Updated 
Friday, June 8, 2007


IMPORTANT RTHS DATES...

Fri, Jun  1	Summer School classes begin and run through July 13

Tue, Jun 12	Rochelle Day @  Rockford RiverHawk Baseball Stadium; a fundraiser for
                RTHS Baseball. RiverHawks host Traverse City Beach Bums. Tickets $10
                call Coach Sam Knaack for tickets. Hub Players will take field & throw
                out the opening pitch
Fri, June 15	PARTNER reception, grand opening of the Outdoor Athletic Facility
Sat, June 16	Public grand opening of Outdoor Athletic Facility. Come see the completed
                courts, fields and stadium. See how fast you throw a pitch; play a round 
                of tennis, see a soccer exhibition

Fri, Jun 29	Student registrations for the 2007-08 schoolyear are DUE in the office
                failure to turn in registration will prohibit students from receiving
                class schedules and beginning school in August. Questions? Please call 
                815-562-4161, ext 5202

RTHS registration forms are due in RTHS Office June 29 or student schedules are withheld

     As summer school and summer camps are in full swing at Rochelle Township High School, so is
registration for the 2007-2008 school year. 
     RTHS Registrar Kathy Bull reports that registration packets were sent home to parents of 
current students and incoming freshmen last week, along with a reminder that all of the paperwork
and required information is due in the RTHS office before Friday, June 29.
     "It’s important for parents to complete that multi-page registration form and return it to 
school this month so that our support staff can input all of that information into our system,” 
Principal Jamie Craven said. “We must meet all sorts of state mandates in order to enroll a 
student before we can actually place them in classes and generate their course schedules.”
     Registration fees for the 2007-08 school year are $120 per student before June 29; after 
that date the registration fee is $135.
     “Right now,” Craven said, “it’s more important for us to get the registration information 
into the system. Parents can pay the registration fees throughout the school year.
     Those who have mislaid or have not received an RTHS registration packet may get one at the 
high school office which is open 8 am to 3:30 pm Mondays through Thursdays and 8 am to 3 pm 
Fridays.  The RTHS office will be closed July 21 through August 5.
     The fall semester at RTHS begins on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007.

MEINERS, HANSEN, BELLING WIN COVETED CARNEY R'S

    As is traditional at RTHS commencement, a member of the RTHS Alumni Association presented
the top three graduates with the Carney R medals.  This year, the gold medal went to Chelsea 
Meiners, our valedictorian.  The Silver medal was awarded to Kyle Hansen, our salutatorian and
the Carney Bronze medal was awarded to Brandy Belling. The awards were presented by Loretta
Bell.


HUB BASEBALL FANS PACK THE RIVERHAWK STADIUM TUESDAY, JUNE 12

   Did you know that RTHS Baseball Coach Sam Knaack is also a first base and catchers’ coach for 
the Rockford RiverHawk professional baseball team?
   Coach Knaack is focused fulltime right now however on the Rochelle Hub baseball team which 
will take on Rockford Harlem in a doubleheader at RiverHawk Stadium Saturday, April 21.  That 
game will begin at 11 a.m.
   Access to RiverHawk Stadium is one of the benefits of Knaack’s affiliation with the team and 
he’s using his access to raise money to support Rochelle baseball.
   ”The Rochelle Hubs have an opportunity to raise some money by packing the RiverHawk 
Stadium on Tuesday, June 12, when the RiverHawks will host the Traverse City Beach Bums,” Knaack
said. “I’ve reserved two sections of the stadium for Rochelle fans.  My players have tickets for
sale. They’re $10 each and for every ticket we sell, the Hub Baseball program will collect $3.”
   Since mid-June is traditionally perfect baseball weather, unlike mid-April in Northern 
Illinois, Knaack and the Hubs are hopeful their fans will fill the stadium to support Rochelle 
baseball.
   “My guys love the idea of playing at RiverHawk Stadium,” Knaack said, “so I’ve set up a 
little competition with this fundraiser: the player who sells the most tickets will be 
rewarded.”
   Knaack said before the June 12 RiverHawk game begins, his Hub Baseball Team will take the 
field to accept a check from RiverHawk management, “and after that, the player who has sold the 
most tickets will be asked to throw out the opening pitch.” 
   Nine of the 19 varsity players are seniors: Brian Argetsinger, Kyle Bouland, Jon Dicus, Adam 
Funderburgh, Ryan Huels, Trent Metzger, Randy Nambo and Tyler VanKirk.  Dicus has already 
committed to play for Kankakee Community College as a pitcher, shortstop.  Russell will also 
play college ball after graduation, but as yet has not committed to a school.
   Other members of the baseball program are: Alex Prough, Steve Flynn, Manny Escatel, Jericho 
Fleming, Jake Krause, Tony Cruz, Mike Worley, Jeff Ruppenthal, Adam Reif and Cam Dummer. 
   Eric Dykstra is Knaack’s assistant.
   The RiverHawk Stadium is located on Riverside Blvd. at I-90 in Rockford. If you’re interested
in tickets for the Tuesday, June 12, Rochelle Day game contact an RTHS baseball player, or call 
Knaack at 815—562—4161, ext. 7116.


RTHS SENIORS NET $1 MILLION IN SCHOLARSHIPS !!! 

     Rochelle Township High School Class of 2007 earned more than $100,000 in local scholarships
and more than $1 million in scholarships overall!
     The RTHS Alumni Association, organized in 1992 by 1932 graduate William Parsons awarded 
$1,000 scholarships to: Chelsea Meiners, Carmen Rand, Brittni Moorehead, Bacilisa Silva, Leeanna
Neeley, Dana Howard, Mallory Jordal and Susana Garcia;
     The Dr. C. E. Motlong Memorial:  Tiffani Leininger; Pearl Motlong Award: Brandy Belling; 
The Klewin Family Award: Roxanne Maliszewski; The Martha Wright award went to Lacy Cox; The Lyle
Kersten award:  Emily Fitch; Willard Gieski Memorial to Josh Baker; The Ward Miller Memorial to 
Britt Anderson; The Ravnaas Family Scholarship to Clint Bailey;
     The William and Miriam Richards Family Scholarship to Caitlin Ayala; The Michael Robert Hall
Memorial to Ian Rolon; The Christopher Heisner Memorial to  Christian Zamarron; The Class of 1953
scholarship to Kyle Hansen; The Don Gillis Memorial to Ingrid Busching;
     NICOR’s Illinois Dollars for Scholars to: Chris Kanne, Ashley Ginn, Bilesly Milan-Garcia, 
Eric Chalus and Anthony Zilis; The Maureen Ryan Scholarships, one for each of the six of 
Maureen’s children to graduate from RTHS, were awarded to:  Eric Chalus, Dana Howard, Roxanne 
Maliszewski, Prisma Bustamante, Ingrid Busching and Bilesly Milan-Garcia.

                            COX, WHITMAN SHARE RTHS EDUCATION AWARD
 
     The Rochelle Township High School Education Association Scholarships were taken home by 
Lindsey Cox and Alex Whitman.  State Rep Bob Pritchard presented the Illinois General Assembly 
scholarship to Jared McCaffrey.
     Other local scholarships were awarded as follows: Golden K: Emily Johnson;Charles Engel 
Rochelle Rotary: Roxanne Maliszewski; Rochelle Lions Club:  Ingrid Busching; John Havens’ 
Rochelle Kiwanis Scholarship: Bacilisa Silva; Rochelle Community Hospital Auxiliary: Brandy 
Belling; Martha & Mary Guild/St. Patrick’s Catholic Church: Carmen Rand and Rebecca Goshko;
     Rochelle United Methodist Church: Clint Bailey; Rochelle Firemen: Bethe Harms; Les & Deanie
Springmire: Clint Bailey; Horicon Lodge: Sabreen Sbeih;
     Key Club Kiwanis: Kelly Mickley; Richard Barth Memorial:  Ashley Glover and Matt Swanson; 
Dr. David Gehring Scholarship: Britt Anderson; Jeff Cole Memorial: Risa Holderness; 
     Joan Allen Scholarship to Ben Dougherty who will attend UIC and study theatre arts; Norris 
Groves Memorial: Brandy Belling and Kyle Hansen; Elmer and Edna Smith Memorial: Emily Fitch; 
Conor O’Rorke Memorial: Ryan Huels; Ladies Auxiliary to the VFW: Brandy Belling and Danielle 
Hughes; William E. Eickman: Ian Rolon; Huntington Learning Center: Jesus Fulgencio;  Moose 
Lodge/National Service Scholarship: Katie Cowley; Perry J. Peters, VFW: Lisa Huerta; Adam Kemp 
Memorial: Ryan Huel; 
     Nestles: Ashley Glover; R.O.T.C.: Tom Milroy; Resource Bank: Eric Chalus; Midwest Color 
Guard Circuit: Chelsea Meiners; Rochelle Wrestling Club:  Randy Nambo and Tom Milroy; E.L.L.O.S.:
Liliana Hueramo, Rocio Arguelles and Christian Zamarron; Renaissance:  Gold Plus – Jessica Jones,
Gold – Erika Painter, Purple – Monica Sanchez, White – Jason Bryant; RTHS After School Art 
Program: Alex Whitman; Speech and Drama Support Group: Britt Anderson, Ben Dougherty, Kyle 
Hansen, Risa Holderness, Chris Kanne and Ian Rolon;
     LaVerne H. Adams: Laura Cantrall; Northern Illinois Bowling Proprietor’s Association: 
Andrea Weiler; Kishwaukee Academic Achievement: Lisa Huerta; Kishwaukee BECA: Hector Garcia, 
Susana Garcia and Lisa Huerta; I.A.A.P./Kishwaukee: Stephanie Whitmer; Rochelle Women’s Club: 
Sarah Greer.

                            INSTITUTIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS EXCEED $800,000

     Students were also recognized for receiving institutional scholarships.  Those students 
included: Dan Alkire to Concordia University; Britt Anderson to Knox College; Clint Bailey to 
NIU; Eric Chalus to Augustana; Jon Dicus to Kankakee Community College; Emily Fitch to Valparaiso
University; Ashley Glover to St. Ambrose University; Kyle Hansen to Valparaiso University; 
Alyssa King to Middle Tennessee State University; Nick Lepperd to Upper Iowa University; 
     Guilly Loures to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Roxanne Maliszewski to University of
Wisconsin @ LaCrosse; Sean McNamee to Lake Forest University; Kelly Mickley to Olivet Nazarene 
University; Brittini Moorehead to Trinity International University; Marcus Peters, Adam and Eric
Paul to Benedictine University; Bascilisa Silva to Carthage College; Carly Watson to Kishwaukee 
College; Christian Zamarron to Cornell University.
     For the total group listed above, the institutional scholarship presented to RTHS students 
by their respective colleges exceeded the $800,000 mark!
     Other awards of note included: President’s Education Awards to Sarah Adams, Dan Alkire, 
Britt Anderson, Caitlan Ayala, Brandy Belling, Katie Cowley, Lacy Cox, Leeanna Cupp, Jon Dicus, 
Emiy Fitch, Tom Furman, Ashley Glover, Kyle Hansen, Risa Holderness, Dana Howard, Ryan Huels, 
Danielle Hughes, Chris Kanne, Tim Kruse, Tiffani Leininger, Jason Macklin, Roxanne Maliszewski, 
Jared McCaffrey, Sean McNamee, Chelsea Meiners, Brittni Moorehead, Leeanna Neeley, Brett Russell, Jamie Sanderson, Dan Slingerland, Jennifer Smalley, Lindsey Widick, Christian Zamarron and Anthony Zilis.  
     Named Illinois State Scholars were Sarah Adams, Dan Alkire, Britt Anderson, Caitlan 
Ayala, Brandy Belling, Ingrid Busching, Samantha Candor, Katie Cowley, Lacy Cox, Lindsey Cox, 
Emily Fitch, Thomas Furman, Ashley Glover, Kyle Hansen, Danielle Hughes, Tiffani Leininger, 
Roxanne Maliszewski, Jared McCaffrey, Chelsea Meiners, Brittni Moorehead, Leeanna Neeley, Dan 
Slingerland, Jennifer Smalley, Lindsey Widick, Christian Zamarron and Anthony Zilis.
     Britt Anderson won the Principal’s Recognition Award; Dan Slingerland won the National Merit Commended Student Award; Emily Fitch and Sean McNamee won the 
Wendy’s High School Heisman; Eric Chalus won the Prudential Spirit of Community:
     A son of the American Revolution Good Citizen was Kyle Hansen; Daughters of the American 
Revolution winner was Britt Anderson. Ashley Glover won the ICTM (Math) Student of the Year 
Award; English Language Learner Award went to Monica Sanchez; Jacob Johnson won the Agriculture 
Accomplishment Award. The Silver Service Program honors those students who volunteer their time 
in service based ways.  The Silver Service Honor Cord is presented to any senior who volunteers 
in excess of 400 hours while in high school.  The students who attained their cord included: 
Adam Baker, Eric Chalus, Katie Cowley, Rebecca Goshko, Kyle Hansen, Liliana Hueramo, Lisa 
Heuerta, Roxanne Maliszewski, Brittni Moorehead, Carmen Rand, Sabreen Sbeih, Lindsey Widick, 
and Ali Wilson.

