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Hot time in Chicago Ridge
Find out how doctors are helping kids beat cancer, and what you can do to help a sick child cope
More than 200 people showed up to reopen Firehouse No. 1 See page 5
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Volume LVI No. 2
THE SECTIONS Sports2 editor Ken Karrson 22 PAGES and sports correspondent Anthony Nasella hit long home runs previewing the 2015 XLVII baseball No. and 50 Volume softball seasons. Also, a look at a Marist graduate set to debut a documentary he made on the RedHawks’ wrestling team. See sports. While some remember Julie Andrews for the “Sound of Music,” Vorva is griping about her topless appearance in the movie “S.O.B.” (page 3) while Rakow is blue about the last gasp of his Lexus (page 6), Hanania has no problem with mixing latte with race relations chatter (page 6) and Parker writes about how sign language has been a big help in her family
DECISION 15
A look at Worth trustee candidates (page 3) and Chicago Ridge trustee candidates (page 5) as we get closer to the April 7 election.
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Easter Service Listings, Page 7 INDEX Police News........................2 Our Neighborhood.............4 Sudoku.............................4 Commentary.....................6 Calendar..........................7 Death Notices...................7 School............................8&9 Crossword.........................10 Consumer.........................11
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CIRCLE Thursday,FULL March 1, 2007 A list of some of the cities Kevin Lee has either lived in, went to school in, or worked in since graduating in 2007:
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HATLANTA, GA HCAMBRIDGE, MA HNASHVILLE, TN HLITTLE ROCK, AK HCOLUMBIA, MO HKANSAS CITY, MO HST. LOUIS, MO HDES MOINES, IA HCHICAGO, IL HOAK LAWN, IL
va Photo by Jeff Vor
Richards teacher’s aide Kevin Lee dons a Richards hat and jacket, an Iowa shirt and holds his Harvard master’s degree and a baseball. A lot has happened since he graduated in 2007.
T he travelin’ man has returned By Jeff Vorva and Tina Butler Reporter News
Kevin Lee is back home in Oak Lawn. For how long is anyone’s guess. Since he graduated in 2007, he’s been a lot of places. While he probably can’t compete with the country song “I’ve Been Everywhere,” keep in mind he’s just 25. He has time. He’s crammed a lot of living in recent years but for now he’s back home and is a math teacher’s aide at Richards after seven years of playing college baseball at Iowa, teaching in Atlanta, getting a master’s degree in education at Harvard and following the rock band The Youngest all around the Midwest for a film documentary. His homecoming actually came about because of a homecoming game. This fall, he attended the homecoming game at Oak Lawn High School, which hosted Richards. While the Bulldogs were taking care of
business on the field, Lee was in the stands with some friends and they engaged in a conversation with a guy about American linguist Noam Chomsky. It’s probably not all that often that the visiting stands of the Oak Lawn football stadium finds a group of people dropping quotes from a man who wrote books titled “How the World Works,” “Government in the Future” and “Getting Haiti Right This Time.’’ But in this case, it worked and fate had it that the man they were talking to was the vice principal of Richards, Mike Jacobson. Jacobson asked Lee if he was interested in a job at Richards and now Lee is back at a teacher’s assistant and pitching coach. And he has a message he wants to get out there to every student he meets. School doesn’t suck. Lee doesn’t mince words about his profession and he hopes to drill that in his students’ heads.
“I am very interested in education policy and would like to shift kids mentality from ‘school sucks’ to ‘school is our opportunity.’ ” Lee said and added that he wants to find ways to make it beneficial and enjoyable for all involved.” Lee’s career path to this entry-level job at his alma-mater had several twists and turns. Lee, who said he is related to former major league pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee, was a pitcher for the Bulldogs and was recruited by the University of Iowa. His junior season, he set the school record with 13 saves in 2010. During his career, he pitched in an exhibition game against Iowa Triple-A Cubs and said he struck out future major leaguer Eric Patterson. But injuries hindered his baseball career and teaching became a new love for him. After leaving Des Moines, he headed to Atlanta to teach at a high school for a couple of years and then headed to Harvard to work on his master’s degree.
After spending time on the movie and rock scene, he is back at his school and is ready to share his enthusiasm for education to his students and players. Although he is teaching math, Lee said an English teacher helped shape his career. “Mr. [Albert] Teunissen influenced me in a positive way and had made an impact on my life,” Lee said. “I learned how to write at Richards from Mr. Teunissen, and he’s one of the only reasons I got into Harvard. My test scores were [poor], but they loved my public school background, success in Teach For America and writing style.’’ The former Kolmar Elementary School student said that getting into Harvard wasn’t impossible. “I took the GRE test and wrote a statement of purpose. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be,’’ Lee said. “I did wonder and worry if I have enough in (Continued on page 3)
Evergreen Park bank robbed By Bob Rakow Staff Reporter The FBI continues to investigate a robbery last Friday of an Evergreen Park bank. The incident occurred at about 3 p.m. when a man in his late 20s or early 30s robbed the BMO Harris Bank branch at 9950 S. Kedzie Ave., according to the FBI’s BanditTrackerChicago website. The man was described as black, 6-foot to 6-foot-1, with a thin build and a birthmark on his forehead above his right eye. He was wearing a black or burgundy jacket and a black skullcap when he robbed the bank, according to the FBI. The FBI does not believe the robbery is connected to an attempted bank robbery that took place about 30 minutes earlier at Suburban Bank & Trust, 9901 Western Ave., which is about a mile away. The Evergreen Park robbery comes about two months after an attempted robbery Jan. 13 of the Evergreen branch of U.S. Bank at 2917 W. 95th St., which also remains under investigation by the FBI. Anyone with information about any of the incidents is asked to call the Chicago office of the FBI at 312-421-6700.
Photo by Jeff Vorva
Burning through this book Magician Kevin Kelly’s magic book was a little on the hot side as he performed at the Breakfast With the Bunny event at the Community Center in Palos Hills on Saturday. A few minutes after Kelly’s performance, several kids made thousands of eggs disappear during the community’s Egg Hunt. For more photos, see page 4. FBI photo
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