A special thanks to Coach Derek Miller for providing the following news release and photographs. The Yorkville Middle School Cross Country team finished their most successful season ever this past Saturday at the IESA Cross Country Championships. Running against the biggest schools in the state of Illinois, and after a delay of nearly three hours, the girls team finished 8th in the state and the boys team finished 7th on a muddy course in Normal. Alexis Grandys led the girls team with her All-State performance. Alexis finished in 3rd place with a 2-mile time of 11:45. The boys were led by …

A special thanks to Little Friends of Naperville for providing the following news release and photograph. The Kendall County Comets is planning a fundraiser Dec. 1 at the American Legion in Yorkville. You also can follow the team on Facebook here. Jeremy Kuehn of Yorkville has been selected to represent the United States in the 2013 Special Olympic World Winter Games that will take place in PyeongChang, South Korea, in January. Jeremy is 17 years old and a student at the Little Friends Bridge High School in Downers Grove, and he loves to compete.  For the past 6 years he has participated on …

A special thanks to Craig Weyrich for providing this photograph and news release. The Cross Lutheran girls cross country team won the LSA state championship meet this past weekend in Bloomington, IL.  The Crusaders had a solid pack placing 7 runners in the top 20, led by eighth grader Kiley Haug who placed 2nd overall.  Haug was followed by Alexandria Weyrich (4th), Lauren Daffenberg (10th), Nicole Greyer (11th), Stephanie Schlichting (13th), Kelly Knauf (15th), Ava Weyrich (17th), and McKenzie Lux (81st) in a field of 118 runners.  Cross scored 40 points to win the meet, while Palatine …

A special thanks to Joyce Yattoni for providing the following news release and photograph. The Yorkville Middle School 7th and 8th grade girls’ volleyball teams recently participated in an “Athletes for Service” community service project at Bickford Memory Care Center in Oswego. Volleyball players created memory boxes for residents to assist in their daily therapies of remembering what used to bring joy to their lives before their illness set in. While visiting Bickford, student athletes socialized with residents and chatted about the various memory boxes which included themes such as fishing…

A special thanks to coach Derek Miller for providing the following news release and photographs. The Yorkville Middle School Cross Country team hosted Sectionals for the first time on Saturday, October 6. The course at Yorkville High School proved to be good luck as both the girls and the boys took home Sectional championships for the first time in YMS Cross Country history. The girls team was led by Alexis Grandys who became the first individual Sectional champion for the YMS Foxes with her 2-mile time of 11:53. Maggie Klemm finished in 7th with a time of 12:28 and Dominque Anderson finished…

A special thanks to Jason Pettit, director of the Kendall County Forest Preverve District, for providing these photographs and the news release. The public is invited to celebrate the Grand Opening of Meadowhawk Lodge on October 13 from 10 am to 1 pm.  Meadowhawk Lodge, located at Hoover Forest Preserve, 11285 Fox Road in Yorkville, has recently been completely renovated. The 5,000 square foot lodge has numerous environmentally-friendly features; including utilizing solar and wind power for electricity production, a geothermal system for heating and cooling, and a permeable paver parking lot …

A special thanks to Leanne Klimavicius for providing this photograph and news release. Congratulations to Alyssa Nore and Paige Klimavicius, of Premier Gymnastics Academy West in Oswego, IL, for being chosen to participate in the Kellogg's Tour of Champions opening and closing numbers on October 14 at the United Center.  Members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team join 2008 Olympic all-around champion Nastia Liukin and her fellow 2008 Olympic team silver medalists Chellsie Memmel, and Alicia Sacramone, in headlining the all-star cast for the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions.  Both girls …

A special thanks to Mary Anne Ryan, of the Kendall County Food Pantry's food distribution program, for providing this news release and photograph. Yorkville Middle School Student Council Members assisted Kendall County Food Pantry Pet Food Distributor, Mary Anne Ryan, at a pet food drive at the Oswego Petco.  The food drive took place on Saturday, 9/22/12. The students, who asked Petco customers to donate to the pantry, brought in 240 pounds of purchased pet food and $177.

A special thanks to Circle Center Grade School Principal Brenda Donahue for providing these photographs.