JARED MCCAFFREY'S DREAM: TO ENGINEER BRIDGES 

     Wouldn’t it be something if the guy who finally corrected the levy system down in New 
Orleans was a product of the Hub City? That idea is not at all far-fetched.  Rochelle Township 
High School teacher Rick Bunton has developed a number of award-winning students who have 
graduated from RTHS and gone on to careers in engineering and design.
     One Hub to keep your eye on is Jared McCaffrey, just back from the state drafting 
competition at Illinois State University where he distinguished himself and his high school. 
His success likely came as no surprise to McCaffrey or his parents, Mark and Lisa McCaffrey of 
Rochelle.
     “I’ve been building things since I got my first sets of Leggos and K’NEX,” he admitted. 
“At the state contest I was shown a 3-dimensional view of a machine part and using Auto-Cad 
software and my math skills, I was able to recreate it to scale.”
     Designing machine parts and mastering auto cad is something McCaffrey does to prepare for 
his career goal: designing dams and bridges. To that end, McCaffrey has committed to the civil
engineering program at the University of Illinios where he wants to focus on the design and 
structural elements of engineering. He’ll begin in August with the help of the Illinois General
Assembly Scholarship which State Rep. Bob Pritchard awarded him during Honors Night at RTHS 
Monday.  “Jared’s my kind of kid,” Pritchard said introducing him. “He’s a guy who wants to 
build bridges.”
     McCaffrey’s eye for detail, work ethic and sense of responsibility are all qualities that 
help build a bridge that will last.
     According to Kurt Wolter, “Jared has volunteered with Rochelle Track Club the past two 
summers and is the most reliable high school student I've worked with.”
     Wolter, an RTHS tech teacher said, “One evening before practice when it was raining lightly
but ominous (dark rain clouds) moved in, so I called off practice by leaving a message on my 
phone answering machine. Just to be sure all the track club members get the message, I drove to 
the track.
     “Not a single other person showed up but Jared. He was there,” Wolter said, “just to make 
sure there was no practice; he, the one who had the farthest drive.” 
     You can be sure if a bridge he’s engineered is threatened by a flood, Jared McCaffrey will 
be there, just to make sure.”

A TRANSFER STUDENT, LILIANA HUERAMO HAS MASTERED THE INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE OF MATHEMATICS

     When Liliana Hueramo enrolled at Central Elementary School as a 10-year-old transfer 
student from Dr. Miguel Silva in Michoacán, Mexico, she didn’t speak a word of English, but it 
didn’t take long for teacher Cindy Zick to realize that Liliana understood the universal 
language of mathematics. It’s that language she intends to use in her life’s work.
     After graduation from Rochelle Township High School May 26, Liliana will make the second 
major move in her short life, this time to Rock Springs, Wyoming, in the heart of the Rocky 
Mountains.
     “I have enrolled at Western Wyoming Community College where I am going to study to become a
high school mathematics teacher,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the move.  I like challenging
myself and learning about new places.  I know a few students who attend school at Wyoming, 
although I have not yet visited there.”
     The youngest child of Avelino and Laura Hueramo, Liliana said her parents initially 
resisted to the idea of their baby going so far from home, “but they support me and eventually 
decided to give their approval about Wyoming,” she said.
     They must recognize the quiet confidence, the maturity and efficiency that make her a 
pleasure in the classroom and a favorite among those recruiting volunteers.  
     On Wednesday Liliana confirmed her efforts as a volunteer tutor and interpreter have earned
her the right to wear the distinguished Silver Service cord at Commencement. She will be one of 
only 13 graduating seniors to do so.
     Because her early school-days focus was on mastering English, Liliana said she wasn’t aware
 that she was gifted in mathematics.  “But my second year here, when I was in the sixth grade, I
was moved up into the next level of math while I was still enrolled in the ELL classes,” she 
said.
     Liliana credits Zick and Linda Cagle for making her elementary school experience such a 
good one. “Mrs. Zick and Mrs. Cagle were my favorites back then,” She said, “and now I’d have to
 say Mrs. (Karen) Toohey (algebra), Mr. (Jeff) Boyer (pre-calculus) and Mrs. (Gloria) Welcker 
(ELL) have helped me see that teaching, teaching mathematics especially, is what I want to do.”
     Liliana Hueramo has had plenty of opportunity to teach. She has volunteered as a mathematics
and English tutor and is currently a classroom assistant for Welcker.  Her skill in both English
and Spanish has enabled her to translate and volunteer at Rochelle Elementary School events, 
helping Spanish-speaking parents communicate their needs and concerns. Liliana has also 
volunteered in the RTHS office as well as at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, where she works in 
the nursery.
     A member of the National Honor Society, she has been very active in the student council, in
the Spanish Club and performs with Ballet Folklorico. An avid reader, she participates in the 
RTHS Book Club and in her spare time enjoys challenging herself with sudoku puzzles.
     At Monday night's Honors ceremony, Liliana was presented the prestigious ELLOS scholarship.

MILROY CONTINUES, EXCEEDS FAMILY'S MILITARY TRADITON WITH ROTC AWARD

      Look carefully at the photo taken when senior Tom Milroy accepted the ROTC US Marine Corps
Scholarship at Rochelle Township Honors Night Monday.  Once you get past counting all of the 
zeros on the scholarship check, look closely at Tom’s face. He isn’t smiling into the camera; 
he’s looking out into the crowd. He’s looking at his parents, themselves both United States 
Armed Forces veterans.
     Milroy is the son of David (US Navy) and Karen (US Army) Milroy. His grandfathers William 
DeBauche and Raymond Milroy served in the Navy during WWII & Korean War.  “They served at a time in our history when
US military efforts weren’t necessarily appreciated,” Tom explained, “not like now. So when the
crowd burst into enthusiastic applause at my scholarship, my eyes went looking for them.  I 
wanted to see them react to the acceptance and support the audience had for our Armed Forces.”
     As the presenter explained, Milroy, who will study Business at Marquette University, won a 
full tuition scholarship plus a $250 per month stipend for expenses and $300 per semester for 
books. And to make a good thing even better, Marquette University will cover the cost of Tom’s 
room and board.  In return, Milroy will report for midshipman orientation before the college 
term begins and during the school year will work out four mornings per week with the Marines.
     “Every Thursday I will attend class in my uniform,” he said, “and I’ll be expected to 
participate in weekend events. I’ll be back at RTHS too, I’m sure, doing some recruiting. They’ve
told me I will have to do public speaking, too.”
     After Tom’s junior year in college, he will attend officer boot camp and upon college 
graduation, he will be a US Marine 2nd Lieutenant.  “I may go into the infantry or I may decide 
to continue in the aviation program. In either case, I will be an officer. My family has never 
had an officer in the Armed Forces before.”
     Tom’s older brother, Matt Jacobson, is studying accounting at Oklahoma University. That 
math gene must swim in the Milroy-Jacobson pool as Tom, too, excels in his math classes which 
this semester include AP Statistics and AP Calculus.  
     A three sport athlete, Tom Milroy has been an RTHS wrestler and a member of the track 
program where he competes in the 400 meter open runs and relays. A cornerback on the Hub Football
Team, Tom is among the very first RTHS athletes to be selected a member of the Western Sun All 
Athletic Conference Team. He shared the Rochelle Wrestling Club Scholarship with teammate Randy 
Nambo. 
     Besides Milroy’s ROTC scholarship, more than $1 million in scholarships was awarded to RTHS
seniors Monday night.


“I felt a ‘fit’ there I hadn’t elsewhere
           CHELSEA MEINERS CHOOSES VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY 
  
   Maybe it was the thousands of irises blooming on the Peabody College campus, maybe it was the
 curriculum that will prepare her for a career as a city planner or urban manager, or maybe it 
was the fact that Nashville, TN, is ranked one of the very best cities in which to live.  
Whatever the reason, Rochelle Township High School senior Chelsea Meiners said after a visit to 
Vanderbilt University last week she felt a “fit” there she hasn’t at the other schools she’s 
considered. 
   The daughter of Mike Meiners of Oregon and Tammy & Andre Gachter of Chana, Chelsea has earned
a weighted grade point average of 4.5. She has been first in her class academically throughout 
most of her high school career.  Last week she was accepted into Vanderbilt’s Peabody College 
where she hopes to major in Human and Organizational Development and Public Policy.
   “I’ve taken my time. I looked at Notre Dame, Washington University (in St. Louis), Valparaiso
and U of I, but I liked what I saw at Vanderbilt and I’m very happy with my decision,” she said.
“I’m ready to go; looking forward to what comes next.” 
   Chelsea said her interest in urban planning was sparked during a Government course she took 
last semester taught by David Higgs.
   A look at Chelsea’s schedule should assure you she’s prepared herself for both life at a major
university and for her chosen major.  This semester, for example, Chelsea is enrolled in Advanced Placement Calculus, Advanced Placement Spanish, Advanced Placement European History, Advanced Literature, Physics and Band where she is in the Indoor Guard, serving as a captain. That position allows her the ability to choreograph the group’s award winning routines.
	Chelsea has also been a member of the Outdoor Guard, plays clarinet in the Concert band,
 has played basketball and soccer, been a member of the student council and math teams, her 
favorite areas of competition being algebra and calculus, and she’s coached her little sister’s 
youth basketball and soccer teams.
   “I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve tried while in high school, but I especially enjoy Indoor 
Guard,” she said, “The reason is because in outdoor guard, judges focus on the entire marching 
band, but in Indoor Guard, it’s just our small team, so the competition is much more intense, 
the drills are much more precise. It’s something I will consider continuing when I get to 
Vanderbilt.”
   Chelsea enjoys the challenge of planning and managing a guard team. She hopes that experience
 will serve her well as she studies public policy in Vanderbilt’s intensive program. 
   “I hope to get some early internship experience so that I am really sure I’ve chosen a career
field that’s right for me,” she said.
   This summer however, she plans to work at Crest Foods in Ashton. Between RTHS graduation and 
her move to Nashville, Chelsea is also planning a trip to Europe with her mother, stepfather and
her college-aged stepsister. 


ALUMNI FOOTBALL GAME NIXED; ATLHETIC OPEN HOUSE JUNE 16

     The first formal community-wide event at the new RTHS Outdoor Athletic Facility will take 
place Saturday, June 16, but it will not be followed by an alumni football as originally planned.
     RTHS decided to abandon efforts to get an alumni game going after months of promotion netted
under a dozen recruits. Current coaches Kevin Crandall, Tom Mahoney and veterans like Don Romes 
and Joel Colbert may have been victims of their own success.
     “I can’t play Hub football at my age,” one forty-something alum admitted. “In order to play
real Hub football, you’ve got to be young and in top physical condition. I could get hurt out 
there!”
     That was a refrain heard all around Rochelle as Hub greatslike Lee Metzger and Bruce 
Johnson tried to create lists of potential alumni players. RTHS webmaster Todd Smith hit the gym
January 1 to be ready for the June 16 event, but admitted, “even after all of the workouts, this
old body will only be good for a few plays.”
     And so while there will be no grand finale at the Helms Athletic Field June 16, the 
community is invited out to the site of the new RTHS Outdoor Athletic complex for a very special
grand opening.
     The now complete 6-sport athletic complex on the high school’s new Flagg Road campus exceeds
current Illinois High School Athletic Association standards.  “Athletes and spectators alike will
benefit from high quality athletic fields and expansive spectator seating,” athletic director 
Kevin Crandall said.  “The complex is laid out much like a college campus. All of the fields and
areas are inter-connected, including 10 tennis courts, 2 soccer fields, 3 softball fields and 2
baseball fields plus the stadium and track.”
      Crandall said the tennis complex features 2 stadium courts for match play and 8 additional
courts broken into 2 sets of 4. The soccer complex is located directly north of the tennis courts
in the northwest corner of the complex. There is an irrigated competition field and JV field 
adjacent. The softball complex features a fully fenced competition softball stadium complete with
separate dugout and bullpen areas. Two additional frosh/soph fields are located nearby. The 
baseball complex includes a competition field and a frosh/soph field. The competition field has
amenities like the softball stadium.
     In addition, there is a football field, track, concessions and restrooms. The stadium 
features seating for 3,500 and exceeds accessibility standards. 

