Latest news with #LibertyvilleHighSchool
Chicago Tribune
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Vernon Hills Day 2025 opens ‘It's home and it's so fun to be able to provide an event like this for the community'
Cooler temperatures opened the four consecutive dates of Vernon Hills Days in Vernon Hills at Century Park. The Thursday night opener on June 17 offered golden hour lighting before evening fireworks. Thousands of people were expected to attend over the extended weekend. The event premises were secured with orange fencing, and a main entrance was staffed by uniformed Vernon Hills police personnel. Many of the officers were seen greeting patrons with smiles. 'It's a great opportunity for us to connect with the community,' said Jeff Hemesath, crime prevention officer for Vernon Hills Police. 'It's a lot of fun … and it's (Vernon Hills Days) been around here forever,' Hemesath said. Vernon Hills Days is a free event with a several-decade history, featuring music, food booths, games, and more. Speaking again for Vernon Hills Days was Toni Pastorino of Libertyville, and of the Libertyville High School Class of 1998, and also Vernon Hills Days director of communications (in a volunteer role). Pastorino said collaborators opted to place the carnival rides (like last year) on hard parking lot surfaces (to avoid soggy lawn conditions). But this year, the headliner stage was relocated to the opposite end of the park, where the carnival rides had been in prior years. People were seen dancing on the plaza in front of the professional-grade stage. The island in Little Bear Lake was also opened up for the first time for people to spread out with chairs and blankets to watch the fireworks. Vernon Hills Days, sponsored by the Village of Vernon Hills, is organized with the assistance of a committee (nine members) and 50 to 100 volunteers. 'This is kind of like a multigenerational thing for a lot of us that are on the committee,' Pastorino said. 'Our parents did it, we're doing it now, our kids are helping out, selling ice, putting pop in coolers and running around, helping us set up tables, things like that. 'It's a family,' Pastorino said. 'I can't imagine not doing it, we all grew up here, we all went to school here. 'It's home and it's so fun to be able to provide an event like this for the community.' To the volunteers, Pastorino also said, 'We can't do it without you, we really can't, so we're really grateful for everybody who steps in to volunteer for us.' Taking a kiddie train ride were the Cruz siblings of Vernon Hills, Audrey, 6, a rising first-grader and Melanie, 5, a rising kindergartner. The girls' mother, Susie Luna, said the family recently moved from Ravenswood, Chicago, to Lake County. 'I love watching them have fun,' the children's mother said about Vernon Hills Days. 'They love everything.' Ashley Mooney of Mundelein brought children Luke, 3, and Teagan, 6, a rising first-grader, and hoped that Luke and Teagan would, 'have fun…they want to ride the rides.' Ashley Mooney grew up in Vernon Hills and is of the Class of 2003 of Vernon Hills High School. 'I came here as a little kid,' Mooney said about Vernon Hills Days. Lake County, as a place to raise a family, 'has everything,' Mooney added. Michael and Abbie O'Connor of Libertyville accompanied their children, Brandon, 5, a rising kindergartner, and Marshall, 2. Abbie O'Connor appreciates Lake County because, 'It's the people, everyone's so friendly here.' Michael O'Connor grew up in Libertyville and is of the Libertyville High School Class of 2003. The couple met years ago at Libertyville's Dog Days of Summer event when they brought their respective dogs to the annual summer water pool jumping competition. 'Events like this, it's just fun to come out to and just have a good time,' Michael O'Connor said, adding that the couple runs into 'people we haven't talked to for 20 years.' Vernon Hills Days lasts until Sunday, July 20. See the schedule and offerings at
Chicago Tribune
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Libertyville and Wilmette athletes run, leap their way to ‘American Ninja Warrior' semi-finals
With calculated leaps, displays of strength, and races up a 14.5-foot curved wall, both a Wilmette doctor and a Libertyville High School student have advanced to the semi-finals of the NBC-TV American Ninja Warrior competition show by making it through the athletically demanding obstacle course. The semifinals for the show, where the ninja course tests participants' strength, agility and balance, will air this month. The segment featuring Steven Bachta, 44, of Wilmette, a pediatric doctor at NorthShore Evanston and Highland Park hospitals who also teaches medical students and residents, is set to air Monday, July 14, and that of his fellow ninja contestant Kenzie Hughes, 16, who will be entering her senior year of high school and hopes to go into physical therapy, will air July 28, according to NBC spokespersons. Bachta and Hughes know each other from training at ninja gyms in the area, he said. 'It's kind of a small world,' he said. 'She's an amazing ninja, and she's been doing it since she was very young.' 'The ninja community has been amazing, and it's kind of a tight-knit and smaller community,' Bachta said, describing how many ninja athletes train together at local facilities. 