Knights of Columbus open gym for free throw contest

VILLA PARK—Nine boys and girls from Villa Park and Lombard, ages 10 to 14, were named local champions of the Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship and have earned the right to compete at the district level. Villa Park Council 8365 of the Knights of Columbus sponsored the local competition at St. Alexander’s Gym in Villa Park. All youngsters ages 10 to 14 were eligible to participate.

Danielle Velasquez was the 10-year-old girls’ champion and Jacob DeSalvo was the winner of the 10-year-old boys’ division. In the 11-year-olds’ bracket, Brittany Fisher was the girls’ champion and Justin Velasquez was the boys’ champion. Twelve-year-old winners in the girls’ and boys’ division were Molly Brown and Alex Lizasuain. Katy Brown won the 13-year-old girls’ division and Colin White won the boys’ division. The 14-year-old boys champion was Jacob Golba.

Each contestant was allowed 15 free throw attempts in the contest. Successive rounds of five free throws per contestant settled ties until a winner emerged.

Each of the winners are eligible to compete in the district competition set to be held Feb. 16 at Driscoll Catholic High School in Addison. The winners of that contest will advance to the regional level.

St. Joseph gets new principal for a day

LOCKPORT—On Dec. 20, 2007, Christina Wilson, eighth-grade student from St. Joseph School in Lockport had the opportunity to fill the position of Principal for the Day at her school. Replacing principal, Lynne Scheffler, Wilson filled her day with a variety of responsibilities. Setting up the activity center stage for a Christmas play, visiting the preschool class and sharing treats with the students, delivering holiday gifts to parent volunteers, and planning the May eighth-grade class trip were just a few of the many items occupying her time.

As a bonus for her own eighth grade class, she brought ice cream treats for everyone. Wilson also enjoyed scheduling a jean day, pajama day, no homework day and game day for the entire student body.

The Homer Glen resident said she learned about the many responsibilities of a principal and how to budget her time in order to complete all her tasks.

In other school news, St. Joseph held its annual geography bee Jan. 15. The bee, sponsored by the National Geographic Society, encourages the study and understanding of the world geographically, economically and culturally.

This year’s winner of the bee is seventh grader, Marty Maloney, with the runner-up being Patrick McCarthy, fifth grade. Maloney will now take a written exam, which will be sent to and evaluated by the National Geographic Society. The national winner of the bee is rewarded a $25,000 college scholarship.

Participants in the competition were: fourth graders—Connor Ray and Gianna Palumbo, fifth graders—Eric Hennenfent and McCarthy, sixth graders—Patrick Blake and Emily Phad, seventh graders—Maloney and Megan Cavanaugh, and eighth graders—Christina Wilson and Ameer Al-Khudari.