                                 Designed with expansion in mind
     
     “Our stadium seating was designed with significant expansion room in mind.  Two buildings 
border the stadium,” Crandall said. “To the west of the plaza are locker rooms and storage for 
baseball, soccer, softball and tennis. To the south of the stadium are locker rooms, offices and
 storage for football and track teams.”
     The football complex is similar to what we enjoyed at the Helms Athletic Field: a 
competition field and practice field. The 8-lane track was constructed of a high quality 
polyurethane rubber mix. Track and most field events will be contained within the stadium area.
     “The Hub Plaza, to the west of our home stands, provides the anchor for all of the 
surrounding sports fields,” he said. “The plaza features enough room for spectators to stretch 
their legs, enjoy concessions and access public restrooms.  A vehicle turnaround extends to the 
plaza to provide easy pickup and drop off when necessary. Pedestrian circulation will be 
controlled through new fencing, giving administrators the option of opening or closing each 
adjoining athletic area.”
     Crandall said this complex also includes full-feature media boxes and infrared remote 
electronic scoreboards.
     “It is a beautiful facility. Doug Creason committed to creating an outdoor complex at the 
same level of quality we achieved with the high school building,” Crandall said. “You will see 
when you visit the OAC that he accomplished his goal and all of our kids will benefit from that.”
     Those who partnered with RTHS to upgrade the OAC, will be invited to a private event on 
Friday, June 15.  It will include a tour by Creason before a thank you reception in the high 
school commons.
     Between 9 and 11 am Saturday, June 16, the public is invited to tour the complex. Outdoor 
sport coaches will be on hand to welcome visitors and invite them to participate in a number of 
activities: tennis, baseball pitching machine, soccer team exhibition, among them.


 JOE JOHNSON'S DISCUS TOSSES ECLIPSE A 42-YEAR-OLD HUB RECORD            

   The longest-standing sports record on the RTHS Athletic History books was eclipsed when Joe 
Johnson threw the discus 169’2”. That toss ended 1965 graduate Carson Brooks’ record 
167-9” toss. Field events coach Chris Lewis said Brooks’ 42-year-old record was the longest 
standing in Hub sports history.
   The affable, soft-spoken Johnson, son of James Johnson and Sheila Hadlock, was clearly pleased
with his results as his coach sang his praises.
   “It was one of those days when everything was going right,” Johnson said about Saturday. “When
I threw the disc I, knew it was a good toss, but had no idea I’d break Mr. Brooks’ record.”
   Seeing the potential in Johnson, Lewis said he attempted to arrange a meeting of the two last
August when Brooks came back to RTHS to be inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of fame.
   “I had a feeling this was the year Joe would knock down that record and when I learned Mr. 
Brooks would be in town, I wanted the two of them to meet,” Lewis said, “unfortunately, we had a
bad night on the football field that night; one of those times that when the game was over, we 
were just out of there.”
   So, the record holder and his challenger never met, and that’s too bad because Joe Johnson and
Carson Brooks have a lot in common.
   Both are gifted multi-sport athletes. Both excelled on the gridiron, in fact Brooks’ very 
first experience with high school sports ended in an undefeated season on his Fresh-Soph football
team, an accomplishment he and his teammates repeated at the varsity level.  Johnson, too, began
playing football as a high school freshman.
   Brooks was selected as an All-State football player and earned an honorable mention as an 
All-America football player. He was also an Illinois State Discus Champ who attended the 
University of Illinois, playing football for the Illini and then for the Dallas Cowboys and in 
the Canadian football league. Johnson, a member of the Illinois Coaches’ Association All State 
team, will attend the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater where he will play football (left 
tackle) and compete on the track team.
   “I love both football and track, so I chose a Division III school that will allow me to 
compete in two sports.”
   Brooks graduated from University of Illinois in 1969, and then completed a graduate degree in 
1972.  After college and pro ball, he taught and coached with legendary RTHS football Coach Ed 
Bender at LaSalle-Peru High school and coached as a grad assistant at U of I before founding Carson
Brooks & Co., a sales and marketing firm in Pennsylvania.
   Joe Johnson intends to major in education at Whitewater. “I love everything about school, 
physical education and teaching kids how to learn and improve,” he said. “I’ve had good teachers
to show me how.”
   Johnson admits that were it not for Lewis’ insistence that he try field events, he never would
have participated in track.
   “My freshman year, man, I hated the discus, but I had some success with the shot put, so I 
came back out the next year.”  Johnson said his distances have improved about 20’ per season in 
the discus; about 5’ per year in the shot. 
   Last year as a junior, Johnson was one of only a dozen athletes from around the state to 
qualify in both discus and shot.  He threw 157 in the discus and 52’10” in the shot at the state
meet.
   “If things continue as planned, I think it’s realistic that I could throw in the high 180’s
at state,” he said.
   Among those cheering Joe on will be freshman Taylor Isley, a kid the teacher in Johnson has 
recruited and mentored this year. “Taylor reminds me of myself at that age,” Johnson said, “I 
noticed him in football and thought he’d be good at field events, so I encouraged him to try out.
As a freshman, he’s already throwing the shot 40’.He’s someone to keep your eye on.”
   All in good time Joe. For now, all eyes are on you and that new school record. 

Editor’s note: Tuesday, April 24, 2007, at a Hub track meet with Yorkville, Joey Johnson set 
his second RTHS school record in a week’s time tossing the discus 173’. 


RTHS ELECTION RESULTS POSTED 

   Election results have been tabulated at Rochelle Township High school.  RTHS Class of 2008 
student council representatives are: Morgan Belling, Aaron Eyster, Jonathan Tiley, Katie Birt, 
Erica Huerta, Emily Metzger, Laura Vanous, Shawna Brown, Doug Issichopoulos, Adam Reif.  Class 
officers are: President  Doug Issichopoulos, Vice President Morgan Belling; Secretary Aimee 
Winebaugh, and Treasurer Jonathen Tilley.
   Class of 2009 student council representatives are: Allison Davis, Elise Maliszewski, Allison 
Rucinski, Kristen Bunton, Catrina Erickson, Tim Mallory, Kristen Walter, Melissa Clucas, Gabe 
Metzger, and Jamie Zhe.  Class officers are: President Kristen Bunton, Vice President Tim 
Mallory, Secretary Allison Davis, and Treasurer Jamie Zhe.
   Class of 2010 student council representatives are: Catie Beguin, Amy Issichopoulos, Laurn 
Schneider, Ryan Yochum, Kristin Goffinet, Brett Metzger, Autumn Steichen, Geoff Huntley, Frank 
Moore, and Haley Taft.  Class officers are: President Geoff Huntley, Vice President Amy 
Issichopoulos, Secretary Brett Metzger, and Treasurer Ryan Yochum.
   Representatives of the freshman class, the RTHS Class of 2011, will be elected in the fall


 LIBRARY BOASTS NEW CAREER BOOK COLLECTION

   Tthe RTHS Library-Media Center has been awarded a Library Services and Technology Act grant
($3,000) from the Illinois State Library. The school’s proposal Career Exploration Para Todos 
was written to address the lack of career materials written in Spanish and for lower-level 
English readers, as well as for materials for students who do not plan to attend a four-year 
college.
   The new collection is currently on display in the small library classroom.  Friday, Julie 
Lieving’s Consumer Education students went through the books to learn more about their chosen 
career fields which include photography, cosmetology, education, nursing, graphic design & 
architecture, counseling, psychology and auto mechanics.


Rock River Red Cross conducts Lifeguard Training

   Rochelle residents interest can take advantage of an opportunity to learn lifeguard skills.  
The purpose of the American Red Cross Lifeguard Training course is to teach lifeguards the skills
and knowledge needed to prevent and respond to aquatic emergencies. The course content and 
activities prepared lifeguard candidates to recognize and respond quickly and effectively to 
emergencies and prevent drowning and injuries. Upon successful completion of the lifeguard 
training course, participants will receive certificates in Lifeguarding and First Aid that is 
valid for three years and another in CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer that is valid for one 
year.
   Participants must be 15 years old by June 10, 2007, demonstrate a swim of 300 yards, and 
retrieve a 10lb. brick off the bottom of the pool (more specific requirements TBA).
   $115.00 – Attendance is mandatory at all class sessions
   All classes held at Boylan High School Swim Complex, 4000 St. Francis Dr. Rockford, IL

June 5  	Tuesday     12-5:00
June 6-9        Wed – Sat.   9-3:30
June 10         Sunday       9-1
   Other classes available (Lifeguard Instructor ($120), Water Safety Instructor ($120), 
& Fundamentals of Instructor Training ($30)
   Register Now! Go to www.rockriver.redcross.org to register online. You can also complete a 
registration form and mail, fax, or phone in your registration with the American Red Cross.


PASSION FOR HER TOPIC MAY MAKE LEGISLATORS LISTEN TO THIS RTHS SOPHOMORE 

   Henry Schabacker was born in 1906.  He probably never imagined that due to urban sprawl, his 
grandson Marvin would have to squeeze in farming after working a full time job at a local 
implement dealership which sells and repairs modern farm machinery.  Henry Schabacker probably 
never imagined that it would take such machinery, plus sophisticated irrigation and hybridization
techniques to keep the land he farmed profitable, or that to stay ahead of the game, some of his
acreage could be sold to developers who make a bigger profit building homes than planting corn or
soybeans.
   “My Great–grandpa Henry turned 100 last December and we were lucky.  We had a big celebration,
” RTHS sophomore Lauren Schabacker said.  Great-grandpa Henry died not long after that milestone,
before he had a chance to hear Lauren fight for planning and zoning legislation that will 
protect Illinois’ most valuable resource or to hear her passionately argue against what is known
as urban sprawl.
   “When Illinois became a state in 1818, it was miles of prairie grasses and woodlands,” she 
said.  “Over time, the prairie was replaced by farmland and now that farmland is being destroyed,
 covered over by strip malls, airports, and rural subdivisions.”
   Lauren said the Prairie State is not Illinois’ only moniker; it’s also been known as the Corn
State and Garden of the West.  Are you aware that Illinois is the United State’s second largest 
producer of corn?
   “Illinois is also the home of the third largest city in the country.  Chicago is home to over
2 million people and still counting, its borders expanding ever westward.”  She said as expansion
continues, “we need to look at the effects of urban sprawl on farmers and contemplate solutions 
to the problems sprawl creates.”
   Lauren quotes American Farm Bureau Director Richard Keller, reporting construction of single 
family homes hit record highs in 2004, and then were topped in 2005.  That year, new SFH’s 
totaled 1.6 million.  She said, “Illinois farmland is being paved over, flooded and sodded at an
 average annual rate of 100,000 acres a year.  If you do the math, that’s 281 acres of farmland 
every day, seven days a week, roughly the size of the average Illinois family farm.  In just 17 
years, Illinois’ farmland inventory shrunk from 30.7 to 29 million acres, a loss the equivalent 
to eight averaged-sized Illinois counties.”  That’s one average-sized county every other year.
   What’s most threatening to agriculturist is that many of these disappearing acres were made 
up of prime soils.  “The same qualities that make good farm ground: good drainage, gentle slope,
soil type and structure-are also the best characteristics for residential and commercial 
development,” she said.  “Ninety percent of Illinois farmland is considered ‘prime’."
   Lauren said it take 100 years, Great-grandpa Henry’s lifetime, to produce just one inch of 
topsoil. “It takes taken centuries to produce the rich top soils which are being destroyed in 
days.”
   Besides the negative effects on the land, “Urban sprawl also affects farmers in many ways,” 
she said.  “It seems as though everything is working against them and their way of making a 
living.  All too often farmers  have to creep their way along busy  highways just to get their 
fields and right now, the market is driving the value of farmland up further for development 
than it is for farming.”
   “These developments are populated by a class of Americans willing to commute long distances to
work, considering that a small price to pay to have their own stake in rural America.  Real 
estate agents will tell you it’s easier for them to sell a new upper-middle class home outside 
the city limits that a used home inside the city, even if the rural home costs more.”
   As rural subdivisions are developed, Lauren says, “Our most productive farmland is threatened.”  She argues that development of farmland isn’t her lone concern. “Scattered developments make it hard to provide police, fire and ambulance protection, plus, county & township road maintenance departments and school district are not funded well enough to support such a dispersed population.”
	Lauren said her research indicates no end to this growth, “but, if the public becomes 
aware of the problems urban sprawl causes, maybe it will become easier to stop it.”
	She said one solution would be to classify or restrict soils, rendering prime soils only
available for agricultural use and lower class soils available for development.  In some areas of
the state she said laws have been passed requiring zoning approval before parcels of land less 
than 40 acres can be developed.
   “Solutions and planning for the future are needed now more than ever.  Planning can make a 
tremendous impact. It can be the key to successful, non-devastating growth.”
   Lauren Schabacker’s passion for this topic has won her the opportunity and the right to 
present her arguments at the FFA district level competition next month. Wouldn’t that have made 
Great-grandpa Henry proud?