A special thanks to Mike Pfeiffer for providing the following news release and photograph. Thank you to the men and women who enjoyed a beautiful day with us on Sunday August 19th!  The outing, sponsored by the St. Patrick Men’s Club, was held at Blackberry Oaks Golf Course followed by a delicious steak dinner at Ralph’s Place. The proceeds from the outing are used to fund youth activities at the Parish.  Four $500.00 Scholarship Awards for Catholic School tuition were presented at the Banquet by Father Matt Lamoureux, Pastor.  The scholarship winners were Sarah Love (St. Louis University ), …

A special thanks to Coach Derek Miller for providing this article and photograph. The Troy Invitational in Shorewood is no longer the largest cross country meet in the country like it was two years ago, but it is still one of the largest cross country meets in the state. The Yorkville Middle School cross country team earned medals and a trophy for the first time at the invite last year, and this year they had even more success. The team had medal winners in every race they participated in (the top 25 earned medals) and won trophies in 3 out of their 4 races. The 7th grade girls team finished …

A special thanks to Robert Olsen for providing the photographs.

The Grundy-Kendall Regional Office of Education presented a Truancy Summit for school employees Aug. 28 at the Whitetail Ridge Golf Club in Yorkville. More than 140 counselors, social workers, police resource officers, nurses, attendance secretaries, and administrators attended the half-day event. Regional Superintendent Paul Nordstrom welcomed the attendees and reported that school attendance in Grundy and Kendall was already quite good being over 90 percent. Nordstrom said that the purpose of the Truancy Summit was to share the best practices of individual school districts and communities. …

A special thanks to Sherri Farley, executive director of the Yorkville Area Chamber of Commerce, for providing the news release and photographs. Before summer winds down to a close, the Yorkville Chamber invites everyone to enjoy one last day of fun out on the golf course! The Chamber’s annual golf outing will be held on September 20 at Blackberry Oaks Golf Course, and is an event open to members and the public alike. Foursomes may sign up, but singles may also register and be paired with others to form a team. Many find this to be a great networking opportunity. Even if you’re not a …

A special thanks to Emily Barr, Youth Pastor at Trinity Church of Yorkville, for providing the following news release and photograph. Tremederated Youth Ministry, a cluster youth ministry combining youth groups from Trinity Church of Yorkville, Federated Church of Sandwich, and United Church of Sandwich, came together to form this youth ministry 2 years ago. It is a great chance for a few smaller groups to come together and form a larger group for fellowship, service, and learning more about God. Earlier this summer, Emily Barr, Youth Pastor of Tremederated, and 2 adult volunteers took 20 …

A special thanks to Circle Center Grade School principal Brenda Donahue for providing the photographs and information. We are "diving into learning" at CCGS this year and our learners are off to a fantastic start!  Our teachers worked hard over the summer on assessments for our Common Core aligned math curriculum and an increased number were trained on our Thoughtful Classroom instructional model.  We look forward to continuing to work hard meeting our learner's needs and creating strong partnerships with our families and community.

A special thanks to Nancy Ottosen, of The Big Day of Serving Yorkville, for providing the following article and photograph. Laying a paver brick parking lot and planting trees for Raintree Park in Yorkville or painting the exterior of the Kendall County Food Pantry is not how most teens think of spending a Saturday. But Nathan Jenson said, "It's great to serve, really powerful. I don't want to just say I care, I want to show I care. A big part of my faith is knowing how much God loves me and me wanting to respond to that - by showing other people God’s love by what I do. That's me with my …

Click here to see other reader-submitted photographs from the first day of school in District 115.

A special thanks to Derek Miller for providing the following article and photographs. The competition portion of the Yorkville Middle School cross country team's season is getting closer. New runners can still join the team through Tuesday, August 21, but the season officially started on July 30 and many runners also ran at Endurance Camp during the summer so many of them are prepared to run some of their best times this season. The team spent the past few weeks participating in some fun activities such as a photo scavenger hunt, a mini-golf trip, and volunteering at a 5K in Aurora supporting…

A special thanks to Tina Varney, director of Kendall County Probation and Court Services, for providing the following news release and photograph. July 15-21, 2012 was the annual National Probation, Parole, and Community Supervision Week. Each year during this week, Kendall County Probation employees are celebrated for the outstanding work they do in the areas of promoting public safety, advocating for clients, brokering treatment referrals, monitoring and reporting to the Court as it relates to the supervision of individuals sentenced to Probation and Court Supervision. During this year’s …