D204 Boundary Protest
Yesterday, dozens of Indian Prairie School District 204 community members, including representatives from the Ashwood Pointe and Ashwood Heights subdivisions, as well as May Watts Elementary School, protested the district’s newly updated boundary concepts. Ashwood Pointe and Ashwood Heights residents are upset about a broken feeder system in the new concepts, which they said would isolate their children. They pushed to allow their community to attend Neuqua Valley High School to solve the issue. Those from the May Watts Elementary community protested what they saw as attendance over capacity slated in the new concepts, compared to lower capacities at other elementary schools. These boundary concepts will be presented as proposals to the district board of education at a December 20 meeting.
Refuel Event
Hundreds of people were re-energized for the new year both in person and via livestream at yesterday’s REFUEL motivational speaker event, held at the Naperville Yellow Box Theater. Hosted by Naperville auto sales tech business Dealer Inspire, the free, one-day event featured speeches from five inspiring personalities, including a brain performance expert and a fitness evangelist. And the event was for a great cause: guests could donate to four charities including Naperville’s Loaves & Fishes Community Services and Chicago’s My Block My Hood My City. Cars.com pledged to match donations up to $25,000 per charity, with a goal to raise $200,000 in total.
Shop With a Cop
It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Naperville yesterday. Members of the Naperville Police Department paid a special visit to children and their families as part of their annual Shop With A Cop event. This year saw some alterations because of the COVID-19 pandemic: instead of shopping at the store with a child, police department personnel bought gifts ahead of time and dropped them at homes for a special delivery. But the goal of the event remained the same: to give police officers a chance to spread holiday cheer within the community.
“Doc Football” Honors Dr. Bell
Yesterday, Nancy Young Elementary School honored longtime Student Services Director Dr. Robert Bell by playing a staff vs. students flag football game at recess. Metea Valley principal Darrell Echols, several current members of the Mustang football team and former Young Elementary students visited the school to participate in the “Doc Football” recess game in front of hundreds of cheering students. “Doc Football” was started by Dr. Bell 20 years ago as a way to keep students active and develop teamwork, perseverance and discipline during recess.
Illumination Extended
If you missed out on tickets to Illumination: Tree Lights at The Morton Arboretum, you may still have a shot. The arboretum has extended the popular light and music show, adding in times for January 6, 7, and 8. On those nights, viewing appointments run from 4:30 p.m. through 8:30 p.m. The extra dates are in response to the high demand for the show. More information is available on the Morton Arboretum website.