 
Extreme Makeover: Language Arts Edition?
                THEIR MISSION:  sAVE AN UGLY BOOK! 

   Danae White and her Introduction to Language Arts classes are on a mission.  This mission 
could be referred to as Extreme Makeover: Language Arts Edition, but that doesn’t necessarily 
have mass market appeal, does it?  Suppose that’s why the kids in White’s classes simply refer 
to their mission as: “Save an Ugly Book”. That’s more of an attention grabber, isn’t it? 
   Over the course of the school year, the assignment was to find a good book in the RTHS Media 
Center and to promote it by designing a more attractive cover, because as White tells her 
students, “Remember, we have a library, not a museum….if people aren’t reading these books, we 
have to let them go,” to make room for others.
   The second part of the assignment was to, “Write an essay that was part attention getter, 
part summary, part suspense.  I wanted kids to tell the reader just enough to get them 
interested, without giving the plot away,” White said.
   The reading deadline was Feb. 15. Redesign of the front cover came next. “One requirement: 
include the title and the author’s name on both the front cover and spine of the book,” she said.
   A 5-paragraph critique was due Feb. 28 and needed to include a lead statement, introduction of
the protagonist/antagonist, two quotes directly from the book and what White calls a “plot 
teaser” to entice readers.  “I asked the kids to include the main conflict and complications, 
but not the climax, falling action or resolution.”
   The final deadline was March 2 when the ILA classes voted their 3 favorites. Those that made 
the final round of redesigns are currently on display in the RTHS Media Center. White hasn’t 
indicated whether or not she invited Extreme Makeover Television Host Ty Pennington to utter his
famous, “Bus driver: move that bus!” when unveiling her display, but Pennington’s absence hasn’t
impacted its popularity.
   March 20, a panel of staff and administrators went through each to determine the most 
successfully made over books.
   Librarian Ann Marie Jinkins observed, “This is one of the best collective projects I’ve seen 
submitted. The kids went out of their way to make looking at the jacket descriptions as 
interesting as what they wrote about the book.”
   The winners are listed by student and the books they redesigned: Victor Gutierrez, The Death 
of Mr. Angel; Stephanie Serrano, The Accident; Scott Stolte, Learning to Fall; Niki Greenfield, 
Dear Nobody; Austin Massengale, The Wall; Luke Cook, Apache.
   Tabby Cutshaw, Touch of the Past; Kelsie Futrell, Promise Me Love; Ilse Milan, Cassandra 
Robbins and Luis Silva who each chose The Only Alien on the Planet; and Zack Solt who chose 
Newfound.
   Guillermo Calderon, The Tribe; Alyssa Sebree, A lot Like You, and Jazmin Zepeda who redesigned
Yoruba Girl Dancing.

			
TODAY'S NHS INDUCTEES, TOMORROW'S LEADERS 

   The National Honor Society (NHS) is the nation's premier organization established to 
recognize outstanding high school students. More than just an honor roll, NHS serves to honor 
students who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and 
Character. These characteristics have been associated with membership in the organization since 
its beginning in 1921.
   Today, it’s estimated that more than one million students participate in activities of the 
National Honor Society. Chapters are found in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto 
Rico, many U.S. Territories, and Canada. Chapter membership not only recognizes students for 
their accomplishments, but challenges them to develop further through active involvement in 
school activities and community service. 
   Four main purposes have guided chapters of NHS from the beginning: "To create enthusiasm for 
scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service, to promote leadership, and to develop 
character in the students of secondary schools." These purposes also translate into the criteria
used for membership selection in each local chapter. 
   RTHS National Honor Society Chapter President Brandy Belling explained during the recent 
induction ceremony, that for consideration, students must have at least a 3.2 grade point 
average and a resume chronicling their leadership and service to school and community. Belling 
said character is also a trait the staff of administrators and teachers considers when evaluating
candidates.
   That having happened, Belling welcomed 41 new members into the RTHS Chapter last night, 
joining 35 members of the senior class who were inducted last year.
   In an impressive ceremony on the stage at the RTHS Theatre, Belling lit the green candle of 
scholarship before turning the microphone over to her fellow NHS officers to explain the 
symbolism of the other candles.
   Vice President Risa Holderness told the audience the Blue candle represents character, 
“something we develop as we grow.”
   Secretary Tiffani Leininger lit the red candle of leadership, explaining that leadership is 
measured by the results of your actions.
   “As we develop leadership skills, we realize it first takes a backbone, then a wishbone and a
funny bone,” she said. “A real leader learns to recognize problems before they become 
emergencies.”
   Treasurer Roxanne Malizsewski talked about the yellow candle of service, pointing out that the
Silver Service Program at the high school allows students to learn the value and meaning of 
public service. She urged NHS inductees to, “find a way to use the talents and personality you 
possess.”  Quoting Mohandas Ghandi, Maliszewski said, “Be the change you wish to see in the 
world.”
   Assistant Principal Tom Mahoney followed the officers calling this year’s class of inductees,
among “brightest and best. You make this school a better place,” he said, “and for that we thank
you.”
   Mahoney said he knew what life had in store for each of the inductees, “even if you don’t. You 
will be leading, deciding, helping. I know that for sure.”
   Noting his tenure at RTHS will soon end, he offered the kids some advice for life.
   “No. 1:” he said, “Keep your family close. They love you, they know you; they have your back.
No. 2: Always follow the Chicago Bears, no matter where life takes you. No. 3: Some day, some way 
in your life, be a teacher. I don’t necessarily mean a school teacher, but find a way to teach 
someone. You’ll get far more from it than you ever imagine. No. 4: Read. Read all kinds of things
from all kinds of sources; people whose ideas you hold dear, read people with whom you think you
could never agree. No. 5: Be flexible and No. 6:  When you get there, remember WHY you are in 
college. Keep your goal in mind and surround yourself with people who will challenge you.”
   Mahoney called each inductee to cross the stage and receive the gold National Honor Society 
medallion, presented by RTHS teachers David Perrin and John Pfaff before the students lit the 
NHS membership candles and took their pledge.
   Class of 2007 inductees included Kyle Hansen, Tiffany Sanders, Mallory Jordal, Alex Whitman 
and Ian Rolon.  Class of 2008 inductees included Kristi Alfano, Kristen Buck, Ian Dayton, 
Stephanie Greer, Jake Krause, Emily Metzger, Lauren Pierce, Adam Reif, Danica Rogers, Matt 
Walker-Kessen, Mike Worley, Barbara Arriaga, Raeanne Carlson, Aaron Eyster, Seth Gittleson, 
Dakota Hughes, Eric Long, Matthew Nordman, Nicholas Polley, Abby Rimstidt, Kevin Rogers, Aimee 
Winebaugh, Ethan Young, Morgan Belling, Kevin Cech, Steve Flynn, Elizabeth Goffinet, Doug 
Issichopoulos, Jenna McCaffrey, Chris Pierce, Alex Prough, Gerald Roberts, Jonathan Tilley, Eric
Winterton, and Nicholas Ziech.

 
 PARENTS: TRACK GRADES, PROGRESS ON LINE

   The end of the third 9-week came and went. Report cards were handed out to students before 
spring break.
   Parents interested in tracking their student's achievement can use their pin number to access
the information via the RTHS network. Parents unable to attend parent teacher conferences can 
access teachers and information about their students via the school website. Parents can email 
teachers and can access student attendance, grades and progress reports by establishing what’s 
called a PASS PIN account.
   If you wish to have internet access, please call Marty Brennan at 562-4161, ext 5110.  When 
you call, have a 5-7 digit PASS PIN number ready.  If you don’t have it from a class schedule, 
ask Brennan for your student’s RTHS identification number (you will need both a pass pin and ID 
number).  
   After the account is established, you can access information about your student by going to 
www.rths.rochelle.net.  When you do, you will find the words Grades and Attendance in the upper 
left corner under the words Site map.  Now, click on Grades & Attendance. Next, type the student
ID number and then type the PASS PIN number.
   The page that appears will give you a list of choices down the left side, choices including
Attendance, Current marks, Fees and payments, GPA history, Guidance, Mark History, Schedule 
Progress, Test History, and Vaccinations.
   In a box to the right, is an explanation about what to look for and how to interpret it. If
your student is marked UA, that’s the result of an absence parents have not excused.  A student 
will be assigned In-School Suspension (IS) within a day or two, if you do not excuse it. EA 
indicates an excused absence. FT indicates an approved Field Trip; FU indicates a Funeral; NU 
indicates time spent in the Nurse’s office. IT indicates In-School Suspension due to tardiness.
   Remember that freshmen and students new to RTHS may not have a Mark History, GPA History, or 
other such information. Only Discipline Issues appear when you select Guidance. The Mark History listing is NOT A TRANSCRIPT. Colleges will NOT accept a printout of that page as a transcript.
   To determine whether or not registration fees have been paid, or whether or not text books 
have been properly returned at a semester’s end, click on Fees and Payments.  A GPA history will
tell you grade point average and credits earned. Remember, not all RTHS classes are taken for 
credit (physical education classes, for example).
   If you’re checking on whether or not your student is obeying school policy, click on Guidance
and you’ll find a complete discipline history (if there is one).  The Mark History icon will 
show you a history of grades.  Remember, this is NOT a high school transcript.  Colleges will 
NOT accept it as such.
   “One of the most widely used icons is Schedule Progress. This is something the teachers 
update regularly.  It will give you a look into the teacher’s grade book. Parents can track 
every assignment given and every grade a student earns,” Brennan said. “This screen also tells 
you when the last update was loaded, so you can closely track your child’s progress in any given
class.”
   The Test History icon provides just that, a history of tests given and grades earned.  The
vaccination screen can alert parents when students are out of compliance with health codes, when
vaccinations were administered.
   “Providing access has proven the most popular benefit we’ve made available to parents in the 
20 years I’ve been involved with technology here,” Brennan said.  Craven heartily agreed. “We 
didn’t know if giving parents access would increase or diminish the number of parent-teacher 
conferences when we started,” he said. “Our conference numbers have remained steady, but parents
come in much better able to communicate with teachers, much better informed about areas of 
success and about areas of concern.”
   Any RTHS parent who would like to establish a pass pin account should call 815-562-4161, 
ext 5110 and talk with Brennan.
   “I want to remind parents that students, too, are able to establish pass pin accounts, 
and many have done so,” he said. “So, you may call to establish an account and I will share the 
pass pin number your student has already established.  Siblings/families can share a pass pin, 
but will have individual student ID numbers.”
   Students who are working on college applications may find themselves in need of official high
school transcripts. They should call Kathy Bull, 815-562-4161, ext 5202.


INTERNATIONAL CLUB STUDENTS WANT TO STOP THE GENOCIDE!

   After hearing and seeing a presentation by staff member Ann Risen, the RTHS International 
Club is taking action to stop the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
   More than 2.5 million people have already been driven from their homes in Darfur. The
refugees now face starvation, disease, and rape, while those who remain in Darfur risk 
displacement, torture, and murder. 
   IC students believe we must act quickly and decisively to end this genocide before hundreds of
thousands more people are killed.
   To learn more about this, go to:  savedarfur.org on the internet.  To help the RTHS students
feel as if they're making a difference, you can purchase a Save Darfur T-shirt from the club
for $10.  To order, call 815--562--4161, ext 4125.

