Congratulations to TOPS National Qualifiers Alana Anderson and Delaney Cienkus. TOPS is a Talent opportunity program run by USA gymnastics. The training  consists of conditioning and flexibility along with skills. The girls  compete in summer months across the nation to earn a spot to the  National training center in Waverly ,Texas. Qualifiers that are 8-10 yrs old are then tested again. The gymnasts with the highest scores are  invited to a camp in December with their coaches to train with the  National team coaches under the direction of Marta Karolyi.  Alana and  Delaney are among only 12 …

Oswego-based Phenom Gymnastics’ head coaches, Jessica Holtz and Marco Bravo have both been named USA Gymnastics (USAG) Region 5 Coach of the Year.  Selected from thousands of coaches in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky, USAG Region 5 honored Holtz and Bravo at the recent Region 5 banquet in Indianapolis.  It is the second time for both coaches, who also received the award in 2009.  “It's a tremendous honor to be recognized by your peers for all your hard work,” said Holtz.  “Because our region is so strong and talented, just getting a gymnast qualified for level 10…

Oswego resident Mark Walsh, Aurora University athletic director, took over as AU football coach when the 2012 Spartans opened fall workouts on Sunday, Aug. 12. Aurora University kicks off the curent campaign at Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington on Sept. 1. The Spartans' home debut will host Alma College at 1 p.m. on Sept. 15 at Vago Field in Aurora.

A special thanks to Jennie Szink, communications/marketing coordinator of Respiratory Health Assoc. of Metropolitan Chicago, for providing the following news release and photographs. Manny Urdaneta and Donna Stinson, both of Oswego, rode in the 16th annual CowaLUNGa Bike Tour from Saturday, August 4 to Monday, August 6. The tour raised funds and awareness for Respiratory Health Association’s local lung disease research and programs. CowaLUNGa is hosted by Respiratory Health Association and attracted nearly 300 cyclists from families to weekend warriors. Participants rode one, two or three …

Kids from Premier West Gymnastics Academy in Oswego got to take a break from their workout schedule Tuesday morning and cheer on the Women's US Olympic Team as they vied for the gold medal. Nearly 70 Premier West Gymnastics Academy girls assembled in the the Churchill clubhouse for the viewing.

St. James Pony Club, part of the United States Pony Club, recently sent two Tetrathlon teams to compete in the Midwest Tetrathlon Championships in GreenBay. Tetrathlon combines running, shooting, horse back jumping and swimming. The two teams comprised of Fantastic Flyers members Abby McDowell (Oswego), MacKenzie Larsen and Maggie Martin; and Fast and Furious members Virginia Larsen, Hannah Mezmar and Jackie Watts. The teams were hugely successful, with Fantasic Flyers winning the event, and Fast and Furious placing third. St. James Pony Club is currently looking for new members. For more …

Oswego High School student Stephanie Prentice recently competed in the OnDeck Softball Chicago Jamboree held in Glen Ellyn. The July 11 event was by invitation only and limited to 74 participants which included players from as far away as Texas, Arizona, and other surrounding states. The exposure camp was attended by Division 1 coaches from the Big 10, Pac 10, SEC, Big 12, including Tennessee, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Florida State. The girls played two games each and were tested in various drills and fielding skills. Stephanie plays for the Kane County Xplosion and will be …

Oswego High School standout bowlers Courtney Petoskey and Mikey Preston recently signed letters of intent to continue their atheletic careers at Robert Morris University in Chicago. Congratulations to both Courtney and Mikey. Special thanks to Jeff Henrickson for providing these photos. 

Oswego resident and Plank Junior High seventh-grader, Marissa Oakley, competed at the USAG Level 10 State Championship Meet in Bourbonnais in March of this year, where she clinched the first place All Around title, as well as placing first on Uneven Bars, second on Balance Beam and Vault, and third on Floor Exercise.  Oakley’s season continued at the Region 5 Championship Meet in Indianapolis, on April 13, where she competed against gymnasts from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan.  Oakley took first place on Balance Beam and fourth place All Around at the meet, which secured her …

Katherine Daley of Oswego High School recently signed her letter of intent to continue her athletic career at Roosevelt University.  Katherine will be playing softball and volleyball for the Lakers. Pictured in the front row are from left Amie West, volleyball coach at Oswego High School; Elizabeth Daley, Katherine's mother; Katherine Daley; and Ron Daley, Katherine's father. In the back row are Amanda Scott, Roosevelt Softball Coach and Randy Briesath, Wheatland Spikes Travel Club Coach  Special thanks to Jeff Henrikson for providing this photo and and article. 

