Neighbors in the news: Arlington Hts. native part of winning legal team
The IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law team of Emily Schroeder and Nicolette Ward was the winner of the 40th annual National Trial Competition, the premier trial advocacy tournament in the United States, after defeating six nationally ranked trial teams in Houston, Texas. Schroeder, an Arlington Heights native and a third-year student at IIT Chicago-Kent, also received the competition's Best Advocate Award. She graduated from Purdue University with an honors degree in political science and minors in history and Italian.
• East Maine Elementary District 63 has appointed Aaron Roberson the new principal at Apollo Elementary School in Des Plaines, following the recent resignation of Amy Prester. Roberson was the vice principal at another District 63 school, Nelson Elementary School in Niles. He has a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Purdue University and a master's degree in educational administration and supervision from Ball State University. Apollo has more than 600 prekindergarten through sixth grade students.
Kevin Forman, a fifth-grader at Winston Campus Elementary School, Palatine, took 11th place in his division at the World Irish Dance Championships in Montreal, competing against the best Irish dancers from across the globe. Forman attends dance classes two and sometimes three times a week and cross-trains by playing soccer, swimming and learning taekwondo.
• Five District 214 students were awarded scholarships and prizes during the recent Illinois High School Art Exhibition. Buffalo Grove High School junior Cedric Cavazos was awarded an Early College Program Summer Scholarship Award from New Hampshire Institute of Art for his painting, "3-D Hallway"; John Hersey High School sophomore Jared Kennedy received an Early College Program Summer Scholarship for his pen and ink drawing; Elk Grove High School senior Andre Marin was awarded Honorable Mention in the drawing category; Elk Grove High School junior Mikayla Santorelli received an Early College Summer Program scholarship; and Wheeling High School junior Annalisa Baranowski was awarded an Honorable Mention in Graphic Design. Ninety Illinois high schools participated in the competition at the Zhou Brothers Art Gallery and Studio in Chicago.
• After a successful regional competition in January, the John Hersey High School DECA Business Club set a new school record by qualifying 38 members for the state competition held last month in Decatur. Twenty four of those students finished in the top 10 in the state in their category, setting a record and 15 will go on to the International Career Development Conference in Orlando on April 25-29, to compete in the national competition. They are: Ashley Roscoe, Joey Caputo, Adam Hauser, Lauren Kiraly, Mili Pandya, Julia Hapanowicz, Sophie Shepley, Jason Kloud, Andrew Stomper, Amanda Mix, Carolyn Niersbach, Jack Marshall, Karthik Ravi, Halle Lyon and Elizabeth Niersbach.
• Submit 'Neighbors in the News' items to Norrine Twohey at ntwohey@dailyherald.com.