DETASSLING JOBS AVAILABLE TO KIDS 12-18

   Looking for a summer job?  If you're between the ages of 12 and 18, you can earn $7 per hour 
detassling mid July through August.  If you're over age 18, you can earn more!.  If you're 
interested in learning more about this opportunity, kids can sign up in the RTHS office, or
call Galen Hart 1—815—973—4278

 
RTHS OFFERS 20 SUMMER COURSES; ATTENDANCE STRICTLY ENFORCED 

   Despite the cold, despite the snow on the ground, spring time and the end of the school year 
will be here before you know it. Now is the time for students and their parents to make plans 
for summer school.
   Registration for summer classes has begun. She said over 200 students applied for classes 
between 7:15 and 7:45 am.
   RTHS Summer School classes begin Friday, June 1 and end Friday, July 13. That’s 30 sessions 
per class. Registration for students presently in 8th grade begins March 19.  Registration 
materials will be available to 8th graders in the main offices of their schools.
   Principal Jamie Craven announces changes in this year’s RTHS Summer School Attendance Policy.
“The maximum absences allowed will be three (3) days of summer school,” he said. “This is
includeS excused and unexcused absences combined.” Craven noted this is a reduction in the 
number of absences allowed. “In previous years we allowed 5 absences. This year, it’s 3." 
Summer School will be closed on Wednesday, July 4.
   Craven said summer school provides, “a great opportunity for students to either recover 
academically or to take classes that they otherwise could not fit into their schedules during 
the traditional school year.
   “We’re fortunate to have teachers both on staff and from the surrounding area committed 
enough to give up a portion of their summer so students may continue their education.  Recently 
roughly 280 students per summer have taken advantage of this opportunity. 
   “We continue to look for ways to improve this program while maintaining the integrity and 
rigor of each course,” Craven said. “This is simply a good thing for kids.”
   Craven said students need to be aware that all summer school offerings are subject to 
cancellation due to staffing and attendance requirements.

                                             20 Courses Offered 

   Summer School course offerings Session I which meets 7:50—9:55 am include:  Consumer Education
Drivers’ Ed 1; Drivers’ Ed 2, Government, Health, Intro to Biology, Intro to Computer Tech, 
Physical Education, Problems of Democracy, Speech and World History.
   Summer School course offerings Session 2 which meets 10 am to 12:05 p.m. include: Consumer 
Education, Drivers’ Ed 3, English I, Government, Health, Intro to Computer Tech, Physical 
Education, Speech and World History.
   Drivers’ Ed classes are available to students enrolled in grades 9-11 who will be 15 by 
June 1. Classes begin June 1 through June 21. It meets two hours per day for 15 days. There is a
$7 Drivers’ Ed registration fee for currently enrolled RTHS students. This fee must be paid in 
the counseling center before Friday, May 18. If writing a check, make it payable to RTHS. 
   The Government class is available to students currently enrolled in Grade 11. Classes 
available to incoming freshmen include: Health and Intro to Computer Technology.
   Class enrollments are limited.  After limits have been reached, students will be placed on a 
waiting list.  Complete and return registration forms to the RTHS Counseling center as soon as 
possible.  Deadline: April 27.  Classes are offered first come, first served.  RTHS reserves the
right to transfer students into different sections of classes as necessary.
   Students who enroll in RTHS summer school classes will be provided a list of rules and 
regulations to follow.
	
     
   RTHS SENDS 4 TO STATE MATH CONTEST

   The RTHS Math Team completed in the Regional Math Competition on Saturday at Rock Valley 
College. 
   Individuals who placed for RTHS included freshman Alex Hauck 4th in Algebra I and junior Doug
Issichopoulos 4th in Algebra II.
   Junior Matt Walker and Senior Josh Baker placed 2nd in the oral competition.  The Pre-Calculus 
team which includes seniors Britt Anderson, Brandy Belling, Guilly Loures, Chelsea Meiners, Dan 
Slingerland, and Lindsey Widick, placed third.  
   The Junior-Senior 8 member also placed 3rd.  Those team members include juniors Morgan Belling
Lisa Goffinet, Issichopoulos, Walker and seniors Anderson, Baker, Brandy Belling, and Widick.
   Four team members now advance to the state contest: Hauck in Algebra 1, Issichopoulos in 
Algebra 2 and Walker & Baker as a team in division.  “We’ll get to consult each other on problems
that involve things like division of property,” Baker said.
   RTHS Mathematics Teacher Cindy Ludden coaches the team.


RICHARD HARVEY HIRED AS ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
     
     The RTHS District 212 Board of Education accepted the recommendation to hire Richard 
Harvey as assistant principal.  Harvey is currently employed by DeKalb School District where he 
has served in various capacities at the middle and high school levels for 13 years. 
     According to Principal Jamie Craven, “Over this time period, he has served the district in 
various capacities including: an hourly dean & event supervisor, PE Department Chair, Positive 
Behavior Interventions & Support Team, Data Team, SIP Team, & Breaking Ranks II Team.  In 
addition, he has served as the head coach and director of the K-12 Barbs Wrestling program being
responsible for all coaches, volunteers, and aspects of the program.”
     Craven continued, “I am excited about the wealth of experience that Richard brings and his 
extensive experience working with kids and adults both in and out of the classroom.  I am 
confident that he will continue to provide the same support that Mr. Mahoney has over the past 
three years.”
     Tom Mahoney who has served as Assistant Principal, resigned his position last night after 
having accepted a position as Assistant Superintendent in the Oregon School District.  
     Craven said he and Harvey have scheduled, “three or four days for Richard to visit RTHS and
shadow Mr. Mahoney.”  


RTHS FFA TEAM COMPETES; SCHABACKER WINS RIGHT TO DISTRICT CONTEST

     The Rochelle FFA Chapter competed at the Joliet Junior College Floral Design Career 
Development Event February 23, at Joliet Junior College.  Team members included Lauren Schabacker
jazmin Tilton, Kattie Ellis, Kari Copeland, and Lauren Dylo.  
     This contest requires members of the team to identify several tools that florists use, as 
well as various plants and materials.  Members were also judged based on their ability to create
a centerpiece and a corsage within 25 minute time frame. 
     The team placed 12th against several schools including Naperville Central, Naperville North,
the Chicago High School for the Agricultural Sciences, and Oswego. 
     Lauren Schabacker was high placing individual on the team. She finished 34th out of over 70
participants.  
	
                               6th in Meats Judging Event

     The RTHS Chapter competed at the Section 7 meats judging CDE (Career Development Event) 
February 26at Freedom Meats, in Serena. Team members included Lauren Schabacker, Jeff Svendsen, 
Cody Koch, and Hillary Grutter. They were required to identify several cuts of meats including 
cuts from beef, pork, and lamb.  Members also had to grade and place beef and pork carcasses.  
	The team placed 6th out of the nine teams.  Once again, Schabacker was high placing 
individual on the team placing 23rd out of over 70 participants.  She was followed by Koch, 
Svendsen, and Grutter, respectively.

                               Schabacker represents RTHS

     RTHS FFA Chapter competed at the Section 7 public speaking event Dec. 13, at Seneca High 
School.  Lauren Schabacker represented Rochelle in the prepared public speaking area.  In order 
to successfully compete, members must prepare a 6-8 minute speech and provide copies of the 
speech to the judges.  Once the participant has finished presenting the speech, he or she must 
field 5 minutes of questions regarding that topic. 
     Lauren’s topic was the Urbanization of Rural Illinois.  Placing in the top two at section 
competition allows Lauren to advance to the District II competition next month.  There she’ll 
compete against from the top members in each of the five sections that comprise District II. 
     The National FFA Organization is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of 
students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success
through agricultural education. 
 

IF HOLDERNESS & PALS SAY 'HI', GET READY TO SMILE!

   If you think the OC is a television show, that SOS is a call for help or that HI is a 
greeting, you might consider spending some time in the company of Risa Holderness and her pals 
on the RTHS Speech Team.
   To these accomplished public speakers when someone says “HI”, it’s a launch pad for a 
humorous interpretation. Likewise when someone talks about the OC, they aren’t talking TV; 
they’re talking about performing an Original Comedy.
   Risa, actually is all about the ‘OD’. By now you probably realize that has nothing to do with
illegal substances. OD is one of two events in which Risa excels. OD is an abbreviation for 
Oratorical Declamation. “What that means,” she explained, “is taking someone else’s speech, 
learning it, memorizing it and performing it as your own. The more convincing I am, the better 
I score.”
   And score is just exactly what she does performing Anna Quinlend’s Keynote Address to the 
Women’s Commission, an 8-munite speech. Quinlend believes the legal rights often taken for 
granted by American women must be enacted throughout the world. Risa is a student of this 
prolific author and public speaker. She researched Quinlend thoroughly before choosing to 
perform the Keynote speech.
   “She gives a lot of commencement address; speeches that aren’t especially passionate or topic
specific,” Risa explained, “but this speech is wonderful; one easy for me to take and make my 
own.”
   Risa’s second place finish at Saturday’s IHSA Sectional meet guarantees her bid to the state 
tourney next weekend in Rock Falls.  She will compete against students from 80 schools around 
the state. 
   Risa is quick to attribute her success to the coaches who have worked with her since she was 
a fifth grader at Kings Elementary School.  Back then, she was coached by Kim Dewey and then by 
Ralph Prindle.  “I performed dramatic duets with Sarah Adams when we were at Kings,” she 
recalled. When Risa enrolled at RTHS, she began working with Laurie Pillen, who it’s evident, 
she worships.
   When asked if there was a particular place in the school or person with whom she would like to
be photographed for this feature, without hesitation she said, “Oh, please, with Mrs. Pillen. I 
really love her, just ask my parents!”
   Risa’s other event is DI, or Dramatic Interpretation for which she performs a scene from The 
Laramie Project,  Moisés Kaufman's, play about the brutal and fatal 1998 beating of a gay college 
senior named Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming.  
   “I perform Reggie’s monologue,” she said. “Reggie is the police officer who was exposed to 
Shepard's HIV infection when she untied Matthew from the fence he’d been tied to and left for 
dead.”  
   So just how did this exuberant young woman arrive at Reggie’s harrowing monologue?  “Oh, 
that’s a great story,” she said. “Megan Goodrich, a friend and former teammate, happened to be 
home from college (Webster University). We got an early call the morning of a meet that we 
needed someone to perform in the Prose Reading event.  It was about 6 a.m. Megan looked at me 
then said, ‘I’ve got the perfect piece for you’!”
   “She got it, helped me read through it once. Two and a half hours later I performed the 
scene…and won second place!” Holderness has since tailored it as a Dramatic Interp piece.
   Both girls have had success with the monologue. Risa qualified for the State Speech meet which
RTHS hosted last weekend having finished second. Megan, on the other hand, will perform the 
monologue at a national collegiate speech tournament this season.
   Like her mentor, Risa does what she can to nurture up and coming public speakers. “One of my 
routine tasks is to keep Hannah (Busching) calm. She tends to get really wound up before a 
meet.”
   Calming nerves and teaching people to present themselves and their ideas is a skill Risa 
intends to perfect. “I want to major in communications next year at either Augustana or at NIU. 
I’d like to work in the corporate world, teaching speech and presentation skills. “

	
She may be only 16, but
  SHE'S GOT A LIFE PHILOSOPHY and A CAREER GOAL

   As you listen to RTHS sophomore Hannah Busching talk about all of the teachers who have 
influenced and encouraged her interest in public speaking, it’s no surprise to learn that her 
favorite performance character is a teacher, Miss Jewels, from Louis Sachar’s book, The Wayside 
School Gets a Little Stranger, or that a teacher is just what Hannah, herself, intends to become.
   Hannah is one of four, count ‘em, four, RTHS Speech team members who walked away from the big
Western Sun Conference Speech Tournament with a Championship medal.  Her teammates Kyle
Hansen, Risa Holderness and Carol Anderson are also conference champs.
   Hannah distinguished herself in not one, but two competitive divisions: Oratory and Humorous 
Interpretation.  Oratory, she explains, is writing then presenting a speech you’ve written 
about a topic important to you. Her topic? “It’s Outward Focus,” she said. Outward Focus is a 
life philosophy by which you concentrate your focus outwardly on the whole, rather than 
inwardly on yourself. 
   And just where does a 16-year-old develop such a philosophy?  “Actually from something I read
the end of my freshman year in Mr. (Scott) Swartz’s class.  We’d read Harper Lee’s To Kill a 
Mockingbird.  What Atticus Finch said at the end, about not really knowing another man until 
you’ve walked in his shoes, well that really struck me.  When (speech coach Laurie) Pillen 
and I decided Oratory would be a good event for me, I developed the idea further.
   "Our society today is individualistic,” she wrote. “We focus too much on ourselves.  As a 
result, we miss out on some of the true high points in life.  To examine our need for focusing 
beyond ourselves, first, we will explore how our individualistic mind set is becoming a problem.
Second, we must look at the cause of our me-first…and only mind set.  And finally, we must figure
out solutions to help our culture look at the bigger picture.”
   Hannah’s 8-minute speech takes listeners through those three important steps. Eight minutes! 
Imagine writing a speech that long; let alone memorizing, then delivering it!
   And while Oratory is an event through which Hannah shares her life philosophy, her other 
competitive event, Humorous Interpretation, is the one through which she shares her acting 
skills.  Chad Rand, a college student and aspiring actor, coaches Hannah in this event.  “He 
chose The Wayside School for me. He said it suits my personality and my voice(s).”
   In the HI event, Hannah performs, rather than reads the storybook, one of a series and a 
favorite among elementary school-aged children and judges.  “Most of the judges are familiar 
with it,” she said.  There are seven characters in the story Hannah performs, giving each 
character a different voice, a different flavor.
   “Miss Jewls is my favorite character,” she was quick to reply, “Because she’s kind of wacky, 
but also because of her enthusiasm—for everything!” 
	Does Hannah intend to draw from Miss Jewls when she’s at the helm of a classroom, 
“Oh……I don’t know about that,” she said, but hesitated when asked whether or not Miss Jewls is 
a teacher she herself would enjoy.
   And enjoy teachers this lively little sprint has, singling out a number of them from her 
years at Tilton Elementary School and Rochelle Middle School.  “Mr. Terry Dickow was my very 
first speech teacher, back in the fifth grade and so was Mrs. Karen McMahon.  He was so much 
fun!  I performed in Improptu and HI for him. Then, at the Middle School, I worked with Mrs. 
(Dorie) Cannon, Mrs. (Amy) Malm and Mrs. (Gwen) Marie.”
   Rest assured they will all be cheering for Hannah and her teammates as the RTHS Speech Team 
works towards the right to a bid for the state speech title.