'It's always fun to talk to the kids about what it's like to be on the TV show, because a lot of them want to eventually do that.' Both Bachta and Hughes learned about the NBC show by watching it on television — or, in Bachta's case, by his young daughters watching American Ninja Warrior Junior and then wanting to compete. Hughes started watching the show about eight years ago and her family supported her interest, taking her to an ANW-inspired gym in Chicago where a younger Hughes 'fell in love' with the sport. And during COVID, her father Chris Hughes even built a mini course in the backyard. Bachta, whose moniker on the show is 'Docta Bachta,' took his first real leap into the sport after the pandemic ended. 'It just so happens, Chicago has like, five or six really good ninja gyms,' he said. 'And so once the lockdown was lifted, we kind of ventured out to these gyms.' He trains at the Ultimate Ninjas North Shore facility in Glenview, along with his two daughters. Sydney, 10, was ranked third at the World Ninja League Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina in June, and Logan, 7, ranked 10th at the same championships, he said. That makes both of them around the same age Hughes was when she got interested in ninja. 'Like a dream come true' Hughes started gymnastics at 2 years old, and had also done flag football, figure skating, softball, soccer and a 'bunch of random sports.' Hughes' mother Mia Hughes said her daughter had previously applied to be on American Ninja Warrior Junior, but was ultimately not selected. When the age to enter the American Ninja Warrior was lowered to 15, the teen jumped at the opportunity. Mia Hughes talked about the moment they got the call, at eight o'clock on a Wednesday evening. 'I ran the phone up to her, I filmed the call … it was like a dream come true,' Mia Hughes said. The outpouring of support the teen saw from friends and family was 'overwhelming,' Kenzie Hughes said, and going to Las Vegas to be in front of tv cameras was 'nerve-wracking.' But while she struggled with all the cameras watching her, when she got to the starting line, it all dropped away, she said. Hughes said she also got to meet numerous other ninja competitors while in Vegas and that they shared advice and tips. 'Everyone's there to support each other, and it doesn't matter how you do or they do, it's just, all together we want to be the best we can.' Despite the physicality of the sport, it's 'way more mental than physical,' Hughes said. She had to change her mentality, she said, after she became too focused on perfection. 'It was really helpful to be on the show, because then that's where I realized — I really do love the sport and I want to keep going and try to be the best I can,' Hughes said. For her parents, their daughter's skill and passion for ninja came as a surprise. 'It's great to see her shine, and when she took that starting line … I was just really proud of her,' Mia Hughes said, wiping her eyes. But the lessons she wants her daughter to take away from the experience aren't about success. Instead, they're about failure. Her daughter used to be 'really, really hard on herself,' Mia Hughes said, so it was heartening to hear her talk about rediscovering the love of the sport. 'Everyone fails, no matter what…Failure, it happens, and that's a thing in life,' Mia Hughes said. After high school, Hughes plans to pursue physical therapy studies in college, drawing from her own experiences handling injuries and pains. She hopes to attend school in Florida to be close to her older sister Kylie. She doesn't plan on giving up on ninja, however, saying she will be applying for next season as well. Encouraging blood donations Bachta, who has competed twice before on American Ninja Warrior, teaches in addition to his role as a pediatric doctor. As director of pediatric education at NorthShore, he's a clinical assistant professor at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine. He works 24-hour shifts at the Evanston and Highland Park hospitals, likening the shifts to those of firefighters, he said, because it involves being on call even when he's sleeping. 'You always have to be ready to go. You can lay down and rest, but at any moment, you could have to rush to a delivery or the emergency room, and you have to be sharp,' Bachta said of the lifestyle. 'It's not really sleep when you're there. It's more just like resting until you're needed.' Because of his schedule, Bachta said he is able to have more flexibility when it comes to ninja training and also competing on NBC. This season's shows taped last September in Las Vegas, requiring the contestants to keep their lips sealed about the results for the past 10 months. 'It makes it a little challenging,' Bachta said of the travel requirements to appear on the show. 'But it works. My colleagues have been great and understanding.' His group of fellow ninjas trains at other ninja facilities besides the Glenview one to get a feel for different obstacles, Bachta said. The group also trains at night, largely because the NBC show films at night, sometimes all through the night, he explained, and he wants to be conditioned to get into athletic mode in the late hours. Bachta is competing to encourage people to donate blood. He's been donating since he was a student at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, and said now that he's a doctor, he sees firsthand how critical blood transfusions are for trauma and ER patients, cancer patients, and mothers who hemorrhage. 'In high school, I donated because I thought, 'I can do this and help people,' but now as a doctor, I can see this full circle,' he said. He still donates on a regular basis.
