Andrew Stover, a Clinton Elementary student, traveled to Washington D.C. last week with mom Kim and representatives from the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation.

Andrew, 9, suffers from mitochondrial disease, a progressive fatigue-inducing condition. The Stovers met with congress leaders, including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, asking for increased research on mitochondrial dysfunction by the National Institutes of Health.

ECC to join initiative: Elgin Community College will join four other area schools in a national learning initiative, officials announced this week.

The initiative, called Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, aims to help more students earn certificates and degrees and move on to four-year universities.

Specifically, the initiative focuses on identifying problems and setting priorities for student groups that have faced significant barriers, including low-income and minority students.

According to a college news release, ECC's participation in the initiative will involve students, faculty and staff, as well as the larger community. Collecting and analyzing data will be important to help the college refine programs to better help students, Associate Dean and initiative leader Mary Perkins said in the release. Since its inception in 2004, Achieving the Dream has grown to include 98 colleges and four universities in 22 states.

In Illinois, ECC joins Harper College in Palatine, Triton College in River Grove, Morton College in Cicero and Danville Area Community College in Danville.

Stirn steps in: Todd Stirn officially replaced Brad Hawk on Wednesday as Central Community Unit District 301's Superintendent.

Stirn, of Aurora, will receive a $144,000 salary this year.

Stirn has worked in District 301 since 2003; first as principal of Prairie View Grade School in Elgin before moving to the assistant superintendent job in 2007.

Perks of Stirn's three-year deal include a transportation stipend of $2,400, 20 sick days and 20 vacation days, and a $3,600 paid annuity each year.

Board members unanimously selected Stirn after finishing a three-month process interviewing three professional superintendent search firms.

During that process, outgoing Superintendent Brad Hawk told the Daily Herald this spring, all three firms reiterated the same message.

"The advice was that we needed to consider an internal candidate before any of the firms would move forward with an outside search of the district," he said.

• Kerry Lester covers Elgin Area District U-46, Central Community Unit District 301, Elgin Community College and the village of Sleepy Hollow.