RTHS STUDENTS PRACTICE ANCIENT ART OF HENNA PAINTING 

   Mehndi, or body painting with henna, was first practiced in Africa, the Middle East, and 
South Asia. It’s gaining widespread popularity in the United States. Members of the Rochelle 
Township High School International Club enjoyed a Mehndi experience last week when Sabrinna, an 
education major from Northern Illinois University, came to Rochelle and painted henna designs 
on about 30 students.
   Sabrinna said henna is a dye procured from a tree whose leaves, when dried and mixed with 
boiling water, stain the skin with a mahogany color.  The leaves of the tree are gathered green 
and gradually dried in the shade.  When dry, they’re pounded and sifted to a fine powder.  The 
compound is kneaded to make a paste neither fluid nor thick.  The henna is then covered and left
to rest overnight. 
   She said designing is a form of intricate oriental henna painting that has been practiced for
thousands of years, since the henna plant was discovered in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.  
	In many parts of India, henna is a staple in women’s lives especially during festivals 
and weddings. The night before a wedding is known as the 'Night of Henna’ when the bride's hands
and feet are decorated in elaborate floral and fertility designs. On the henna night, relatives 
and friends (married as well as unmarried) of the bride gather at the bride's house.  While henna
is being applied, the bride is enlightened about the mysteries of married life.  Many folk songs
are woven around henna nights signifying the departure of the bride to her husband's house, begin
ning an important stage of woman's life.  
	There are stories about the longevity of henna on the bride's hand.  It’s believed that 
if the henna lasts longer on the bride's hands it indicates that the bride is treated well at her
in-laws' place, sparing her from the household chores, at least on the first few days of her 
married life.  The bride's mother feels a sense of relief when the daughter visits her few days 
after the wedding and is still able to see the henna design on her daughter's palm. 
   In some regions of India henna paste is used to stain the bridegroom's palms. It is believed 
the deeper the stain left behind, the deeper love between the husband and wife.
   While girls and women of all ages use henna, it especially signifies married women.  Widows 
generally do not apply henna on their hands. 
   Henna painting has become very popular as a form of temporary tattoo.  An advantage to a 
henna tattoo is that the designs gradually fade from the body over a period of about two weeks.
   Henna is also a painless alternative to tattoos.  Interestingly, the onslaught of new fashions
 and styles for women has not pushed this ancient art of henna design to the background.  With 
new trends in fashion, henna design blend well.  In fact, they’ve become more beautiful and 
intricate with the use of plastic cone applicators.  
   Sabrinna told students she is a self-taught Henna artist and uses her skills to supplement 
her income, drawing henna designs for women before weddings, or at parties as she did for the 
IC members at RTHS.
  
                   The henna lies soaking in a fine red bowl
                   The love juice of henna is a lovely tint
                       O lady who has painted thy hands
                   The love juice of henna is a lovely tint.
                       O lady put thy hand on my heart
                   The love juice of henna is a lovely tint.
                                             -Popular folk song of Rajasthan


SUMMER SCHOOL: JUNE 1 - JULY 13;  TAKE NOTE OF POLICY CHANGES

   Students who intend to enroll in summer school classes at Rochelle Township High School 
need to make note of the dates and some upcoming changes in summer school policy.
   Members of the Summer School Committee include Principal Jamie Craven, Curriculum Director 
Dr. Liz Freeman; social studies teacher David Higgs, assistant principal Tom Mahoney; English 
teacher David Perrin, counselor Laurie Pillen, and special education teacher Ann Risen. 
   They report that the following summer school policy changes will go into effect the summer of
2007.
   ATTENDANCE:  The maximum days students will be allowed to be absent is three (3).  This 
includes excused and unexcused absences combined.  This number was reduced from the previous 
five (5) day maximum.
   COURSE SYLLABUS:  Summer courses will be required to follow the RTHS approved curriculum.
   FINAL EXAMS:  To ensure that students have mastered content, students will be required to 
take a comprehensive final exam approved by the principal or his/her designee.
   These changes were adopted by the Board of Education at its last meeting.
   "We will release the courses to be offered at summer school just as soon as they are 
determined,” Craven said. 



JESSE THORNTON: VFW VOICE OF DEMOCRACY ESSAY CONTEST WINNER   

   Jesse Thornton, the 16-year-old son of Rochelle’s Mary Hart, got a nice surprise a few weeks 
ago.  Thornton was called from classes at RTHS to meet Butch Halsne, commander and Dave Norris, 
youth programs coordinator of the Rochelle VFW Post 3878. They notified Thornton that his essay 
had won the post’s Voice of Democracy contest.  
   This year’s theme was “Freedom’s Challenge”. 
   Thornton said he couldn’t have completed the essay without support and assistance from Mary 
Beth Schweitzer, his speech teacher.  Norris presented Thornton with a medal, a lapel pin, a 
plaque and a $100 check, notifying him that the essay now moves on to the District contest in 
January. 
   Thornton, sophomore, says right now he thinks he’ll continue his education at Michigan or 
Wisconsin, studying business.  His father, Michael Thornton, resides in Seattle, WA.

 
DELMONTE DISTRIBUTION CENTER FOCUS OF TDL EDUCATION PROJECT

   RTHS Production Teacher Kurt Wolter is a part of a 2-year curriculum undertaking: the 
Illinois Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics (TDL) Curriculum Project. This state-level 
project is part of a larger, national project known as Career Clusters. 
   Career Clusters attempts to organize all careers in the United States into one of 16 groups 
which can then be used for career training at the high school and college levels.
   “In Illinois we’ve focused on TDL because transportation, distribution, and logistics are 
among the fastest growing industrial sectors here,” Wolter said, adding that another goal of 
this curriculum project is to reinforce mathematics skills using real world problems found in 
local industry.
   After contacting a number of our local industries, Wolter found an interested partner in Dale
Rand, the Distribution Center Manager for Del Monte Foods located.
   “Del Monte's Distribution Center is a perfect example of a TDL related operation,” Wolter 
explained.  “More than 100 million cases of Del Monte Foods product is moved in and out of its 
Rochelle distribution center annually. I’m grateful to Dale for the time he has taken to help 
me develop the module and for hosting us on the field trips. This has really given students a 
better understanding of the industry that is happening all around them”.
   “Do you realize,” he said excitedly, “that every single canned Del Monte fruit and vegetable 
product found in grocery stores within the 15 mid-western states is routed through Rochelle via 
truck or train? After meeting with Dale, I knew there was a great opportunity to create a study 
module based on what’s happening right here at our local Del Monte distribution center.”  
   Wolter said his students began by studying food supply chains and how transportation 
technology is used to move and distribute food products from Del Monte's farms, to processing 
plants, distribution centers, and finally to grocery stores. 
   “We studied the safe use of forklifts for moving palletized cases of product, and how to 
correctly fill a customer order of both full and layered pallets,” he said. “We did a lab 
activity in which students built model pallets and used wooden blocks representing cases of 
food to ‘pick and throw’, a real Del Monte customer order. The students and I learned that 
there’s a lot more to loading a semi truck or freight car than we thought. There is quite a 
bit of planning and math involved to do it right.”
	“We toured the Del Monte facility in Rochelle so the kids could finally see the real 
world scenario they’d studied.  They had a chance to fully comprehend just what 8 million cases 
of food under one roof looks like,” Wolter explained. “Finally, they created a technical poster 
and PowerPoint presentation to explain how palletized orders are assembled.”
   RTHS Principal Jamie Craven greeted the study with enthusiasm. “Not only are we educating 
our kids about one of the fastest growing industries, but Kurt has been able to work with a 
local industry, the very place many of our students’ moms and dads work, as the example.”

                     
WORLD WAR II VETS LET STUDENTS INTERVIEW THEM FOR DVD PROJECT

   Couple of years ago, John Hamilton, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Rochelle, 
said he looked out at his congregation peppered with World War II veterans and decided it would 
be for the good for everyone to hear them reminisce about service to country. 
   So, Hamilton organized a church supper and tagged retired high school teacher Eloy Gehring to 
film the vets as they talked.
   “There were 36 of us at that dinner a couple of years ago,” said veteran John M. Roe. “The 
guys got talking to the point that Eloy ran out of film. We couldn’t get everybody recorded.”
   And that’s too bad because today, just a couple of years later, only 17 WW II vets remain
In the congregation.  Hamilton and Roe, keenly aware of that diminishing natural resource, have 
enlisted the assistance of Rochelle Township High School students and staff to finish what they 
started.
   “I called up to the high school and was pleased with the response I got when I asked for help,” 
Roe said. “Rick Bunton is a United States Marine Corps (Vietnam era) veteran.  He teaches a 
video broadcasting class. His kids know how to set up the lights and sound, how to make us look 
and sound good while we’re talking.  Dave Higgs is a social studies teacher there. I guess he 
recruited some of his top students, those who have studied WWII, to interview us.  This time, 
we’re going to get everything, and all of the vets in the area we can, on film.”
   “Many of us feel it’s important to document your service to our country,” Bunton said to the 
vets. “I’m proud to be able to be a part of this unique experience and I’m pleased that we’ve 
expanded our scope to include WWII vets from all over the high school district.”
   Bunton is working with RTHS alumnus Xavier Valdivieso, Hamilton and Jim Tilley from the church,
plus Higgs and Vicki Snyder Chura from the high school. And, he’s got the blessing of RTHS Supt.
Doug Creason too.
 
                        WWII interest born of Uncle’s stories

   “Some of my fondest memories of time spent with my uncle are those when he decided to tell me
about his part in WWII,” Creason said. “I hung on every word.  I could never initiate that conver
sation though. He only talked when the mood struck; never knew when, never knew where. Often 
times it was when we were fishing. Never knowing when, that made every conversation a gift.”
   Creason said after he lost his uncle, he found a similar kinship with US Air Force veteran 
Bob Troop who was on a plane that passed the Enola Gay as it headed towards Hiroshima. 
   “I could sit and listen to Bob talk for hours. Imagine being in the air at the time that bomb
was on its way to Japan! Bob said the plane looked odd, its undercarriage unusual. He never knew
why until afterwards.
   “Bob Troop was one of the very best. I miss my old friend,” Creason said of Troop, one more 
veteran lost before this project was organized. 
   All WWII Vets who live within the Rochelle Township High School Dist. 212 were invited to 
participate.
   Recently 14 veterans 'reported for duty'. Each participant was greeted, offered coffee
and juice and given a short list of questions that would be asked. After a few moments to visit,
Bunton talked the veterans through the process as Higgs paired his history students up with 
veterans to get preliminary information off camera, and then the taping began.
   Don Terry, a sergeant in the US Army signal corps admitted to being nervous as he talked with
Dan Slingerland.  “My unit provided communications and transportation under General George 
Patton,” Terry confided after emerging from the studio, “I didn’t tell the kids about old blood 
and guts (Patton’s nickname).” That confession prompted a discussion about a sequel. “I have 4 
great-grandkids up at the high school,” Sgt. Terry said. “We’ll get this all down.”  Terry came 
for the taping at the urging of his step-daughter, Norma Huntley, who heard about the project on
a local radio show.
   Corporal Bob Barron, USMC, was 18 years old in 1943.  He wanted to be in the Army Signal Corps
like Terry and to study electronics, but instead he read Morse code for the Marine Corps. Barron
told Lindsey Cox he was at Guadel Canal and found himself under fire in Okinawa.

