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District 300 Foundation to host sixth annual 'Cultural Arts on the Fox'

The sixth annual Cultural Arts on the Fox set for April 22-23 will showcase music and visual arts by Community Unit District 300 students against the backdrop of the Fox River in historic "Old Town" Carpentersville.

The open house event, sponsored by the Community Unit District 300 Foundation for Educational Excellence, will run from 6 to 8:30 p.m. April 22, and noon to 5 p.m. April 23 in the former Illinois Iron & Bolt Foundry building along the Fox River, 100 S. Lincoln Ave., recently renovated by Otto Engineering.

Admission to the event is $1, and donations will benefit the Carpentersville Boys and Girls Club.

Featured musical performances are:

• Dundee-Crown High School Jazz Ensemble - Under the guidance of jazz director Mark Bettcher, who has performed professionally with Tony Bennett, Ramsey Lewis, Gladys Knight and Phil Collins, the jazz ensemble is among the top student groups in the state. It performed at the ILMEA All-State Music Convention in 2014 and was selected again to perform for the 2016 Convention.

• Jacobs High School Chamber Orchestra - The orchestra features 26 students led by director Terry Foster, who also serves as symphony conductor for the McHenry County Music Center. The orchestra has worked with renowned clinicians, including Robert Hasty of Northwestern University, Gary Lewis of the University of Colorado, and Louis Bergonzi of the University of Illinois. In 2013, Jacobs' orchestra program commissioned a work from Michael Ippolito, a music composition professor at Texas State University.

• Hampshire High School Chamber Orchestra - The orchestra is an extracurricular, audition-based ensemble comprising nine students. Directed by Emma Leland, the orchestra is primarily a student-propelled ensemble.

"We are thrilled to be able to showcase the amazing talent of District 300 students in such a beautiful setting for community members to come and soak it all in," foundation volunteer Trustee Mary Ross said.

More than 1,000 pieces of student artwork also will be on display. College representatives will offer guidance to those planning to pursue art as a career and award scholarships to one student from each District 300 high school.

During last year's event, students Alexandria Escobedo from Dundee-Crown, Isabella Friend from Jacobs, and Juan Valladares from Hampshire high schools were presented American Academy of Art scholarships.

For more information, call Diane Magerko, District 300 Foundation performing and fine arts chairwoman, at (312) 310-9156 or email dianemagerko@comcast.net.

To view previous Cultural Arts on the Fox performances and artwork, visit the foundation's website d300foundation.org.

MCC awarded grant for project on veterans:

McHenry County College has received a $99,926 federal grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for "The Journey Home," a three-year project involving creating a series of humanities-based courses for and about veterans.

The project will include written and oral histories, and educational partnerships focused on the veteran experience, particularly the transition from soldier to civilian life.

"Our veterans returning home from conflict overseas face myriad difficulties when transitioning back to life in the United States," said U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren, a Republican representing the 14th Congressional District. "Focused on the veteran experience, this grant will allow MCC to continue to best serve our veterans returning home from war who seek gainful employment and full reintegration back into the communities of Illinois."

MCC is among 12 community colleges nationwide to receive the grant under the Humanities Initiatives at Community Colleges category to strengthen and enrich humanities education and scholarship.

The college will use the funding to develop two new Learning Community classes. Those courses will allow students to learn two subjects at a time and earn twice the credits.

Classes will be co-taught by political science and history instructor Todd Culp and English instructor Mark Waters. The duo will travel to the Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Chicago this summer to conduct historical research on texts and oral and visual histories of veterans returning home.

The Journey Home Learning Community courses will combine modern American history and American literature focusing on the experience of soldiers and their return home from the war. Instructors also will seek input from student veterans toward designing the course. The six-credit course will begin in January 2017 and include a public lecture from a Pritzker Museum and Library scholar who will talk about the importance of preserving soldiers' experiences.

The Dundee-Crown High School Jazz Ensemble will play at Cultural Arts Night on the Fox. Courtesy of School District 300 Foundation for Educational Excellence
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