Walsher Clemons, the rock group chosen as the winner of the Brookfield Battle of the Bands back in May, performed at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield on Aug. 22. The band, which included four students from Lyons Township High School, was one of six finalists in the Illinois Battle of the Bands, sponsored by the Illinois Park & Recreation Association.
Band members included Pat Walsh, Frank Minella, Michael Campo and Chris Drake.
After taking top honors in Brookfield in May, Walsher Clemons moved on to regional competition in Forest Park on Aug. 8. The band won that competition as well, sending them to Springfield for the finals.
In all, 120 bands competed in the contest statewide.
A jolly good fellowship
Riverside-Brookfield High School broadcast journalism teacher Patty Sarkady, who also serves the applied arts department chairwoman, participated in the 2009 American Society News Editors’ Reynolds High School Journalism Institute in July.
Sarkady was one of 35 media education professionals to be awarded this fellowship to the University of Missouri.
Funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and American Society of News Editors, the program was designed to increase teacher knowledge of the future of journalism, apply the professional journalism ethics into lesson plans, integrate social networking tools into student publications and design a Web page for print or broadcast media. In addition, teachers worked collaboratively to produce a multimedia project based off of a local event/business.
Participants engaged in workshops, met with media professionals, wrote lesson plans and discussed topics ranging from student press First Amendment rights to Web site creation to reporting strategies.
Gone clubbing
Eight new members have joined the Riverside Township Lions Club since March.
The most recent inductees are Alexander Gallegos, Tony Miezio and Bill Vogel, who were sworn in at the club’s June meeting. Schofield Gross sponsored Vogel and Melissa Kotrba sponsored Gallegos and Miezio.
Other new members are David Moravecek, sponsored by Gross, inducted at the March meeting; Nick Albachiara, sponsored by his wife, Carmela; JoAnne Kosey, sponsored by her husband, Joe; David Vesecky, sponsored by Joe Dvorak and Dan D’Leonardis; and Diane Ceragioli, sponsored by Gross.
Glad grads
Riverside residents Catherine and Fiona Maye are not only mother and daughter, they’re also nurse assistants. On Aug. 27, Catherine Maye, along with five student colleagues, graduated from the Basic Nursing Assistant Training Program offered by The British Home in Brookfield. It’s the same program that her daughter, Fiona, graduated from the year before.
According to Pam Peterson, the registered nurse who teaches the course at The British Home, it’s the first time a mother and daughter have graduated from the program. According to a news release from The British Home, Catherine Maye enrolled in the program after seeing the satisfaction her daughter received going thorough the program.
Since her graduation a year ago, Fiona Maye has been hired as a certified nurse assistant at The British Home’s Woodlands assisted living residence.
On campus
On Aug. 27, Nazareth Academy announced that the 2009 softball team coached by Kristen Stojetz qualified for the Illinois High School Association’s Team Academic Achievement Award by achieving a 3.35 total cumulative grade-point average last spring.
Brookfield resident Shannon Cawley, a sophomore pitcher/infielder, was a member of the 2009 Roadrunners.
It’s the seventh consecutive year the softball team has earned the team academic achievement recognition.