                           “They were our age,” one observed

   Dr. WJ Neuliep was a sergeant in the US Marine Corps between Nov. 1942 and June of 1946. He 
saw action in the US, Asiatic Pacific and the occupation of China.  He was interviewed by 
Chelsea Meiners and filmed by Tim Ramsey.
    “These guys were our age doing all this stuff,” Ramsey observed in quiet admiration. “And 
they’re still so on top of what’s happening, like in Iraq. One gentleman said we should be
over there teaching them to farm and take care of themselves.  He made a really good argument for
what we could do, should do.”
   Gerald Wine, a retired RTHS teacher, was drafted into the US Army in 1943.  He was assigned as
an Army medic and then to the 84th Infantry.  Wine, interviewed by Kyle Hansen, said he saw 
action in Europe on an anti-tank crew. He was a part of the Battle of the Bulge and the Ardennes
Forest where he was wounded, and evacuated to France and then to England.
   Nick Ziech and Steve Bahr filmed Surgical Technician Merle Cluts, US Army, as Jamie Sanderson
interviewed him. After medical training in 1942, Cluts said he ran a surgical clinic and saw 
Eleanor Roosevelt visiting the troops. Never long from his consciousness, he admitted, was how 
very far away from family and friends the war took him.
   When her time came, one WWII nurse smiled as she recalled, “Every war story has to have a 
little romance.” That was Lt. Eleanor Chadwick, US Army nurse. Chadwick had Lindsey Cox 
scrambling to get the camera back on as she began describing one handsome young soldier assigned
to her care in Massachusetts. 
   “He was from Illinois and was so glad to learn I was too, because everyone else was from the 
east coast.” Chadwick said. “We struck up a friendship and then began corresponding or ‘dating’ 
by letter. Because of the way in which we had to address letters, neither of us ever knew where 
the other was stationed until one day when I reported to ship out on a carrier. I noticed another
ship in the harbor. It was the same number of the ship he had mentioned. I asked my commanding 
officer if it was possible that two ships shared the same number, explaining that my boyfriend 
was assigned to a ship with that number. 
   “She called the other ship and had Paul sent over to mine. I was standing on the plank 
watching and could tell by his carriage he didn’t appreciate being sent out on an errand to 
another ship, and then he saw me waving.
   ”We had a few hours together and the next thing I knew; he was giving me a diamond ring in a 
little donut shop just off base,” Chadwick said, adding they each boarded their respective ships
at the end of that day, and completing their tours of duty before returning to Illinois to raise
their family in Rochelle.

                                  His wife outranked him

   Rev. Carl Polstra and his wife, Eloise, each saw duty during World War II. He served as a 
staff sergeant in the Air Force, 1940-44 and she as a 2nd lieutenant nurse in the US Army.  
“That’s right,” Polstra chuckled, “she outranked me, but she’s never rubbed my nose in that!”
   Polstra was stationed stateside in New Orleans, “making sure all of the soldiers were healthy
when they left us,” he said.  Mrs. Polstra was in nurse’s training when Pearl Harbor happened. 
She was just 22 years old and tended the German prisoners of war. “They were very well treated,”
she recalled, as were American soldiers, or, “’my boys’ as I called them.” Mrs. Polstra said she
witnessed and was upset by the difference in medical care white and black American servicemen 
received.
   Capt. John Roe, USAF flew 24 missions navigating a B-24 crew of 10. His memories were 
delivered with straight-forward clarity. It wasn’t until he shook hands with RTHS Principal 
Jamie Craven, receiving Craven’s thanks, that Roe shared his most personal World War II story.
   “I’d flown all of my missions, collected all of my ribbons. We could feel the universal 
relief that the war was over. I had been recording my missions on the back of a book of Ogle 
County Bank checks, though I had no account there,” Roe told Craven. “One day we got a knee-deep
snowfall.  I had my uniform, I had all my ribbons, but I didn’t have a warm coat.
   “Well, I walked into a JC Penney store, pulled out those Ogle County Bank checks and wrote 
one for $50 to get myself a trench coat. Then,” Roe said, stopping for a moment, choked with 
emotion, “I walked to a pay phone and I called my dad. I had to ask him to cover the check. 
I’ll never forget that.”
   It is doubtful the 15 high school students who listened and learned one Thursday morning in 
October will ever forget that these elderly men and women, these grandmas and great-grandpas 
were their age when they stepped forward and literally put their lives on the line, to 
save the world.

             World War II remember:
                 DONALDSON'S BROTHERS AND POHL'S EXPERTISE SAVED THE WORLD!

   ROCHELLE-----Bill Donaldson and his brothers were four local boys who simply never could
ignore a call for help.  When he was 16, Bill dropped out of RTHS to care for younger siblings 
while his mother underwent two serious surgeries. His older brothers were at war.
   Bill didn’t earn his high school diploma until after World War II (RTHS Class of ’46), but 
at 161/2 years of age, he participated in the Great Lakes Naval Academy graduation.  That was 
63 years ago on, Nov. 2, 1943.  He graduated as a part of US Naval Company 1405.  Unable to 
ignore his country’s call to service, Donaldson had enlisted.  Bill was the third of four 
Donaldson boys to do so, all with their parents’ permission.
   His first call to duty was in Jackson, MS., where he contracted double pneumonia that landed 
him the hospital for eight weeks.  After 2 days’ duty as an armed guard, his temperature shot up,
buying him another 8-week hospital stay. When he was diagnosed with a heart condition, his mother
decided it was time for her to visit.  “She came into my hospital room and saw a package of cigar-
ettes on my table,” he recalled. “She was none too pleased about that and made me promise to 
give them away. I’m proud to tell you I’ve never had a cigarette. Neither have my boys.”
   Bill was assigned duty on a liberty ship headed for the Aleutian Islands.  “It took us 8 
weeks to load 45,000 barrels of asphalt weighing 500 lbs. apiece,” he said. “Just 300 miles 
off of the coast of Washington, we were hit by a typhoon; 100 mile an hour winds that turned 
our escort ships around. The 100’ waves cost us a couple of guys who were up on the top deck.”
   When the ship reached its port, Donaldson said he was impressed by the stevedores who 
unloaded that asphalt cargo in just 27 hours.
   His next assignment took him to the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific.  “I had some down 
time there and I began to make jewelry,” he said. “In fact, the ring I wear today was made from 
a 1917 50 cent piece.”
   Donaldson crafted the 24-carat gold ring his wife Margit Ula Larson, or “Peg” as he called her
loved to wear. A war-time nurse, she and Donaldson met at a hospital in Chicago as each was 
ending their tours of duty.  
   “I followed her back to Rockford,” he said lovingly.  Bill lost Peg, his wife of 56 years, 
just a few months ago.
   Bill Donaldson logged more than 70,000 miles at sea during World War II, service time he 
shared with his brother Melvin Richard Donaldson who served aboard the US Essex. “Melvin saw 
lots of action”. Brother George William was also a Navy man as was the fourth Donaldson brother,
Russell, who died aboard the USS Boise at Guadal Canal in 1942.
   Bill Donaldson represented his brothers and a generation that saved the world from Communism 
at Rochelle Township High School’s Veterans’ Day observance Friday.

                     MONROE CENTER VET OPERATED EARLIEST OF COMPUTERS

   DeWayne Pohl was among the last dozen soldiers to enlist at Rockford’s Camp Grant before the 
national draft went into effect.  He was trained in the anti-aircraft artillery as a fire control
electronic.
   “After 7 days at Camp Grant, we were sent to San Diego for 3 months of basic training then to
Los Angeles for another 9 weeks’ training,” he said. “I was an electrician on the M-5 directors 
which anticipated targets for enemy planes. The directors generated electricity to the guns.  I 
guess you could say it was one of the very earliest computers.”
   Pohl did more training at Camp Davis, then it was back to California into a training battalion.
   “I spent the next couple of years in southern California taking trainees through a 13-week 
course in the Mohave Desert and in Death Valley.  They’d fly a plane pulling a target and the 
guys would shoot at the target.  My job was to keep those directors running,” he said.
   In 1942 Pohl said the sky was full of aircraft and by 1945, there was a big push over Germany,
so his unit was taken into the infantry at Camp Carson, CO., then to Camp Davis where he was to 
embark for Europe.
   “My Lieutenant offered me a transfer to San Francisco where there was a world conference from 
which the United Nations was born,” he said.
   Pohl’s chance to get overseas came and went when a mandatory surgical procedure went awry. 
“I was hospitalized for 7 weeks before I could rejoin my unit.”
   Dwayne Pohl spent the entire war in service to his country, but said he, “never saw any 
action”.  
   What he did see, however, while stationed at Ft. Bliss, TX., were boys returning from Europe a
and Japan, “boys whose planes had gone down, boys horribly burned.  I will never forget the level
of medical care they received. It was fantastic!”

            World War II Veterans remember:
               BAKER SURVIVED AGAINST ALL ODDS; CRYER REPORTED MIA, THEN DEAD

   Do you know Fred Baker? Did you know Fred was the very first boy from Rochelle called into 
service during World War II?  It was 1941, right at the beginning of the war. Fred was 23 when 
he received his draft notice.
   “I was in the US Army’s 41st Infantry,” he said. “We made more beach heads than any other 
unit and we killed more than 186,000 Japanese soldiers.”
   That was just one of the sobering facts to surface as Fred reminisced about his military 
service 3 days before Veterans’ Day.
   He reported to Rockford’s Camp Grant and was sent to California for training. He went to San 
Francisco and was shipped out to Pearl Harbor.  “The ship in front of us got hit, so we turned 
around and got reassigned to Australia;  went through Rock Hampton and then onto New Guinea.
   Fred said the soldiers faced gunfire every time they took a beach head.  “The enemy wasn’t 
right at the beach, but a mile or two back; firing on us every time.  Sometimes we went for days
without sleep and when we did, it was in fox holes.”
   Fred recalled an opportunity to stay warm and dry. “I got a Japanese mat and lined my fox 
hole. Soon as I lay down, I was covered in lice. I ran to the beach, just a short distance away 
and jumped into the ocean for relief.”
   But the relief didn’t last long.  “About 50 yards from me was a liberty ship and the Japs 
started firing on it.  I couldn’t believe it! I was right there and watched the whole thing but 
never got hit.”
   Fred said in another battle, he had to jump off a cliff to avoid enemy shelling.  “When it got
quiet, I climbed back up. There was just an officer left with blood all over his face.  He said,
‘you’d better make a run for it’, and so I did, with the Japs shelling me all the way.  We lost a
lot of men that day.
   It was in Borneo that Fred learned an unforgettable lesson.  “I met some headhunters there, 
natives who made their living working for the US Government. They were paid $1 apiece for every 
Japanese head they brought back. Got to talking with one fellow, wearing just one of those loin 
cloths. He had a knife that caught my eye. The knife was from the War of 1812 and I decided I 
wanted it. Asked him what he used it for and he said decapitating Japanese soldiers.  The 
headhunter told me it was mine in exchange for one of my uniforms. I still have that knife, and 
its sheath, today,” Baker said. 
   The lesson he learned? “Never ask what’s inside their baskets. I did it once, and saw a basket
full of bloody heads. Never asked a second time.”
   Four and a half years after induction, at the age of 28, Fred Baker boarded a ship that took 
him through the Philippine Islands towards home.
   “I was sick on the way home, all the way, actually,” he recalled. “When I got home there 
weren’t any marching bands or parades.  My mother was the only one there to meet me.”
   Baker moved into his parents’ home on North Eighth Street not feeling 100%.  He had contracted
malaria.
   “We lived right cross the alley from Dr. Sheller,” he said. “My mom went for him after my 
temperature hit 106.  He didn’t know what to do with me and suggested I head for the Veterans’ 
hospital in Chicago.  Never did though. I just toughed it out.  Took me a whole year to get 
better.”
   Eventually, Baker began working for John Tilton as a printer, but the attacks never stopped 
and in fact were so persistent, Baker worked out a deal with Tilton allowing him to leave the 
press when he felt, “that churning in my stomach begin.  I’d race to my car and drive from the 
North Main Street press to my parents’ house.  Sometimes I barely made it.  Couple of times I 
collapsed on the floor and shook so hard the pictures came off the walls.”
   It wasn’t until well after his return that he worked up the courage to ask a petite, dark 
beauty for a date.  He was referring, of course, to his wife Florence.  “I met her at the bowling
alley. I was a score keeper for her and three other girls. Did that for a long time before I 
worked up the courage, but we’ve been together ever since.”
   Today it’s Florence who is fighting for her life, so when Fred attended Friday’s Veterans’ 
Day Observance at Rochelle Township High School, he had granddaughter Jessica Jones, member of 
the RTHS Class of 2007, on his arm.

