Riverside-Brookfield High School student Emily Andrulis was selected as a semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Competition. Semifinalists are the highest scoring entrants in each state and are eligible for advancement to finalist status and a chance to qualify for a National Merit Scholarship based on her performamce on the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
In addition, the National Hispanic Recognition Program announced last month that Andrulis has been selected as a 2011-12 National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar.
The program was initiated in 1983 to identify outstanding Hispanic/Latino students. The organization is recognizing almost 5,000 students selected from a pool of more than 235,000 who took the 2010 PSAT/NMSQT and identified themselves as Hispanic.
Seven other RBHS students – Christina Daily, Amanda Hejna, Kovas Kulbis, Max Marciniak, Margaret McLaughlin, Kyle Perfect and James Wang – have been named Commended Students in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program.
While not eligible to compete for a National Merit Scholarship, Commended Students placed among the top 5 percent of more than 1.5 million students who entered the competition by taking the 2010 PSAT/NMSQT.
Taking wing
Karl Jantze of Riverside completed his Eagle Scout project, restoring the English garden and designing and building an accessible garden planter/bench on the campus of the British Home in Brookfield.
The planter/bench, which finished off many months of planning and work, was installed in October. The garden restoration involved 32 Boy Scouts, supervised by Jantze. Among those lending assistance to Jantze were Kevin Heraty and Laura Svik of the British Home, George Cervanka of Cervanka Landscaping, Tom Mantel of Trademark electric, Eagle Coach Joe Ourth, Troop 24 Scoutmaster Mike Payne and Assistant Scoutmaster Jim Ringbloom.
The Eagle Scout project is the final step in becoming an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Boy Scouting.
Hitting the high notes
Among the local students performing at a showcase for music students of Berwyn music teacher Liz Berg on Nov. 6 in LaGrange were Brookfield residents Matt Armenta, Ally Hodges, Raphael Siordia, Collin Sventy, Evan West, Brian Weinert and Shannon Wrzesinski; Riverside residents Tommy Cervenka, Zosia Coffey, Alex Georgopulos, Michael Georgopulos, Eva Harvin, Sylvia Harvin, Ike Jebb, Tommy Loftus, Nick Malone, Brendan McDonough, Mickey McDonough, Emily Michl, Hannah Michl, Jonathan Ortiz, Stephanie Ortiz, ben Schulte, Abby Schwarz, Alyssa Schwarz, Amanda Schwarz, Hannah Spohnholtz and Allison Taber; North Riverside resident Cale Manning; and Lyons resident Lacey Puskaric.
I’d be honored
Riverside Township residents Kenneth E. Stobart and Carol S. Creadon were among the 60 suburban election judges honored by Cook County Clerk David Orr last month at the 5th annual Judge Recognition Ceremony on Oct. 19 in Chicago.
The nearly 10,000 election judges are the backbone of the county’s suburban election operation, working a 16-hour shift on Election Day, starting at 5 a.m. They set up the polling place, assist voters and secure votes.
On the beat
The Illinois Department of Transportation recognized Riverside police officer Leo Kotor for exceeding the 1,000 speeding citation mark since IDOT began its traffic enforcement program in 2006.
Tim Geroulis, a member of Riverside Police Explorer Post #390 received the 2010-11 Cook County Sheriff Youth Service Medal of Honor at a ceremony hosted by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart at the College of DuPage on Nov. 7.
Geroulis, 18, is a two-year member of the Riverside post and also a member of the Western Springs Police post was given the award for completing more than 100 hours of community service to municipalities in the Cook County. He completed 36 hours of service in Riverside and 70 hours in Western Springs.
On campus
Brookfield resident Sheela Turbek, a junior majoring in biology and Spanish at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Md., was named a Sarah and James Bowdoin Scholar for distinguishing herself by excellence in scholarship.
Students designated Bowdoin Scholars are in the top 20 percent of each class for the previous academic year.
Among the local students enrolled at DePaul University in Chicago for the fall semester are Brookfield residents Casey Aumann, Eric Berndtson, Jessica Carlson, Jayson Kerber, Corey Kuchynka, Kevin Prado, Pamela Solares, Haley St. Paul and Philip Stepnowski; North Riverside resident Alejandro Amaya; and Riverside residents Cynthia Esperanza, Gabriela Magallon, Diana Petrenko, Maria Sanchez and Adam Weiss.
Natalie Viscariello and Nathan Smith, both sophomores from Brookfield majoring in physics, participated in two choral concerts in October as part of the Augustana University Choral Ensemble. The concerts were held on the Augustana campus in Rock Island.
Meanwhile, Isaac Lauritsen, a sophomore from Riverside majoring in English and philosophy, is a member of the Augustana Symphony Orchestra, which opened its performance season on Oct. 15 on the Rock Island campus.
The University of Evansville announced last month that Ross Pietrzak, of Brookfield, recently helped raise funds for the children’s Miracle Network Hospitals by participating in the Kickin’ It for the Kids kickball tournament with the Phi Gamma Delta team.
The 50 students participating in the tournament raised $950 for the network of 170 hospitals.
