$50,000 gift to buy interactive tools for Des Plaines school

• Rivers (Casino) Foundation representatives Jackey Valadez and Jill Wilcox visited Iroquois Community School in Des Plaines where they presented a $50,000 check to District 62 Associate Superintendent Paul Hertel and Iroquois Principal Michael Amadei. The funds will buy 12 interactive white boards and 22 Apple TV devices. The technology will enhance classroom instruction with interactive learning activities.

• Garrett Anderson, 26, of Palatine, joined the Special Olympics Illinois board of directors and will serve on the area management committee. Anderson began participating in Special Olympics in 2000, through Northwest Special Recreation Association in Rolling Meadows. In 2011, he became a Global Messenger, advocating and speaking publicly about Special Olympics. Anderson graduated from Harper College in May 2012, with a certificate in early childhood education. Currently he is employed at Bright Horizons Childcare Center in Deer Park as a teacher assistant, teaching sign language to students ages 0-6, and helping the teachers. On weekends, he works at Regal Cinema as a greeter and has been named Employee of the Month twice. He also serves on the board for UPS for DownS (United Parent Support for Down syndrome), in Schaumburg.

• Longtime Northwest Suburban High School District 214 Board of Education member Miriam (Mimi) Cooper has been named to the 2015 Illinois Super Lawyers list, recognizing her as one of the most exceptional attorneys in the state. This marks the second time Cooper has been named to the list that recognizes no more than five percent of Illinois lawyers each year. Cooper, an Arlington Heights resident who was a teacher before becoming an attorney in 1987, is serving her seventh term on District 214's Board. First elected in 1989, she has served as president four times and is vice chairwoman of the District 214 Community Education Foundation board of trustees, championing literacy, English language learning and lifelong learning. Cooper's name will be part of a list published nationwide in Super Lawyers Magazine and in the February edition of Chicago Magazine.

• Stevenson High School junior Brian Guth, son of Phyllis and Michael Guth of Buffalo Grove, earned a top composite score of 36 on his ACT test. Nationally, while the actual number of students earning a composite score of 36 - considered a perfect score - varies from year to year, on average fewer than one-tenth of 1 percent of students who take the ACT earn the top score.

• North Barrington native Julian Reesor Bomberger will travel to California during Stonehill College's spring break as apart of its H.O.P.E. Service Immersion Program. In Coachella Valley, Stonehill's H.O.P.E. group will work with the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition to build affordable housing. Bomberger will take part in indoor and outdoor construction and learn about the area's needs and challenges.

• Submit 'Neighbors in the News' items to Norrine Twohey at ntwohey@dailyherald.com.