Achievements

•  Local Marmion Academy students received a Letter of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Seniors Edward Leonard of Geneva, Michael O’Brien of St. Charles, Richard Peck of St. Charles, and Taylor Weis of Batavia are recognized for their exceptional academic promise along with a total of about 34,000 commended students throughout the nation. They are placed among the top five percent of more than one million students who entered the 2008 competition.

• Cadet Richard Niedbala, III of Geneva has earned the Superintendent’s Award for Achievement at the U.S. Military Academy. The Superintendent’s Award for Achievement is presented to the top 20 percent of cadets who excel in the academic, military and physical programs. The insignia is a gold wreath. Niedbala graduated from Geneva High School in 2006. He plans to graduate from West Point in 2010 and be commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He is the son of Richard and Barbara Niedbala of Geneva.

• Kevin Gresmer of Batavia has been admitted into the engineering program at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and started school this fall. Gresmer qualified for UWP’s Tri-State Initiative, which allows many students in Illinois who meet certain eligibility requirements to attend under reduced tuition rates. He is a graduate of Batavia High School.

• Emily Conradt of Geneva is one of 15 future librarians who have been selected to receive a $7,500 scholarship grant from Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White to help pay for the cost of obtaining their Masters of Library and Information Science degree. Conradt will pursue her MLS degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The scholarship may be used for either full or part-time studies at an American Library Association-accredited graduate library school. Grant recipients are required to work the equivalent of two full years in service to the Illinois library community within the first three years following graduation. As a result, these grants benefit both the student recipients and the state’s library community.

• Andrew Masters of Geneva has been awarded the Rachael Richardson Scholarship at Eastern Illinois University. The award is presented to a student enrolled in the Honors College. He is a 2006 graduate of Geneva Community High School and a sophomore philosophy major. Masters is the son of Steven Masters of Geneva and Lynn Mahin of St. Charles.

• Cassandra Giese of Batavia was recently awarded a scholarship in the amount of $1,200 from a scholarship program underwritten by Con-way Inc., one of the nation’s leading freight transportation and logistics firms. Cassandra is the daughter of Menlo Worldwide Aurora employee Karen Giese. The Batavia native is entering her second year at Elmhurst College where she is majoring in education. While in college, Cassandra has been awarded a Presidential Scholarship, appeared on the dean’s list and played on the soccer team. She is a graduate of Batavia High School.

• Shannon Bajak graduated from the Army ROTC Leader Development and Assessment Course, also known as “Operation Warrior Forge,” at Fort Lewis, Tacoma, Wash. The 33 days of training provide training and evaluation for cadets in aspects of military life, administration and logistical support. Cadets in their junior and senior year of college must complete the leadership development course. Upon successful completion of the course, the ROTC program, and graduation from college, cadets are commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army, National Guard, or Reserve. The cadet is a student at the University of St. Francis, Joliet. She is the daughter of Teri Jordan of Batavia. Bajak is a 2004 graduate of Plainfield High School.

• Sarah Thomas of Geneva was named to the fall and spring dean’s lists at Dominican University in River Forest. She was also inducted as a member of Sigma Iota Epsilon, the premiere fraternal organization in management in the United States. She is a 2004 graduate of Geneva High School.

• Brandon Weiss of St. Charles has graduated from the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Leader Development and Assessment Course, also known as “Operation Warrior Forge,” at Fort Lewis, Tacoma, Wash. The ROTC cadet has been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army. The 33 days of training provide training and evaluation for cadets in aspects of military life, administration and logistical support. Cadets in their junior and senior year of college must complete the leadership development course. Upon successful completion of the course, the ROTC program, and graduation from college, cadets are commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army, National Guard, or Reserve. He is the son of Charles and Kerri Weiss of St. Charles. Weiss graduated from a home school program in 2001, and received a bachelor’s degree in 2007 from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb.

• Sarah Thomas of Geneva was named to the fall and spring dean’s lists at Dominican University in River Forest. She was also inducted as a member of Sigma Iota Epsilon, the premiere fraternal organization in management in the United States. She is a 2004 graduate of Geneva High School.

• Hilary Walker of Batavia and Anne Flaherty of Aurora utilized style and flair to earn their Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting, and created the “Sunnyside Clothing Drive.” The girls collected new and gently-used fashionable clothing from local businesses and held shopping day at The Larkin Center in Elgin for older children. The girls were able to complete their project with additional help from local churches, day” last spring for older children residing at the Larkin Center in Elgin.

The “Sunnyside Clothing Drive” will be held again next spring because the girls have recruited volunteers to continue the project to help meet the needs of the young people housed at the Larkin Center. Both girls were seniors last year at Rosary High School in Aurora when they completed their Girl Scout Gold Award Project. They were members of Girl Scout Troop No. 26 under the leadership of Dorothy Leone of Batavia. Anne Flaherty is the daughter of Mark and Colleen Flaherty of Aurora. Hilary Walker is the daughter of Margaret and Roderick Walker of Batavia. This year, both girls are attending college.



