Serena Hills Student Takes First Place in Economics Poster Contest

Fifth grade student, Trelyn Newkirk of Serena Hills School was one of the first place winners in the Office of Economic Education’s Annual Economics Poster Contest.

Update: House Passes Bill Allocating Millions Toward Childcare

The bill did not appear likely to make it to the House floor for a vote, but was attached to another bill and given new life.

UPDATE: Mother McAuley's Rogers Gets the Biggest Roar from the Crowd

Mother McAuley softball standout Ashley Rogers outpolled 11 others Patch's weekly MVP poll. She is now eligible for May Athlete of the Month recognition.

Your Patch is a place to celebrate local high school athletes. Show your support for these prep sports MVPs—each of whom is Athlete of the Week in his or her local Patch—by cheering them on in the comments thread, sharing your own photos with the Patch community and voting in the poll. Do you think we're missing someone? Tell us in the comments and share his or her photo to the gallery above. (It's easy. Just click the Upload Photos and Videos link — learn more here.) Read more about this week's MVPs in the photo gallery, and show your support for them by: There is one more way for you to become a more interactive fan: Sign up to become a Patch sports blogger. (Learn more about blogging on Patch here).

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Best Blog of the Week: Connie Young Retires

Larry McCoy's blog post about the retirement of a District 206 teacher touched a lot of hearts.

Serena Hills Second Graders Rule the Realm of Reading

Miss O’Brien’s second grade class has read more books than any other class in the school. They're also on quite an achievement streak.

Photo Gallery: 2012 Bloom High School Prom at Glenwoodie

Students enjoyed a night to remember as the dressed to impress and partied at the Glenwoodie Ballroom in Glenwood.

Want to see more prom photos? Take a look at our 2011 Bloom High School Prom photo gallery.  'Like' Chicago Heights Patch on Facebook. We'll be sharing some of the photos there as well! Sign up for our daily newsletter to stay informed about what's going on in Chicago Heights.

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Matthew S. Medlen, Sr.

10:27 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012

I'm seeing a lot of sharing of this on Facebook and twitter, but no comments. Let us know what you think of the photos, or the prom in general. It was your prom lets hear about it!   more ›

Best Blog of the Week: Bloom Students at the World Summit

This was amazing news from Bloom Township High School District 206. The kids were part of an amazing experience.

Bloom 206 Hires Former Principal as Superintendent

Board President Henry Drake says he has wanted the new hire since last year.

The Bloom Township High School Board of Education supported the hiring of Lenell "Doc" Navarre as superintendent at their Monday night meeting. Board Member Pat Donahue was not present for the vote, but the present members voted unanimously in favor of Navarre. Board President Henry Drake said he supported the hiring partly because of Navarre's aggressive approach to trimming the fat without compromising student performance.  "Our best thing right now is to try to save money, bring up grades and test scores," Drake said. "Doc is in the process of saving us money." Navarre's experience as Bloom High School principal and assistant superintendent were also noted as key strengths when board members discussed his hire. Navarre took over as …

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Remarkable Residents

Teacher Trains 5-Year-Olds to Think Like Entrepreneurs

A Chicago Heights teacher believes the right time to teach children to be responsible with bank accounts, and other entrepreneurial needs, is kindergarten, at her new academy for middle and low-income families.

Wanikka Vance spent a part of her childhood in Chicago Heights learning to add and subtract at District 170's Jefferson School. As an adult, Vance returned to Jefferson, and for the past eight years has taught young people as impressionable as she once was. But serving as a kindergarten teacher in a financially strained public school district isn’t enough for Vance, who sees an inherent problem with the system. “I see when kids come in, they don’t have the necessary skills,” Vance said. “A lot of times in the public school system kids have a good teacher, then they have a bad teacher, so they need to have a strong foundation before they even start.” That’s why Vance started Foundations 4 AdVANCEment, a private kindergarten academy in Crete…

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Marian Catholic's Brett Lilek Wins Patch MVP Award, Johnny Griffin Takes Second

Support your favorite high school athlete and give him or her a chance to win Athlete of the Month honors.