Aurora honors fallen hometown hero with street dedication
Today, as we mark Memorial Day and the sacrifice of those who have fallen in defense and service of this nation and its people, it's important to recognize the U.S. military is a microcosm of our larger society, making gradual strides toward greater diversity, equity and inclusion.
Roughly 41% of military members belong to a minority group, though that percentage drops higher up the ranks.
The Marine Corps is the only service in which Hispanic men and women are overrepresented among recruits, according to the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense data.
One such Marine was Cpl. Sara Medina of Aurora, who died while serving on a humanitarian aid relief mission in central Nepal seven years ago this month.
The city of Aurora honored Medina's sacrifice Sunday, dedicating a street in her name near her childhood home in the 1600 block of Liberty Street on Aurora's east side.
“She was the best daughter, the best sister and the best friend,” said Medina's mother Cecilia Lopez Leyva. “She was such a special girl who loved her community and her country.”
A combat photographer, Medina enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2010 after graduating from East Aurora High School. She photographed Marines in South Korea, the Philippines, Japan, Australia and the U.S. before deploying to Nepal after a devastating earthquake there.
On May 12, 2015, the helicopter transporting two Nepali soldiers and six U.S. Marines crashed killing all on board, including Medina. She was 23.
Nov. 27 — her birthday — is designated Sara Medina Day in Aurora.
Spelling Bee
Two suburban champion spellers — Sahasrad Sathish of Grayslake and Tejas Katira of Hoffman Estates — will be among 14 Illinois students and hundreds nationwide competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Tuesday through Thursday.
Sahasrad, 13, an eighth-grader at Lake Forest Country Day School, competed in last year's virtual Bee, tying for 21st place in the semifinals.
“I'm much more prepared now,” Sahasrad said before leaving Sunday with his family to Washington, D.C., for the competition. “I am really excited. This is my first in-person National Bee.”
Sahasrad said he is nervous about the competition. He has been preparing for several hours daily practicing spelling, getting more familiarized with the format and the bios of other spellers.
“I'm going to be supporting everybody regardless if they win or not,” he said. “It's going to be a great way to share our own experiences. We can all share our knowledge so we can all be better.”
Math nerds
Both Sahasrad and Tejas, 14, an eighth-grader at Larsen Middle School in Elgin, have a love for mathematics.
Tejas also competed for the first time in the 2021 Bee, tying for 139th place. He started participating in spelling bees in fourth grade and is fascinated by words and their origins. He spends two to three hours a day training for nationals.
Tejas is Larsen's first spelling champion to make it to the nationals.
Aside from being able to solve a 3x3 Rubik's Cube in 57 seconds, Tejas plays basketball, baseball, volleyball and soccer, and in his spare time, does word games, plays chess and codes in Scratch and JavaScript.
Where to watch
Preliminary rounds of the Scripps Bee begin 8 a.m. Tuesday.
Each round of the entire competition can be viewed on ION Television channels. Here's how to watch, spellingbee.com/watch.
ION will air the semifinals at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The finals will air at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The finals and semifinals also will air on Bounce, Laff and TrueReal.
Hip-hop camp
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will host its fifth annual Illinois Summer Youth Music Hip Hop Camp June 26-July 2.
The camp has launched its first rap verse competition. The best rap verse gets a full scholarship to the camp. Interested students can submit their verse on a personal or an adult's YouTube account using the hashtag #ISYMHipHop. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday.
The weeklong intensive music camp is for youth in fifth through 12th grades. It provides a platform for aspiring youth musicians under the tutelage of experienced music educators and guest artists.
Attendees will participate in songwriting workshops, beat-making labs and sampling demos from local artists. At the end of the camp, students perform their songs in a free public show for a live audience.
For information, visit isym.music.illinois.edu/programs/isym-hip-hop/.
Free museum entry
The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie is allowing free admission for students 5 to 22 years old throughout June.
The museum has a range of exhibitions exploring the Holocaust and other human rights issues, including the national premiere of “Ghost Army: The Combat Con Artists of World War II” on June 16.
The museum is located at 9603 Woods Drive. Reserve tickets at ihm.ec/tickets.
Honoring Black dads
In celebration of Juneteenth and Father's Day coinciding on June 19, BET network is launching a new “Where Black Men Lead” campaign to honor inspirational Black fathers and father figures.
Now through June 11, the network is accepting nominations of Black dads/father figures who are role models or an inspiration.
Submit a 1-minute video about the nominee using the Greenfly app and hashtag #BETWhereBlackMenLead.
A committee of BET employees will select 157 winners — in honor of the 157th year of Juneteenth celebrations — who will receive a BET Father's Day package, and a grand prize winner will receive $10,000.
For contest rules visit, bet.com/article/9ws10c/where-black-men-lead-contest-rules.
• Share stories, news and happenings from the suburban mosaic at mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com.