Achievements

• District 303 students have earned Commended status in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship program. The Commended St. Charles North students are Jonathon Alexander, Taha Anwar, Russell Busse and Jeanie Chung. The Commended St. Charles East students are Ellen Bartindale, Tyler Dettro, Andrew Gier, William Kazda and Amanda Ravas. About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2008 competition for National Merit Scholarships, Commended Students placed among the top five percent of more than 1.4 million students who entered the 2008 competition by taking the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

• District 303 high school students have been named “AP Scholars” by the College Board for their exceptional achievement on the Advanced Placement Program Exams.

There were 44 students named AP Scholars at St. Charles East and 58 students named AP Scholars at St. Charles North High School. The 102 represents an increase of 21 students over last year’s 81 that were named AP Scholars. The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program offers students the opportunity to take challenging college-level courses while still in high school, and to receive college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams. 

District 303 students were honored in four categories:

AP Scholars — students receiving grades of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams — District 303 has 58 students in this category this year.

AP Scholars with Honor — students earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams — District 303 has 19 students in this category.

AP Scholars with Distinction — students receiving an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams – District 303 has 23 students in this category this year.

National AP Scholar – students in the United States who receive an average grade of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams – District 303 has 2 students in this category this year.

All of the honored students graduated last spring, except as noted. Those students who have not yet graduated may complete more college-level work and possibly earn more AP Scholar awards.

St. Charles East High School AP Scholars include: Kelsey Balance, Ellen Bartindale (Class of 2008), Kathryn Born (Class of 2008), Tyler Dettro (Class of 2008), Andrew Gier (Class of 2008), Aubree Hoepper, Lauren Keblusek (Class of 2008), Zachery Kennedy, Janae Ketterling (Class of 2008), Lisa Kibiloski, Parth Kothari (Class of 2008), Kristin Langhammer, Jeffrey Le Fevre, Emma Maupin, Carl Mueller (Class of 2008), Timothy Oldiges, James Pittman, Lauren Quiroz, Jessica Sandlund (Class of 2008), Kyle Sarvas, Rebecca Silkaitis (Class of 2008), Astri Snodgrass, Martin Steele (Class of 2008), Jackie Swider, Amit Thawaney, Nicole Travis, and Abigail Winter. AP Scholars with Honor include: Elizabeth Chadwick, William Kazda (Class of 2008), Robert Mullen, Anna Nelson (Class of 2008), Amanda Ravas (Class of 2008), Kevin Slattery (Class of 2008), and Blake Sotern. AP Scholars with Distinction include: Ruthvik Basavaraj, Russell Chinn, Kaitlin Flanigan, Thomas Friel, Christopher Geldes, Alex Robertson, David Thomases, Tue Tran, and Diana Yu. National AP Scholar is Alex Robertson.

St. Charles North High School AP Scholars include: Jonathon Alexander (Class of 2008), Taha Anwar (Class of 2008), Karl Becker, Bryan Beth (Class of 2008), Garrett Boothe, Patrick Eschenfeldt (Class of 2008), Timothy Fay, Tracie Fish, Savannah Foley, Kevin Folk, Donald Grillo, Jessica Haney, Brandon Havens, Aaron Herreras, Anna Hoban, Lindsay Klacko, Denise Lovorn, Ryan McGuire, Cameron Palan, Christopher Peterson, Zachary Place, Dana Putman, Emily Rayl (Class of 2008), Claire Selin, Sara Shankman, Jacqueline Shirreffs, Molly Stevens, William Thompson, Andrea Wentzel, Lucy Ye and Robert Zimmer. AP Scholars with Honor include: Allyson Adriatico, Anna Bultema, Lauren Dutkiewicz, Landon Goggins, Hajerah Hameeduddin, Kaylee Jamison, Sarah Korth, Steven Nowicki, Isabel Perfect, Amanda Richer, Ryan Sanders, and Philip Scherer (Class of 2008). AP Scholars with Distinction include: Alison Conn, Samantha Copping, Joshua Eassa, Ryan Goh, Heather Haseltine, Raymond Hsu, Jenny Jung, Shannon Newman, Tara Orech, Matthew Quock, Surbhi Sarang, Chris Snitka, David Xu, and Benjamin Zeman. National AP Scholar is David Xu.

About 18 percent of the more than 1.4 million high school students in more than 16,000 secondary schools worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to merit the recognition of AP Scholar.

Students took AP Exams in May 2007 after completing challenging college-level courses at their high schools.  The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students’ performance on AP Exams.

Graduates

• Local students who received degrees in August 2007 from Marquette University from Geneva are Martin Gallagher, bachelor of arts; Tim Novak, bachelor of science; Victoria Silkaitis, bachelor of arts; and Kathleen Sweeney, bachelor of arts. The graduate from St. Charles is Brent Pacelli, bachelor of arts.