St. Francis student body embraces Lenten project

WHEATON—For students at St. Francis High School in Wheaton, building awareness of global hunger and poverty has become a school-wide priority.

In January, students launched a grassroots campaign to educate their peers about the plight of the people of Darfur in Sudan. The program led to the entire school’s participation in Operation Rice Bowl, the official Lenten program of Catholic Relief Services.

Once a week during Lent, St. Francis Peer Ministry students focused student body attention on the needs of a country through banners, presentations, activities and prayer services. Their goal was to raise awareness of those who struggle with hunger and poverty around the world. Countries and regions featured were Darfur, Mexico, Pakistan, Angola, Cambodia and Niger.

The students led fundraising efforts for Operation Rice Bowl each week in homerooms.

Montini inducts members into foreign language societies

LOMBARD—The annual celebration of the ethnic diversity of the Montini Catholic High School community, called Cultural Awareness Week, took place this year Feb. 26 through March 2. The highlight of the week is always the Cultural Awareness Liturgy. The petitions were each read in different languages. Spanish and French were heard, but other languages such as Polish and Korean were also represented.

The induction of the new members of the Spanish and French Honor societies was also a part of this special liturgy. To be inducted students must have a 3.5 GPA in the target language and a commitment to study that language all four years at Montini, along with active participation in the school’s French and Spanish clubs.

The 2007 Inductees into the Montini Chapter of the French Honor Society are: Sophia Tamvakis, Tess McGourty, Bridget Mullins, Daisy Magana, Kelly Binder, Lauren Jones, Emily Conlin, Liz Awotwi, Michael Desmond, Jon Youngren, Bryan Wisniewski and Jess Smith.

The 2007 inductees into the Montini Chapter of the Spanish Honor Society are: Amber Tsicouris, Charles Montgomery, Ainsley Barker, Chris Matson, Nick Malecki, Mary Beth Versaci, Lauren Wittert, Susan Novotny, Erin Jenkins, Sarah Maggiore, Stephanie Endres, Jill Disis, Cathryn Potempa, Patrick Slattery, Patricia Rotolo, Angela Simonicelli, Kelly Schneider, Colleen Ruopp, Mary Connelly and Carlo Prades.

Mock Trial Club scores success for JCA

JOLIET—Joliet Catholic Academy’s Mock Trial Club had a phenomenal season. “The talents displayed were probably some of the best I have seen over my four years as moderator,” commented Mike Pero. On March 9, JCA’s team competed against Glenbard East High School. JCA’s defense was able to prevail and the court denied the prosecution’s request.

On March 10, JCA competed against Larkin High School. A verdict was never received, but Pero declared, “This was probably one of the best trials/cases I have ever observed.”

JCA’s Mock Trial Club members include: Matt Armand, Alyssa Beltran, Katherine Beltran, Victor David, Lisa Duffy, Erin Edwards, Alexandra Fedosenko, Emily Goergen, Ryan Jarema, Tyler Jones, Kyle Judge, Matt Kasper, Kaitlin McArdle, Tyler Mikan, Katey Tibble, Tracy Turnbull, Kyle Waznis, Joseph Whalen, Matt Wujek and Mallory Zampa.

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Joliet Catholic Academy’s Art Department and Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, hosted their 14th Annual Sixth Grade Art Contest inviting over 90 grade schools to participate. The winners of the contest, “A Bird’s Eye View” are as follows: Craig Claire, Immaculate Conception-Morris; Sheila McCafferty, St. Mary Immaculate-Plainfield; Corey Moulder, St. Patrick-Joliet; Jessi Pettenuzzo, St. Jude-Joliet; Joey Santillo, Three Rivers-Channahon and Mike Shulk, Holy Family-Shorewood.

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Joliet Catholic Academy’s Art Department hosted their Annual Art Show March 14-April 3. Students’ art works were on display in the JCA library, and the show was open to the public. The following students achieved Superior Awards: Stephanie Analytis, Nick Avery, Elaine Bottomley, Cindy Bruder, Matt Cetta, Nick Cherwin, Donald Cressman, John Dalton, Patrick England, Lauren Feichter, Alicia Gummess, Lara Jones, Christina Kinsella, Maggie Mahalik, Melissa Mastrogiovanni, Garret, Matichak, Andrea McCafferty, Kelly Murphy, Valerie Murphy, Beatrice Pavlik, Jesus Reyes, Brett Rocheleau, Rodney Ross, Christine Suligoy, Jessica Tezak, Blaire Tierney and Courtney Westerfield.

School chums from IC, Morris reunited

MORRIS—When Immaculate Conception School began its 4-year-old preschool program in 1992, two of its first students were Victor Szeligowski and Kyle Englund-Krieger. Victor is the son of Thaddeus and Diane Szeligowski of rural Newark. Kyle is the son of the Rev. Mark and Chris Englund-Krieger. Rev. Englund-Krieger is the former pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Morris. The family is now living in Pennsylvania.

After preschool, Victor continued at I.C.S. through his eighth grade graduation in 2002. He then attended Providence Catholic High School where he graduated in 2006. Kyle attended Morris public schools before moving to Pennsylvania. The two formed a friendship in preschool.

I.C.S. preschool teacher, Diane Sprole, recently received a letter and pictures from Chris England-Krieger. Both young men have been reunited at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. where they are in their first year of study. Sprole was thrilled to hear about the careers of these two students from the first I.C.S. preschool class and their reunion after several years.

Meanwhile, Immaculate Conception School held its 16th annual Math Contest March 6. Six schools participated in the event. Teams of five sixth, seventh and eighth graders took an individual test and a team test. Schools participating were Cross Lutheran, Yorkville, Gardner, Immaculate Conception, Nettle Creek, St. Dominic, Bolingbrook, and Maternity BVM, Bourbonnais.

Receiving individual awards in sixth grade were Sean Corcoran, Maternity, first; Kade Bashor, Immaculate Conception, second; and Mike Leveille, Gardner and Seth Pallissard, Maternity, tied for third. In seventh grade, Jack Davis, Cross Lutheran, was first, Blake Wilhelmsen, Immaculate Conception, was second, and Gen Toussaint, was third. In the eighth grade competition, Brooke Fosnaugh, Gardner, was first, Micah Hahn, Cross Lutheran, was second and Jannea Epperson, Cross Lutheran, was third.

Awards were presented to the top three grade levels who accumulated the most points. In sixth grade, Immaculate Conception was first, Maternity was second and St. Dominic was third. Immaculate Conception was first in seventh grade, Cross Lutheran was second and St. Dominic was third. Cross Lutheran placed first in eighth grade, with Gardner second, and St. Dominic third.

In the overall school awards, Cross Lutheran was first, Immaculate Conception was second and St. Dominic was third.