Educator in Des Plaines named global learning fellow

• The NEA Foundation recently named Anne Beranek, a physical education teacher at Iroquois Community School, Des Plaines, as a 2015 NEA Foundation Global Learning Fellow. With this honor, Beranek joins a unique class of 33 award-winning public school educators, who will spend a year building their global competency skills. Beranek will also spend 10 days in Peru this month, learning about the culture, performing a service project and visiting the major cultural sites of the country. The NEA Foundation is a public charity supported by contributions from educators' dues, corporate sponsors, foundations and others who support public education initiatives.

• District 54 has appointed two new assistant principals; Megan Cothroll at the Early Learning Center and Amy Houlihan at Fox and Hanover Highlands elementary schools. Cothroll will be the first assistant principal at the Early Learning Center, which opened last fall. A speech-language pathologist at Eisenhower Junior High School, Cothroll has also worked at Lincoln Prairie School and spent two years working with an early intervention program in New Lenox. Houlihan will split her time between two Hanover Park schools, Fox and Hanover Highlands. A literacy instructional coach for District 54, Houlihan spent four months serving as an interim assistant principal at Armstrong Elementary School during a maternity leave. She also worked for four years as a bilingual teacher at Addams and Eisenhower junior high schools. Both appointments are effective July 1.

• Streamwood resident Arielle Christopher, 16, a sophomore at Streamwood High School, received the Hanover Township's Committee on Youth 2015 High School Leader Award during the annual Celebration of Leadership Reception, held at Hanover Township Senior Center, May 28. The award is presented to a Hanover Township high school student who has been a role model to others, has been actively involved in the community, and who demonstrates genuine leadership. Christopher's accomplishments include the Silver President's Volunteer Service Award, an Illinois Senate Certificate of Recognition for Volunteerism, and serving as a Community Ambassador for Alexian Brothers Women's & Children's Hospital Youth Board.

• Long Grove resident Charlie Grisamore, 10, was the Honorary Bat Kid at the Chicago Cubs game on June 11. Grisamore meet players in the Cubs dugout before the game and had photos taken and received autographs as the players took batting practice. A huge Clubs fan, Grisamore's own baseball season ended early this year when he shattered his right arm after falling from the top of a fence. The fall cut short his baseball season just as he was learning to pitch. Landing in the emergency department at Advocate Condell Medical Center, Grisamore meet Dr. Marcus Talerica, an orthopedic surgeon, who operated on his arm and told him about the Bat Kid opportunity.

• Army Pvt. Dakota J. Walker graduated from Basic Combat Training at Fort Benning, Georgia. During the nine-week training period, Walker received instruction in drill and ceremony; weapons and marksmanship; field training and tactical exercises; military courtesy and justice; physical fitness and first aid; combat and Army history, traditions and core values. Walker, a 2014 Bartlett High School graduate, is the son of Daniel and Theresa Walker of Hanover Park.

• Send your 'Neighbor in the News' items to Norrine Twohey at ntwohey@dailyherald.com.