With a mom who has a knack for sewing and is an interior designer, Lake Zurich High School freshman Shannon McTernan picked up some sewing skills. "I enjoy being able to make my own things," said McTernan, adding that she likes showing her creativity through sewing. But the project she and her classmates started working on yesterday in their fashion class wasn't just about creativity. The students aimed to sew 16 pillowcase dresses for women in Haiti. "I think it's great the school's doing something to help," said McTernan. The project — which students expected to compete today — was …

Local officials recognized the Lake Zurich Fire/Rescue Department at the Village Board meeting Monday for its recent efforts that saved the life of an 81-year-old Lake Zurich resident. On Jan. 28, firefighter/paramedics Aaron O’Brien, Steve Norman, Matthew Kempf, Jeremiah Johnson, Jeff Ritchie and Lt. Dave Borst responded to an emergency call regarding a man experiencing chest pains.  Upon their arrival, the victim reported having left arm pain and felt sick to his stomach. He then became unresponsive. Firefighter/paramedics performed two rounds of rescue CPR and defibrillation and were able …

Timothy Riendeau, son of Wayne and Diane Riendeau of Lake Zurich, was inducted into the Bethel University Honors Program for the 2011-2012 school year. Bethel's Honors Program is a broad-based, liberal arts program that combines four all-honors classes; individual work with professors in two additional courses; and an ongoing program of social events, cultural activities, speakers and forum presentations. Students must commit to two honors courses their freshman year and maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.3, rising to 3.4 by the end of their sophomore year. Bethel University is a …

Kurt Hansen, 19, of Lake Zurich, has been named to the 2012 ExplorACES Steering Committee in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois. Hansen, the son of William and Susan Hansen, is a sophomore in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences. He will work with departments to organize exhibits for the event. ExplorACES, March 9-10, 2012, is a student-run open house of the College of ACES featuring exhibits, mini-classes and the opportunity for prospective students to speak with ACES faculty and students. For more information, visit …

The Ela Township Board awarded recent Lake Zurich High School graduate Christina Kairelis a $1,500 scholarship to help with her future college costs. Kairelis will attend Harper College this fall and plans to study nutrition.  Her goal is to complete her first two years at the community college and transfer to University of Illinois at Chicago her junior year. "I wanted to thank the board for this scholarship," said Kairelis, who attended the Aug. 11 board meeting to express her gratitude. "It will help me to someday become a nutritionist and help people." Kairelis was not presented with a …

Recent Lake Zurich High School graduate Nina Naples has an exciting freshman year to look forward to at Central Michigan University this fall. Not only will she be busy taking classes while pursuing her major in athletic training/physical therapy, but she also plans to spend many exhausting hours in the cheerleading gym.  After three days of very competitive tryouts consisting of tumbling, sideline cheers, interviews, stunting, fight-songs and conditioning trials, our hometown girl, Nina, fought her way through with a smile on her face and earned herself a spot on the Central Michigan All …

Recent Lake Zurich High School graduate Timothy Sayre was awarded the Eagle Scout rank at a Court of Honors ceremony May 22. By receiving the honor, Timothy became the third generation of Eagle Scouts in his family. There are six Sayer Eagles in all, including Tim's grandfather Charles, his father Bob and three uncles. In order to earn this rank, a Scout must complete all of the necessary requirements before the age of 18. Tim was able to accomplish this also while being a two-sport varsity athlete at Lake Zurich High School. He not only scouted, played varsity baseball & was an all-…

Our Whiz Kid for this week is Lake Zurich High School incoming junior,  Adam Schulte. Adam is mad about golf and is quickly rising to the top ranks of area youth golfers.  Faithful and determined, Adam golfs pretty much every day when the weather is decent enough, and sometimes even when it isn't. He trains year-round, and is currently working with trainer Brett Packee of Core Golf.  Adam will spend the summer playing in many tournaments. His tournaments are sponsored by the Mid American Junior Golf Tour, the Illinois Junior Golf Association and the McHenry County Junior Golf Association. He …

This week's Whiz Kid is Isaac Fox fifth-grader Lara Zuk. After learning that her classmate Michal had lost his school book fair money, Lara felt very badly and wanted to do something for him. She decided that she alone couldn't replace the missing money, but maybe she could count on the rest of the class to help. So Lara started calling her classmates and asking if they would bring in one quarter each the next day to help raise the $5 that Michal had lost. With making phone calls all afternoon and evening she was able to get in touch with everyone. All of her classmates agreed to participate …

Our Whiz Kid for this week is Allison "Alli" McGinnis. She's quiet and likes to let her play on the field speak for itself. She is reluctant to be in the spotlight, but appreciates the acknowledgment of her efforts when noticed. She played junior varsity softball as a freshman and was moved up to varsity for the playoffs that season. Alli made varsity as a sophomore, hit her first home run that year off of Northwestern-bound Olivia Duehr of Antioch, and played outfield and catcher. This year as a junior, she is one of only five players to return to the team - three seniors and two juniors. …

