Community group helps supply Matteson students
The shopping carts were overflowing with school supplies and backpacks at a south suburban WalMart early Monday as Matteson School District 162 school administrators shopped for families in need.
The trip was made possible by a donation from the Making Disciples Boys Mentoring Program, a south suburban community group that has partnered with District 162 for the last five years to support students by buying school supplies.
This year, Making Disciples donated $3,000 to help families who may not be able to afford all of the items on the back-to-school list. With the rising costs of school supplies, the donation helps to ease the economic burden for families, according to school administrators.
“Buying school supplies can be an added stress on families who are already struggling to make ends meet,” said Rebecca Dixon, the district’s assistant director of special education, who shopped with Jaime Goodley, director of special education, for everything from backpacks and notebooks to earbuds and glue sticks. “This donation from Making Disciples makes it possible for all of our students to be ready to learn on the first day of the school year.”
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Dixon estimates that about 50 district families will benefit from the donation, including families who may be experiencing homelessness.
Making Disciples was founded in 2015 by Eric and Annette Bassette, who also donated a school supply shopping trip to another area school district this year.
Former Oak Lawn superintendent tabbed for EPCHS
Evergreen Park Community High School District 231 appointed former Oak Lawn Community High School Superintendent Michael Riordan interim superintendent for the 2024-2025 school year. Riordan, who began in his new role on July 1, spent 15 years as the superintendent at nearby Oak Lawn Community High School District 229. He’s stepping in after Thomas O’Malley retired after seven years as EPCHS superintendent.
Riordan began his career in education as a science teacher at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights before transitioning to Oak Lawn. At OLCHS, he was a teacher, coach, dean, department chair, assistant principal and principal before becoming superintendent in 2008. He retired from Oak Lawn Community High School in 2023.
MVCC program receives national DEI award
’The Greer Scholars Program at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills received the 2024 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education. The Inspiring Programs in STEM Award honors colleges and universities that encourage and assist students from underrepresented groups to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Moraine Valley’s Greer Scholars Program will be featured, along with 82 other recipients, in the September 2024 issue of Insight Into Diversity magazine. Inspiring Programs in STEM Award winners were selected by Insight Into Diversity based on efforts to inspire and encourage a new generation of young people to consider careers in STEM through mentoring, teaching, research, and successful programs and initiatives.
Longtime District 230 School Board member resigns
Patrick O’Sullivan, a member of the Consolidated High School District 230 Board of Education since 2007, resigned from his post on Aug. 5 because he is moving out of the district boundaries and is ineligible to serve as a nonresident, according to a news release.
O’Sullivan, a graduate of Carl Sandburg High School, has been the board’s president, twice was vice president and chairperson of the Building and Finance Committee. He also was a coach in Orland community youth athletics for many years.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must step down from my position,” he said in the release. “I have learned a great deal from my fellow board members, district administration, and staff and have cherished the relationships I have built during my tenure.”
“Pat provided distinguished service, always putting students first,” said District 230 Superintendent Robert Nolting. “It has been an honor to work beside him and he will be missed. On behalf of the entire district, we wish him and his family well.”
Pace Bus recruiting bus drivers at South Holland event
South Suburban College in South Holland and Pace Bus will provide a free Class B Commercial Driver’s License permit course for the next generation of professional bus operators in the Southland. An introduction and registration event for the two-week course to assist qualified applicants in obtaining their CDL permit will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 19 at the college, 15800 S. State St. Applicants will complete a screening process, including application completion, an assessment questionnaire and a background check. All candidates must bring a valid Illinois driver’s license and a DMV or Secretary of State Motor Vehicle Report with no more than two infractions or tickets in the last five years. Candidates are responsible for the cost of the MVR, which is $20.
Assessment results will be available 2-4 days after the event when candidates must complete an Illinois Department of Transportation physical and drug screening. Pace Bus will cover the cost of these screenings. Candidates who pass these screenings will be enrolled in a training course that will take place at SSC’s Main Campus. Qualified candidates who complete the two-week course will transition to six-week on-the-job training with Pace. More information is at 708-596-2000, ext. 5723.
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