Free!
www.McHenryCountyNewspaper.com
McHenry County News DISPLAY ADVERTISING & CLASSIFIEDS: 815-877-4044 • CIRCULATION: 815-877-4044 • E-MAIL: McHenryNews@RVPublishing.com
VOLUME 9 • ISSUE 15
11512 N. 2nd ST. • MACHESNEY PARK, IL 61115
Woodstock Young Authors winners headed to state conference Any writer knows inspiration can be hard to find, but sometimes it rolls right past you. That’s what happened for Olson Elementary School fifth-grader Cooper Parisi who had been working on his Young Authors manuscript “A Brief Glimpse of Reality” off and on since fourth grade. Cooper’s book, which was selected as a winner in the Woodstock Community Unit School District 200 Young Authors contest, chronicles the saga of a vending machine rubber ball. “I did the main story in 4th grade for an assignment and Miss [Laura] Colangelo told us to bounce ideas off each other. I said my ideas aren’t bouncing, so then I decided I needed a bouncy ball idea, and I came up with this story,” Cooper said. Ten students will represent District 200 in the May 18 Illinois Young Authors Conference in Normal. The winners from each elementary and middle school were among hundreds of District students who submitted manuscripts — 46 of which were judged earlier in March by a panel of volunteer teachers, parents and community members including Woodstock Independent Editor Larry Lough. Cooper said he is excited and nervous about the upcoming conference and considers himself more of a writer than an artist although his book is also full of beautiful illustrations. He’s spent the last year working on personification of inanimate objects and enjoys reading about Greek mythology, fantasy and science fiction. Kristen Sauber, a District 200 literacy and technology coach, said works were judged by originality, creativity, engaging writing, grammar and structure. “It was nice to see a variety of fiction and non-fiction this year. We even had some poetry and some books were written in Spanish,” Sauber said.
Lola Lesiewicz, a second-grader at Westwood Elementary School, didn’t have to leave her own kitchen to find inspiration for her winning book “The Impolite Knight.” “My brother had his knight costume at the dinner table and he was being impolite, so I said, ‘You’re an impolite knight,’ and I decided to write a book about it,” Lola said. Young Authors Jorge Ayllón, third-grader at Mary Endres Elementary School, wrote a book in English last year, but he decided to submit in Spanish this year. “I saw a cartoon about a boy who really wanted something and had to work for it, I took that idea and wrote my own story,” Jorge said. “I included several morals in my story because I wanted the readers to be interested and identify. Go work instead of playing all day in your video games. “Here’s a complete list of students winners who will head to the state conference: • Cooper Parisi, Olson Elementary School, Grade 5, “A Brief Glimpse of Reality.” • Lola Lesiewicz, Westwood Elementary, Grade 2, “The Impolite Knight.” • Jax Weston, Verda Dierzen Early Learning Center, kindergarten, “Ted Escapes.” • Jorge Ayllón, Mary Endres Elementary School, Grade 3, “El carro de mis sueños.” • Chase Weger, Prairiewood Elementary School, Grade 1, “Chase Wants Cheese.” • Jane Moore, Dean Street Elementary School. Grade 1, “Ann’s Rescue.” • Brendan C. Vorderer, Greenwood Elementary School, Grade 4, “The Mansion at Craggy Woods.” • Noah Folden, Clay Academy, Grade 3, “Europe, Here We Come!” • Joe Gerloff, Northwood Middle School, Grade 7, “Planetside.” • Saphire Nyberg, Creekside Middle School, Grade 7, “Hunt for theElementals.”
Bald for a cause
THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019
SUBMITTED PHOTO McHenry County News
McHenry “Rocked the Bald” again this year. It was a great effort by McHenry Community High School staff, students, and the entire community. Recently, more than 250 people went bald and raised over $82,000 or children’s cancer and our community raised over $12,000 for local families and children fighting the disease. Thank you again to all for your efforts and for bringing the community together once again! Congratulations to West sophomore Dakota Ruiz for raising the most money -- $4,500 -- for a single participant in the Thursday night McHenry Community Shave. In the last three years, he’s raised more than $8,300 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
K9 Sage passes away E.O.W. March 8, 2019 The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office is sad to announce the passing of K9 Sage, on March 8, 2019. K9 Sage was scheduled to be retired from service in June of 2019, however, he passed away due to medical complications prior to his retirement. K9 Sage had been the faithful partner of Deputy Bruketta since April 19, 2010. K9 Sage graduated Police K9 training in June of 2010 and was trained in narcotics detection, handler and civilian protection, tracking, article searches, crowd control, area/building searches, and advanced cadaver location.
K9 Sage was the faithful partner of McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Bruketta since April 19, 2010. SUBMITTED PHOTO McHenry County News
K9 Sage was a well-known and respected cadaver locating dog in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin during his career. K9 Sage was known for being a police K9 that had all around “top notch” skills. Deputy Bruketta and K9 Sage were a very dedicated and hard-working team, which helped develop their great reputation in the area. During K9 Sage’s 8 plus years of service, his detections led to seizures in excess of $650,000 and 11 vehicles. K9 Sage was instrumental in helping remove over $8,332,460 worth of dangerous drugs off the streets of McHenry County in his career. K9 Sage was credited with 43 subject finds through tracks, area searches, building searches, and at least 7 cadaver finds. K9 Sage also made countless appearances in K9 demonstrations at the McHenry County Fair, schools, and other special events. “Sage made me a better person in many areas of my life. Sage was so special and unique. He will never be replaced. He was one in a million,” stated Deputy Bruketta, Sage’s partner and handler for his entire career. A special thank you to Animal Hospital of Woodstock for the care of K9 Sage throughout his career.