Neighbors in the News
• Elisa Biancalana was appointed assistant principal at Holmes Junior High School, effective July 1, by School District 59's board of education during its regular board meeting in February. Biancalana, who currently serves as division head and dean at Larkin High School, Elgin, will replace the retiring Ana Casadas.
She holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Illinois; a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from National-Louis University; and a master's degree in leadership and administration from Benedictine University.
Previously, Biancalana served as a bilingual teacher in Addison School District 4 and in Wheeling School District. 21.
• Julie Klopke, early childhood director and assistant principal at St. Peter Lutheran School, Arlington Heights, was chosen the 2010 LEA Distinguished Lutheran Early Childhood Administrator. She was selected to receive this award by LEA's Leadership Network leaders and other national leaders in Lutheran education.
At St. Peter, Klopke's current responsibilities include staffing, curriculum accreditation, budgeting, purchasing, life/safety, program/ministry development and staff in-service development. She holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in early childhood education and a state of Illinois Type 75 Leadership Certificate from Concordia University, Chicago.
Previous honors include the Northern Illinois District Teachers Conference Early Childhood Teacher of the Year and finalist for the Kohl-McCormick Early Childhood award.
• With more than 30 years of mortgage lending experience, Marty Shuster has joined Amcore Bank, Schaumburg, as a mortgage loan advisor. In this position, Shuster is responsible for helping customers finance the purchase of a new home or refinance an existing mortgage. He holds a bachelor's degree from Columbia College and has taken several mortgage lending courses through the Mortgage Bankers Association of America.
• Barrington High School senior Alexa Komnick was chosen for the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Scholastic Honors Team, which is comprised of U.S. Figure Skating's 10 brightest and most talented athletes, who shine both on the ice and in the classroom.
Komnick, a member of the Chicago Figure Skating Club, helped her team, Chicago Jazz, win the junior bronze medal at the 2009 French Cup and the junior silver medal a the 2009 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships.
At Barrington High School, she is a member of the National Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society, Class Board 2010, the school newspaper, Student Ambassadors and Reality, a drug and alcohol-free club. Komnick is on the Colts Leadership team, the Code Red Leadership Group and is an officer of the Orchesis Dance Team. She also volunteers at St. Alexius Medical Center and officiates for the Barrington Area Soccer Association.
Komnick and the other nine U.S. Figure Skating Scholastic Honors team members were honored during an on-ice ceremony at the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash.