U-46 schools wrap up year with ceremonies, dances, field trips

Here is what's in the news for June 1-10 at Elgin Area Unit District 46 schools. For details, visit u-46.org.

Abbott

• On June 8, the Abbott Middle School eighth-grade recognition ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m., in the Larkin High School gym, 1475 Larkin Ave., Elgin.

Ellis

• On Friday, the eighth-grade dance will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Ellis Middle School gym, 225 S. Liberty St., Elgin.

• On June 9, the eighth-grade recognition ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. in the gym.

Kenyon Woods

• On June 9, the eighth-graders will have their last dance from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Kenyon Woods Middle School commons, 1515 Raymond St., South Elgin.

Larsen

• On Friday, the Larsen Middle School eighth-grade recognition ceremony will be held at 6:45 p.m. at the Elgin High School field house, 1200 Maroon Drive.

Tefft

• On Wednesday, Tefft Middle School eighth-graders will take a cruise on Lake Michigan departing from Navy Pier, and returning by the end of the school day.

• On Friday, the eighth-grade awards assembly will be held at 2 p.m. in the auditorium, 1100 Shirley Ave., Streamwood. Also on Friday, the eighth-grade recognition ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. at the Streamwood High School gym.

Lords Park

• On Thursday, all students and families from Lords Park Elementary School will come together for a giant end-of-the-school year feast called Kermes (Giant Feast) Fun Fair from 5:30 to 8 p.m. In addition to food, families can participate in outdoor "fair" games and activities including bingo.

Timber Trails

• On Thursday, Timber Trails Elementary School will sponsor kindergarten fine arts night at 6:30 p.m. in the gym, 1675 McDonough Road in Hoffman Estates.

• On Friday, the all-school talent show will be presented at 12:30 p.m. in the gym.

• Wednesday is the last day of school. Students will attend for one hour starting at their regular time.

In other news

• An Elgin High School student was recognized at the recent Elgin YWCA Leadership Luncheon. The recipient of the Leadership Award for Young Women is senior Mary Jane Mouangsavanh. She will receive an initial $1,000 college scholarship, renewable for three additional years. She is very active in her school and is a member of the TATU Club (Teens Against Tobacco Use), the class council, Spanish Club and the tennis and badminton teams. In the community, she volunteers with New Light Church, the Chinese Christian Conference, Youth United Way, the Elgin YWCA and ATC Youth. In October 2007, after taking part in a two-week summer mission trip throughout the Midwest helping homeless families, it occurred to her that there was work to be done a little closer to home. She was working at an area restaurant and saw eight to 12 big garbage bags filled with bread and pastries that weren't sold that day thrown out. She was able to collect the bread donations from Panera and purchase ham, cheese, lettuce and mayonnaise. She formed an outreach team that gathered on Friday nights to prepare sandwiches and wrapped them to be handed out to Chicago's homeless on Saturday afternoons. By that winter, she and her team not only were handing out sandwiches, but socks, gloves, scarves and old coats, too. As a result, she became the founder of Destination Chicago Outreach. Her goal is to study nursing at Ohio State University.

Kristen Babyar, a music teacher at Harriet Gifford Elementary School, was also recognized. She was nominated by her principal, Joe Corcoran, for the Harriet Gifford Education Award.