Best & Brightest
• Kevin Courtois, a senior at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, received the Collegiate Scholar Award from the UI honors program during the annual recognition ceremony April 27. Courtois is a communication studies and pre-law major and was involved in UI Student Government. He is the son of Pat and Mark Courtois and graduated from Adlai E. Stevenson High School in 2004.
• Christie George of Gurnee has been selected as a 2008 HERO Youth Ambassador by the United Nations Association of the USA. She is one of 22 teenagers chosen and the only representative from Illinois.
The HERO team will spend six weeks in rural South Africa and Namibia. They will help build classrooms and houses for local community members, as well as meeting an working with local children, teachers and school officials.
George has completed her freshman year at Villanova University in Philadelphia. She is the daughter of Christopher and Carol George of Gurnee, and a graduate of Carmel Catholic High School.
• Sarah Kostan Schwartz, daughter of Rose and Stuart M. Schwartz of Vernon Hills, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington on May 4, with a major in Hispanic Studies and Secondary Education.
• P.J. Sherman of Waukegan, a 2004 graduate of Warren High School, graduated with Honors from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., with a bachelor's degree in zoology on May 3. He was on the Dean's list every semester for 4 years.
• Daniel Platt of Lincolnshire was awarded a bachelor's degree in history and graduated magna cum laude from Loyola University Chicago.
• Elizabeth R. Casey of Third Lake graduated from the School of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She was also named to the dean's list both fall and spring semester of the 2007-08 school year.
• Jonathan Crawford, son of Don and Karen Crawford, Lake Zurich, was one of two Lake County High School seniors who received a scholarship from the Lake County Retired Teachers Association. This scholarship was issued to recognize scholastic ability and achievement, contributions to the community and a desire to pursue a career in education. He will attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the fall.
• Kyle Menary, son of Pete and Jennifer Menary of Mundelein, received a $1,400 undergraduate research grant. He is a freshman majoring in psychology and a graduate of Mundelein High School.
Menary is conducting research on the relationship between IQ and the thickness of the cerebral cortex in children, adolescents and young adults.
• Michael Ferro, son of Kathy and Kerry Ferro of Mundelein, graduated from Western Illinois University in Macomb May 9 with a master's degree in law enforcement and justice administration.
• Kara Lyn Ferro, daughter of Kathy and Kerry Ferro of Mundelein, received her bachelor's degree in early childhood education with an endorsement in special education from Illinois State University in Normal on May 10.
• Andy Lin of Libertyville was named to the dean's list at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga. for winter quarter 2008.
• Colleen Pfiffner of Libertyville was named to the dean's list at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga. for winter quarter 2008.
• Kendal Jones of Mundelein was named to the dean's list at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga. for winter quarter 2008.
• Derek Blanchard of Lake Zurich, graduated cum laude from Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, on May 11 with a bachelor's degree in physical education.