Interim Creekside Elementary School Assistant Principal Kelly Gregoire will take the post permanently next school year.
The District 202 Board of Education approved hiring the 14-year veteran educator at its May 9 regular meeting.
She has been serving as the interim assistant principal at Creekside since September.
Gregoire has worked her entire career in District 202, serving as a second grade teacher at Creekside.
High school journalists win state contest honors
Student journalists from Plainfield Central and Plainfield East high schools earned top honors at the Illinois High School State Journalism Competition.
Plainfield East senior Syedah Jafary earned fifth place in Yearbook Caption Writing at the state competition, held April 29 at Eastern Illinois University. Plainfield East junior Vicki Wisniewski won fourth place in Newspaper Design, and Plainfield Central junior Jack Plewa earned sixth place in Newspaper Design.
At the IHSA Sectional competition held April 23, the Plainfield East team placed third overall, and the Plainfield Central team placed fourth overall.
At the Northern Illinois Scholastic Press Association Conference held April 22, the Plainfield East journalism team won a silver medal for Overall Excellence in Journalism. The Plainfield North and Plainfield Central teams each earned a bronze medal for Overall Excellence in Journalism.
Additionally, student journalists from all four District 202 high schools won awards at two recent regional journalism events.
Poetry is foundation for middle, high school mentor program
Plainfield East High School students are using poetry to connect with and mentor middle schoolers.
PEHS sophomore Terreana Hilson helped create the poetry mentoring program to create more unity between John F. Kennedy Middle School and Plainfield East High School.
She brought the idea of a mentoring program to JFK eighth grade Language Arts teacher Jennifer Gruca, who sponsors the JFK Poetry Club.
Hilson is Gruca’s former student. Teacher Vanessa Nomura sponsors the PEHS Poetry Club.
“I felt like this program was really needed,” Hilson said. “It helped some (younger students) find their niche.”
This kind of mentoring program gives an outlet to kids with an arts focus, Gruca said.
The John F. Kennedy Poetry Club supports the poetry mentor program as a way to get more students involved in reading and writing, Gruca said. The poetry mentor program and poetry club are open to all JFK and PEHS students. The poetry mentoring program wrapped up its inaugural run on May 6. Gruca and Hilson plan to continue the program next school year.
The 30 pairs of students connected via social media, texts or phone calls. Hilson and Gruca provided initial ideas for the pairs to discuss.
“This is a life-long friendship created among like-minded individuals, supporting the love of reading and writing, performing and growing,” said Gruca.
Many high school students said they became a mentor to help guide younger students. And the mentees said they hoped their mentor will help them navigate high school and improve their writing.
“I learned you can learn something from others no matter what their age or personality,” said PEHS sophomore and mentor Mattie Levy.
PEHS junior Lamech Young and JFK eighth grader Lukasz Sasulski, who both perform rap music, became friends during the year-long program.