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16 | June 21, 2018 | The tinley junction news
tinleyjunction.com
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Two teachers honored for saving a
life during Orland Days
The Norm Meyer Special Kids/
People Day at Orland Days is usually
a happy day as special needs
students from all over the area
have the festival all to themselves
for a couple of hours.
Thanks to a pair of Orland District
135 teachers, the special day
was kept happy and they prevented
a potential death during this
year’s event on May 31.
Center School instructors Veronica
Morales and Sandy Guendling
were honored with
ABCDE Awards by the district
board on June 11 for their quick
thinking in saving a choking female
student during the event.
“Veronica performed abdominal
thrusts on one of my students …
she was so calm and never hesitated
to help the student, which
shows her dedication to kids and
helping others,” Guendling wrote
when nominating Morales for the
award.
“[The student] had a piece of
food lodged in her throat. Swiftly
and safely, Veronica performed
abdominal thrusts, allowing the
piece of food to be dislodged and
the student to resume her planned
activities,” Assistant Superintendent
Lynn Zeder added in a nominating
statement.
Zeder also praised Guendling.
“Sandy acted in a compassionate
way, maintaining the student’s
physical and emotional well-being,”
Zeder said. “She displayed
immense compassion for the student
following her experience.”
Reporting by Jeff Vorva, Contributing
Editor. For more, visit OPPrairie.com.
From THE FRANKFORT STATION
Frankfort woman receives award
for monarch conservation efforts
The Illinois state butterfly has
seen a steady decrease in population
over the past 20 years, according
to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, and local woman Kay
MacNeil is leading an effort to
protect them.
MacNeil recently won a national
Award of Honor in Philadelphia
for her work with Milkweeds for
Monarchs, a national and now
global movement to plant milkweeds
and increase the number of
safe habitats for monarchs. She
has sent more than 8,000 seed
packets of milkweed this year locally
and as far as Nevada, California,
Canada and Puerto Rico.
“Receiving the award was very
exciting,” MacNeil said. “If every
gardener had a milkweed plant our
problems would be solved.”
As the bee, bird and butterfly
chairman for the Garden Club of
Illinois District 8, MacNeil started
the project three years ago because
she saw the need to aid the
declining population of monarchs.
“The numbers are down by 90
percent of what they used to be
years ago,” MacNeil said. “Monarchs
face a lot of challenges like
deforestation and global warming.
The drop in milkweed is the culprit
for their low numbers.”
Monarchs lay their eggs on the
milkweed and the caterpillar then
eats the milkweed, which are commonly
sprayed with dangerous
pesticides that endanger the butterfly.
MacNeil also raises monarchs
on her kitchen table when she
finds one in an unsafe habitat. She
provides the insects with a safe
place to grow and plenty of milkweed
to eat. After the caterpillars
undergo metamorphosis and transform
into butterflies, she releases
them into her garden, which is full
of milkweed and perennials. The
butterflies then join the 33 million
other monarchs as they migrate to
Mexico for the winter.
Reporting by Megan Schuller,
Freelance Reporter. For more, visit
FrankfortStation.com.
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
Lockport law enforcement carries
the torch
Hitting the pavement running
has never been a problem for
Lockport police officer Debbie
Schenk.
So, when the Law Enforcement
Torch Run for Special Olympics Illinois
asked her to coordinate Leg
5 of the event on June 12, Schenk
stepped up and didn’t look back.
“I have been involved in coordinating
the local torch run for the
past four or five years,” Schenk
said.
Besides the run, Schenk has
also participated in Super Plunge,
Cop on Rooftop, Five-O at the
Dirty O, Trivia Night and many
more fundraising events.
On Tuesday, a group of Illinois
State Troopers from District 5 in
Lockport came out to run south
along Route 53.
DeAnn Falat, a trooper with the
Illinois State Police and lifelong
Lockport resident, had an opportunity
to carry the torch.
“I’ve taken part in Special Olympics
for 13 years,” Falat said. “Our
troopers run as well as other police
departments around us. We run two
days. We really support this. We go
out of our way to help out whenever
we can. Special Olympics is at
the top of our list. The kids are our
future; we do everything we can to
help them out.”
To make a donation to Special
Olympics Illinois online, visit
www.soill.org. Those wishing to
donate can also drop off checks
made payable to Law Enforcement
Torch Run for Special Olympics
to their local police department,
Schenk said.
Reporting by Mary Compton,
Freelance Reporter. For more, visit
LockportLegend.com.
D140 mathletes add up awards at suburban bowl
SUBMITTED BY KIRBY SCHOOL
DISTRICT 140
Kirby School District 140
brought home ten awards
from the annual South Cook
Math Bowl held at Prairie
State College on May 10 and
May 11. Quite a feat considering
more than 200 contestants
from almost 30 school
districts competed each day
in this year’s event.
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advertising cool
down this summer.
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CONTACT
The Tinley Junction
RENEE BURKE
708.326.9170 ext. 28 r.burke@22ndcenturymedia.com
The South Cook Math
Bowl is an annual competition
which has the best
math students from elementary
schools in the south and
southwest suburbs vying
against one another in both
individual and team events.
In District 140, the three students
with the highest math
test scores per grade were
selected to participate in the
contest, with two competing
and one serving as an alternate.
D140 math coaches believe
that the success of their
math team is a direct result
of the dedication, time, and
effort the students and their
teachers put forth preparing
for the competition.
“District 140 did phenomenally
well in both the
team and individual events,”
stated teacher Kate Duchak.
“We could not be more
proud of our Kirby School
District 140 students.”
Individual Winners were
Atala Shalash, 2nd place for
second grade; Jack Radtke
- 5th place for fourth grade;
Kazuma Choji- 3rd place
for fifth grade; Alexander
Maliwat - 6th place for fifth
grade; Raphael Talusan- 4th
place for sixth grade; Vikram
Karra – 3rd place for
seventh grade; Christin Sanchez
– 5th place for eighth
grade.
Team Awards went to
Third/Fourth Grade Team
– 4th place: Erin Kammerzell,
Jack Radtke, Thomas
Crehan, Daina Dileep; Fifth/
Sixth Grade Team - 5th
place: Sean Kammerzell,
Raphael Talusan, Kazuma
Choji, Alexander Maliwat;
Seven/Eighth Grade Team -
4th place: Christin Sanchez,
Brendan Jennings, Vikram
Karra, Patrick Keating.
District 140’s 2018 MVP
Awards went to Erin Kammerzell
and Christin Sanchez.
Additional contestants
competing at this year’s
event were Yusef Gabal
and Numan Salem for first
grade, and Gabriel Paderon
for second grade. Alternates
were Nolan Lynch,
David Jennings, Dylan Loftus,
Bryce O’Young, Bella
Rogers, Nathan Yedwofski,
Ryan Bressanelli, and Elizabeth
Kooyenga. The D140
Math Bowl team is coach by
Karen Cronk, Kate Duchak,
Lisa Sobol-Boyle, Anne
Thies, Sue Murphy, Renee
O’Keeffe, and Pam Ware.