Five students at Manhattan Junior High School and a student at Elwood Junior High School earned the President's Volunteer Service Award. This is a national honor offered in recognition of volunteer service.

Timber Ridge Middle School English and social studies teacher Patricia Orvis is now a published author.

The National Society of High School Scholars has selected Plainfield Central High School physics teacher Nickey Walker as a 2009 Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction.

Students in Cindy Maki's summer school class at Lakewood Falls Elementary School are having an adventure through their studies. The kindergarten through third-grade Extended School Year students celebrated Africa and its cultures and creatures.

PLAINFIELD -- Plainfield School Board approved a four-year contract with the support staff union, providing pay increases of about $1.15 an hour over the next two years while saving the district about $100,000 in insurance-related concessions.

The Joliet Junior College Board approved a $72.3 million budget, is a 8.7 percent increase from last year, which includes a $3 per credit increase in tuition for the 2009-10 school year.

Shabbona Middle School hasn't been a true "middle school" in four years, ever since the grade school board made major budget cuts, including axing the programs and staffing that distinguished Shabbona as a middle school, versus a junior high.

Brandy Sandoval, 10, figured out she doesn't want to go to Brazil, but she'll definitely go to Australia. Brandy, a fifth-grader at Sator Sanchez Elementary School, was one of 40 students Monday who got a taste of the South American country as they made Brazilian treats.

While some area school districts are pinching pennies in this economy, Channahon School District is doing fine. In fact, its school board unanimously approved raises for its two district administrators.

The Department of Children & Family Services is investigating allegations of unlicensed before- and after-school programs run by a Valley View School board member at five district schools. The five Bolingbrook day-care programs under investigation are run by Valley View School Board member Debbie Bielawski.

While some area school districts are pinching pennies in this economy, Channahon Grade School District is doing fine. In fact, its school board this week unanimously approved raises for its two district administrators.

Valley View School Board member Debbie Bielawski did not declare earnings she receives from running five before- and after-school clubs within Valley View School District.

Valedictorian Phoebe Esguerra presided over graduation ceremonies for approximately 871 Bolingbrook High School seniors on June 7.

The community's perception that a Valley View School board member received special treatment to continue her before- and after-school clubs by her fellow board members might be the tipping point to a board upheaval, a professor says.

The night before she gave the student speech to more than 300 of her fellow classmates at the 2009 Joliet Junior College spring commencement ceremony, Abbey Atkinson shared in a different academic celebration.

Students from three Illinois school districts, including Valley View, spent time learning about and creating Celtic art at a Scholastic Art Magazine workshop.

The room was bubbling with anxious enthusiasm. The four girls came to school to practice music, but their heads were filled more with questions than songs. Their excitement was palpable, yet understandable, as they discussed the songs they would sing and equally important, the clothes they would wear. They were, after all, still in shock.

After teaching summer school for 25 years, Michele Rosenow is astounded to learn what a little exercise can do. For the first time, Joliet Grade School District has incorporated physical education and nutrition classes into its summer school program. "They come in, and we work for about an hour and then we go to P.E. They come back, and they've got that energy," Rosenow said of her 10 third-graders attending summer school at Eisenhower Academy.

Infants, toddlers and preschoolers are wanted to attend Lincoln-Way High School.

A school board member slammed district officials for flushing nearly a half-million dollars down the toilet and then allegedly misrepresenting how they lost the money. Stuart Bledsoe of the Plainfield School District board said a statement released last week on the financial blunder was not wholly true. Bledsoe said Friday that he would confront his fellow board members and district officials during a meeting Monday night, call them "liars" and detailing what was false in the statement. But Bledsoe did not do this.

Joliet Junior College was recently awarded a $145,800 grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Foundation to upgrade to a more efficient campus lighting system.

Joliet Central High School's Gothic arched doors need a face lift of sorts. So Joliet Township High School District is reaching out to alum for donations as part of its Share the Pride Nationwide fundraising campaign.

Joliet's Cathedral of St. Raymond School held its annual Junior High Honors Night Awards in May. The following honors were bestowed upon students:

The following Joliet Grade School District employees celebrated 25 years on the job:

One of two Naperville middle-school boys accused of sexually assaulting a classmate pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated battery, a Class 3 felony. The 12-year-old boy was sentenced to four years of probation, according to the Will County State's Attorney's Office.

No person has ever done what Urvi Shah got the opportunity to do. Shah, who is completing her junior year at Lincoln-Way North High School in Frankfort Township, was the school's first-ever student council president.

The Joliet Junior College Board plans to vote on the school's new logo, which includes not only a shield but its famous bell tower. Last month, the college held off launching the new logo so the board could vote on it. Originally, the college had plan to move forward, putting the symbol on its Web site and golf shirts for JJC's Foundation fundraiser Monday.

Valley View School District's Administration Center and Early Childhood Center, 755 Luther Drive, will be a bit difficult to get to this summer.

A group that has been trying to open a charter school in Joliet Township High School District has appealed its case to the Illinois State Board of Education. Joliet Academy Charter School Educational Council proposed to open Joliet Academy Charter School in August 2010, starting with 100 freshmen at the former Eliza Kelly Elementary School, 100 McDonough St. The school would eventually hold 400 students.

The grade school board plans on enriching its students academically and culturally, easing the load on teachers, and helping its community's senior citizens all in one swoop.

Benet Academy celebrated its 108th annual commencement on May 31. Among those who graduated with honors were James Fitman , of Bolingbrook; Michael Nawrocki and Christen O'Neil , both of Lemont, and Elizabeth Lang , of Plainfield.

Students in the Joliet Grade School District may be on summer break, but their school libraries will be open Monday. For the fourth consecutive summer, school libraries will be open three days a week starting Monday through July 24 to allow children to come in and check out books.

Joliet Grade School Board approved Wednesday night an amended budget for the 2008-09 school year that includes $500,000 in stimulus money.

Valley View School Board approved Tuesday night the recall of 70 additional first-year teachers who received "reduction in force" letters in March.Of the 135 first-year teachers and one second-year teacher who were originally laid off, a total of 103 have now been recalled and will have positions in the fall.

Two high school students from Bolingbrook were awarded scholarships during the Bolingbrook Village Board meeting June 9.

Nino Pipitone, 13, set some hefty goals for himself in seventh grade. He wanted to improve his math grade from a D to a B. He got an A. He faced his fear of heights by going to the Grand Canyon during spring break. Then, he learned to control his anger, especially when he was being picked on by bullies.

Kaitlin Haas could not attend her graduation at Illinois State University because of a brain tumor, so ISU came to her. In a beautiful outdoor ceremony Friday afternoon, the 22-year-old was presented with a full-fledged Bachelor of Science degree while surrounded by friends and family in the backyard of her Blandford Avenue home.Kaitlin started feeling sick and having terrible headaches in September, 2006. The diagnosis was a terminal brain tumor.

A growing number of students are taking advantage of the summer school programs in Lincoln-Way High School District.

On June 2, Betty Azman turned 90 years old. And the nonagenarian could think of no better place to celebrate her milestone birthday than in the middle of an elementary school cafeteria.

Vying for a computer, six parents battled one another Friday in the contest of intelligence in "Are You Smarter than Your Fifth-Grader?" Like the TV show, parents could rely on students for answers, but they only had three educational aids, including peeking at a student's answer to see if they wanted to switch their answer and a save in which they had to pick a student's answer to try to stay in the contest.

When Chris Israelson closes his office door for the final time June 19, he will do so knowing he is leaving behind what he terms "a great collaborative partnership" between the Valley View School District and the 2,600 staff members in the district.