few years. Watch highlights of our students enjoying their unforgettable graduation day.

Vanderbilt
04/30/2022
College of Arts and Science Newsletter

From participating in high school student government to leading as AASA President, Vanderbilt Chancellor's Scholar Jack Mok has dedicated his academic career to finding belonging and giving back to the community through advocacy. Watch his story in this A&S Senior Spotlight.

Business Reporting

Commercial News
04/28/2011
Henning firm to expand as Rossville site closes

A major expansion is in the works at Full-Fill Industries, LLC in Henning that will keep 150 jobs in Vermilion County. The cooking spray manufacturer announced Wednesday it has entered into a long term agreement with ConAgra Foods to produce all the cooking sprays made at ConAgra’s Rossville plant which will close.

Commercial News
07/03/2010
50 years of Schroeder's

A half-century of hamburger heaven is being celebrated at Schroeder's Drive-In as the restaurant observes its 50th anniversary this month. Spending more than 30 years on Gilbert Street as part of the Burger Chef chain, the store was originally owned by Hank Schroeder and Lou Hussman, though Schroeder bought Hussman out after being open for just one year.

Commercial News
05/27/2011
Local business loses Joplin store to tornado

Samantha Smith planned to work a normal Sunday night at her Speedco store in Joplin, Mo. The manager was scheduled for a 2 to 8 p.m. shift, but it would prove to be a most challenging evening. Speedco Truck Lube and Tires, headquartered in Cayuga, Ind., is a truck lube and tire shop that caters to the biggest vehicles on the road. They take care of anything that has a diesel engine with the majority of their customer being 18-wheelers that are crisscrossing the country. They have 51 stores...

Commercial News
08/08/2010
Dunkin Donuts closes its doors

Employees at Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins gave out their last chocolate donut with rainbow sprinkles Saturday in Danville. The marquee at the store located at 417 S. Gilbert St. was changed Tuesday to notify customers of the impending closure this Sunday.

Commercial News
02/08/2011
Danville Quaker gets 'Unwrapped'

The Hollywood lights are shining in Danville and the star of the moment is the Quaker Chewy Granola Bar. A production crew from the Food Network television series "Unwrapped" visited the Danville Quaker plant Jan. 25 to film the process of making Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, the people who produce them and gathering information about their history.

Commercial News
10/02/2010
Workers choose to stay home

Morning coffee - check. Kids off to school - check. Driving into work at 8 a.m. - not quite. As technology has strengthened and become more widely available, creative options for getting traditional jobs accomplished are opening for companies and the workers they employ.

Commercial News
08/19/2012
UPDATE: Danville Metal Stamping looks ahead

Danville Metal Stamping started as a three-person shop building tools and dies in 1946 and has grown to employ around 450 people who build both simple and complex parts for the gas turbine and aerospace industries.

Commercial News
06/05/2010
Funds funneled to landfill

A recent White House announcement has earmarked $800 million of federal money to be put into a trust fund to help pay for the cleanup of closed General Motors sites, including the former GM Powertrain Foundry landfill in Tilton.

Commercial News
05/12/2011
Dunham's Sports to anchor at mall

Dunham's Sports will soon be a new anchor at the Village Mall in the space that formerly housed Hobby Lobby. The mall's new owner brings the announcement of the sporting goods tenant with them to Danville and also the finalization of their Monday closing on the property.

Feature/Enterprise Reporting

Commercial News
11/21/2010
Increased demand

Well before 7 a.m. on a cold November morning, more than 50 families lined up outside Mt. Zion Baptist Church waiting for the doors to open. It wasn't until 9 a.m. that the line for the Eastern Illinois Foodbank Foodmobile started moving. Around 200 households, or 600 individuals, ended up being served, but by 10:30 a.m.

Commercial News
04/10/2011
Gas prices hard to predict

Ask any driver filling up their tank at a gas station and you'll probably get this response about prices: "They're too high," Randy West of Newport, Ind., said, as he pumped $60 worth of fuel into his truck. West was filling up at the Marathon Falcon Mart in Cayuga, Ind.

Commercial News
04/10/2011
Convenience items fuel stations

Indiana gas station owner Jeff Clark has grown up around the gas business and has witnessed its evolution. His family has owned the Cayuga Falcon Mart since it was built in 1970. They've owned multiple gas stations throughout Indiana, but now are focused on just one.

Commercial News
10/04/2011
Monthly meal for all

A humble idea has turned into an ongoing effort at a Georgetown church - a free, monthly meal open to anyone. Imagined by Steve Carroll three years ago at the Georgetown Methodist Church, the idea was simple, but likely demanding. Prepare a monthly meal and open the doors, but don't ask for a donation from those who come.

Commercial News
04/13/2013
Energy drinks

Feeling a little sluggish? Need a quick boost to get through your workday afternoon or an evening event after an already long day? Not even an option two decades ago, energy drinks are now commonplace alongside soda, bottled water and juice in every neighborhood convenience store. Though, it’s not just adults reaching for these caffeine-laced concoctions, oftentimes, it’s children, too.

Commercial News
08/21/2010
Man runs Adams Building elevator

Daniel Coffey always wished to be a rodeo cowboy when he was little, but ended up in a profession almost as unique - and he still wears his cowboy hat every day. Coffey, 51, is the operator of the manual elevator in the Adams Building at 139 N.

Government Reporting

Commercial News
04/06/2011
Rossville approves referendum

The prospect of students attending high school in the village of Rossville is now a possibility again as Rossville-Alvin School District voters approved a referendum Tuesday. Voters said "Yes" to a ballot question that gives the board of education permission to stop sending high school students to nearby Hoopeston Area or Bismarck-Henning high schools and to possibly reactivate the high school in Rossville.

Commercial News
03/25/2011
New north development a go

A highly anticipated new development is officially slated to inhabit the former K's Merchandise lot as the Danville City Council purchased property and approved paperwork to move the project forward Thursday. Mayor Scott Eisenhauer still insisted that officials cannot reveal who the interested major and junior retailers are, but said it is not one already existing in our market area, and is nationally known.

Commercial News
04/08/2009
Georgetown, Westville get new mayors

Voters in Georgetown narrowed a four-way race for mayor to one man Tuesday, Dennis Lucas. Lucas, 59, will succeed Mayor Darrell Acord, who did not seek re-election to a fourth term in office. "I don't think it's sunk in yet," said Lucas. "It's been a hectic three to four months.

Writer/Photographer - Annual Report