U-46 students among state's Golden Apple scholarship winners

It's that time of year.

Elgin's Club Guadalupano will hold its 33rd Latino Awards Banquet this Saturday at Villa Olivia Country Club in Bartlett, honoring hispanic students from the Elgin Area.

According to a news release by organizer Luis Cabrera (a longtime U-46 teacher), the 15 teens honored this year are:

Bartlett High School: Ariana Ojeda

Elgin High School: Mayra Vanesa Camacho, Velia Guadalupe Palma, Joseph Realzola, Naila Silva, Zachary Todd

Streamwood High School: Juan Carlos Granda-Ocampo and Julissa Alvarez

Larkin High School: Amy Dominguez

South Elgin High School: Casey Ayala, Maria Natal Garcia, Stephanie Rodriguez, Dorian Sosa, Alexcia Sotelo and Irais Villa

In addition, Elgin Community College will award a total of seven scholarships to incoming students. They are Daniela Limon and Valeria Garza from EHS; Jeanette Benitez and Stephanie Salas from LHS; Diana Chavez and Tanya Garcia from Streamwood; and Mariela Sandoval from South Elgin.

Congrats to all!

Golden Apple scholarships: Two Elgin Area School District U-46 juniors have been named 2010 Golden Apple Scholars.

Jaqueline Alba from South Elgin High School and Antonio Contreras of Larkin were honored Monday by the school board as two of 105 students across the state selected for the prestigious teaching scholarships.

Upon entering college, Alba and Contreras will receive $2,500 scholarships apiece their freshman and sophomore years. The amount increases to $5,000 their junior and senior years.

The Golden Apple Scholars program, founded in 1989, gives a select number of students scholarships and internships to become teachers.

In exchange, they must earn a bachelor's degree at one of 53 Illinois universities that participate in the program, obtain Illinois teacher certification, and teach for five years in a high-poverty school.

This year, program officials said, 2,125 students were nominated for the awards. The 105 winners were scored on a written application, their ACT scores, and high school transcripts. Over 1,200 individuals have participated over the years.

Alba and Contreras will officially be inducted into the Golden Apple program April 25 during a ceremony at DePaul University.

Shaving heads for a cause?

In its second year of quirky fundraisers, Coleman Elementary School in Hoffman Estates has the goal of raising $3,000 to get Principal Brian Stark to shave his head.

Last year, he was duct taped to the wall. Coleman mom Angela Ackmann says the school has a five-gallon jug in the school office where kids can bring their change. All money must be turned in by April 23. The head shaving will take place the first week of May.

Money raised will be donated to Elgin's Community Crisis Center, and used for Coleman's library, family fun activities, for families in need and playground equipment, Ackmann says.

For information, call the school at (847) 888-5190.

Kerry Lester covers Elgin Area District U-46, Elgin Community College and Elgin private schools. E-mail her at klester@dailyherald.com.