School Events
Oak Lawn Bible Church will be holding its annual Vacation Bible School from June 16 to June 20 at the church, 9435 S. 54th Ave., Oak Lawn.
The program will run from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. daily and is open to children from kindergarten to fifth grade. This year’s program is “Son Force Kids: Special Agents on a Mission from God — Decoding Joshua 1:9.”
Children do not need to be members of the church to attend this free program. For more information and to register, call (708) 857-9800.
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A car wash held in September helped a group of students from Queen of Peace High School, 7659 S. Linder Ave., Burbank, kick off their efforts at raising funds to take a spring break trip to Costa Rica.
Their hard work proved fruitful. On March 19, these students, accompanied by two Peace Spanish teachers, boarded a plane to spend a full week in Costa Rica.
Students paired up and stayed with host families outside of the city of San José. During the days, groups hiked in the Tirimbina Rain Forest preserve, visited Arenal Volcano to watch the lava flows, learned about coffee production at Café Britt, attended a local artisan’s marking, performed a service activity at a local orphanage, rode horses, zip-lined through the canopies, and took a boat excursion to Turtle Island on the Pacific Coast.
Students returned to their host families each night to learn about daily life in Costa Rica and practice their Spanish conversational skills.
According to Peace Spanish teacher and chaperone Heidi Hansen, “the girls very much enjoyed learning about Costa Rican culture. The largest highlight for me as a teacher was hearing the girls’ comments about their host families. I heard comments about speaking Spanish for hours and how easily they understood. The girls are already clamoring to come back and visit all the new friends they made. It was a fabulous experience that we plan on continuing for future classes at Queen of Peace.”
The 12 students who took part in the trip to Costa Rica were Rachel Glover, Alex Swieton, Elsa Benitez, Abby Point, Andrea Ferrara, Taylor Vrabec, Christina Mikus, Elisabeth Andrade, Janet Rodriguez, Rocio Estrada, Angela Amador and Patty Smith.
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Several members of the graduating Class of 2008 at Mount Assisi Academy, 13860 Main St., Lemont, were honored at an awards ceremony May 1 in the school’s gymnasium.
In this annual tradition, senior students are recognized for their outstanding achievement and commitment to academics, athletics and community service.
President’s Education Award recipients include Cynthia De La Torre, Caitlyn Fetta, Anne Lenzen, Danielle Leslie, Julie Mlynarski, Christine Murphy, Srividya Ranganathan, Jennifer Richert, Breanne Rimkus, Monique Slad, Kelsey Smolek, Stefanie Smrokowski and Mary Tully.
Senior Athletic Awards were presented to Nicole Altobelli, Nicole Bober, Elizabeth Brennan, Megan Culligan, Gileene Daradar, Megan Diamond, Erin Durkin, Laura Flerick, Jessica Kelly, Keilia Kettmann, Lenzen, Emily Lloyd, Stephanie Mikel, Julie Mlynarski, Christine Murphy, Jennifer Richert, Breanne Rimkus, Slad, Smrokowski, Tully and Jessica Wheeler.
Other notable award winners were Breanne Rimkus and Tully, who received the Bil Bradna Award; Slad, who received the Heather Noonan Memorial Scholarship; Erin Durkin, who received the Tina M. Chirillo Memorial Scholarship; and Brittany Dedic and Slad, who received the 2008 Girl Scout Scholarship; and Julie Mlynarski, who received the Wendy’s High School Heisman Award.