National Achievement Scholars announced

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has announced the names of about 800 outstanding African-American high school seniors who have won Achievement Scholarship awards through the National Achievement Scholarship Program. These awards, totaling more than $2 million, are financed by grants from 34 corporate organizations and …

Driver education sign-up starts May 8 at OPRF

OAK PARK ­— Registration for Driver Education Summer School at Oak Park-River Forest High School begins Wednesday, May 8, and continues on Wednesday, May 22, Students must attend both nights.

Summer School for high school students will run from June 10 through July 9. There …

Trinity News: Registration open for summer camp programs

Registration is now open for summer camps for girls interested in attending Trinity High School, 7474 W. Division St., in River Forest. Three main camps are offered: Senior Blazer Camp (third-eighth grade girls), Junior Blazer Camp (girls ages 5-10) and Blazers Summer Sport Camps.

Trinity’s …

Trinity student headded to state oratory contest

RIVER FOREST — A Trinity High School sophomore will compete in the state Optimist Club Oratorical Contest in May.

Marisa Maite reached the finals, to be held May 4 in Urbana, based on her first-place finish at the local level and then a second place …

Fenwick fashion show at Oak Brook Terrace April 25

OAK PARK — The Annual Fenwick Mothers’ club Spring Fashion Show and Dinner will take place on Thursday, April 25 at Drury Lane in Oak Brook Terrace.

The evening begins with a shopping boutique at 5:15 p.m., followed by dinner and fashion show at 7 …

Fenwick teacher among Golden Apple award finalists

Oak Park

A teacher at Fenwick High School has been named a finalist for the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching.

John Paulett teaches creative writing, film and moral theology at Fenwick, 505 W. Washington Blvd.

Paulett is the only teacher who works in …

Lutheran school accepting applications

St. Paul Lutheran Elementary School, 846 N. Menard in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, is now accepting applications for the 2013-2014 school year. St. Paul offers a quality education for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

For more information, call (773) 378-6644 or visit the website at …

Fenwick stages ‘Wiz’; Trinity holds fundraiser

Fenwick

‘The Wiz!’ is spring musical March 15-23

The yellow brick road is being paved at Fenwick High School in time for the spring production of “The Wiz!” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 15, and Saturday, March 16, then in a matinee performance at 3 …

Magnetic theme draws students to science fair

RIVER FOREST — Hearing a student say “Whoa!” after seeing how his experiment worked during the Willard Elementary School science festival, Dr. Timothy Ozga grinned and said he gets that a lot.

Camp kept students’ minds busy on day off from school

OAK PARK — Inspired by the viral YouTube video “Caine’s Arcade,” about a dozen middle school students team up to create an arcade out of appliance-sized cardboard boxes, Christmas lights and Velcro.

While they get to work in the cafeteria at Percy Julian Middle School, …

Julian, Brooks robotics teams headed to national competition

OAK PARK — As the snow fell fast and furious last week, officials at Percy Julian Middle School canceled all after-school activities.

But nothing was going to prevent Serious Black, one of the school’s robotics teams, from perfecting their robot.

Parent Kris Yokoo helped seventh …

Four Oak Park elementaries to get new playgrounds over summer

OAK PARK — Eight years ago, a group of parents got together at Irving Elementary School to develop a plan to build a safe playground to replace part of the 100,000 square feet of the hard blacktop for the older students.

Their children have moved …

Oak Park ‘young scientists’ event brings comets down to earth

OAK PARK

Kate Benson stirs water and dirt in an orange bowl lined with a kitchen trash bag.

Shive Opal squeezes in carbon in the form of corn syrup from a condiment bottle, and “Scientist Sally,” as Dr. Sally Laurent-Muehleisen calls herself, adds ammonia from …

Understanding challenges of Muslim students

OAK PARK — Elham Al-Hindi’s 7-year-old son, like many Muslim children, attends Arabic school on the weekends.

There, he learns to read right to left. On weekdays, however, he attends a mainstream school where students are taught to read left to right.

The minor confusion …

Empty Bowls community fundraiser on Friday at OPRF

The annual Empty Bowls Community Dinner will be this Friday, Feb. 22, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the South Cafeteria of Oak Park-River Forest High School.

For $15 per adult ($10 per student with ID), pick out a student-made pottery bowl and fill …