VVSD News Briefs

Romeoville HS Senior Ryan Boots Named National Merit Finalist

Romeoville HS senior Ryan Boots is among an elite group of students nationwide named as a Finalist in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Competition. National Merit Finalists advance to the final stage of the competition that determines the winners of $31 million in scholarships.

More than 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of finalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

Scholarship winners in the 2020 competition will be announced in April. National Merit Scholarships award $2500 to each student who is named a national winner.

Enchanted Backpack Makes a Big Delivery to B.J. Ward Elementary

Enchanted Backpack is a Chicago-based organization that seeks to aid classroom teachers by furnishing school supplies and additional classroom materials beyond the items paid for through school budgets. Enchanted Backpack made a delivery to B.J. Ward Elementary School and you can Watch the Video on vvsd.org proof of how popular this donation is with the students. Teachers and staff members unloaded two vans worth of goodies.

A Second Chance Victory at the Lukancic Spelling Bee

Lukancic students Jack Johnson and Kylee McCauley both had chances to end the Lukancic Spelling Bee with victory, but missed that chance on the championship word.

Kylee got a second chance and made it count by correctly spelling “riddled”, and advanced to the Will County Spelling Bee on March 10. Jack finished in second place and there was a third place tie between Stacy Gonzalez and Joel Agyemang. Watch the Video on vvsd.org

Oak View Students Learn the Power of Persuasion

Students in the Oak View Elementary School 4th grade class of Mrs. Keshelda Miller have been studying persuasive writing and decided to put their skills to the test. The students wrote letters to a local store or restaurant to attempt to persuade them to donate to Oak View’s monthly reward celebration.

The students were very persuasive. Our thanks to Dunkin’, Taco Dale, Portillo’s, Popeye’s, Culver’s, Domino’s and IHOP for considering the students’ requests and donating to Oak View.

Future Chess Masters at Brooks Middle School

The Brooks Middle School Lunchtime Chess Club began with a simple request brought to Brooks Library and Media Center Director Mr. Alan Holtz. A few students wanted to know if they could bring their lunches to the library and dine while they played chess.

The Chess Club is now in its second year and has expanded to where each grade has its own day to visit the library at lunchtime. The chess sets provided to the students include a large chess set allowing matches to be played on a chessboard rug.

The students will compete in a tournament to determine Brooks’ chess master later this spring. Watch the Video on vvsd.org.