Chicago Tribune
01-04-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Craig Podolski, Buffalo Grove teacher who developed annual service day for students, dies at 45
Craig Podolski was middle school English teacher and coach in Buffalo Grove who developed an annual service day at his school that had hundreds of youngsters volunteering in the community. 'As both a teacher and a coach, he inspired, encouraged and supported his students in the classroom and on the court while also staying connected with them even after they had moved on to high school and college,' said Jessica McIntyre, superintendent in Aptakisic-Tripp School Dist. 102. Podolski, 45, died of a cardiac event March 2 at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, said his wife of 12 years, Susan. He was a Lake Zurich resident. Craig Arthur Podolski was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, outside Detroit, and as a boy moved to north suburban Green Oaks. After graduating from Libertyville High School, he received a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 2001, majoring in sports management and picking up a minor in kinesiology. He got a master's degree in teaching from National Louis University in 2009. For several years after college Podolski was assistant video director for the Chicago Bears, taping games for analytical study and overseeing the motivational tapes players would watch before games. In 2007, he began teaching at Lake Zurich Middle School North, moving three years later to teach eighth grade English at Aptakisic Junior High in Buffalo Grove. Podolski quickly developed a rapport with students, who called him 'Mr. Podo.' 'He had an uncanny ability to connect with students,' his wife said. 'Without even intending to, he would become those kids' safe space and in the outpouring and the hundreds of letters I've received from current and past students going back 10 years, the kids have said, 'He was my safe place. He was my trusted adult. He made coming to school fun. I hated school but he changed that for me.'' Jason Fisk, a language arts teacher at Aptakisic Junior High, recalled Podolski's sense of humor and his penchant for wearing flip-flops even during the winter, along with funny graphic T-shirts. 'He was incredibly intelligent and probably could have done anything, vocationally, that he set his mind to, (but) he chose to be a teacher and help shape and change our world for the better,' Fisk said. 'His impact was always reflected in the large number of students who came back to school to visit him, and others who maintained contact with him into their adulthood.' Fisk said developing the school's service day was Podolski's 'passion project.' 'He was deeply dedicated to serving his school and community,' said McIntyre, who was the principal of Podolski's school before becoming the district's superintendent. She added that the concept of the service day demonstrated Podolski's 'unwavering commitment to making a difference.' In addition to teaching, Podolski coached girls volleyball, girls basketball and boys basketball. Fitting for an English teacher, Podolski was an avid reader. In 1998, Podolski, then 18, told the Daily Herald newspaper that he liked reading works by authors Stephen King and Dean Koontz, and that their books scared him far more than any movie or TV show because their books require the reader's imagination. Susan Podolski noted that with the advent of the audiobook, her husband would read and listen to more than 500 books a year. In addition to his wife, Podolski is survived by a daughter, Aubrey; a son, Wyatt; his parents, Richard and Judith; a brother, Steve; and two sisters, Jennifer Steele and Sarah Trantham. A service was held.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Illinois considers changing high school start times
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — High school students in Illinois may be allowed to sleep in a bit more if a new bill becomes law, prohibiting schools from starting earlier than 8:45 a.m. HB2951 was introduced by Rep. Laura Faver Dias (D-62nd), and should amend the Illinois School Code. Student advocates for the bill spoke in the House Education Policy Committee on Wednesday, saying that students who sleep for 8 hours experience better mental health and succeed in classes. Libertyville High School adopted the 8:45 a.m. start time in 2018 and said students have seen significant improvements, WAND reported. According to the , sleeping between 8.5 to 9.5 hours is considered best for teens, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in 2021 that 77% of students were . A high school in Jackson Hole, Wyoming from 7:35 a.m. to 8:55 a.m. and reported that students slept more, showed up to class on time, and may have helped reduce car accidents. At the , parents complained that a later start time didn't align with their work schedules. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
