SW_EG_ZA_120519

10 | December 5, 2019 | 22nd century media education guide
22ndCenturyMedia.com
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin a twicerecognized
National Blue Ribbon School
As the 2019-2020 school year
began, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin
Catholic School opened its doors
as a twice-recognized National
Blue Ribbon High Performing
School of Excellence.
In 2018, we were one of seven
schools in the Archdiocese of
Chicago and one of 49 across the
nation to receive this prestigious
award. What makes it even more
special is that this was the second
time CJB has been named a
Blue Ribbon School. The honor
of achieving Blue Ribbon designation
status, not once, but twice,
reinforces the academic excellence
and quality Catholic education
provides to students and their
families.
Our year has been busy while
students, staff and families continue
to share their time, talent
and treasure. Our Family School
Association has provided numerous
opportunities for our
families to get together and
celebrate the CJB community.
We’ve attended weekly liturgies.
CJB celebrated Veterans Day with
many veterans who shared stories
and celebrated Mass with us and
we were honored to present Bremen
VFW Post 2791 with a check
from a fundraiser. CJB hosted a
parent technology safety presentation,
collected over a ton of food
for our Thanksgiving Food Drive
benefitting the Orland Township
Food Pantry and continue to volunteer
at Shepherds Table.
We made blankets for the Ronald
McDonald House, fundraised
and collected items for M&M
Acres, PADS, The Care Kit Foundation,
Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos
and Lurie Children’s Hospital.
Each month, CJB families donate
needed items and make over 400
sandwiches for Port Ministries.
Our volleyball, soccer and basketball
teams continue to do well.
Our cross country team finished
the year strong with a member
qualifying and competing at state.
We offer Suzuki Violin Lessons,
IESA Chess Club and our Drama
Club is currently rehearsing “Disney
Frozen Jr.” We do all this
while achieving excellent academic
success.
Additionally, we finalized a formal
relationship with the ASPIRE
Organization whose mission is
to work with schools who want
to convey the message, “All Are
Welcome.” CJB is proud to say
we are a school whose message is
“Choose to Include.”
CJB offers Spanish, fine arts
programs and physical education
for pre-k through eighth grade.
We have a library/media center
for student broadcasts and media
productions, an extended day program,
hot lunch program, extracurricular
activities, a six-sport
athletic program, cheerleading,
and a full-time nurse.
Since our opening in September
of 2000, we have graduated over
1,000 students. Our school administration
and instructional staff
take pride in the fact that, on average,
one-third of our graduates are
named Illinois State Scholars in
high school. Thirteen CJB Alumni
have been named high school
Valedictorian or Salutatorian since
2007 and three of our Alumni
have obtained perfect scores on
their ACTs.
We’ve been busy like most
schools, but the difference is that,
here, every day begins in prayer
together. We are reminded to be
thankful for all God’s gifts and to
treat everyone with respect and
kindness. We live and promote the
Gospel message of love for our
neighbors and each other.
These accomplishments do not
come without the hard work and
dedication of the entire CJB staff
and our families that are committed
to our students and to our ministry
of teaching and education.
Check us out at our open house
on Jan. 26 from 1-3 p.m. We guarantee
no one will be disappointed.
Submitted by Cardinal Bernardin
Catholic School, 9250 W. 167th St.
in Orland Hills. For more information
about CJB visit our website at
cjbschool.org and on Facebook.
Homer Glen center helps with spine care needs
The holidays can be
a time of heavy lifting,
whether moving boxes of
decorations or rearranging
furniture to accommodate
guests. That means many
will be at risk of sustaining
back and neck injuries.
“The easiest way to cause
an injury is not keeping the
core muscles in shape,”
said Dr. Kris Siemionow,
chief of spine surgery and
assistant professor of orthopedics
and neurosurgery at
the University of Illinois in
Chicago. “The most common
cause for a spinal injury
is overuse. Often, when
you overexert yourself, your
muscles fatigue, which, left
unrested, can lead to worse
injuries such as strains,
pinched nerves or even
breaks.”
One common ailment is a
disk herniation. This painful
condition is caused by problems
with the rubbery disks
between the individual vertebrae
of the spine.
“A herniated disk is extremely
common,” said Dr.
Anthony Rinella, founder of
the Illinois Spine & Scoliosis
Center. “It’s often caused
by repetitive motions that
involve looking up. Disk
herniations in the neck are
a common cause of pain radiating
toward the shoulder
and down the arm.”
Fortunately, there are
treatment options available.
Patients are often successfully
treated with conservative
management options,
such as pain medication,
therapy and injections. But
a small percentage of people
with this condition will
eventually need surgery.
Traditionally, this procedure
involved taking out the
problematic disk and fusing
the remaining disks together
with metal hardware.
While this fusion process
provides spinal stability, it
can also limit the patient’s
range of motion. A newer
procedure, called cervical
disk replacement, has
solved this problem. Like
the standard cervical fusion,
this surgery involves
removing the disk to relieve
pressure on the nerves. But
instead of a metal plate, surgeons
insert a flexible piece
of plastic.
“The biggest benefit is
that this maintains motion
of the neck in that area
where normally a fusion
procedure would weld the
two bones together,” Siemionow
said. “The cervical
disk replacement basically
functions similar to a joint
replacement that maintains
motion.”
While the procedure has
been around for some time,
it is relatively new in the
United States.
“It took time for there to
be adequate research and
for insurance companies to
support the new technology,”
Rinella said. “Current
studies suggest this is a major
step forward for cervical
spine surgery, perhaps the
biggest step in the past 30
years.”
Along with preserving
range of motion, there are
other benefits to the procedure.
Cervical disk replacements
typically have
a shorter recovery time than
a fusion procedure. Patients
often go home the same day
and are completely healed
in four to six weeks. There
are also fewer follow-up appointments
needed.
This recovery time is also
more comfortable for the
patients, because no immobilization
devices, such as
neck collars, are required.
Compared to metal, the
plastic device used in cervical
disk replacement puts
less pressure on the disks
above and below it, which
helps prevent arthritis or
degeneration. Perhaps most
importantly, the procedure
quickly improves the patient’s
quality of life by reducing
their symptoms.
“Patients usually see immediate
improvement in
their radiating pain symptoms.
There’s a very high
rate of success compared
to other surgeries,” Rinella
said. “In patients that do
need surgery, we find that
this new technology is very
promising. And we are one
of the few spine surgeons
using this advanced technology.”
Submitted by the Illinois
Spine & Scoliosis Center,
12701 W. 143rd St., No. 200,
in Homer Glen. For more
information on cervical disk
replacements and spine care
needs, contact the center
at (877) 694-7722 or visit
myissc.com.