Laura Nemetz's Family Consumer Science II classes at Bednarcik Junior High made over 50 little dresses and pants to send to children in countries where they are in need of basic necessities such as clothing.   Nemetz connected with a youth pastor from Our Saviours Lutheran Church in Naperville who took the clothing with his high school group on a mission trip to Haiti.  Maggie Bowers of the Kendall County Home Extension came to Nemetz's classes to talk about the program.  The chance to send the clothing to Haiti came when one of Nemetz's students, who is a member of the junior high youth …

Fourth-grade students at The Wheatlands recently completed a long research project in which each student researched a Revolutionary War hero and completed a Powerpoint presetation and first-person speech. Students performed their speeches in a living historical museum.  Special thanks to The Wheatlands Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Angie Fisher for providing these photos.

Oswego resident Isabelle Christiansen joined Rep. Tom Cross (R-Oswego) in Springfield to be a Page for a Day on Tuesday.  Pages help representatives with their needs on the Illinois House floor when they are in session because it is sometimes difficult for them to leave the floor when important debates on bills are occurring.  You can call Representative Cross’ office if you are interested in becoming a Page for the Day at (815) 254-0000. Special thanks to Tom Cross' office for this photo and article. 

The Character Counts! Coalition of Oswego and Montgomery handed out its people of character awards at the Oswego Village Board meeting April 3. The following are those honored by the coalition. Denise Bravo, Youth-Caring David Chacon, Adult-Responsibility Layne Hillesland, Teen Citizenship Sharon Vedder, Adult, Respect Andrea Esquinca-Angles, Teen-Citizenship Officer Cherese Spears, Adult-Respect John Cornish and the Oswego Fire Department, Organization-Caring Oswego Optimist Club, Organization-Caring

Congratulations to District 308 art students who took first and second place at the Southwest Prairie Conference Fine Arts Competition. Overall, Oswego High School students captured the first place award, immediately followed by Oswego East High School’s second place finish.   The individual winners were: First place Ailysh Cooper (OH): Printmaking Alexandra Eisbrener (OH): Computer Generated Art Thomas Mereness (OH): Sculpting Student (OH): Painting-Watercolor Olivia Ward (OE): Graphic Design Alexandra Wejner (OH): Jewelry, Textiles and Other Crafts Second Place Alex Aghayere (OE): Painting …

Angela Robinson, Visual Arts Curriculum Coordinator at Thompson Junior High and her son Nick, recently established a collection to bring donations to the community of Harrisburg, a southern Illinois town that was affected by a deadly tornado in February. The Oswego Educational Support Professional Association joined efforts by collecting donations from the Oswego School District support staff.  Several donations came from the elementary, junior high and high schools within the district. Both Angela and Nick were able to personally deliver the much needed contributions to Harrisburg over …

The Bulldog Ambassadors from Bednarcik Junior High School sponsored a school supply drive to assist Harrisburg Middle School in Harrisburg, Illinois.  The town of Harrisburg was devastated by a tornado earlier this month.  The Bulldog Ambassadors knew they wanted to help out somehow.  Through the school supply drive, the following items were collected: 25 packs of loose leaf paper 20 binders 100 folders 35 notebooks 20 packs of sticky notes 18 packs of markers 10 packs of crayons Hundreds of pencils Glue, compasses, protractors, book covers, dividers, scissors and notecards The supplies that …

Sixth-graders in Mrs. Springsteen's classes at Thompson Junior High School brought in items recently which represented their heritage and ancestry. Among these items displayed and discussed were: musical instruments from Latvia and Japan, clothing from Germany and Tanzania, photos and family heirlooms from Ireland and Puerto Rico, and sweets from Norway and Mexico. Students were able to experience a "Multicultural Show-and-Tell" developing understanding and acceptance of cultures within our community. Special thanks to David Desiderio for providing these photos and article. 

The Fox Valley Family YMCA Aqua Force Swim Team had several swimmers qualify for the State Meet.  Brodie Mikuta qualified in the 100 yard butterfly and the 100 yard breast stroke and Skylar Ruggles qualified in the 25 yard backstroke.  Two freestyle relay teams qualified as well: the 8 and under team of Ythan Houston, Ethan Castilla, Matthew Harris and Ahmed Kasim and the 15 and over team of Michael Ebinger, Tim Durning, Nick Snopek and James Iglesias. Skylar, Tim and Nick are residents of Oswego. Special thanks to Stephanie Wayne for providing this photo and article.

The Oswego Children’s Playhouse, a division of Oswego Playhouse, is pleased to announce their first production of T.S. Eliot’s Cats to be presented on March 16, 17, and 18 at the Little White School Museum. All shows will take place at 6 p.m. Cast members for Cats include the following: Cassie Volpe, Madison Biaglow, Morgan Biaglow, Grace Rose Auersch, Tyler Baker, Chase Dexter, Emerson Dexter, Molly Dexter, Madeline Lund, Sydney Lund and Jacob Lund. Directed by Daina Gielser and based on the poems by T.S. Eliot, the Oswego Children’s Playhouse production of Cats will be fun for the entire …