                      JOHN CRYER ASSUMED DEAD UNTIL LIBERATION 

   John Cryer is proof that just because you’re a high school dropout, it doesn’t mean you’re 
not capable of great things.  A native of Batavia, Cryer dropped out of high school as a 
sophomore and knocked around area factories for a couple years before he enlisted in the Air 
Force in 1942.
   “Couple of buddies convinced me to enlist as we knew we were going to be drafted eventually,”
Cryer recalled. “Three of us went to Chicago to take a 4-hour aptitude test.  I wanted to be a 
fighter pilot, against the wishes of my wife. Not to worry though, back then you had to have 
completed high school and two years of college to get a pilot’s job.”
   But Cryer scored so well on the test, he was sent to Jefferson Barracks, MO, then onto 
Houghton, MI, to the College of Mining and Technology. Next, he was called to Nashville where 
he again tested and qualified as a pilot.
   “I wanted to fly a P-38, but got some bad direction from a superior and got assigned to a 
4-engine B-17 Bomber. Those where something,” Cryer said. 
   At the age of 20, Cryer was sent to train a 20-year-old co-pilot, his 20-year-old navigator 
and a 19-year-old tail gunner. “Our armament man was 32,” he chuckled. “The rest of us couldn’t 
believe anyone could be that old!
   “We picked up a brand new plane in Savannah, GA and flew it to Italy. Can you imagine that? 
Barely out of our teens and in charge of a plane like that!”
   Cryer said the 15th Air Force was bombing Germany out of Italy and in December of 1944, 
Cryer and his crew took their first flight. “The norm was for us to fly six missions with 
veterans before a new crew flew together for the first time, but manpower was needed. Sometimes 
there were as many as 200-300 planes in the sky at time!
   “Do the math on that,” he said, “10 men per crew and often we’d lose 25 planes a day. That’s 
a lot of men gone!”
   It was on Cryer’s very first mission that his B-17 was hit. “It knocked out two engines, but 
we had two left and had been instructed, if necessary, to land in Russia.”
   Cryer’s navigator was off, directing the pilot to land the plane just 35 miles outside of the
Russian border in Nazi-occupied Poland.
   “We came out of that plane unharmed and were met by the ‘home guard’, a battalion of older 
men.  They lined us up in a row, disarmed us and took our dog tags. We each carried a 45 caliber
pistol. Next, they set a machine gun in front of us. As they loaded, we thought, ‘okay, this is 
the end’, but that didn’t happen. They took us to an anti-aircraft school and then to an 
interrogation camp.  Actually,” Cryer said, “those fellas treated us better than anyone else 
during our POW experience.”
   There was very little heat at the interrogation camp and Cryer caught pneumonia.  “I don’t 
remember this, but they tell me I had to be taken to the hospital in a pony cart.  An entire 
British hospital staff had been captured at Dunkirk and they took great care of me,” he said.
   After the hospital, Cryer was assigned a room with 24 other POW’s.  “It was about 18 x 18’ 
and we got to go out in the yard for an hour each day. There wasn’t a lot of talk amongst us,” 
he said, “because a lot of the German soldiers had lived in the United States and were fluent in
English, so we were never sure who we were talking to.”
   That lack of communication and timing led John Cryer’s wife to believe her husband dead.  
Cryer left in that pony cart about the time our Red Cross got to the interrogation camp where 
they collected names of the new POW’s. “She saved the telegrams,” he said. “First ones told her
I was MIA, but eventually that I had died.  She didn’t know any different until I got released 
and called her from Newport News, VA.”
   He received a medical discharge in November and returned to Northern Illinois where he resumed 
his job at Barber Coleman before joining the US Postal Service at age 40.  Pohl married RTHS 
alumnus Bernice Aurand.
   He, too, was among those veterans acknowledged at Friday’s RTHS program.

          World War II veterans remember
             POLANCIC AVOIDED COMBAT WITH COUSINS; DOMBO HELD PRISONER & ESCAPED

   As John Polancic began to reminisce about his World War II experience, he took pause to 
explain why he opted to be a member of the United States Marine Corps over the Army, Navy, Air 
Force, Coast Guard.
   “There is a story behind my decision,” Polancic admitted. And what a compelling story it is!
When John graduated from high school in Ottawa, he took a job at the Seneca Shipyard building 
WWII LST’s, which he explained were landing craft ships.  A few months later, on his 18th 
birthday, he got a draft notice.  John wasn’t the only member of his family to get one.
   The son of Croation immigrants, Polancic’s cousins who had stayed behind in Rabnagova, 
Croatia, were also drafted, but John’s cousins were drafted into the Communist Army.  That 
meant if Polancic opted to go US Army, he could conceivably have faced cousins in combat.
   “In January of 1944, I knew the Marines were heading into the South Pacific,” Polancic said, 
“so I asked if I could serve with the Marine Corps., avoiding Eastern Europe.”
   After basic training in California, Polancic boarded a ship headed for the Admiralty Islands.
His assignments, he said, were mostly administrative and took him on a tour of the South Pacific 
that included Green Island, the Solomon Islands and the Palau Islands.
   Polancic rose to the rank of Sergeant in the marine air corps.  And after the war ended, he 
was assigned to China and assisted the Corps in flying in supplies for the Nationalist Army 
during the Occupation of China in 1946.
   After the war John Polancic said he lost track of his fellow marines, as well as his cousins 
in Rabnagova.  Mrs. Polancic, however, did maintain contact and, in fact, returned to visit her 
family.  As so many eastern European immigrant families will tell you, Mrs. Polancic ventured 
back to her homeland, but Mr. Polancic, fearing the communists would still try and recruit him, 
refused to take the risk.
   Twenty years ago, 40 years after World War II, John Polancic and his wife visited Rabnagova.

                               DOMBO STARVED, BUT NEVER MISTREATED

   If you don’t know Harold Dombo from his years of service at Caron International, you probably
know him as the tall, slender man who walks all over Rochelle. Dombo’s exercise regimen keeps 
him slim, but not as slim as the boy who was welcomed into his mother’s waiting arms back in 
Brooklyn, NY, in 1945 after his release from a Nazi POW camp.
   Dombo said he was 20 years old and working in Cairo, IL, for the Thomas Edison Company when 
he was drafted into the United States Army in January of 1943.  He was sent to Georgia and to 
California for training, “to learn to become an engineer.”
   Within the year, he was assigned as an infantryman. “I carried ammunition for air cooled 
machine guns,” he said. 
   On Dec. 20, Dombo was on duty with a partner and began to dig a fox hole near a combat 
zone in Germany.  “My partner went to see the medic,” Dombo recalled, “and that’s when the 
Germans came in and captured me.”
   Just five days later, Christmas Day 1945, Harold Dombo made his first escape.  “I walked all 
day and all night,” he said, “when I was stopped by another German soldier.  He took me to his 
home, where I managed to escape again.  I spent another night and day walking, but was eventually
recaptured and served as a POW until May 8, 1945.”
   Dombo said life as a POW wasn’t a pleasant experience. “We were starved, but so were the 
Germans. There was very little food. It was just a fact of war.  I left that camp weighing 115 
lbs., 35 lbs. less than I did upon capture, but I have to admit, I was never tortured, never 
mistreated.”
   Dombo said his parents received news of his capture via the American Red Cross.  “I wasn’t 
allowed to write to them, but at least they knew I was alive,” he said.
   Dombo was granted a 2 month furlough after his liberation in 1945, then returned to Ft. Dix, 
NJ., where he completed clerical assignments.
	Harold Dombo was among the World War II veterans recognized at Friday’s Veterans’ Day 
program for RTHS students.
	
 
                       STUDENT RESPONSE TO WORLD WAR II VETERANS
                         VISIT AT RTHS OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE 

   ROCHELLE----Since our Veterans’ Day observance at Rochelle Township High School, and students
still talk about what they saw and heard from local World War II veterans who visited. 
   “I enjoyed having you veterans come to us and I’m glad we have school on Veterans’ Day,” a 
sophomore named Amber, wrote. “It must have been difficult for all of you to tell those stories,
but I feel that I learned more about what really happens in war and what each person does. Thank 
you for coming, and, thank you for sacrificing your lives for our freedom.”
   For sophomore Aaron Rodriguez, Friday’s assembly had an extra special meaning.  Aaron’s 
brother Adam, an RTHS grad, is an active member of the United States Marine Corps. Aaron wrote,
“I, myself, am joining the Marine Corps when I graduate. Hearing your stories helped me make that
decision. My brother and a couple of friends are in the Marine Corps. I, too, look forward to 
serving this country.”
   Olga Medina, also a sophomore, wrote, “I didn’t really know anything about World War II, but 
from this day on, I will learn more about it because of what you taught me.”
   Dillon Haas felt comfortable enough in the intimate setting of the auditorium to share his 
thoughts: “The war, in general, I don’t agree with, but if that’s the only way to keep the peace,
so be it. To put your lives on the line for people you don’t even know is the noblest of deeds. 
I thank you all, with my dearest and most heartfelt gratitude, for going under fire to keep the 
world in line.”
   Retired RTHS Custodian Lee Harris (Coast Guard) became overwhelmed responding to a question 
regarding his assignment to Nagasaki after the Atomic bomb was dropped.  Dave Higgs crossed the 
stage to comfort Lee. A lengthy silence ensued.  Multiple students remarked how even 60 years 
later, the memories of war were so powerful for Harris, and, what compassion Higgs showed in 
comforting him.
   Harris was further comforted by students after each assembly. “I was greeted with hugs and 
handshakes,” Harris said in thanking the social studies department for the opportunity.
   Board of Education member Bob Walsh started out the morning by telling all, "This is a 
one-of-a-kind assembly.  You won't find anything like this in any other school because no other 
school has the staff or the students like we have at RTHS.  There is no place like it!"
   Also noteworthy from Friday’s observance is the DVD Video Broadcast students created from 
interviews David Higgs’ history students conducted.  In spite of a threat to the school, Rick 
Bunton and students like Steve Bahr refused to give in. They just kept editing tape, because 
that's the promise they had made to the veterans. 
   Bahr, a very soft spoken kid, rarely one to take credit, was proud to accept the veterans’ 
praise. “Thank you,” he said simply. “I am proud of what I did."
   US Marine Bob Barron's remarks about his WWII regrets stayed with the students and were 
reflected in their essays. Barron told freshmen and sophomores he regrets having been taught 
how to hate in the Marine Corps.  
   “It was necessary to hate”, he said, “in order to be a good soldier and to do your job”, but 
Barron told the kids, “I left a piece of my soul overseas.  It took me a good 20 years to look 
at, talk with or acknowledge a Japanese American without that hatred welling up in me.”
   When asked how today's technology would have affected WWII, Retired RTHS teacher By Kyler and
POW Harold Dombo told the kids it could have put us, here at home, in jeopardy. “The battlefields
the bombs, could have landed here,” they said. Both men said they feel for today's soldiers in 
Iraq because, “those boys never know who or where the enemy is: old man, little child, whereas 
in WWII,  when you saw a young German or Japanese man in uniform, you knew he was the enemy. We 
knew who we were up against. Today's soldiers can be shot by anyone."
   Organizers of this year’s event were: David Higgs, Rick Bunton, David Anderson, Ellen White, 
Carol Schneider, Russ Zick, Tom Schmidt, Kevin Dale, Keith Lamb, Rick Bunton's Video Broadcast 
students, Dave Higgs’ history students, and Jamie Craven.
   World War II Veterans who participated in the project include: Bob Barron, Lee Harris, Doc 
Neuliep, By Kyler, Harold Dombo, Bob Erwin, John Roe, Bill Donaldson, Ellie Chadwick, Dewey Pohl,
Fred Baker, John Cryer, Dr. Koritz, Phil May, Don Terry, Eloise and Carl Polstra, Pete Lockridge,
John Polancic, Merle Cluts, and Retired RTHS teacher Gerry Wine.