Extra credit
• Eric Lifka of St. Rita of Cascia School in Aurora was named a state winner in the 17th annual Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest. More than 177,000 students across the country competed in the contest open to all students in grades one through eight that use handwriting curricula of Zaner-Bloser Educational Publishers. State winners will compete with others in their grade level for national honors.
• Two area students have won National Achievement Scholarships, an award given to outstanding black high school students. Chelsea Johnson of Naperville North High School and Cortney Charleston of Neuqua Valley High School each received $2,500 scholarships. Johnson is considering a career in journalism while Charleston is exploring a career in law or government services. More than 140,000 students entered the 2008 National Achievement Scholarship Competition by requesting consideration when they took the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as high school juniors.
• Mary Lou Kunold, athletic director at Rosary High School in Aurora, will celebrate her 35th anniversary at the school when the athletic facility is named in her honor at 1 p.m. May 4 at 901 N. Edgelawn Drive, Aurora. R.S.V.P.: (630) 896-0831, ext. 11.
• Alexander Buck of Lisle achieved the rank of Eagle Scout at a recent ceremony. A 2007 graduate of Naperville North High School, Buck built record boards for the members of the swim/dive teams at Naperville North as his service project. He is now a plebe at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. His parents are Brian and Kate Buck of Lisle.
• Donald B. Taylor, dean for the College of Science at Benedictine University in Lisle, has been named provost and vice president of academic affairs. He served as acting provost for eight months while a committee conducted a search replace Daniel Julius, who left to become vice president for academic affairs at the University of Alaska. Taylor, who started his tenure at Benedictine in 1992, assumes his new duties June 1. He is a resident of Sycamore.