This week's Whiz Kids are Lianna Wilkes and Maddie Van Zant. They are second-graders at Isaac Fox. The girls were playing at the Wilkes' house outside and came inside to ask for garbage bags. They wanted to walk around the pond near the Wilkes' home and clean up the garbage that had accumulated over the winter. They filled two bags with trash!  Lianna and Maddie were inspired to make the habitat for the animals around the pond a cleaner and healthier one so the animals will survive.  These two animal lovers made a difference.  Know a great kid who made Eagle Scout, or did your local soccer …

Who would have guessed that a simple trip to Wendy's on Friday night with the family would turn into a touching event, but that's exactly what happened when we met a dynamic young woman who was there with her dad.  Although I do not know her name, she grabbed a little bit of my heart forever. Everyone in the restaurant stopped and smiled as she "worked the crowd" saying "Hi," engaging with each of us, and then telling us all about how she was on the Special Olympics team and was going to compete in the shot-put event the following morning at LZHS. She even complimented me on my sweatshirt and…

Our Whiz Kid for this week is Alexa Rentsch, 13, from Hawthorn Woods.  Alexa was recently awarded the "Milestone" award for participating and completing book one in the Awana Trek program for middle-school aged students at Harvest Bible Chapel of Lake Zurich.  Alexa has participated in Awana for the past 10 years.  Starting in 7th grade,  she became an Awana leader,  leading her own group of 1st grade "Sparkies."  Each week she meets with her young charges and listens to them recite the Bible verses they have memorized at home.  She is an excellent encourager for these younger kids, who …

This week's Whiz Kid is Merrick Howarth. Merrick is a seventh-grade student from Lake Zurich Middle School South.   Merrick was on her way home from the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry back in November, when a radio program caught her attention. The program was "Here and Now" a local public access station interviewing Shawn Seipler. Seipler was expressing the need for soap in Haiti to help save lives. After Merrick listened to the story she felt a call to action, and decided to get involved. She began by writing friends asking them to buy and donate soap. The next day at school she …

Once again, the Alpine Chapel Awana Sparkies team has taken first place at the area-wide Awana Olympics. Alpine Chapelis well-known in the area for hosting an energetic, creative and kid-friendly Awana Club program on Tuesday nights during the school year. Children from many area churches attend. The Alpine Awana Club also has a reputation for doing very well at the area-wide "Awana Olympics." This year's Sparkies team took first place. Sparkies clubbers are in grades kindergarten through 2nd. Olympic teams compete in relay races, tug-of-war, two-legged races to name a few. The Alpine team …

Maggie Close, 11, a student at Isaac Fox Elementary School, recently qualified and competed at the Illinois State Level 5 gymnastics meet held in April in Bourbonnais. She placed third in vault, sixth in bars, eigth in floor exercise and sixth all around. When not competing, Maggie trains at the Midwest Elite Gymnastics Academy in South Barrington.     "If I asked her what her key to awesomeness is, she'd quote Kung Fu Panda and tell me that there is no price for awesomeness," explained Anne Close, her mother. "But if you ask me, the awesomeness comes from her passion for the sport of …

This week's Whiz Kid is Bianca Stodden, Girl Scout and Lake Zurich High School student, who recently received the highest honor given by the Girl Scouts, the Gold Award. Bianca has a passion  for cooking. She earned the honor by completing a project in which she taught cooking classes to younger students and fellow Girl Scouts. The food prepared by Bianca and the class participants was donated to Emmaus House.  Additionally, Bianca served the food to people at the Feb. 20 Emmaus House Community Dinner. The menu was prepared within the guidelines of Emmaus House and provided according to its …

At 9 a.m., Friday March 18, learning wasn't as usual at Isaac Fox Elementary School in Lake Zurich.  "It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop" stated Sue Evans one of the front office secretaries. Why was this?  From 9 a.m.-9:30 am the 600 students and staff members participated in Reading For Relief. It was a fundraiser where the kids brought in a minimum of $1 to participate in quiet reading time to raise awareness and contributions for the Red Cross Relief Fund for Japan. As I looked around the school during that half-hour, everyone had stopped their usual morning activities and …

Most of our Lake Zurich students start experiencing drama participation with their 6th grade drama class at middle school.  For a fortunate group of Seth Paine Elementary School Whiz Kids,  they get a head start when they have the opportunity to try out for a school production as early as 4th grade. Thanks to Seth Paine teacher Robin Kern and parent volunteer,  Mary Beth Euker,  the elementary kids (4th and 5th graders) have put on a top-notch musical production every year for the past five years. This year, "Music Man" was  Seth Paine's production which was performed at the  Lake Zurich High…

This week our Whiz Kids are from a group called S.O.A.R. at Middle School South.  This clubs' objective and namesake is Serving Others At Random. They meet once a month to volunteer their time and talents, and are led by teachers Ms. Wessman and Ms. Harper.  One month these teens baked dog biscuits for the Lake County Humane Society.  The next month, they made fleece blankets for the Lake County Women's Shelter. This month they went  to Lexington to play Bingo.  They also help out at the elementary school, and are now collecting for Mother's Day Baskets. The teachers have made it easy for the…